Wednesday, June 29, 2016

A vocabulary for conversing about entrepreneurship, innovation, and antitrust

A. Foer, here.

First Draft! Online Platforms, Rate Parity, and the Free Riding Defence

S. Vezzoso (this blog's author), here.

Abstract: A two-sided platform business is a new type of intermediary to be found in a growing number of economic sectors. As to the hospitability industry in particular, recent innovations in the field of digital technologies prompted the rise of so called Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and the demise of the traditional merchant model.
Recently national competition authorities (NCAs) in the EU investigated so called rate parity clauses in the contracts between the three largest OTAs and their hotel partners. These are contract clauses laying down the hotelier’s obligation to display the same room prices across sales channels. The parallel investigations conducted by the NCAs revealed an array of serious anticompetitive effects stemming from rate parity obligations. While the German NCA concluded that there was insufficient evidence of the efficiency gains of these clauses, and therefore decided to prohibit them, the French, Italian and Swedish NCAs implicitly recognised that some level of protection against free-riding was necessary, and accepted commitments to reduce the scope of the rate parity obligation.
The hotel online booking cases were closely followed in the EU and beyond, since they could help clarify a number of key assessment issues concerning a category of commercial practices already widely spread in online markets. In-depth analyses of the NCAs’ findings are now needed, especially in view of the promotion of an effective antitrust-based platform regulation. In particular, this article explores some of the challenges related to the application of the traditional free-riding defence to rate parity obligations.

Yandex vs Google: Decision on Fines

FAS, here. 

L’Open Internet Project veut canaliser Google via la loi numérique

ITEspresso, ici.

The Gig Economy

OECD Development Centre, here. 

Net Neutrality Rules Will Make Winners and Losers Out of Businesses

S. Greenstein, M. Peitz, T. Valletti, here.

Hillary Clinton’s Initiative on Technology & Innovation

HillaryClinton.com, here. 

Google bittet Sie um mehr persönliche Daten

Heise.de, hier.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Supreme Court agrees to review ATM fee antitrust lawsuit

Bloomberg, Here.

Digital Markets, Data, and Privacy: Competition Law, Consumer Law, and Data Protection

W. Kerber, Here.

The Economics of Mergers and Innovation: The Challenge for Competition Policy with Application to Pharmaceuticals

J. Kwoka, here. 

Innovation as a Parameter of Competition and its Implications for Competition Law Application

J. Drexl, here. 

Brexit Leads U.K. Lawyers to Seek Solace in Irish Bar

Bloomberg, here. 

South Korea antitrust regulator says investigating Apple on 'some matters'

Reuters, here. 

The ultimate Brexit Song

"It Doesn't Have To Be", Erasure, Video here.

You are one side
And I am on the other
Are we divided?

You are one side
I am on the other
Are we divided?
Why can't we live together
There are no rights
This isn't your decision
We need to talk of changing things
But no one wants to listen
It doesn't have to be like that
It doesn't have to be like that
It doesn't have to be like that

A heart on the inside
The same as any other
Are we divided?
Someone always has to suffer
We are broken
There's no one left to change it
Is that the way it has to be?
Why can't we rearrange it?
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that

Alava mo ja na me me limbaniango limbaniago
Zimbabwe abo naga na me me limbaniango limbaniago
Alava mo ja na me me limbaniango limbaniago
Zimbabwe abo naga na me me limbaniango limbaniago

What is the secret
In calling me a brother?
Are we divided?
Always one against the other
We are strong now
Put down the ammunition
For what we know is right
Is gonna breakdown this division
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
(One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that (One against one)
(One against one)
It doesn't have to be like that

You are one side
And I am on the other
Are we divided?

OECD Ministerial Declaration on the Digital Economy (”Cancún Declaration”)

Here. 

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016

Data May Be Key in Microsoft-LinkedIn Probe, EU’s Vestager Says

Bloomberg, here. 

How to boost FinTech’s contribution to competition

ACM, here. 

FinTech’s Bright Future Marred by Hype

D. Evans and R. Schmalensee, here. 

Efficiency Claims: What’s New?

Symposium, here. 

Regulatory Challenges in Digital Markets: Privacy

BCCP Conference and Policy Forum 2016, Programme here; Livestream here. 

Data portability among online platforms

B. Engels, here. 

Guns, Limbs, and Toys: What Future for 3D Printing?

A. Thierer, A. Marcus, here. 

New data on what connected cars are tracking

FiaRegion1, here. 

Journalism is getting personal: latest trends from the digital front line

Polis, here. 

Secrets of the Sharing Economy

Bloomberg, here. 

AG Szpunar says that time-limited e-lending is allowed under EU law and interpretation of copyright norms must evolve with technology

IPKat, here. 

The Antitrust and Intellectual Property Intersection in European Union Law

N. Petit, here. 

Competition is Messy: Merger Challenges

B. Baer, here. 

Competition, innovation, and legal services

FTC, here. 

Publishers in the copyright value chain

European Copyright Society, here.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Monday, June 13, 2016

Stealing Books in the Age of Self-Publishing

ThrAtlantic, here.

Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn

Microsoft, here and here. 

Antitrust settlements: the culture of consent

D. Ginsburg and J. Wright, here. 

Fidelity rebates - summary of the contributions

OECD, here. 

Public interest considerations in merger control

OECD Background Note, here. 

Protecting and promoting competition in response to "disruptive" innovations in legal services

OECD Background Note, here. 

Summary of Discussion of the Hearing on Across-Platforms Parity Agreements

OECD, here. 

Ein europäisches Leistungsschutzrecht für Verlagemacht keinen Sinn – eher Anreize für innovative Mehrwertleistungen schaffen

R. Kuhlen, hier. 

The New Economics of Multi-Sided Platforms: A Guide to the Vocabulary

D. Evans, R. Schmalensee, here. 

La competencia de la economía colaborativa

ElPais.com, aquì.

The sharing economy and new models of service delivery

OECD Insights, here.

Thursday, June 09, 2016

Marktmacht von Plattformen und Netzwerken

Bundeskartellamt (6. Beschlussabteilung / Think Tank Internet), Arbeitspapier, hier (148 Seiten).

Einstweilige Verfügung für Euroleague Basketball

Gleiss Lutz, hier.
Beschluss hier.

Lufthansa hits back after being reported to US regulator over surcharge discussion

Tnooz, here. 

Informe económico sobre las restricciones a la competencia incluidas en materia de vehículos de alquiler con conductor

CNMC, aquì. 

On Human Dignity as a Foundation for the Right to Privacy

L. Floridi, here. 

Regulation on Interchange Fees

EC, here. 

Grünbuch Digitale Platformen

BMWi, hier. 

Behavioral Economics in the Classroom

D. Laibson and J. List, here.

The CMA alleges that Ping has breached UK and EU competition law by operating an online sales ban

Press Release, here.
"Bans on internet trading can be a problem if they seek to prevent retailers reaching a significant proportion of customers. We will now consider any justifications put forward by Ping for the alleged conduct".

Fair compensation cannot be financed by a budgetary scheme such as that established in Spain

Case C-470/14, EGEDA. Press Release here. 

International Antitrust Enforcement: China and Beyond

T. Horton, here. 

Google is offering app developers the same revenue sharing terms Apple just announced — with one big advantage

Recode, here.

Expedia’s first bot is for booking hotels

VentureBeat, here.

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Oracle v. Google

Order, here.

The role of economics in merger analysis: what can John Oliver teach us?

D. Gelfand (US DoJ), here. 

El TSJM tumba el decreto ‘anti-Airbnb’ de la Comunidad de Madrid

Sabemos, aquì.

Our public institutions need fair use laws

Smh.com.au, here. 

Freedom of expression and the private sector in the digital age

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression to the Human Rights Council, here (Word).
List of submissions, here. 

The API Industry Supply Value Chain

APIDays, here. 

Copyright Office Opens Inquiry on Digital Rights for Libraries

Copyrightandtechnology.com, here. 

Stop the Bots From Killing Broadway

NYTimes, here.
See also here.

A complete list of all the ride-hail, auto and tech companies that have joined forces

Recode, here.

Voici à quoi ressemble l'ensemble des trajets européens de BlaBlaCar en une journée

LeFigaro,  Ici.

Taxi Messenger: Taxi-Bestellung jetzt auch über den Facebook Messenger

Heise.de, hier.

How 16 Companies are Dominating the World’s Google Search Results

ViperChill, here.

IAB Crumbles on legality of AdBlock Detection

Privacy-news, here.

Artificial Intelligence and the Law

BBC Radio 4, Podcast here.

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Uber fait le plein d’annonces pour séduire ses chauffeurs

Numerama, ici. 

Who Owns Blockchain-Based Assets? An English Legal Analysis

M. Lavy and D. Khoo, here. 

Gestione collettiva dei diritti d’autore e dei diritti connessi e concessione di licenze multiterritoriali per i diritti su opere musicali per l’uso online nel mercato interno

AGCM, qui.

"L’Autorità ritiene che, in un contesto economico caratterizzato da profondi cambiamenti tecnologici, la mancata apertura del mercato nazionale della gestione dei diritti d’autore limita la libertà d’iniziativa economica degli operatori e la libertà di scelta degli utilizzatori. A suo parere, il mantenimento del monopolio legale appare in contrasto con l’obiettivo di rendere effettiva la libertà dei titolari del diritto di effettuare una scelta tra una pluralità di operatori in grado di competere con l’incumbent senza discriminazioni." 

Mobile Advertising: Economics, Evolution and Policy

D. Evans, here. 

Hyper-Reality

K. Matsuda, Video here. 

Digital Matching Firms: A New Definition in the “Sharing Economy” Space

ESA, here.

Friday, June 03, 2016

EU’s forthcoming Net Neutrality rules Leaked: Here’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Netzpolitik, here. 

Main Provisions and Benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty (2013)

WIPO, here. 

Awkward Conversation With Facebook

D. Carroll, here. 

Working together to support fair competition worldwide

M. Vestager, here. 

An Economic Policy Perspective on Online Platforms

B. Martens (JRC Science Hub), here.

"This report is based on the findings and conclusions that can be drawn from existing economic research literature and evidence; it does not present any new evidence. However, it is not meant to provide an exhaustive economic literature review on platforms; it focuses only on a limited number of issues that may be relevant from a regulatory policy perspective. It focuses on potential market failures in digital platforms and examines to what extent existing regulatory tools and self-regulation in platforms can address these failures, or whether there is a need for additional regulatory intervention."

European Commission Announces eCommerce Package

Cooley, here. 

There is no Open Science without the use of open standards and Free Software

Blog.3rik.cc, here. 

You should go check Facebook's new privacy settings ASAP

Wired, here. 

Économie de partage : des assureurs se disent prêts

Journal-assurance.ca, ici.

Madonna Gets Victory Over 'Vogue' Sample at Appeals Court

Billboard, here.
Decision here. 

Economía colaborativa: 1.150 respuestas a nuestras recomendaciones

CNMC, aquì. 

Companies once thought they’d make big money off big data–now it’s their biggest liability

QZ.com, here. 

Market-Based Finance: Its Contributions and Emerging Issues

FCA, here. 

Setting the record straight on privacy dimensions in big data

K. El Emam, here. 

Algorithms: The Future That Already Happened

Lareviewofbooks.org, here.