Ben Thompson’s “Stratechery”

 T. Wu, here. 

Killed by Google

 Here. 

Google’s Italian antitrust probe will test European approach to data

 mlex, here. 

Big Tech Continues Its Surge Ahead of the Rest of the Economy

 The New York Times, here. 

Automating Society Report 2020

 

AlgorithmWatch, here. 

Algorithms and democracy

 M. Vestager, here. 

noyb as a qualified entity under the collective action scheme of the Belgian Code of Economic Law

 Here. 

EU-Kommissar Hahn: Open-Source-Strategie ist ein Zeichen für Digitalen Wandel

 Heise.de, hier. 

Breaking up Google ain’t so hard to do

 I. Brown, here. 

Apple hit with antitrust complaint in France over privacy controls

 FT, here. 

IPEN 2020 Contact Tracing Apps webinar

 EDPS, here. 

Wettbewerbsverfahren gegen Amazon (und Apple)

 FAZ, hier. 

Building trust in technology

 M. Vestager, here. 

Better late than never: The Italian Competition Authority is investigating Google's AdTech

On October 28, the Italian Competition Authority announced that an investigation of Google’s core business - display advertising - is underway. The Authority claims that Google practices prevent rivals from competing effectively and affect consumers negatively.

For this reason, the Italian Competition Authority opened an investigation against Google for an alleged abuse of dominant position. The undertaking, controlled by Alphabet Inc, might have violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union with regard to the availability and use of data for the design of display advertising campaigns, i.e. the space that publishers and website owners make available for the display of advertising content.

The decision comes in a context in which Google is one of the most prominent players in both search advertising and digital display advertising. Moreover, Google is well established in the ad tech stack, capturing over 50% of the market that in 2019, in Italy was valued more than 3.3 billion euros. Unsurprisingly, Google has already had the pleasure of meeting other competition authorities around the world. Lately, in March 2019, the European Commission decided to fine Google € 1.49 billion for abusing its dominant position in the market of online search advertising by restricting users to see Google’s rivals search ads. 

Now, under the lens of the Italian Competition authority there is Google’s display advertising. We are all used to the ads that fill up websites and the feed on social networks. But let’s dig deeper: what is display advertising? The OECD describes it as the text, images, or videos that appear on our screen, be it in advertising boxes or banner ad. What makes this form of advertising so valuable is, basically, us. In terms of user data at least: data concerning the identity of the consumer visiting a website is particularly important for targeting digital display advertising, which cannot rely on user inputs in the same way as search advertising.

Two types of technology have raised the concerns of the Italian competition authority, e.g. the decryption keys of Google ID and the use of pixels. Pixels are small, almost invisible graphics that embed a piece of code that is loaded when a user visits a webpage or opens an email used often by businesses for third party tracking. Actually, what is wrong is not the technology to track user data itself - but the fact that Google is excluding its competitors to access (and benefit from) this data and technologies that enhance the process of targeting ads. Allegedly, Google has engaged in internal-external discrimination by refusing to provide the decryption keys of the Google ID and in excluding the possibility of tracking third-party pixels.

In short, the investigation of the Italian Competition Authority highly emphasizes the role of user data, technology, and the choices of Google regarding these tech. However, our concern as users in the first place, also regards our privacy as consumers. Secondly, the power gained by Google in the digital advertising market through data gathering and the tying of its services and products has created a scenario that favours targeted and invasive advertising with contents - while it is questionable whether or not this adds to the welfare of consumers. Indeed, the problem is not only how much data is being gathered or displayed but also the way these processes are actually taking place.

After all, are we really aware of how much information we disclose? And even if the answer is yes, are we aware of how our data contributes to the value-creating process of tech molochs - Google in the first place? The figures on the profits of Google and the other big-tech giants speak for themselves. But... Do users still enjoy a piece of the cake?

(Alvise, Gianluca, Julia, Lorenzo, Giulia and Daniel - UniTrento Master Students)

German watchdog launches new investigation into Amazon: report

 Reuters, here. 

French advertising organizations lodge complaint with competition regulator over Apple privacy changes

Digiday, here.  

Google’s display advertising business is under antitrust probe in Italy

 TechCrunch, here. 

Investigation opened against Google for an alleged abuse of dominant position in the Italian market for display advertising

 

Italian Competition Authority (!), here. 

Provvedimento qui.

Addictive Social Media: Why We Need Regulation and Competition for Digital Platforms

 ProMarket, here. 

Technology and Democracy

 JRC, here. 

Julian Nowag will be "previewing" his excellent OECD Competition and Sustainability Report to my Students next Friday: Join us if interested (the more the merrier, says Julian - and I agree)

9.30am CET, Julian's Report here (email me for the Zoom details simonetta.vezzoso@unitn.it)

Virtual Debate: Interoperability and the EU Digital Markets Act

 Join us, here.

Apple develops alternative to Google search

 Financial Times, here. 

Merkel drängt Autokonzerne: BMW, Daimler und VW sollen Datenschatz teilen

 Handelsblatt, hier (und hier). 

EU vs Big Tech: Leaked Enforcement Plans and the Dutch-French Counterproposal

 EFF, here. 

Epic claims App Store contract illegal; Facebook Gaming says Apple ‘frustrating’

 9to5mac, here. 

PlayStation : l’Autorité estime que les engagements proposés par Sony ne répondent pas de façon pertinente aux préoccupations de concurrence identifiées. Le dossier est renvoyé à l’instruction.

Adlc, ici. 

Big Tech Comes for Podcasts

 G. Gedye, here. 

Google’s Guardians

 D. Dayen, here. 

How the Digital Services Act can hold online marketplaces to account

 BEUC, here. 

Facebook launches cloud games but says Apple won’t allow it on iOS

 CNBC, here. 

Uber sued for using ‘biased’ customer ratings to fire drivers

Bloomberg, here. 

Facing Decisions

 A. Danni, here. 

Four Steps to Rein in Big Tech

 M. Rafi Atal, here. 

And, even juicier, here. 

Open Letter to European Commission: Request for Trilateral Meeting among Google, the EC, and Alternative Search Engines to Improve Search Preference Menu

DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Lilo, Qwant, Seznam, here. 

Investigation into data protection compliance in the direct marketing data broking sector

 ICO, here. 

Data as Property?

 S. Viljoen, here. 

Got a problem with trust in AI? Just add blockchain, Forrester urges. Then bust out the holographic meetings. Welcome to the future

 The Register, here. 

Using Market Studies to Tackle Emerging Competition Issues

 OECD, Background Note, here. 

Sustainability & Competition Law and Policy

 J. Nowag for the OECD, here. 

Julian will be discussing it with us @unitrento on Oct. 30 at 9:30AM (email me if you'd like to join us).

Digital advertising markets – Background note by the Secretariat

OECD Secretariat, Background note here. 

Regulatorischer Export – Wie die europäische Datenschutzgrundverordnung globale Datenmärkte beeinflusst

 M. Batikas et al., hier. 

Why Can’t I Fix My Own Phone, Toaster, or Tractor?

 The Markup, here. 

Building a Law-and-Political-Economy Framework: Beyond the Twentieth-Century Synthesis

J. Britton-Purdy et al., here.  

A deeply flawed lawsuit that would do nothing to help consumers

 Google, here. 

Apple Will Remove Fan App That Allowed Stadia Streaming on iOS

 Vice, here. 

A First Look at U.S. v. Google

 R. Picker, here. 

Erste Ergebnisse einer Konsultation gewerblicher Plattform-Kunden veröffentlicht

 Bundesnetzagentur, hier. 

PayPal is shilling crypto on the internet

 FT, here. 

Ex-Googler Meredith Whittaker on Political Power in Tech, the Flaws of ‘The Social Dilemma,’ and More

 OneZero, here. 

Gouvernance et régulation des données

Conseil d’État, ici. 

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE STRATEGY 2020 – 2023 Think Open

 EC, Communication here. 

The Justice Dept.’s Lawsuit Against Google: Too Little, Too Late

 K. Swisher, here. 

Wilson Parking agrees sell building leases, pay costs after investigation

 RNZ, here. 

European Networking and Training for National Competition Enforcers ENTraNCE for Judges 2019

 EUI, here. 

A US antitrust suit might break up Google. Good – it's the Standard Oil of our day

 The Guardian, here. 

As EU Starts To Draft Its Most Important New Online Law, The Digital Services Act, MEPs Want Basic Rights High On The Agenda

TechCrunch, here.  

Google's defense against antitrust lawsuit? You

 CNN, here. 

SOUVERAINETE EUROPEENNE - Un chemin semé d’embûches

 AGEFI, ici. 

The Google Case An Explanation and Evaluation for Non-Lawyers

 T. Wu, here. 

Artificial intelligence and the antitrust case against Google

 VentureBeat, here. 

Deep fake: il Garante privacy apre un’istruttoria nei confronti di Telegram per il software che "spoglia" le donne

 GPDP, qui. 

Helen Dixon backs data codes of conduct in life sciences

Out-Law, here. 

DOJ (and 11 -?- States) v. Google

 Complaint here. Official DoJ's announcement here.  Statement of the Attorney General on the Announcement Of Civil Antitrust Lawsuit Filed Against Google, here. 

Data Governance as a Collective Action Problem

 O. Benfeldt, here. 

If Facebook and Google limit services in Australia, could the ABC run a social network?

 The Guardian, here. 

Herover je data

 VPRO.nl, hier. 

From 6:30, 13:00 for a lively discussion if you want to show some of it to your non-Dutch speaking Students. 

35:02 comes Gaia-X (what else?).

Streamr partner with GSMA to deliver Data Unions to the mobile sector

 Streamr, here. 

KALEIDOSCOPIC DATA-RELATED ENFORCEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AGE

 S. Yakovleva, here. 

Data Protection or Data Frustration? Individual perceptions and attitudes towards the GDPR

 J. Strycharz et al., here.

Hoe werkt de platformeconomie?

 SER, hier. 

An EU framework for artificial intelligence

 EPRS, here. 

The Gig Economy and Covid-19: Looking Ahead

 Fair Work, here. 

Why Facebook and Google Face the Most Risk in an Overhaul of Antitrust Law

 Barrons, here. 

Building Community Network Policies: A Collaborative Governance towards Enabling Frameworks

 L. Belli et al., here. 

Progress can no longer be measured by growth in GDP

 The 😍 D. Coyle, here. 

Webinar @Echelle : Évolution du droit de la concurrence allemand : pour un droit de la concurrence 4.0 proactif et axé sur le digital

 Webinar @Echelle  (4 novembre), ici. 

IAB Europe’s ad tracking consent framework found to fail GDPR standard

 TechCrunch, here. 

GDPR watchdog’s investigation finds that tracking and consent pop-ups used by Google and other major websites and apps are unlawful.

 Irish Council for Civil Liberties, here. 

How AI is powering [a more helpful] Google

 Google, here. 

Duplex is getting smarter and making life a little easier

 Google, here. 

Privileging Consolidation and Proscribing Cooperation: The Perversity of Contemporary Antitrust Law

 S. Vaheesan, here. 

EU shoots for €10B ‘industrial cloud’ to rival US

 Politico.eu, here. 

EU antitrust deadline for Google, Fitbit deal extended to Jan. 8

 Reuters, here. 

Instagram to tackle hidden advertising after CMA action

 CMA, here.  The details of FB's undertakings, here. 

Bill Gates says that antitrust regulators should look at tech companies separately, not all at once

 CNBC, here. 

To Solve COVID-19, We Need to See It for What It Is: A Configuration Crisis

 L. Fennell, here. 

CONSUMER AND CITIZEN GROUPS CONTINUE TO HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT GOOGLE FITBIT TAKEOVER

 Here. 

Europe wants ‘strategic autonomy’ — it just has to decide what that means

 Politico.eu, here. 

Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself

 The NewYorker, here. 

British Airways: Penalty Notice

ICO, here. 

App Marketplace Battlemap

 

LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS FOR DIGITAL ASSETS

 J. Allen et al., here. 

Data Sovereignty, You Ask

 

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

E. Judson, J. Smith, here.  

Barbed wire on the Internet prairie: against new enclosures, digital commons as drivers of sovereignty

 France Diplomacy, here. 

How to Stop Google Self-Preferencing? Europe May Not Be the Model

 The MarkUp, here 

Google Cloud promises it won’t pry into customer data

 VentureBeat, here. 

Zoom will start letting people host online events with paid admission

 CNBC, here. 

Considerations of France and the Netherlands regarding intervention on platforms with a gatekeeper position

 Here. 

Per i lobbisti del big tech il paradiso è in Italia

 Domani, qui. 

Platform Competition: A Systematic and Interdisciplinary Review of the Literature

 J. Rietveld, M. Schilling, here. 

The digital payment revolution

 Bank of France, here. 

Anonymisierung und Pseudonymisierung von Daten für Projekte des maschinellen Lernens

 Bitkom, hier. 

Amazon's Latest Gimmicks Are Pushing the Limits of Privacy

 Wired, here. 

Data protection and coronavirus: Case studies

 ICO, here. 

BigTech Firms in Finance in Emerging Market and Developing Economies

 FSB, here. 

Google v. Oracle and the search for an analogy

 M. Risch, here. 

The Lawless Realm

 M. Schaake, here. 

A ticking time bomb: The real and present danger of the data economy

 With C. Véliz, here (and here)

Press Publishers’ Right: the Court of Appeal of Paris upholds the Competition Authority’s order for Google to negotiate with the publishers

 B. Spitz, here. 

Dear Google: We Agree Search Competition Should Be "Only 1 Click Away" – So Why Is It 15+ on Android?

 DuckDuckGo, here. 

Future Market Dynamics Part 2 - Big Tech and data disruption

 FCA, here. 

No rivalry between public and private digital currency solutions – European Commission

 Finextra, here. 

EU Foreign Investment Screening Regulation takes effect: a high-level review of regimes across Europe

 Clifford Chance, here. 

What Will Drive Long-Run Growth in the Digital Age?

J. Growiec, here.  

The Big Tech antitrust report has one big conclusion: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are anti-competitive

 Vox, here. 

Abuse of Dominance in Digital Markets

 OECD, here. 

EU antitrust regulators may narrow Amazon investigation - sources

 Reuters, here. 

Facebook's Libra must not start until properly regulated - G7 draft

 Reuters, here. 

Emerging models of data governance in the age of datafication

 M. Micheli et al., here. 

Competition policy and the Green Deal: Call for Contributions 💓

EC, here. 

A Note about Spotify Transfers

 

SongShift, here. 

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS TO FIGHT COVID-19

 Council of Europe, here. 

YouTube testet Integration von Online-Shopping-Funktionen

 Heise Online, hier. 

Brussels eyes bigger stick to take on Big Tech

 Politico.eu, here. 

Digital transformation of Europe: State of Play

 Fireside chat with the Margrethe Vestager, here  and now.

Auguri!

 

Congress made a lousy case for breaking up Big Tech

 PPI, here.

EU automotive sector – exemption from antitrust rules (review)

 EC, here  (here the pdf of the questionnaire).

Lobbying and transparency: What Twitter can do...

 

Demystifying the Role of Data Interoperability in the Access and Sharing Debate

 J. Hoffmann, B. Gonzales Otero, here. 

Google should have picked Microsoft’s app store principles over Apple’s

 Venture Beat, here. 

CNIL observations on the US-accessible Health Data Hub

 I. Brown, here. 

Epic loses court bid to force Apple to reinstate Fortnite in the App Store

 Venture Beat, here. 

Google faces new antitrust case in India over abuse in smart TVs market

 Reuters, here. 

Google’s (Non-) Compliance with the EU Shopping Decision

 T. Hoppner, here. 

Frequently asked questions on Regulation (EU) 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union

 EC, here. 

BEREC Response to the Public Consultations on the Digital Services Act Package and the New Competition Tool

 Here.

We came to Fordham and we listened. And learned.

 M. Vestager, here. 

How to Make AI More Humane

 Oliver Wyman Forum, here. 

Capitalism Is Broken. The Fix Begins With a Free Covid-19 Vaccine.

 M. Mazzucato, here. 

Voedselmonitor geeft eerste inzicht in prijsvorming en belemmeringen voor biologische productie

 ACM, hier. 

Höchste Zeit für eine zukunftsfähige Datenstrategie

I. Bertschek, hier. 

Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumers

 CEPR, here. 

The Interchange Fees Regulation in a rapidly evolving payment landscape

 EC, here. 

Big Tech’s Big Competition Problem: Analyzing the House Judiciary Antitrust Report

 Panel organized by Public Knowledge, here. 

10 app store principles to promote choice, fairness and innovation

Microsoft, here.  

Google Assistant gets deeper app integrations as voice assistant usage skyrockets

 Venture Beat, here. 

Digital Markets: using our existing tools and emerging thoughts on a new regime

 A. Coscelli, here. 

Health Data Hub : Cédric O prévoit de quitter Microsoft pour un prestataire français

 Numérama, ici. 

Theorising and mapping modern economic rents

 M. Mazzucato, J. Ryan-Collins, G. Gouzoulis, here. 

CLIMATE LAWSUIT AGAINST DUTCH STATE ON KLM BAILOUT

 Greenpeace, here. 

NCT Public Consultation

• 188 stakeholders' replies, here (apparently, but I couldn't find them); 
• more Contributions here; 
• 27 pp. Factual summary of the contributions received, here; 
• 13 pp. Summary of NCAs' Contributions, here;
• Experts' Reports
  - 63 pp. Motta/Peitz, here; 
  - 41 pp. Larouche/de Streel, here; 
  - 57-pp. Schweitzer, here; 
  - 68 pp. Whish, here;
  - XX EAGCP 

TOTAL for now: 269 pp.

Digital-Services-Act: So will die EU die Macht der Tech-Konzerne brechen

 T3n.de, hier. 

What is a digital gatekeeper?

 D. Geradin, here.

Sektoruntersuchung Nutzerbewertungen - Abschlussbericht

 Bundeskartellamt, hier.

The global semiconductor value chain

 SNV, here.

Naver faces 26.7 bln-won fine, accused of manipulating algorithms

 Yonhap News, here.

Paytm, other Indian startups vow to fight 'big daddy' Google's clout: sources

 Reuters, here. 

Ruling by EU’s highest court finds that UK, French and Belgian mass surveillance regimes must respect privacy, even in the context of national security

 Privacy International, here. 

Digital platforms’ boundaries: The interplay of firm scope, platform sides, and digital interfaces

 A. Gawer, here.

Regulating digital finance: At a Glance

 EPRS, here.

REPORT on intellectual property rights for the development of artificial intelligence technologies

 EP, here.

House: Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google have “monopoly power,” should be split

 ArsTechnica, here.

The Economics of Platforms: A Theory Guide for Competition Policy

 B. Jullien, W. Sand-Zantman, here.

Cour d'Appel de Paris: Google News

 Ici.

Google v. Oracle America Oral Argument

Here. Transcript of the oral argument, here.

House Antitrust Subcommittee report

 Here.

A sustainable future for European industry

 M. Vestager, here. 

Data institutions: reducing costs and improving sustainability

 ODI, here. 

Message to Enrolled Students (MIM)

Tomorrow, Tuesday 6 October at 5.30 PM, I'll record an International Competition Law catch up class  (MIM) that I'll then make available to enrolled Students. If you wish to participate in the recording, please go to Moodle to find the Zoom invite for tomorrow- dreading being all alone in the Zoom Classroom and looking forward to your inspiring questions! Today's slides here and also on Moodle!

Off-topic (?): Mose saves Venice

 

Offene Märkte und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften – Gemeinwohlziele als Herausforderung für die Kartellrechtspraxis

 Bundeskartellamt, hier. 

The Marsden/Podszun Report: Restoring Balance to Digital Competition – Sensible Rules, Effective Enforcement

 

P. Marsden, R. Podszun, here; trailer here. 

Wearable tech makers ramp up opposition to Google’s $2.1bn Fitbit deal

FT, here.  

CONFERENCE DEBRIEFING (21/22): SUSTAINABILITY, PLATFORMS

 D'Kart, here. 

Google’s Epic response: Android 12 will make it easier to install app stores

 VentureBeat, here. 

SHAPING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE

 EC DG DNCT, here. 

Common Shareholding in Europe

 JRC, here.

Tactical Leak: List of (potentially) unfair practices (DSA)

 Who knows (from politico.eu), here (and OCR'd here - H/T @1Br0wn)

Consumer Data Right Rules amended to include intermediaries

 ACCC, here. 

DATA SHARING FOR DIGITAL MARKETS CONTESTABILITY

 CERRE, here. 

Google to pay out $1B to publishers to license content for new Google News Showcase

 TechCrunch, here. 

Report on a digital euro

 ECB, here. 

Cookies et autres traceurs : la CNIL publie des lignes directrices modificatives et sa recommandation

 CNIL, ici. 

Blockchain as a cult, Ant Group edition

 FT, here. 

An Alternative to Data Ownership: Managing Access to Non-Personal Data through the Commons

 T. Fia, here. 

Essential Platforms

 N. Guggenberger, here ( and accompanying video here). 

First firms to begin move to new data collection platform, RegData

 FCA, here. 

Digital services act: European added value assessment

 EPRS, here. 

New legal challenges of big data

 

J. Cannataci, V. Falce and O. Pollicino, here. 

Facebook's "reviews" the Social Dilemma

 Here.