Friday, February 27, 2015

Pichai On Google's Vision, Mobile Revenue, Apple and China

Forbes, here.

UK government to improve protection for businesses against groundless IP threats

Press Release, here. UK government response here.

Antitrust, Capture, Federalism and the North Carolina Dental Case

H. Hovenkamp, here.

The Emergence of De-facto Standards

S. den Uijl, here.

Connecting Antitrust Standards to the Internet of Things

G. Wrobel, here

Google just paid $25 million to buy the entire '.app' web domain

BusinessInsider, here

Keystones to foster inclusive Knowledge Societies - Access to information and knowledge, Freedom of Expression, Privacy, and Ethics on a Global Internet

UNESCO, Draft Study here

Das Showkartell

Zeit.de, hier

Joshua Wright on Net Neutrality (not a big fan)

Video  here.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Why Everyone Was Wrong About Net Neutrality

T. Wu, here.

FCC Passes Strict Net Neutrality Regulations On 3-2 Vote

TechCrunch, here.

"Modern regulatory approach" "Legally sustainable rules".

Press Release, here. Chairman Wheeler Statement, here.

Dissenting Statements here and here.



ACCC v Pfizer Australia

Federal Court of Australia, here

Intellectual Property and Competition

H. Hovenkamp, here

Google's Quiet Dominance Over The 'Ad Tech' Industry

A. Grunes, here

Mehr Mobilitätsanbieter in Deutschland: Chancen für Verbraucher

J. Haucap, Präsentation hier

Google Starts Testing Mobile App Ads In The Google Play Store

TechCrunch, here

CMA seeks information on online reviews and endorsements

Google Play’s Rapid Rise in Germany

Appannie.com, here

La CNMC impone sanciones a varios operadores de productos petrolíferos

CNMC, aquì

Why the Print Catalog Is Back in Style

HBR, here.

"instead of sending every customer his brand’s largest book, he looks for frequent website visitors and asks, 'Can I only send her 50 pages, or 20, as a reminder of, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go to the website’?”

Producers of Power Rangers Fan Video Might Be In For Copyright Fight

Deadline.com, here

Vision for a digital single market

L. Neville-Rolfe, here

Net Neutrality Meets Regulatory Economics 101

J. Wright, here.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tobacco Plain Packaging Discussion Lights Up Again At WTO

IP-watch, here.

Some thoughts on data-driven business models

R. Ehrenberg, Presentation here

The Invention of the Software Patent

R. Picker, here

Limitations and Exceptions as Key Elements of the Legal Framework for Copyright in the European Union – Opinion on the Judgment of the CJEU in Case C-201/13 Deckmyn

J. Griffiths et al., here

North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission

US Supreme Court, here.

Higher Regional Court dismisses appeal in German cement cartel case

Carteldamageclaims.com, here

Chip firms put security center stage for the internet of things

GigaOm, here

Holy See: Creative approach to intellectual property necessary for health care

Vatican Radio, here

The Patent Guide: A handbook for analysing and interpreting patent data

UK  Intellectual Property Office, here.


Sensory and Sensibility - Will Copyright Awake Your Senses?

E. Rosati, Presentation here

Removing Barriers to Literacy: How the Marrakesh VIP Treaty Can Change Lives

WIPO, here

Unentgeldliche TV-Mitschnitte im Schulunterricht und an Universitäten

Petitionsausschuss des deutschen Bundestages, hier

The Advisory Council to Google on the Right to be Forgotten

Here

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Spotify exec: We collect an ‘enormous amount of data on what people are listening to, where, and in what context’

VentureBeat, here.

Why Apple would benefit from building electric car tech

GigaOm, here.

DOJ Is Right About Apple e-Books

WSJ, here (and below).
The Journal mischaracterizes the trial court’s ruling in the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Apple and five e-book publishers (“All Along the Apple Watchtower,” Review & Outlook, Feb. 17). Specifically, you say that the court found that “allowing consumers to read e-books on the iPad was an antitrust conspiracy.” Not so. The case was about agreements on a vital dimension of competition, namely price. It has long been a universally accepted proposition in both law and economics that agreements among competitors to set and regulate prices are anticompetitive. Thus, the court correctly found the agreements illegal. It is no justification that the agreements were intended to wrest control over the pricing of e-books from Amazon, the dominant player in e-book retailing.
Legitimate competition erodes a dominant firm’s position by offering consumers better prices or products. Here consumers received a worse deal. Indeed, the court found that the agreements led to an almost immediate 18% increase in the average price of e-books—hardly a boon to consumer welfare.
You are on more solid ground as regards the activities of the special master appointed to oversee Apple’s compliance with the verdict. (The publishers settled with DOJ before trial.) Even losing antitrust defendants deserve fairness and a reasonable post-verdict opportunity to show good faith efforts to comply with a court order. As you describe, there is ample evidence that this special master has overreached by placing burdens on Apple that are unnecessary to assuring adherence to the final judgment. As you urge, the Second Circuit should sack the special master or at least rein in his powers.
Theodore A. Gebhard

From social media service to advertising network

ICRI/CIR, in close cooperation with iMinds-SMIT, here

An annotated guide to Facebook's privacy settings (that you've never read)

The Star and D. Fraser, here

Google, Facebook und Co.: Kartellrechtler sorgen sich um Nutzerdaten

Heise.de, hier

Tobacco industry waged ‘David and Goliath’ campaign against EU

Independent.co.uk, here.
Report (The revision of the 2014 European tobacco products directive: an analysis of the tobacco industry’ s attempts to ‘break the health silo’here.  

Competition and consumer protection in the cyberspace marketplace

J. Joseph, P. M. Rao, here

Monday, February 23, 2015

Accor a saisi l’Autorité de la concurrence contre Booking.com

LesEchos.fr, ici.

Kleine Apps, große Hoffnungen

FAZ, hier.
European App Economy 2015 here

Google To Comply with Privacy Measures Set Forth by Italy's DPA

Privacyassociation.org, here

"The subject of the film, Edward Snowden, could not be here tonight for some treason"

ArsTechnica, here

Reda Report explained

J. Reda, here

Weil Obtains Final Approval of Favorable Nationwide Class Action Settlement for Local Television Industry in Antitrust Lawsuit Against the SESAC Performance Rights Organization

Weil.com, here. Order here

Análisis de la Contratación Pública en España: Oportunidades de mejora desde el punto de vista de la Competencia

CNMC, aquì

Managing Tensions In Online Marketplaces

J. Jordan, here

LIBER Argues For Pan-European TDM Exception

Libereurope.eu, here

Model contracts for licensing interoperability information

P. Laurent and B. Jean for the European Commission DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology, here (pdf download).

Urheberrechtsreform: Alle gegen Julia

FAZ, hier

C4C Supports the Balanced Approach Taken by MEP Reda and Explains Why

Copyright4creativity.eu, here

Axelle Lemaire veut donner un statut aux données d'intérêt général

Nextinpact.com, ici.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

The Wealth of Nations

In Our Time, Podcast  here.

Haucap: "Facebook ist viel gefährlicher als Google"

Rp-online.de, hier.

Google wins dismissal of U.S. lawsuit over Android app limits

Reuters.com, here. Order here.

Footnote 9:  "At a higher level of abstraction, this means that those competitors who cannot access users are unable to improve their search algorithms, thereby impairing their ability to compete with Defendant on the merits of their respective search products... This is akin to the theory of Sherman Act § 2 monopoly maintenance described in Microsoft, 253 F.3d at 60-62, wherein Microsoft’s exclusive licensing terms prevented OEMs from promoting rival Internet browsers, thereby reducing rival browser usage and developer interest in those browsers, with the effect of maintaining developer focus on developing for Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which contributed to maintaining Microsoft’s monopoly over the market for operating systems" (emphasis added).

Friday, February 20, 2015

Yandex and Google: No Smoke Without Fire

I-Comp.org, here.

Why the European Commission will not star in the Spanish TV rights Telenovela

B. Van Rompuy and O. van Maren, here.

Les hôteliers rejettent les propositions de Booking

LesEchos.fr, ici.

Intel, Leveraging Rebates and the Goals of Article 102 TFEU

N. Petit, here

Market Opening: Regulation vs Competition?

A. Italiener, here

Russian competition watchdog opens case against Google

Reuters.com, here.

Cмотрите также ФАС возбудила дело против компании Google по иску "Яндекса", вот

Microsoft Is The New Google, Google Is The Old Microsoft

Forbes.com, here.

Cerf Warns Of A 'Lost Century' Caused By Bit Rot; Patents And Copyright Largely To Blame

TechDirt, here.

Expedia Acquisitions Signal Tougher Times Ahead for Hotels

Hotel-online.com, here.

Copia privata, la conferma del Consiglio di Stato

Punto-informatico.it, here.

Google tax, si punta a un accordo. Ma non "alla francese"

Corrierecomunicazioni.it, here.

Does Patent Licensing Mean Innovation?


R. Feldman, M. Lemley, here.

American Express Violated Antitrust Laws, Judge Rules

NYT, here.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Interest group success in the European Union: When (and why) does business lose?


A. Dür, P. Bernhagen, D. Marshall, here.

Open Data als Treibstoff für die digitale Wirtschaft

BMWI.de, hier.

Uber se reinventa frente a su prohibición con un servicio de comida a domicilio

ElMundo.es, aquí.

Used eBook Marketplace Tom Kabinet Launches eBookstore

The-digital-reader.com, here

Global Regulation of Data Flows in a Post-Snowden World

J. Brill, here

Never trust a corporation to do a library’s job

Medium.com, here

Authors’ Rights Under the ‘Next Great Copyright Act’

J. Ginsburg, here

The Internet isn't broken. Obama doesn't need to 'fix' it.

A. Pai, J. Wright, here

La tong de la discorde entre Havaianas et des chefs tribaux

Courrierinternational.com, ici

Le livre numérique en illimité déclaré hors la loi

LesEchos.fr, ici.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Swedish songwriters seek fair compensation from Spotify and others

VentureBeat, here.

Apple tested (and cut) more advanced fitness sensors from the Apple Watch

ArsTechnica, here

Beginnings of the "more technological approach"

1998: "To meet Microsoft’s arguments about the integration of the operating system and the browser, Justice Department lawyers needed to understand how software programs were written...They needed to appreciate the technical characteristics of software code and design, something that Microsoft and its software engineers already understood", in  A. Gavil, H. First, The Microsoft Antitrust Cases: Competition Policy for the Twenty-first Century, MIT Press, 2014. A terrific read, see here for a book review - with which I only partially agree, though. Contrary to the reviewer's opinion, I didn't miss the "drama" at all (read the footnotes!). Moreover, there are plenty of references to the economic underpinnings of the Microsoft cases (basically, network economics and the then nascent theory of two-sided markets). However, what I'd have liked to find in the book is also an in-depth discussion of the suitability of the economic theories that played a decisive role in the Microsoft cases for competition policy going forward (legal theories are already depicted by the authors as sufficiently flexible to cope with new challenges). For instance, how solid is the application barrier to entry argument  likely to be in other high-tech markets such as mobile?

Why Xiaomi Worries Google

TheInformant, here (only partially accessible without subscription, but already very interesting).

Capturing the Transplant: U.S. Antitrust Law in the EU

S. Beltrametti, here

Copyright and the Value of the Public Domain

K. Erickson, P. Heald, F. Homberg, M. Kretschmer and D. Mendis, here.

Die Welt braucht ein sicheres Betriebssystem

FAZ, hier.

John Oliver on plain-packaging

Video here

Competition Policy and Regulation in Credit Card Markets: Insights from Single-Sided Market Analysis

D. Carlton, R. Winter, here

Council of the European Union agrees draft on financial benchmark controls

Out-Law.com, here

Le statut d'hébergeur de YouTube encore conforté en justice

Nextinpact.com, ici.

Jugement TGI Paris, Kare et Delante / YouTube, 29 janvier 2015, ici

Cloud Computing: Microsoft integriert Standards zum Datenschutz für Unternehmen

Heise.de, hier

Fostering Freedom Online: the Role of Internet Intermediaries

UNESCO, here

Price-match guarantees prevent rather than provoke price wars

The Economist, here

Négociations fournisseurs-distributeurs : sans accord, les amendes vont pleuvoir

LaTribune.fr, ici

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Expedia Will Pay Orbitz $115 Million if Antitrust Complications Scuttle Acquisition

Skift, here.

Stiftung Warentest: Reiseportale tricksen immer noch bei Onlinebuchungen

Spiegel.de, hier.

Fall Viagra und Co.: Bei Potenzmitteln spielt der Wettbewerb

NZZ, hier.

Google following Facebook down the zero-rate rabbit hole

GigaOm, here.

Konkurrenz für Tesla: Apple entwickelt offenbar eigenes Auto

FAZ.net, hier.

Google boss warns of 'forgotten century' with email and photos at risk

The Guardian, here.

Les bibliothécaires européens 'soutiennent le rapport Reda'

Actualitte.com, ici.

Why the high street is overdosing on caffeine

Tim Harford, here.

Data reveals a surge in the success rate of motions to dismiss after Alice

Iam-magazine.com/blog, here.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Competition, Consumer Protection, and The Right [Approach] to Privacy

M. Ohlhausen, A. Okuliar, here.

CMA appoints researchers to explore the commercial use of consumer data in three sectors

CMA, here.

Authorpreneurship

The Economist, here.

How 21 big tech companies got their names

TheNextWeb, here.

Droit d'auteur : rien n'empêche une loi d'être "inadaptée au contexte"

ActuaLitté, ici

La CNMC debate con expertos internacionales el diseño institucional de las autoridades de competencia y regulación

CNMC, Nota de Prensa, aquì

Antitrust, Privacy & Big Data: Setting the Scene

A. Burnside, here

La indemnización de los daños por el cártel de los rodamientos ferroviarios: ¿algunos millones de euros más para el Plan +Renfe?

F. Marcos, aquì

Regulation, antitrust and promotion of innovation? Challenges and experiences from communications to payment systems

Thursday 12 March 2015, 18:00 - 19:30 (registration from 17:30)
UCL Laws Graduate Wing, 1-2 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0EG


Speakers:
David Evans (Global Economics Group / UCL)
Steve Unger (Ofcom)
Andrea Coscelli (CMA)
Hannah Nixon (Payment Systems Regulator)
John Fingleton (Fingleton Associates)

Chair:
Antonio Bavasso (UCL / Allen & Overy LLP)

Website here.

EU Council backs European Commission proposal to fight against the manipulation of financial benchmarks

EC Press Release, here

New agency to sniff out threats in cyberspace

WashingtonPost, here.

Expedia's $1.6 Billion Purchase Of Orbitz Not Likely An Antitrust Concern

Forbes, here.

Sometimes one wonders...Is this still journalism or should we better find another name for it? Competition  policy propaganda campaign (CPPC) perhaps? It is worth $115 million, apparently, here.

Most Big Data is Social Data

Blogs.lse.ac.uk, here.

Friday, February 06, 2015

The first Tizen smartphone isn't an "Android killer"—it's a bad Android clone

ArsTechnica, here

Copyright and the Music Marketplace

US Copyright Office, here

As Apple-Google Deal Expires, Who Will Win The Safari Default Search Business?

Searchengineland.com, here

Bilan 2014 du marché de la musique enregistrée

Syndicat National de l'édition Phonographique (SNEP), ici.

The Valuation of Unprotected Works: A Case Study of Public Domain Photographs on Wikipedia

P. Heald, M. Kretschmer, K. Erickson, here

Weiteres Bußgeld wegen vertikaler Preisbindung im Matratzenfall verhängt

Bundeskartellamt, hier

Learning from each other's experiences' - a review of the ICN Merger Workshop on cross-border cooperation

A.Baker, here.

The Advisory Council to Google on the Right To Be Forgotten

Thursday, February 05, 2015

Google’s slippery slope: If search giant pays Twitter for content, should it pay all publishers?

VentureBeat, here.

Apple développe sa première application Android

Numerama, ici

EU taskforce to fight new Facebook privacy policy

ITpro.co.uk, here

Open Government Licenses Interoperability

LAPSI Report, here

Big Data and Differential Pricing

US White House, here.

(FTC "under pressure"?).

Dept. of Justice Blesses IEEE Rules on Injunctions and Reasonability

Consortiuminfo.org, here

Obama finds bipartisan support for first 'Big Data' privacy plan

Reuters, here.

How White House Thwarted FCC Chief on Internet Rules

WSJ, here.

Monday, February 02, 2015

Patents Become A Literal 'Get Out Of Jail Early' Card For Chinese Prisoners

TechDirt, here.


Let the Right 'One' Win: Policy Lessons from the New Economics of Platforms

E. Weyl, A. White, here

Competition Policy and Intellectual Property: Insights from Developed Country Experience

F. M. Scherer, J. Watal, here

Evaluating Appropriability Defenses for the Exclusionary Conduct of Dominant Firms in Innovative Industries

J. Baker, here

Copyright policy and the right to science and culture

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, here (Word File).

UK IPO Copyright Notice: knitting and sewing patterns (seriously!)

Here

PSI Charging Policy: A Conceptual Framework For EU Guidance to the Member States

M. Ricolfi, here

Friedrich Hayek's Contribution to Antitrust Law and Its Modern Application

T. Schrepel, here