Thursday, April 30, 2020

Launch of public consultation of sector inquiry into Fintech

Hellenic Competition Authority, here

Relazione tecnico-giuridica sui profili connessi all’eventuale adozione di una soluzione di contact tracing per il contrasto al COVID-19

Sottogruppo di lavoro “Profili giuridici della gestione dei dati connessa all’emergenza”, qui

An Empirical Analysis of Privacy in the Lightning Network

G. Kappos et al., here

Metall auf Metall: BGH bleibt im Sampling-Streit auf EuGH-Linie

Heise, hier

The New Gatekeepers: Private Firms as Public Enforcers

R. Van Loo, here

Parere sulla proposta normativa per la previsione di una applicazione volta al tracciamento dei contagi da COVID-19

Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, qui

Exposing the Public Interest Dimension of the Digital Single Market: Public Undertakings as a Model for Regulating Data Sharing

H. Richter, here

Carrying [Giovanni's] torch in times of darkness

EDPS, here

Precio máximo para la prestación básica funeraria y la congelación de precio

ACCO, aquì.

GOOGLE AND MICROSOFT CHASE AFTER ZOOM WITH NEW FEATURES AND FREE SERVICES

The Verge, here

Analyzing one decade of blockchain litigation

T. Schrepel, here

The Coronavirus and the Future of Big Tech

NewYorker with @Vestager, here

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

10 ways of thinking about crisis resilience

Heinrich Böll Stiftung,  hier.

Reversing Turing

B. Frischmann, E. Selinger, here

Efectos de la fijación de un precio máximo

ACCO, aquì

Coronavirus: Implications For The EU [What Think Tanks Are Thinking]

EPRS Strategy, here

Datentreuhandmodelle: Themenpapier

A. Blankertz, hier

How a handful of Apple and Google employees came together to help health officials trace coronavirus

CNBC, here

May the Fourth Be With Disney (Terms and Conditions Apply)

NYTimes, here

Regierung will im Gesundheitssektor mehr Firmenbeteiligungen prüfen

Reuters, hier. 

The first EU Competition 's comfort letter (post-Regulation 1/2003)

Re Medicines for Europe, here

Deliveroo cuts ~15% of staff as coronavirus challenges food delivery

TechCrunch, here

Social Distancing, Internet Access and Inequality

L. Chiou, C. Tucker, here

The whole idea of global value chains will be reconsidered after coronavirus

The Conversation, here

Monday, April 27, 2020

Supreme Court Says States Cannot Copyright Official Code Annotations

EPIC, here

The ethics of artificial intelligence: Issues and initiatives

Study for the EP, here

HHS Finalizes Historic Rules to Provide Patients More Control of Their Health Data

Here

Chinese company CRRC can acquire Vossloh’s shunter division

Bundeskartellamt, here

BIG DATA AS AN ANTITRUST ISSUE

ABA, with Andreas Mundt et al., here (at 00:19:12);
-- Mundt: German essential facilities doctrine's restyling at 00:38:39 (the Scandlines saga escalated to the Federal Supreme Court, see here);
--Swire: data sharing defined as "wholesale portability" 00:43:25; HHS interoperability here.



Common Issues Relating to the Digital Economy and Competition

IDCTF, here

Avis sur le développement de l'application StopCOVID

Conseil national du numérique, ici

BIG TECH: TOO BIG TO BREAK UP?

ABA Virtual Spring Meeting, here.

Kovacic
- "all of the remedies have side effects" 0:16:33
- lots of hybrids and blurred boundaries between structural and behavioural remedies 0:17:22 -
- in praise of the UK market investigation regime (heard already from @Vestager)
- "market power by itself" (55:36) - or going back to the roots, if I may add.
- humbling: in some instances, you don't know what the effects of the case and remedies are going to be for many years to come (decades!) (1:05:30) "I'm not sure and I'm not sure when" (1:06);
- Judge Jackson (Microsoft case) on remedies: 1 morning (1:10:02);
- "We suffered from a badly cramped and distorted debate about what consumer welfare means" (1:20:27) ;


Banasevic (*interesting*question, he repeats)
- in some instances, "the harm can materialize in such a way that there is no way back once the harm has reached a certain point" (36:50)
- not a fan of the attention market concept (50:00)
- burden of proof or standard of proof, this is the question (51:00) - academic perfection ain't the goal
- The US at times goes further than the EU (examples: Intel, Qualcomm) (1:13: 50)
- complementary regulatory agenda"- "systemic or structural issues...beyond the realm of individual, case by case antitrust enforcement" (1:14:30) -  his Commissioner sounded slightly more resolute and engaged, if I may ;-), here (1:00:48);
- "...days, weeks, and months" (1:15:26) - not YEARS, hopefully @EU_Competition;
- mentioning a "thread" from Microsoft to Google re remedies (1:17:10) - or is it more of a pernicious form of "path dependency"?
- ongoing Amazon case: "the data advantage that Amazon Retail has compared to rivals to compete on Amazon Marketplace is an example perhaps of the issue that given the greater importance of data might be more prevalent in platform markets in the future...Linked to that is artificial intelligence." *Interesting" would be to call AI a buzzword.

Ohlhausen
- "doing better than the other guy is now suspect" (54:19); "companies that looked unassailable at one point have fallen off from that pinnacle" (1.19:25), etc.: The strange case of the US antitrust regime.






ENFORCERS ROUNDTABLE

ABA Spring Meeting, here

MERGER ANALYSIS GONE DIGITAL: TIME TO REBOOT?

Our Curious Amalgam Podcast, here.

- Illumina/PacBio mentioned by Shapiro, here (CMA's file here);
- Carl Shapiro combining an ex ante regulatory approach with a stricter M&A regime (59:26) - the latter not at all pandemic related, in case you were wondering;
- Results from FTC Issues 6(b) Orders (here), soon. 

Google Ads by Adlc in English

Here

Covid-19 has blown apart the myth of Silicon Valley innovation

MIT Technology Review, here.

Embedded supervision: How to regulate Libra 2.0 and the token economy

R. Auer, here.

Avis sur un projet d’application mobile dénommée « StopCovid

CNIL, ici

Friday, April 24, 2020

Apple and Google update joint coronavirus tracing tech to improve user privacy and developer flexibility

TechCrunch, here

Congress Can Move Now to Stop Amazon’s Cloning Factory. Here’s How

H. Singer, here

A tiny selection of things it might be interesting to be part of, all CET (tbc)

Monday 4
14:00  MEPs to quiz Margrethe Vestager on the EU’s response to the pandemic, here.

Wednesday 6 
13:00 Ascola UK, Angus McCulloch, The 'public' wrong of cartels and the Article 101 TFEU 'object box'; you need to register here.
18:15 GAFA, 5G : Peut-on faire du numérique un bien commun ?, avec Sébastien Soriano, s'inscrire ici

Thursday 7 
13:00  Thriving: the role of culture in defining and advancing well-being, here
15:00  Virtual IO Seminar is Michael Kummer (University of East Anglia). He will present his paper "GDPR and the Lost Generation of Innovative Apps", joint work with Rebecca Janssen, Reinhold Kesler, and Joel Waldfogel, register here

Friday 8
Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed the Way We Should Think About Antitrust Law? here.

Saturday 9 
9:30 ASCOLA-India e-colloquium on "The Future of Hub-and-Spoke Cartels in India", to participate drop a line at vikaskathuria@gmail.com


Comunicazione sugli accordi di cooperazione e l’emergenza COVID-19

AGCM, qui

Here are the innovations we need to reopen the economy

B. Gates, here.

My almost daily dose of Margrethe's meditations (so important in times like these IMHO)

Madame de Vestager, une femme des Lumières en ces temps sombres.




👈

Contact tracing and tech

Very informative Webinar organized by Renew Europe, Here.

👈 Google.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Deliveroo and Just Eat deals show politics rules trustbuster

FT, here.

Amazon Scooped Up Data From Its Own Sellers to Launch Competing Products

WSJ, here

Competition Overdose

Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice Stucke present and discuss their new book, video here

Shock-proof: Building Resilient Systems in the 21st Century

Open Markets, NAEC OMI Roundtable live here NOW.

China's digital currency pilots pick up pace

Finextra, here

Will Libra Live Up To Its Initial Ambitions?

Binance Research, here

Nous devons rester maîtres de la politique sanitaire de l’Europe et de la France

LaCroix, ici

L'app Immuni cambia. Seguirà il modello decentralizzato di Apple e Google

Ilsole24ore, qui

The antitrust case against the Apple App Store

D. Geradin, D. Katsifis, here

CMA gives Just Eat and Takeaway.com deal the green light

CMA, here. 

„Tödlich für die Akzeptanz“ – Spahn entscheidet sich für umstrittenes Corona-App-Modell

Handelsblatt, hier

Facebook and Jio deal creates huge lake of Indian data

FT, here

Covid-19 is resetting the way we talk about the economy

W. Carlin, here

Time-limited availability of our modest contribution to the blockchain/antitrust discussion

Rob and I, here.

#pandemicantitrust: Dawn raids in the food sector

Hellenic Competition Commission, here

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Pune’s mobile App Saiyam tracks Home Quarantined Citizens

India Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, here

Pourquoi Facebook investit 7,5 milliards de dollars en Inde

Le Monde, ici

Digital sovereignty in the age of pandemics

Live(ly) debate with Margrethe Vestager et al., 24/04/2020 - 14:00 to 15:00, live streaming here

Price-gouging suit filed against Amazon on behalf of California consumers

Here

Commission approves the merger of Mylan and Pfizer's Upjohn division, subject to conditions

EC, here

Feds Seize PPE Using Unlitigated Hoarding Statute

E. Tyler, here

Facebook invests $5.7B in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms

TechCrunch, here

Price regulation in times of crisis can be tricky

M. Motta, here

Coronavirus: Commission launches data sharing platform for researchers

EC, here.

Decisione FISE: inottemperanza agli impegni

AGCM, qui

Stopp Corona-App des Österreichischen Roten Kreuzes: Bericht über die Datenschutz-Folgenabschätzung für die Anwendung

Hier

Summary of CMA’s position on mergers involving ‘failing firms

CMA, here

First fuctioning European "Corona App" reviewed by noyb, epicenter.works and BSA Research

noyb, here

Setzt die Corona-App aus der Schweiz europaweit Standards?

Republik.ch, hier

First #AntitrustTeaBreak: password needed by default (?) 👇

Here.

@wavesblog is inviting you to the first (and last?) #AntitrustTeaBreak discussing blockchain, Libra and antitrust with Thibault Schrepel

As I wrote to Thibault:
"Hi! Thank you again, looking forward to our chat tomorrow [...] I would like us to discuss the *topic* of your paper and, of course, your perspective on it - as well as to investigate parallel perspectives, why not? -It’s really early days and curious to understand also how it could evolve. Perhaps I could get us started by briefly making a couple of general observations to which you could react and then everyone could jump in (by raising their hands) - to which you could react first but also others could have something to say...Too chaotic? Any suggestions? Thank you!"
Thibault agreed - settled.

Topic: #AntitrustTeaBreak
Time: Apr 23, 2020 05:00 PM CET

Door opens at 16.55 and closes at 17.05 (chi c'è, c'è) 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92793480270?pwd=dnhyNEI2ZWVqaTdVZVVmMFFub2pqUT09

Meeting ID: 927 9348 0270
Password: 003340

I don't expect it to be an issue AT ALL (also due to the reading pledge=barrier to entry), but I've a basic Zoom account (100 max).

Epic Games launches Fortnite on the Google Play Store and they’re not happy about it

TechCrunch, here

Privacy and Security Risk Evaluation of Digital Proximity Tracing Systems

The DP-3T Project, here

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

US Senator to Sundar and Tim

Here.

(Not much on the EU decentralized/centralized discussion in the letter) 

Guidelines 03/2020 on the processing of data concerning health for the purpose of scientific research in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak

EDPB, here

DNBulletin: Digital currency issued by central banks can protect public interests in payment systems

Here

Developing International Perspectives on Digital Competition Policy

S. Ennis, A. Fletcher, here

Mind the app - considerations on the ethical risks of COVID-19 apps

L. Floridi, here

France urges Apple and Google to ease privacy rules on contact tracing

The Guardian, here

La última víctima británica de la crisis es la política antitrust contra Amazon

CincoDías, aquí.

OS neutrality and Contact tracing apps: unfolding

Zorgverzekeraars mogen gezamenlijk zorgaanbieders financieel steunen tijdens coronacrisis

ACM, hier

Studenten protesteren tegen tentamensoftware die beelden van hun huiskamer opslaat

IusMentis, hier

A data trust for Covid-19 tracking data?

Policy Options, here

Monday, April 20, 2020

Machine learning could check if you’re social distancing properly at work

MIT Technology Review, here

AmerisourceBergen Corporation Business Review Request Pursuant to COVID-19 Expedited Procedure

DOJ, here

Amazon-owned Whole Foods is quietly tracking its employees with a heat map tool that ranks which stores are most at risk of unionizing

Business Insider, here.

Promote Tradition of Separating Banking and Commerce Regarding Dominant Platforms

AFR, here

Facebook just released its coronavirus symptom tracking map

CNBC, here

Scientists and researchers from across the globe: Joint Statement on Contact Tracing

Here

Amazons neue Systemrelevanz wird für Deutschland gefährlich

Welt, hier

Toward Trustworthy AI Development: Mechanisms for Supporting Verifiable Claims

M. Brundage et al., here

LIABILITY FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER EMERGING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

 Expert Group on Liability and New Technologies, here

CONVERGENCE OF BLOCKCHAIN, AI AND IOT

THE EUROPEAN UNION BLOCKCHAIN OBSERVATORY & FORUM, here.  

COMPLEXITY AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH IN THE EMERGING DIGITAL WORLD

H. Benbya et al., here

Exit through the App Store?

Ada Lovelace Institute, here

Will Covid-19 set the stage for new mergers in the digital world? Time for antitrust authorities to lend special attention to the role of data.

M. Schäfer, here

Facebook and Google to face mandatory code of conduct to 'level playing field' with traditional news media

ABC, here

Facebook and Google to be forced to share advertising revenue with Australian media companies

The Guardian, here

Life in the era of COVID-19

N. Modi, here

Friday, April 17, 2020

Apple and Google joint initiative on COVID-19 contact tracing technology

ICO, here

SALVIAMO I DATI ECONOMICI DAL COVID-19

Banca d'Italia, qui

Privacy-Protective Contact Tracing Depends on More Than an API

PublicKnowledge, here

Vestager: It’s not a choice between fighting the virus and protecting privacy

Euractiv, here

Facebook ändert Pläne für Libra

FAZ, hier

A Post-COVID-19 Digital Bretton Woods

R. Medhora, T. Owen, here

CMA provisionally clears Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo

CMA, here. Decision here

Lecturers condemn Durham University's plan to shift degrees online

The Guardian, here

Widerstandsfähiger durch mehr Technik!

Digitec, Podcast hier.

An Investigation Into PEPP-PT

N. Kobeissi, here

Ola opens its tech platform to Indian government to combat coronavirus crisis #BigTrackTech

TechCrunch, here

Les réseaux comme bien commun

S. Soriano, ici

Immuni: Ordinanza relativa alla stipula del contratto

Qui.

Guidance on Apps supporting the fight against COVID 19 pandemic in relation to data protection

EC, here

Principles for Technology-Assisted Contact-Tracing

ACLU, here

National Artificial Intelligence Strategies and Human Rights: A Review

Global Partners Digital, here

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Antitrust Remedies and Dynamic Industries

P. Weiser, Zoom recording here (pw T4?!?=#c ) 

Facebook-Backed Libra Cryptocurrency Project Is Scaled Back

NYTimes, hier.
libra White Paper • v2.0 • From the Libra Association Members, here

COMMISSION CRACKS DOWN ON EXCESSIVE PRICING

CC, here

Institutional Design Issues and Policy Challenges

M. Berry, here (home made pdf here). 

Innovation Considerations in Horizontal Merger Control

I. Kokkoris, T. Valletti, here

Our Beloved EU Queen: "I think that it is very, very important that we're vigilant"

Bloomberg, here

Mobile applications to support contact tracing in the EU’s fight against COVID-19

EU eHealth Network, here

The Impact of Unfair Commercial Practices on Competition in the EU Passenger Transport Sector, in particular Air Transport

Study for the EP, here

Berliner Datenschutzaufsicht: Stellungnahme und Checkliste zum Datenschutz bei Videokonferenzen

Reuschlaw, hier

Ordoliberalism 2.0: Towards a New Regulatory Policy for the Information Age

M. Wörsdörfer, here.

(I actually forgot how viscerally ordoliberal I'm) ⇒ the 4th Chapter is so refreshing.

AI Breakfasts: Covid-19 - Myths and realities of tracking applications

Now, here

First #AntitrustTeaBreak


Thibault's paper here.
Zoom's invite here.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

🦠 digcomp silver linings

Interoperability between OSs           ✅

Android forking issues                     ✅

Murky Amazon's dual role               ✅ (F)

App stores' regulatory oversight      ✅

When Google and Apple get privacy right, is there still something wrong?

T. Sharon, here

DATENTEILUNG & DATENZUGANG – WELCHE LÖSUNGEN BRAUCHEN WIR?

DatenDialog mit Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, am 16. April 2020 von 16:00 - 17:00 Uhr, hier

GSK and Sanofi join forces to work on coronavirus vaccine

The Guardian, here

Apple & Google Partner to Promote Coronavirus Contact Tracing. Should You be Worried?

The Radical AI Podcast, here (from 4:25).
The quoted "Long tail of contact tracing" here

Will the Pandemic Usher in an Era of Mass Surveillance in Higher Education?

Chronicle, here

THE STATE OF ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT AND COMPETITION POLICY IN THE U.S.

AAI, here. 

Letter concerning the European Commission's draft Guidance on apps supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic

EDPB, here

Proceeding against Sky and DAZN discontinued – Award procedure relating to Champions League broadcasting rights

Corona Dump "Valley of Ashes" (Great Gatsby)
Bundeskartellamt, hier

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

JOINT ANTITRUST STATEMENT REGARDING COVID-19 AND COMPETITION IN LABOR MARKETS

FTC, DOJ, here

Europe Must Take Urgent Copyright Law Action To Support Distance Learning & Research During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Liber, here

Amazon condamné à ne plus livrer que les produits alimentaires, médicaux et d’hygiène

Le Parisien, ici

Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats are sued over restaurant prices amid pandemic

Reuters, here

Wie weit dürfen Wettbewerber in der Krise kooperieren? – Kartellamtschef warnt vor Preisabsprachen

Handelsblatt, hier.

Will Google’s and Apple’s COVID Tracking Plan Protect Privacy?

J. Angwin, here

Payment aspects of financial inclusion in the fintech era

BIS, World Bank Group, here

Web of Things ist offizieller W3C-Standard

Heise.de, hier

Datenschutz-Folgenabschätzung für die Corona-App

FIfF, hier

Libra: A Concentrate of "Blockchain Antitrust"

T. Schrepel, here

There will be no 'back to normal'

Nesta, here

A letter to Prime Minister Rutte & Co on COVID-19 tracking- and tracing app and healt happ

Here

Give more data, awareness and control to individual citizens, and they will help COVID-19 containment

M. Nanni et al., here

Wednesday, April 08, 2020

The Pandemic Feeds Tech Companies’ Power

NYTimes, here.

Competition during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

ICN, here

Answering 8 Privacy Questions About SafeTrace

Enigma, here

Privacy Cannot Be a Casualty of the Coronavirus

NYTimes Editorial Board, here. 

In many ways, we [in the US] have the worst of all possible worlds

S. Waller, here

Uso delle nuove tecnologie e della rete per contrastare l'emergenza epidemiologica da Coronavirus

Garante per la protezione dei dati personali , qui

Europäische Corona-Warn-App soll in zehn Tagen fertig sein

Der Spiegel, hier

Coronavirus and the Future of Surveillance

Foreign Affairs, here

THE VACCINE RACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

A. Santos Rutschman, here

Corona-Datenspende App: Datenschutzrechtliche Bedenken

EP Mitglied, hier.

Bank of England Discussion Paper on Central Bank Digital Currency

Bank of England, Webinar video here

Alipay offers boost to Covid-19-hit Wuhan merchants

FinExtra, here

Comment penser l’alternative au capitalisme de plateforme dans une logique de réencastrement polanyien ?

L. Aufrère et al. ici

Generic drugmakers win EU okay to cooperate in coronavirus fight

Reuters, here

Fair data economy standardisation is proceeding

Sitra, here

Intellectual Property Justification for Artificial Intelligence

R. Hilty, J. Hoffmann, S. Scheuerer, here

Lax Antitrust Enforcement Has Made America’s Medical Supply Shortages So Much Worse

Slate, here

Competition and Risk

D. Bloomfield, here

How Tech’s Lobbyists Are Using the Pandemic to Make Gains

NYTimes, here

Open letter asking 37 WTO Members to declare themselves eligible to import medicines manufactured under compulsory license in another country, under 31bis of TRIPS Agreement

KEIOnline, here

Sabre wins court fight with Justice Dept over Farelogix acquisition

Reuters, here.
Decision here.

ABA Antitrust: Virtual Spring Meeting 💗

Here

Commission Recommendation on a common Union toolbox for the use of technology and data to combat and exit from the COVID-19 crisis

EC, here

Guidance on allowing limited cooperation among businesses during the coronavirus outbreak

EC, here.
The comfort letter's blessed recipient, here

Responses to the CMA interim report

Here

Monday, April 06, 2020

Antitrust review at the FTC: staying the course during uncertain times

FTC, here

Patents Cannot Impede Canada’s Response to COVID-19 Crisis

CIGI, here

10 requirements for the evaluation of "Contact Tracing" apps

CCC, here

How Dutch activists got an invasive fraud detection algorithm banned

AlgorithmWatch, here

Gurry COVID Letter

Here

LEAK: EU in push for digital transformation after COVID-19 crisis

Euractiv, here

Here are the side projects fintechs are launching to ease strain of coronavirus

Altfi, here

La libre competencia y la peste

F. Irarrázabal, here

COVID-19 – implications for consumers and BEUC recommendations for policy responses

BEUC, here

EU Digital Solidarity: a call for a pan-European approach against the pandemic

EDPS, Video here

EU focuses antitrust probe on Facebook’s online classifieds service

FT, here

South Africa: TRIBUNAL DIRECTIVE FOR COVID-19 EXCESSIVE PRICING COMPLAINT REFERRALS

If we don’t protect small businesses during and after the pandemic, corporate America will swallow them whole

Business Insider, here

POWER: Trust and Distrust

E. Fox, here

Feds ramp up probe of $2.1B Google-Fitbit deal amid privacy worries

New York Post, here

Business Review Letter Under Expedited Procedure for COVID-19 Pandemic Response

DOJ, here.

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Hilfe…ist „Zoom“ etwa eine Datenschleuder?

Datenschutz Guru, hier

Covid-19: What has Open Banking (ever) Done for "Us"?

Here

Amazon Pushes Into Making Video Games, Not Just Streaming Their Play

NYTimes, here

Evaluating COVID-19 contact tracing apps? Here are 8 privacy questions we think you should ask.

Computational Privacy Group, here

Re-Engineering Humanity in the 21st Century

B. Frischmann, TEDx here

Covid-19 Changed How the World Does Science, Together

NYTimes, here

The GDPR from a different perspective

M. Gal & O. Aviv, Zoom recording here.

Paper here.

Apple Lets Some Video Apps Sell Shows Without Taking 30% Cut

Bloomberg, here

Data and Competition: a General Framework with Applications to Mergers, Market Structure, and Privacy Policy

A. de Cornière, G. Taylor, here.
And at 3 pm Trento Time on Zoom, here.

The Doctrine of Exhaustion in Limbo - Critical Remarks on the CJEU’s Tom Kabinet Ruling

P. Mezei, here

Mergers in the Digital Economy

A. Gautier, J. Lamesch, here

From Principles to Practice>An interdisciplinary framework to operationalise AI ethics

AIEI Group, here