Thursday, February 27, 2014

The European Union is grilling Apple and Google about free-to-play apps

The Verge.com, here.

Advocate General Opens Door to Umbrella Claims in Cartel Damages Cases

J. Van Acker, V. Lefever, here.

Regulatory Policy and Behavioural Economics

P. Lunn, here (read only)

The FTC at 100

R. Lande, here.

Humility, Institutional Constraints and Economic Rigor: Limiting the FTC’s Discretion

G. Manne, here.

Las patentes y la libre competencia: informe sobre el anteproyecto de ley de patentes

Brief of Amici Curiae Law, Business, and Economics Scholars in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, No. 13-298 (software patents)

Here.
See also FSF's Brief, here.

CJEU says that spas must pay copyright fees and that territorial monopoly of collecting societies is OK

IPKat, here.

Will the Supreme Court save us from software patents?

Washingtonpost.com, here.

Secret 'Innocence of Muslims' Order Caused Google to Go Ballistic

Hollywoodreporter.com, here.
Garcia v. Google here

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Internet of Things: Building Trust to Maximize Consumer Benefits

J. Brill, here.

Apple officially appeals e-books antitrust ruling, asks for dismissal or retrial

Appleinsider.com, here. Appellate Opening Brief here (Scribd).

Uber kept new drivers off the road to encourage surge pricing and increase fares

TheVerge.com, here.

UK Government response to consultation on EU copyright rules

Here.

COMESA: new rules on merger control imminent

Iflr.com, here.

As Barnes & Noble Nook revenues slide 50%, the company says it’s launching another tablet

Gigaom.com, here.

Schweizer Firmen profitieren von Whatsapp-Übernahme

Nzz.ch, hier.

Flight Centre found guilty of anti-competitive behavior

Cch.com.au, here.Ruling here.

Archives and Copyright: Developing an Agenda for Reform

Create.ac.uk, here.

Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Risks Sparking Privacy Probes Across EU

Bloomberg.com, here.

Data protection authorities in Canada and The Netherlands on WhatsApp already here

Study on the Right of Making Available; Comments and Public Roundtable

US Copyright Office, here.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

AG Opinion in Kone: EU ‘Effectiveness’ Law Wades Further into National Civil Litigation

M. Marquis, here.

Facebook’s WhatsApp Deal Seen Avoiding U.S. Antitrust Challenge

Bloomberg.com, here.

Ruling dismissing on-line booking price parity class action claim in the US

Online Travel Company (OTC) Hotel Booking Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 12-cv-3515-B, 18 February 2014, here.

Accessibility Excitement in Geneva

Benetech.blogspot.ch, here.

Mexico's President Sends New Competition Bill to Congress

Nasdaq.com, here.

The EU Google Investigation: A Remedy In Search Of A Problem

T. Graf, Presentation here.

Review of the technology transfer rules – update after public consultation

A. Vernet, Presentation here.

German Antitrust Cases in the Internet Economy

S. Hossenfelder, Presentation here.

Preishoheit von den Buchungsplattformen zurückholen

Hier (Schweiz) ;
hier (Österreich)
 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Getting lost in the new Google Maps

TheVerge.com, here.

Tobacco packaging and intellectual property law

Aclatterofthelaw.com, here.

FCC chair announces plan for new net neutrality rules

TheVerge.com, here.

Investigations of consummated and non-notifiable mergers

OECD Competition Committee, Contributions from US, EU, UK, D
Other contributions here.

Consultazione pubblica sulle Linee Guida della Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A per la commercializzazione in forma centralizzata dei diritti audiovisivi nelle Stagioni sportive 2015/16, 2016/17 e 2017/18

AGCM.it, here.

Patent Trolling — Why Bio & Pharmaceuticals are at Risk

R. Feldman, W.Nicholson Price II, here.

Leistungsschutzrecht: Verleger verbünden sich mit VG Media

Heise.de, hier.

U.S. judge dismisses price-fixing claim against hotels, websites

Reuters, here.see also Businessweek.com, here.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Forward - Looking Nature of Merger Analysis

D. Feinstein, here.

Contractual arrangements applicable to creators (in selected EU Member States)

Study for the European Parliament, here.

Die Benzinpreise schwanken stärker als je zuvor

FAZ.net, hier.

Linking to freely available content is not copyright infringement (challenging ramifications included)

TaylorWessing, here.

Thomson Reuters EU Antitrust Pact Challenged by Morningstar

Bloomberg.com/news, here

EU Secretary General’s decision on Privacy Surgeon’s DG-COMP appeal (Google Search)

PrivacySurgeon.org, here

CJEU on Hyperlinking: Svensson Reference

Press Release, C-466/12, here. Judgment here.
Why no Advocate General's opinion on these very delicate issues (despite mentioning AG Sharpston on the Curia website, - as noticed by IPkat) ?

Previous @wavesblog posts on hyperlinking here

When Competition Law Analysis Goes Wrong – The Italian Pfizer/Pharmacia Case

D. Geradin, here.

Europa setzt Standards für vernetzte Autos

Heise.de, hier.

La propriété des données, défi majeur du XXI e siècle

LesEchos.fr, ici.

Comcast Set to Acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 Billion

NYTimes.com, here.

DOJ Proposes Remedy to Address Bazaarvoice’s Unlawful Acquisition of PowerReviews

Press Release, here.

Copyright and the Digital Economy

Final Report,  Australian Law Reform Commission, here.

Google's once-secret, restrictive Android license agreements with Samsung and HTC published

Fosspatents.com, here.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Public and Private Antitrust Enforcement in the United States

B. Baer, here.

A first reaction to AG Kokott's KONE Opinion (umbrella effects)

Howtocrackanut.blogspot.ch, here.

Yahoo-Yelp Partnership and “Coopetition” in Online Markets

D. O'Connor, here.

Copyright, Competition and Development

Max Planck Institute for IP and competition law for WIPO, here.

Taxation and Competition Policy

A. Gurría, here.

The Future of Fair Use After Google Books

J. Band, here.

Umbrella Liability For Price Fixing: Does The Forecast Call For More Damages In The EU And U.S.?

Antitrusttoday.com, here.

Apple Loses Bid to Delay Court-Ordered E-Books Antitrust Monitor

Businessweek.com, here.

Le Conseil d'État suspend le délai de 15 minutes pour les VTC

Ordonnance du 5 février 2014, SAS Allocab et autres
N° 374524, 374554, ici.

11. Considérant toutefois que le moyen tiré de ce que le simple fait d’accepter, pour un véhicule en circulation sur la voie publique, une réservation par téléphone ou par Internet en vue d’un départ aussi rapide que possible, ne fait pas partie des activités légalement réservées aux taxis et que, par suite, l’administration n’est pas fondée à justifier l’introduction d’un délai d’attente propre aux voitures de tourisme avec chauffeur par la nécessité de protéger l’exercice légal de la profession de taxi, est de nature, en l’état de l’instruction, à créer un doute sérieux sur le bien fondé du premier motif invoqué par l’administration  ;

12. Considérant, en second lieu, qu’il résulte de l’instruction, et notamment des échanges ayant eu lieu lors de l’audience publique, que le moyen tiré de ce que l’introduction d’un délai de quinze minutes entre la réservation d’une voiture de tourisme avec chauffeur et la prise en charge de son client n’aura aucun effet notable sur la fluidité du trafic est également, en l’état de l’instruction, de nature à créer un doute sérieux sur le bien fondé du second motif invoqué par l’administration ;

13. Considérant qu’il résulte de ce qui précède que, sans qu’il soit besoin d’examiner les autres moyens soulevés par les sociétés requérantes, le moyen tiré de ce que les dispositions du décret contesté qui introduisent, pour les voitures de tourisme avec chauffeur, un délai minimal de quinze minutes entre la réservation du véhicule et la prise en charge effective du client, portent à la liberté du commerce et de l’industrie une atteinte qui n’est ni nécessaire à un objectif d’intérêt général ni proportionnée à l’atteinte d’un tel objectif est, en l’état de l’instruction, de nature à créer un doute sérieux sur la légalité de ces dispositions.

V. aussi Avis du Conseil de la concurrence,Voitures de tourisme avec chauffeur (VTC), ici.

Private Enforcement Under EU Law: Abuse of Dominance and the Quantification of Lucrum Cessans

F. Maier-Rigaud, U. Schwalbe, here.

Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

Online.wsj.com, here.

Monday, February 10, 2014

English High Court concludes that terms of Luton Airport’s coach concession agreement are an unlawful abuse of its dominant position

Edwardswildman.com, here. Judgment here.

AAI Objects to Airline Merger Settlement

Fighting Corruption and Promoting Competition

D. Lewis, here.

Competition issues in the distribution of pharmaceuticals

P. Kanavos and O. Wouters, here.

Transplanting the Canadian UGC Exception to Hong Kong: Part 1

P. Yu, here.

UK Energy Secretary re British Gas dominance: a letter to regulators

BBC.co.uk, here.

Domain-Registrar haftet für Urheberrechtsverletzungen auf einer registrierten Seite

Heise.de, hier.

Italy: Consiglio di Stato reinstates original Pfizer Xalatan order

Thespcblog.blogspot.co.uk, here.

La Junta crea un grupo de reclamación por el pacto bancario sobre el euríbor

ElPais.com, aquì.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Definition of Transaction for the Purpose of Merger Control Review

OECD Policy Roundtable, here.

“Human Rights” Protection for Corporate Antitrust Defendants: Are We Not Going Overboard?

A. Sánchez Graells, F. Marcos, here.

EU Directive on collective rights management approved by Parliament

Press release, here.

EU Commission to investigate cross-border pay-TV movie services – a new Murphy’s law?

Reedsmith.com, here.

Quantification of Antitrust Damages

F.Maier-Rigaud, U. Schwalbe, here.

Methods for Calculating Cartel Damages: A Servey

A.M. Doose, here.

Toward a European Directive on Damages Actions

F. Maier-Rigaud, here.

Moving Away from High-Level Theories: A Market-Driven Analysis of FRAND in the Context of Standardization

D. Geradin, here.

The Counterfactual Analysis in EU Merger Control

D. Geradin, I. Girgenson, here.