The FTC’s Big Tech Revolving Door Problem

Public Citizen, here.


<= from 1:12 ICYMI (pure genius)

From David to Makan

Letter, here. 

Google faces first investigation by its European lead authority for “suspected infringement” of the GDPR

Brave, here. 

The start-ups building ‘dark kitchens’ for Uber Eats and Deliveroo

FT, here. 

Canada announces Digital Charter, promises serious fines to business for not protecting privacy

IT World Canada, here. 

India antitrust probe finds Monsanto abused dominant position

Reuters, here. 

OECD Principles on AI

OECD, here. 

N26 under fire from BaFin over money laundering failures

FinExtra, here. 

How Silicon Valley gamed Europe’s privacy rules

Politico.eu, here. 

Apple pledges clearer information on iPhone performance

Gov.UK, here. 

Irish regulator opens first privacy probe into Google

Reuters, here. 

Protecting Competition in the American Economy: Merger Control, Tech Titans, Labor Markets*

C. Shapiro, here. 

Female voice assistants fuel damaging gender stereotypes, says a UN study

MIT Technology Review, here. 

Open Banking hobbled by outages

FinExtra, here. 

Drug firms accused of illegal market sharing over anti-nausea tablets

CMA, here. 

Speaking points on the occasion of the first anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

V. Jourová, here. 

GitHub launches Sponsors, lets you pay your favorite open source contributors

TechCrunch, here. 

The radical plan to change how Harvard teaches economics

VOX, here. 

Blockchain sicher gestalten

BSI, hier, 

Court rules Uber must turn over data on driver congestion, double parkers to San Francisco

SFExaminer, here. 

GDPR Enforcement Tracker

Here. 

Zerschlagt, was euch kaputt macht

Dir Zeit, hier. 

Federal Trade Commission wins antitrust case against Qualcomm in Northern District of California

F. Mueller, here. 

THE FUTURE OF DATA-DRIVEN FINANCE AND REGTECH: LESSONS FROM EU BIG BANG II

D. Zetzsche, D. Arner, R. Buckley, R. Weber here. 

Blockkedjeteknik utifrån ett konkurrensperspektiv

P. Lindblom for the Swedish Competition Authority, here. 

Unlocking digital competition

J. Furman, Oxford Martin School, Live here.

Retailer Amazon nears victory in rainforest battle over domain name

Reuters, here. 

Nie mehr WhatsApp? EU-Staaten könnten Messenger zur Öffnung zwingen

Netzpolitik, hier.

Trust, transparency and Tech

Policy Connect, here. 

Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake news regulations, say insiders

Open Democracy, here. 

Technology is messing with our emotions: an historical perspective

Chips with Everything Podcast, here. 

Cryptocurrencies are going mainstream – the battle is on to bring them under global control

Phys.org, here. 

Intesa nelle gare per l’assegnazione dei diritti internazionali del calcio in TV. Sanzionati MP Silva, IMG e B4 Capital per 67 milioni di euro

AGCM, here. 

Understanding the Digital Advertising Ecosystem and the Impact of Data Privacy and Competition Policy

US Senate, Hearing here.


<= This is how my students react when they understand how programmatic advertising works

This is Johnny's testimony, here. 

Ahem, ahem... AI engine said to be good as human docs at spotting lung cancer developing

The Register, here. 

Lithuanian DPA hands down GDPR fine to e-payment company

iapp, here. Google translation of the press release of the LT DPA here. 

Your Car Knows When You Gain Weight

NYTimes, here. 

Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at Reagan National causing artificial price surges

WJLA, here. 

Google’s Huawei restrictions are a wake-up call for all Android phone makers

Venture Beat, here. 

US to endorse new OECD principles on artificial intelligence

Politico.eu, here. 

Pourquoi Chargemap n’est pas compatible avec Apple Carplay et Android Auto ?

Chargemap, ici. 

Leading experts appointed to AI Council to supercharge the UK’s artificial intelligence sector

UK Gov, here. 

How tech companies are shaping the rules governing AI

Wired, here. 

Is it aging well? Some parts better than others..."The Interface between Competition Policy and Data Protection" JECLAP 2012

Yours very truly, here. More thoughts here (also written 2012, for Ascola).

Facebook forms Swiss fintech firm with payments focus

Reuters, here. 

Toekomstbestendigheid van het mededingingsinstrumentarium in relatie tot online platforms

Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat, hier (very good Google Translation here, you're welcome).

The rise of surveillance capitalism

The Nation, here. 

Google has been tracking nearly everything you buy online — see for yourself with this tool

The Verge, here. 

Antitrust Alone Is Not Enough

F. Scott Morton, here. 

POTs: Protective Optimization Technologies

S. Gürses et al., here.
And also Privacy after the Agile Turn, here.
And here. 

Blockchain: practices and perspectives

UNESCO, here. 

Justice and Data Market

S. Gürses, Video here. 

Datenschutz im digitalen Zeitalter: Umsetzung der Datenschutzgrundverordnung (DSGVO) – Bilanz ein Jahr nach Inkrafttreten

P. Schaar, A. Dix, hier. 

Open banking take-up in the Netherlands less than expected because government promoted GDPR so well

ComputerWeekly.com, here. 

How can we tell if Google is serious about privacy?

FT, here.

Merger Cooperation and Information Exchange: Types of Information

ICN, here. 

Uber offers chastening lesson for platform businesses of the future

FT, here. 

Google, avviata istruttoria per presunto abuso di posizione dominante

AGCM, here. 

Clouds over Chicago but not so in Cartagena, Colombia

Do you remember that Finnish anti-discrimination board decision about algorithmic decision-making?

Available in English now, here. 

Concurrence et commerce : quelles politiques pour l’Europe ?

Conseil d'analyse économique, ici. 

Already wondering about your summer beach reads? Some great suggestions

J. Ito, here. 

Review of the VBER - process and timing

P. Bridgeland, here (41/95)

Commission fines Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG €1.07 billion for participating in foreign exchange spot trading cartel

EC, here. 

Google’s new plan to push Google Pay in India: cashback incentives in Android apps

TechCrunch, here. 

Droht Google & Co. neues Ungemach aus Brüssel?

NZZ, hier. 

The Anti-monopoly Backlash Reaches the Supreme Court

TheAtlantic, here. 

The 'Scott Morton Review': How to Protect Competition and Consumers in Digital Markets

Report, here.

Chancen und Herausforderungen von DLT (Blockchain) in Mobilität und Logistik

BMVI, hier. 

BBC to launch 'public service algorithm' to break down filter bubbles

BBC, here. 

San Francisco becomes the first US city to ban facial recognition by government agencies

TheVerge, here. 

How the ICO’s Sandbox can help make your innovative idea a reality

ICO, here. 

Big Tech leapt on the blockchain bandwagon but its applications are stuck in cryptocurrency

The Register, here. 

App stores and (potential) abuses of dominance – an opportunity to reshape competition law enforcement in digital markets

D. Mandrescu, here. 

A Review of Competition Policy for the Digital Era

N. Petit, Presentation here. 

Antitrust complaint on behalf of HIV patients alleging that Gilead conspired with other drug makers

Here. 

Unboxing Artificial Intelligence: 10 steps to protect Human Rights

Council of Europe, Recommendation, here.

Por ley buscan regular las empresas de criptomonedas

RCNRadio, aquì. 

People say they care about privacy but buy devices that can spy on them anyway

Vox, here. 

Die Datenmacht von Google und Co. Eine Gefahr für den Wettbewerb?

Bertelsmaan Stiftung, hier. 

Locked-in Data Production: User-Dignity and Capture in the Platform Economy

E. Bietti, here. 

FinTech or TechFin

C. Skinner, here. 

There is more to airline dynamic pricing than meets the eye

Podcast, from 10:35, here. 

Similarities and differences in the assessment of the same three vertical mergers

ICN, here. 

Vertical Restraints Project - Hypotheticals on Online Parity Requirements and Online Sales Bans

ICN, here. 

Commission opens investigation into Insurance Ireland data pooling system

EC, here. 

Chris Hughes on The Daily Podcast

Here.

Surprise: Amazon rolls out machines that pack orders and replace jobs

Reuters, here.

Première rencontre avec Mark Zuckerberg

C. O, ici. 

Global Platform Governance: Private Power in the Shadow of the State

H. Bloch-Wehba, here. 

Antitrust: gara Consip FM4, sanzioni per circa 235 milioni di euro

AGCM, qui.. Provvedimento qui.

Apple v. Pepper

US Supreme Court, here.

Update on Google Shopping

Here. 

Talking to the Law Student With a Novel Theory About Amazon’s Power

NYMag, here. 

The EU Needs to Reform the GDPR to Remain Competitive in the Algorithmic Economy

Center for Data Innovation, here. 

A new government agency to regulate all big tech companies.

Recode with C. Hughes, Podcast here. 

On sandboxes and those profound mysteries of the algorithmic age

Commission fines AB InBev €200 million for restricting cross-border sales of beer

EC, here. 

Marketing Agencies and Collusive Bidding∗ in Online Ad Auctions

F. Decarolis, M. Goldmanis, A. Penta, here. 

Friend portability is the must-have Facebook regulation FTC must pave the path to competition

Techcrunch, here. 

Allons-nous retrouver notre vie privée?

Lecho.be, ici. 

Much ado about nothing? Online platform price parity clauses and the EU Booking.com case

A. Mantovani, C. Piga, C. Reggiani, here. 

Breaking Up Facebook Is Not the Answer

N. Clegg, here. 

New: Participative Antitrust Must Haves Playlist

On Spotify (fittingly?), here.  How it all started here. And this classic treatment in the literature (the file was there until last Saturday, I swear, but you can catch it up live sometime, perhaps, if you're lucky).

...and growing.

Why Google believes machine learning is its future

ArsTechnica, here. 

France seeks handle on Facebook algos to help combat hate speech

Reuters, here. 

Facebook sues analytics firm Rankwave over data misuse

TechCrunch, here. 

Competition Concerns in Labour Markets – Background Note

OECD, Background Note by the Secretariat, here. 

Licensing of IP Rights and Competition Law

OECD, Background Note by the Secretariat, here. 

Google, Amazon Patent Filings Reveal Digital Home Assistant Privacy Problems

Consumer Watchdog, here. 

Créer un cadre français de responsabilisation des réseaux sociaux : agir en France avec une ambition européenne

Rapport de la mission « Régulation des réseaux sociaux – Expérimentation Facebook », ici.  

The Blockchain (R)evolution and the Role of Antitrust

Antitrust Digest, here. 

Millions of people uploaded photos to the Ever app. Then the company used them to develop facial recognition tools.

NBC News, here. 

Competition and the rule of law

M. Vestager, here. 

Rod Sims, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Capitol Forum, Interview here (Video).

Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

ArsTechnica, here. 

Antitrust and Innovation: Welcoming and Protecting Disruption

G. Federico, F. Scott Morton, C. Shapiro, here. 

India orders anti-trust probe of Google for alleged Android abuse - sources

Reuters, here. 

Antitrust Reading List Proposed by Chris Hughes

Here. And more suggestions here. 

Mark Zuckerberg has to go. Here are 25 reasons why

The Guardian, here. 

The German Facebook Antitrust Case Viewed from Brussels?

M. Vestager, here.

Asnef-Equifax is an "interesting" ruling, to be understood in the specific context of the case. My impression is that EU judges would be willing to view things differently today...

Dublin-based Ion Group in talks to buy Mergermarket owner

FT, here. 

Fintech and Blockchain: Where Silicon Alley Meets Hyperconverged Infrastructure

BankInnovation.net, here. 

2019 Explainable Artificial Intelligence: Can We Hold Machines Accountable?

Silicon Flatirons Conference, Videos here. 

GOOGLE’S NEW PRIVACY FEATURES PUT THE RESPONSIBILITY ON USERS

Wired, here. 

Expedia Under Investigation by Utah Over Hotel Collusion Claims

D. McLaughlin, here.

Not the first time that Expedia and TravelPass lock horns, here. 

2019 ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION CONFERENCE - DIGITAL PLATFORMS, MARKETS, AND DEMOCRACY: A PATH FORWARD

Stigler Center, 15-16 May 2019,  here. Live streaming!

Regulating Facebook and Google Pt 1: Markets

Capitalisn't Podcast, here. 

Japan's 'information banks' to let users cash in on personal data

Nikkei, here. 

Deep Dive into Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

R. van Eijk, Video here. 

Zuboff's book everywhere

My provisional take (but sadly no Ascola paper on the topic - max one individual paper pp - but apparently *two* co-authored papers are fine), here. 

Essential California: Why San Francisco banned cashless stores

LATimes, here. 

Automating Society: Taking Stock of Automated Decision-Making in the EU

AlgorithmWatch in cooperation with Bertelsmann Stiftung, supported by the Open Society Foundations, here.

Evaluating the EC Private Data Sharing Principles

B. Gonzalez Otero, here. 

A FRAND Regime for Dominant Digital Platforms

M. Heim, I. Nicolic, here. 

Exploring the Interfaces Between Big Data and Intellectual Property Law

D. Gervais, here. 

It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

NyTimes, here. 

2. Öffentliche Sitzung der Datenethikkommission

Live-Stream hier. 

Tencent and Alibaba granted licences to offer Hong Kong banking

FT, here. 

Establishing the rules for building trustworthy AI

L. Floridi, here. 

Ethically Aligned Design

IEEE, here. 

Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses

NYTimes, here. 

Microsoft, Starbucks Team On AI-Powered Predictive Orders

Pymnts.com, here. 

How Digital Platforms Have Become Double-Edged Swords

MIT Sloan MR, here. 

Consumers as prey for AI

Competition Lore Podcast, here. 

Accountability without liability: ‘to whom’ and ‘with what consequences’? (Questions for the 2019 OECD privacy Guidelines review)

G. Greenleaf, here. 

Competitive Edge: Principles and presumptions for U.S. vertical merger enforcement policy

J. Baker, N. Rose, S. Salop, F. Scott Morton, here. 

Facebook stops blocking some blockchain ads

TechCrunch, here. 

ASCOLA 2019 Aix-en-Provence Faculty of Law

Programme, here. 

HEARING ON “OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: STRENGTHENING PROTECTIONS FOR AMERICANS’ PRIVACY AND DATA SECURITY”

Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Hearing on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, live now here.

Is competition enough? Competition for consumers, on behalf of consumers.

A. Tyrie, here.

Google Face Match brings privacy debate into the home

FT, here. 

Facebook has hired several former PayPal employees for its mysterious blockchain project.

Bloomberg, here.

M.B., for you...

Facebook picks London as base for WhatsApp push into payments

FT, here. 

The Case for the Digital Platform Act: Market Structure and Regulation of Digital Platforms

H. Feld, here. 

Privacy Rights and Data Collection in a Digital Economy

US Senate Committee Hearing, here. 

ACCESO DE APLICACIONES A LA PANTALLA EN DISPOSITIVOS ANDROID

AEPD, aquì.

CONTROL DEL USUARIO EN LA PERSONALIZACIÓN DE ANUNCIOS EN ANDROID

AEDP, aquì.

The Data Mobility Sandbox and a peek at the future of personal data

Digi.me, here. 

Fairness and Competitiveness in a Digitised World

M. Vestager, Live streaming, today 12:30 re:publica 2019, here. 

Free translation: L'Europa non è perfetta ma è una figata di inizio. (warning: strong language)

IAB internet advertising revenue report

IAB, here. 

The creeping threat of facial recognition

FastCompany, here. 

Android now has 2.5B users

TechCrunch, here. 

How can more people benefit from the knowledge economy?

Future curious, Podcast here.
Nesta, Imagination unleashed: Democratising the knowledge economy here.
Roberto Unger's book here.
OECD Discussion here. 

Weighing the value of data – trade-offs, transparency and competition in the digital marketplace

R. Finer, here. 

AI in law enforcement needs clear oversight

FT, here. 

Intellectual Property and the Price of Prescription Drugs: Balancing Innovation and Competition

Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing here. With the great Prof. Michael Carrier. 

On the Algorithmic Accountability Act - Opinion

M. Kaminski, A. Selbst, hier. 

THE EUROPEAN UNION: A PEOPLE-CENTRED AGENDA: SECTION 12

OECD, here. 

Big Tech im Check

Video hier. 

Review of Online Targeting

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, here.

Review on Bias in Algorithmic Decision Making

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, here. 

Automated Decision-Making in the EU Member States Laws: The Right to Explanation and Other 'Suitable Safeguards'

G. Malgieri, here. 

Big Tech Is Spying on Your Wallet

WashingtonMonthly, here.

Sanders Calls for Breaking Up Big Agriculture Monopolies

NYTimes, here. 

Tristan Harris says tech is “downgrading” humanity — but we can fix it

Recode, Podcast here. 

Administration by Algorithm? Public Management Meets Public Sector Machine Learning

M. Veale, I. Brass, here. 

Bergen Competition Policy Conference 2019

Video recordings and slides here. 

Bitkom warnt vor bedingungsloser Datenweitergabe

Golem, hier. 

Alex Rosenblat on the cultural impact and influence of Uber

The Rideshareguy, Podcast here. 

New report calls out failing Open Banking API services

FinExtra, here. 

First Draft! A pro-competition data sandbox for the digital world

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

Comments would be great, please write to simonetta.vezzoso@unitn.it, many thanks!

F.T.C. Wants to Punish Facebook, but the Divided Agency May Go Only So Far

NYTimes, here. 

Project Libra: Facebook to launch stablecoin-based payments network

TheBlockCrypto, here.

A broadly-shared sin: hindsight bias

BBC, here. 

Enforcing European Competition Law in a Global Digital Economy

A. Ezrachi. A. Reyna, here. 

EU E-Commerce Proposal Seeks Data Privacy Rules for WTO Members

Bloomberg, here. 

Competition in Television and Digital Advertising

M. Delrahim, here. 

Life Fitness’s Advertising Platform Brings Programmatic Ads to the Gym

AdWeek, here. 

A Conspiracy To Kill IE6

C. Zacharias, here. 

AI and Education

Interview with T. Escrig, here. 

Ireland's Data Protection Commission opens statutory inquiry into Quantcast International Limited

Here.
For more info here. 

In praise of antitrust compliance programs

M. Delrahim, here (who among us @WavesBlog Readers wouldn't join in?).

Peloton Fires Back At Music Publishers With Antitrust Allegations

Forbes, here. 

Zuckerberg's privacy joke

Here. 

The Antitrust Case Against Facebook

D. Srinivasan, here. 

Facebook opens its data to academics for first time

FT, here. 

The economics of the security of consumer-grade IoT products and services

Internet society, here. 

KEY DRIVERS, EMERGING TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN CORPORATE BANKING

FinExtra/Oracle, here. 

Beware of 'Algorithmic Regulation'

S. Delacroix, here. 

The new division of labor

Deloitte, here. 

Economic Measurement of AI

K. McElheran, here. 

A look at the proposed Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019

iapp, here. 

AAI Interview With Antitrust Expert Jonathan Baker – A Preview of His Forthcoming Book: The Antitrust Paradigm

AAI, here. 

Facebook Is Turning Instagram Into The New Facebook

BuzzFeedNews, here. 

Concerns Over Privacy and Security Contribute to Consumer Distrust in Connected Devices

Internet Society, here. 

Kenya Signs $665.4m Deal With China For Konza Data Centre And Smart City Plan

Data-economy, here. 

Ausschluss von Vergabeverfahren: Gleiss-Mandantin Daimler und andere Kartellanten unter Druck

Juve.de, hier. 

WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCE OR HACK HUMANITY?

Wired, here.