What's in the water in Germany?

Competition Lore, with C. Beaton Wells and R. Podzun, Podcast here.

(Recorded before the Bundeskartellamt's Amazon investigation).

Our data-driven future in healthcare

The Academy of Medical Sciences, here. 

The complaint, and what comes next

Brave (@johnnyryan), here. 

Misguided ‘consumer welfare’ standard is hampering antitrust enforcement

FT, here. 

Comparison Guide: GDPR vs. CCPA

FPF, here.

An Amazon revolt could be brewing as the tech giant exerts more control over brands

Recode, here,.

Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Shire by Takeda, subject to conditions

EC, here.

On fair markets and gender equality

M. Vestager, here.

Facebook staff discussed selling API access to apps in 2012-2014

TechCrunch, here.

Can FTC consent orders effectively police privacy?

Iapp, here.

Einleitung eines Missbrauchsverfahrens gegen Amazon

Bundeskartellamt, hier.

Amazon Under Fire in Europe as Germany Adds Antitrust Probe

Bloomberg, here.

Didi Chuxing ‘lost control’ of safety, Chinese government says

FT, here.

Joint industry letter on the ePrivacy Regulation

Here.

#moretechnologicalapproach

@ashk4n

Former FTC official says Facebook representative made false statements to international leaders about how the company handles personal data

CNBC, here. 

COMPETITION LAW AND STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES: ENFORCEMENT

D. Healey, here. 

Zero-price markets: Updating the Analytical Toolkit

M. Botta, Presentation here.

1. 1. COMPETITION POLICY IN ZERO-PRICE MARKETS UPDATING THE ANALYTICAL TOOLKIT MARCO BOTTA Joint meeting of the OECD Competition and Consumer Policy Committees Paris, 28th November 2018 Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition | Munich
2. 2. Outline 2 • Updating the competition analytical tools: 1) Relevant market. 2) Market power. 3) Anti-competitive conducts. 4) Potential remedies. • Conclusions – questions for further debate. 
3. 3. Limits of the SSNIP test 3 • The relevant market is traditionally defined via the SSNIP test. • Problem: what is “small, but significant price increase” in a zero-price market? • ‘Free effect’ : when the reference price is zero, consumers will automatically switch to any competing product in case of price increase ➢ excessively broad definition of the relevant market. • Multi-sided markets: SSNIP test will limit market definition to one side of the market. 
4. 4. Alternative tools to define therelevant market 4 • Alternative tools follow a similar logic as the SSNIP test: 1) SSNIC (i.e. increase consumers’ costs): + data / attention ➢ + consumers’ costs. 2) SSNDQ (i.e. decline product quality): + data / attention ➢ - product quality. • Limits of the alternative tools in zero-price markets: 1) Quantification: +5% amount of personal data / attention? 2) Heterogeneous consumers’ preferences: what type of data/attention should we take into consideration? 3) Positive effects: + data transferred can increase the product quality. 4) SSNIC and SSDQ do NOT catch multi-sided markets. 
5. 5. Market power in zero-price markets 5 • Market power within the relevant market: element to trigger enforcement of competition policy (e.g. unilateral conducts, merger control, vertical agreements). • Traditional definition of market power: ability of the firm to raise prices above the competitive level. • ‘Free effect’ : in zero-price markets firms can never raise prices above 0 ➢ consumers would always switch to other products = NO firm has market power. • The market share has limited relevance to assess market power in zero- price markets. 
6. 6. Factors to estimate market power in zero-price markets 6 • A number of factors can be assessed to estimate the degree of market power in zero-price markets: 1) Attention degree: users’ attention on the Internet is a ‘scarce’ resource. 2) Direct and indirect network effects: number of users; product quality. 3) Multi-homing and switching costs. 4) Access to data ➢ possibility to purchase data from third parties. 5) Sunk investment costs. 6) Degree of innovation: a) Relevance of innovation in the market; b) Evidence of past radical innovations; c) Evidence of past entry. 
7. 7. Updating anti-competitive conducts 7 • Assessment of anti-competitive conducts based on ‘price’ should be revised in zero-price markets. • Cartels fixing the price at zero: shift from a per se prohibition to an effect analysis. • Predatory pricing ➢ what is ‘predatory’ in a zero-price market? 1) Fallacies in accordance with the current legal standards: a) EU: presumption of predation when prices are below average marginal costs. b) USA: requirement of likely recoupment in the same market. 2) Recoupment requirement should be always required, BUT extended to other ‘sides’ of the market. 
8. 8. Updating anti-competitive conducts 8 • Exploitative conducts in zero-price markets (EU): 1) Excessive pricing (i.e. asking ‘too much data’) ➢ NOT relevant. 2) Discriminatory pricing ➢ NOT relevant. 3) Unfair contractual clauses: relevant in zero-price markets a) Clauses ‘unilaterally’ imposed by the dominant firms (e.g. social network unilaterally modified the data protection terms). b) ’Unfair’: clauses ‘un-related’ to the product, and outside the ordinary commercial business practices (e.g. users’ data are transferred to third parties without the user’s consent). c) Relationship with consumer and data protection law: open question. 
9. 9. Competition law remedies in zero-price markets 9 • Zero-price markets pose new challenges to the application of the traditional antitrust toolkit ➢ infringement decision + fine is NOT an effective remedy. • Structural v. behavioural remedies: 1) Structural remedies (e.g. un-bundling; divestiture of a subsidiary): NOT efficient ➢ negative effect on direct network effects and product quality. 2) Behavioural remedies: the NCA ‘guides’ the firm in terms of competition law compliance: a) Tailor-made ➢ designed in cooperation with the firm (i.e. commitments); b) Possible periodic revision ➢ adaptation to the market dynamics. c) Need of monitoring. d) Risk of market regulation ➢ overlap with data protection and consumer law. 
10. 10. Behavioural remedies in zero-price markets 10 • Examples of behavioural remedies in zero-price markets: 1) Increase consumers’ awareness (e.g. increase transparency of the contractual terms; info about the personal data collected); 2) Setting minimum standards of data protection terms (e.g. max. duration of data storage); 3) Giving consumers the opportunity to periodically revise the consent to the processing of their personal data; 4) Right to data portability. 
11. 11. Relationship with sector-regulation 11 • Antitrust remedies can clarify unclear aspects in data/consumer law protection. • Cooperation between NCA and data protection /consumer law authorities: 1) Exchange of information during the investigations; 2) Joint sector-inquiries; 3) Consultation in designing behavioural remedies. • Competition v. consumer / data protection remedies: 1) Advantage: antitrust remedies ensure higher degree of deterrence. 2) Disadvantage: definition relevant market and market power. 
12. 12. Conclusions – questions for further debate 12 • Are SSNIC and SSNDQ effective tools to define the relevant market? • What aspects should be taken into consideration to assess market power in zero-price markets? • How should the assessment of anti-competitive conducts be adjusted to the peculiarities of zero-price markets? • What type of competition law remedies could be introduced in zero-price markets? • What are the possible forms of cooperation between NCAs and sector regulators when it comes to designing the remedies? 
13. 13. 13 Thank you very much for your attention! marco.botta@ip.mpg.de 

The regulation of personalised pricing in the digital era

M. Bourreau and A. de Streel, here. 

In Support of Privacy Engineering

IEEE, here. 

Google CEO Sets Date for House Panel After Senate No-Show

Bloomberg, here. 

‘Principles of the Law Governing the Internet’

Members of the national Parliaments of: the Argentine Republic; the Kingdom of Belgium; the Federative Republic of Brazil; Canada; the French Republic; Ireland; the Republic of Latvia; the Republic of Singapore; and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, here. 

What Facebook Really Doesn’t Want You to Talk About

Bloomberg, here. 

Britain may block Experian-ClearScore credit data merger

Reuters, here.

PSD2 sparks rise in UK reported tech and cyber incidents

Out-law.com, here. 

Disinformation and ‘fake news’ (and FB privacy and antitrust)

House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport International Grand Committee, here (both videos and transcripts). 

New Parents Complain Amazon Ads Are Deceptive

WSJ, here and here. 

If You Don’t Think Today’s Tech Giants Are Vicious, Just Ask Venture Capitalists

Pro Market, here. 

On sandboxes, Europe and China

M. Vestager, here.

How Apple hopes to stop a customer lawsuit over its App Store monopoly

Art Technica, here. 

Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple

Stratechery, here. 

Is a zero-price platform (for consumers) also a zero-ban platform (for app developers)?

GDPR complaints against Google’s deceptive practices to track user location

BEUC, here. 

EVERY STEP YOU TAKE: How deceptive design lets Google track users 24/7

Norwegian Consumer Council’s (NCC), here. 
And this video.

Consumer-Lending Discrimination in the Era of FinTech

R. Bartlett, A. Morse, R. Stanton, N. Wallace, here. 

YouTube and the music industry are wrong on copyright

FT, here. 

Google showing zero results again for many time, calculations & conversions search results

Search Engine Land, here. 

Verkehrsminister Andreas Scheuer: Die Massenüberwachung von Autos ist doch kein „Überwachungsstaat“

Netzpolitik, hier. 

Marginally Everywhere

R. Woocock, here. 

Apple v, Pepper

Oral argument transcript, here.

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

Note by the European Union, here.

RECHTE AN DATEN

J. Kühling, F. Sackmann, hier.  S. auch Positionspapier, hier. 

Quality considerations in the zero-price economy

Note by Germany, here and the EU, here.

RGPD : 45 000 Européens ont rejoint un recours collectif contre les géants du web

Numérama, ici.

PayPal / iZettle merger raises competition concerns

CMA, here. 

„Kommission Wettbewerbsrecht 4.0"

Stellungnahme der Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer. hier. 

Brussels launches probe into airline ticket system groups

FT, here. 

Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

TRPC, here.

Why the U.S. Is Beyond the Gilded Age

MSN.com, Video here. 

Why a French ruling against a small mobile ad firm has ad tech on the defensive

Marketing Land, here. 

ICO tells Washington Post it offers invalid cookie consent under GDPR

IAPP, here. 

Wie KI-Forscher sich die nötigen Trainingsdaten verschaffen

Heise.de, hier. 

Glen Weyl: “We need to find ways to organize collectively to exercise our rights online”

LINC, here. 

Superintendência-Geral recomenda arquivamento de investigação contra o Google

CADE, aqui.
Super interesting aqui, aqui, aqui, aqui, aqui e mais aqui. 

Kreditscoring: Urteil aus Finnland wirft Fragen zur Diskriminierung auf

Algorithmwatch.org, hier. 

3D printing and intellectual property futures

T. Birtchnell, A. Daly, T. Rayna and L. Striukova for the UK IPO, here. 

Vectaury: IAB statement and @johnnyryan's comments

Here. 

Das Ende des Bargelds – bald auch in Deutschland?

Handelsblatt, hier. 

How the GDPR will Help Europe Win the Race for AI

Yo-Da, here. 

Best of frenemies? Reflections on privacy and competition four years after the EDPS Preliminary Opinion

C. D'Cunha, here. 

AIRLINES FACE CRACK DOWN ON USE OF ‘EXPLOITATIVE’ ALGORITHM THAT SPLITS UP FAMILIES ON FLIGHTS

Independent, here. 

A study of the implications of advanced digital technologies (including AI systems) for the concept of responsibility within a human rights framework

K. Yeung, here. 

China’s Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn’t Real

Foreign Policy, here. 

Arreglar el desastre de Internet

El Pais, aquì. 

Rule by robots is easy to imagine – we’re already victims of superintelligent firms

The Guardian, here. 

Edward Snowden Explains Blockchain to His Lawyer — and the Rest of Us

ACLU, here. 

NFC im iPhone: Lufthansa erstes bekanntes Unternehmen, das die Schnittstelle nutzt

ComputerBild, hier. 

Sabbiere, Innovazione e Concorrenza: Il Caso Fintech

S. Vezzoso (autrice del blog), qui. Primissima bozza, commenti più che graditi!

INNOVATION POLICIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

OECD, here. 

Geld lenen? Dan worden eerst je social media-accounts gescreend

de Volkskrant, hier, 

Competition Law in the Eurovision Song Contest

P. Marsden, here.

„Die Gefahr besteht, dass wir ein Zwei-Klassen-Internet schaffen“

FAZ, hier. 

You Snooze, You Lose: How Insurers Dodge The Costs Of Popular Sleep Apnea Devices

NPR, here. 

Google Spleen

Ici. 

Competition in (data) privacy: ‘zero’-price markets, market power, and the role of competition law

S.Y. Esayas, here. 

The Norwegian Ski Federation before the EFTA Court

Ruling here, more here. 

Comparison sites cry foul over Google Shopping service

The Register, here, 

Visa, Mastercard offer tourist card fee cut in EU antitrust probe

Reuters, here. 

Update on the German Facebook Case

COMPETITION LAW AND STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

OECD  Secretariat, here. 

Quality considerations in digital zero-price markets

OECD Secretariat, here. 

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

Note by the United Kingdom to the OECD, here. 

How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy

 F. Lützow-Holm Myrstad, TedTalk here.

More about Cayla, here. 

Competition and fairness in a digital society

M. Vestager, here. 

Inside Tech’s “Kill Zone”: How to Deal With the Threat to Edge Innovation Posed by Multi-Sided Platforms

H. Singer, here. 

The dos of data: data trusts

The Economist, Podcast  here (at 08:22).

Algorithmic Price-Setting by Platforms

J. Nowag, here. 

How Facebook’s P.R. Firm Brought Political Trickery to Tech

NyTimes, here. 

Google, our "God"?

Competition Lore with Caron Beaton-Wells and Hal Varian, Podcast here. 

Nielsen/Ebiquity Merger

CMA, Final Report here. 

The war on cash in Belgium and The Netherlands: a state of play on contactless mobile payments

FinExtra, here. 

France is ditching Google to reclaim its online independence

Wired, here. 

Conclusions from the Cryptoassets Taskforce

FCA, here. 

The CNIL’s VECTAURY Decision and the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework

IAB, here. 

Break up Facebook (and while we're at it, Google, Apple and Amazon)

R. Reich, here. 

La CNMC incoa expediente sancionador contra Adidas España por posibles prácticas restrictivas de la competencia

CNMC, aquì.

Open Letter to Commissioner Vestager from 14 European CSSs Re Google Shopping

Here.

Apple reportedly buys AI startup focused on building on-device machine learning software

The Verge, here. 

Data Governance in Connected Cars: The Problem of Access to In-Vehicle Data

W. Kerber, here. 

BIG DATA AND COMPETITION POLICY

A. Claici, here, pp. 423-457.

Personalized Prices in the Digital Economy

J.-J. Ganuza and G. Llobet, here. 

The Economics of the Gig Economy – with an Application to the Spanish Taxi Industry

M. Silos Ribas, here., pp. 305-342.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Book, here.

Beijing to Judge Every Resident Based on Behavior by End of 2020

Bloomberg, here. 

Resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age

UN, here. 

Want Faster Airline Customer Service? Try Tweeting

NYTimes, here. 

Google: Three Thoughts

R. Picker, here. 

La irrupción de las fintech en el sector bancario generará precios más asequibles, según la CNMC

EuropaPress, aquì. 

We Need to Move Beyond Competition Policy

Forbes, here. 

Platform Accountability and Contemporary Competition Law: Practical Considerations

P. Verveer, here. 

How a small French privacy ruling could remake adtech for good

TechCrunch, here.

Un cártel de empresas catalanas encarecía los contratos de la Generalitat a espaldas de la Administración

Cadenaser, aquì. 

State of the Google Shopping auction heading into the 2018 holiday season

Search Engine Land, here. 

Regimes Regulatórios Promotores de Inovação no Setor Financeiro

Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), aqui. 

Visa, AmEx, Mastercard Face Antitrust Charges In Brazil

Pymnts, here. 

China alleges ‘massive’ evidence of chipmaker violations

FT, here. 

Android remedies: tearing down the wall?

Yours very truly, here. 

Stellar new board appointed to lead world-first Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

Gov.uk, here.  See also here. 

Google has a responsibility to protect DeepMind data

FT, here. 

Strength in diversity

M. Vestager, here. 

There is a ‘third way’ for Europe to navigate the digital world

FT, here. 

Datenschutz-Folgenabschätzung zeigt hohe Risiken bei Microsoft Office ProPlus Enterprise

Privacy Company, hier. Video here.

Paula Forteza : « Les citoyens doivent participer à la régulation des plates-formes numériques »

Le Monde, ici. 

How Software Is Helping Big Companies Dominate

J. Bessen, W. Frick, here. 

Microsoft/GitHub

Decision here.

What Are We Learning about Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services?

L. Brainard, here. 

DATA MOBILITY: The personal data portability growth opportunity for the UK economy

Ctrl-Shift for the UK  the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), here. 

Amazon: EC Investigation to Focus on Whether Amazon Uses Data to Develop and Favor Private Label Products

Capital Forum, here. 

ePrivacy-Verordnung (ePVO): Tickende Zeitbombe für Ihr Online-Marketing? – So bereiten Sie sich vor!

PIWIK, hier. 

The intensity of judicial review in complex economic matters—recent competition law judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU

J. L. da Cruz Vilaça, here.

Décision: VECTAURY

CNIL Décision n°MED-2018-042 du 30 octobre 2018, ici.

And this "much older" blog post for some context.

KI als Markenzeichen für Deutschland

Bundesregierung, Presse Mitteilung hier. Bericht hier.

Is technology re-engineering humanity?

The Economist, here. 

Want To See Your Dystopian Future? Look at China

C. O'Neil, here. 

WIPO Conference on the Global Digital Content Market

Videos here. 

Microsoft menaced with GDPR mega-fines in Europe for 'large scale and covert' gathering of people's info via Office

The Register, here.

Apple’s influence is greater than iPhone sales figures suggest

FT, here.

The EU 2018 Draft Directive on UTPs in B2b Food Supply Chains and the Polish 2016 Act on Combating the Unfair Use of Superior Bargaining Power in the Trade in Agricultural and Food Products

A. Piszcz, here.

Private Antitrust Enforcement Without Punitive Damages: A Half-Baked Reform?

C. Massa, here.

The Curse of Bigness by Timothy Wu — why size matters

FT, here. 

UK watchdog has eyes on Google-DeepMind’s health app hand-off

TechCrunch, here. 

Consumer Welfare in Financial Services: A View from EU Competition Law

V. Robertson, here. 

JOURNALISM, ‘FAKE NEWS’ & DISINFORMATION

UNESCO, here. 

Dutch government report says Microsoft Office telemetry collection breaks GDPR

ZdNet, here. 

Google Maps will let you chat with businesses

The Verge, here. 

Emerging Competition, Innovation, and Market Structure Questions Around Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Predictive Analytics

FTC Hearing, Video here. 

Algorithmic Collusion

FTC Hearing, Video here. 

Comments on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy

Submissions to NTIA here. 

FTC Commissioners Find that 1-800 Contacts Unlawfully Harmed Competition in Online Search Advertising Auctions, Restricting the Availability of Truthful Advertising to Consumers

FTC, here. 

WEKO eröffnet Untersuchung gegen Schweizer Finanzinstitute

WEKO, hier. 

AI & Global Governance: No One Should Trust AI

J. Bryson, here. 

How ZTE helps Venezuela create China-style social control

Reuters, here.

Privacy advocates sound the alarm after Google grabs DeepMind UK health app

The Verge, here. 

PFM app Fintonic to fund interest-free deferred payments at Amazon.es

FinExtra, here. 

Allergan Loses Appeal Over Validity of Restasis Patents

Bloomberg, here. 

COMPETITION IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

R Street, here. 

Free flow of data in the EU – a pathway into the cloud

R. Viola, here. 

Google 'betrays patient trust' with DeepMind Health move

The Guardian, here. 

FTC Secures Partial Victory Requiring SEP Holder to License to All Comers in Antitrust Case (Qualcomm)

McDermott Will & Emery, here. 

Market Study on the Impact on Competition of Technological Innovation in The Financial Sector (Fintech)

CNMC, here. 

IP for the Next Generation of Technology

Conference, video here. 

Consumer Choice and Fair Competition on the Digital Single Market in the Areas of Air Transportation and Accommodation

EP, Study here. 

Chrome oder Safari: Welcher Browser schützt unsere Daten?

Handelsblatt, hier. 

Be Afraid of Economic ‘Bigness.’ Be Very Afraid.

T. Wu, here. 

Google, Facebook, and Amazon benefit from an outdated definition of “monopoly”

Quartz, here. 

DPIA DIAGNOSTIC DATA IN MICROSOFT OFFICE PROPLUS

Commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and Security for the benefit of SLM Rijk, here.  

The curse of bigness

Tim Wu, video here. 

Google retreats on controversial 'fake' price comparison site scheme

SkyNews, here. 

The Potential Unintended Consequences of Article 13

YouTube, here. 

Facebook Failed to Police How Its Partners Handled User Data

NYTimes, here. 

CADE; Fintech et al. public hearing

Video aqui.

Who Has the Copyright Over My Cheese?

Brillat-Savarin: Art

NYTimes, here.
CJEU Judgment here. 

How to Regulate Tech Platforms

The American Prospect, here. 

London’s transport regulator looks to startups to help fix urban mobility

TechCrunch, here. 

Apple/Shazam

EC, CASE M.8788, here. 

The law that lets Europeans take back their data from big tech companies

CBSnews, here and video here (from 02:06 - 15:00).

Sustainable and Unchallenged Algorithmic Tacit Collusion

A. Ezrachi, M. Stucke, here. 

„Wir müssen Daten, den Rohstoff für Innovation, breiter streuen“

Handelsblatt, hier. 

Future proofing your bank? Digital transformation and regulatory reform in the financial sector

O. Rehn, here. See also here.

Artificial intelligence and intellectual property: an interview with Francis Gurry

WIPO, here.

Antitrust: Commission seeks feedback on commitments offered by Disney in pay-TV investigation

EC, here. 

La comisaria de Competencia alerta de que el IAJD crea "diferencias" en la competitividad de los bancos españoles respecto a los europeos

Expansión, aquì.

Privacy Group Asks European Regulators To Test GDPR Against Seven Tech Companies

AdExchanger, here. 

Competition Policy Reform in Europe and Germany – Institutional Change in the Light of Digitization

O. Budzinski, A. Stöhr, here. 

Amazon Is Kicking All Unauthorized Apple Refurbishers Off Amazon Marketplace

Motherboard, here. 

Opinions by European Copyright Society in CJEU Cordoba and Cofemel cases

ECS, here and here. 

Facebook quietly launches a TikTok competitor app called Lasso

The Verge, here. 

Changes coming to Google News to help publishers ‘find their sites’

Search Engine Land, here. 

Freigabe des Zusammenschlusses von Karstadt und Kaufhof

Bundeskartellamt, hier. 

The Economics behind Multi-Sided Markets

J. Crémer. here. 

Distributed Ledgers: what is so interesting about them?

G. Danezis, here.

Three Moral Economies of Data

American Interest, here. 

Facebook says, yes, Portal does track your calls, but it really isn't for snooping

USA Today, here.

Amazon lauches Alexa app for Windows 10 PCs

TechCrunch, here.

Résolution sur la propriété sur les données personnelles

AFAPDP, ici.

EC seeks feedback on commitments offered by Disney in pay-TV investigation

EC, here.

Applications mobiles : mises en demeure pour absence de consentement au traitement de données de géolocalisation à des fins de ciblage publicitaire

CNIL, ici.

Policy position on car connectivity

FIA1, here.

Urheberrecht: Ärger im EU-Parlament über verwässerten Schutz für Künstler

Netzpolitik, hier. 

China To Increase Regulation Of Financial Holding Companies

Pymts, here. 

Commission clears the creation of six joint ventures by Daimler and BMW, subject to conditions

EC, here. 

Frank Pasquale: How To Regulate Google, Facebook and Credit Scoring?

F. Pasquale, Video here. 

Tim Berners-Lee launches campaign to save the web from abuse

The Guardian, here. 

EU’s proposed link tax would [still] harm Creative Commons licensors

Creative Commons, here. 

Qualcomm Dealt Setback in FTC Case Alleging Monopoly Abuse

Bloomberg, here. 

On inferred data

Video, 94:40-98:00.

Building a fairer digital world

M. Vestager, here. Video here. 

Threat of Platform-Owner Entry and Complementor Responses: Evidence from the Mobile App Market

W. Wen, F. Zhu, here. 

Big Tech Sets Up a ‘Kill Zone’ for Industry Upstarts

Bloomberg, here. 

Flickr says it won’t delete Creative Commons photos

Flickr, here. 

Solutions for a responsible use of the blockchain in the context of personal data

CNIL, here. 

Europe’s AI ethics chief: No rules yet, please

Politico, here. 

Android developers can now force users to update their apps

TechCrunch, here. 

YouTube-Stars verbreiten gerade massenhaft Panik ums 'Ende von YouTube'

Motherboard, hier, 

Qualcomm must license technology to its rivals, U.S. court rules

Reuters, here. 

MAPPING REGULATORY PROPOSALS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EUROPE

AccessNow, here. 

Our Approach to Competition

FCA, here. 

Smartphone Privacy: How Your Smartphone Tracks Your Entire Life

ElcomSoft, here. 

Schwedischer ISP blockt Elsevier nach Blockieraufforderung

Golem.de, hier. 

Mastercard Protests Payments ‘Nationalism’ In India

Pymnts, here. 

COFECE investiga posibles barreras a la competencia y/o presencia de insumos esenciales en el sistema de pagos con tarjeta

COFEDE, aquì.

GitHub is now officially a part of Microsoft

ArsTechnica, here. 

Commission approves acquisition of sole control over EMI Music Publishing by Sony

EC, here. 

THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION FIVE MONTHS ON

K. Lenaerts, Video here (from 15:55:40).

Platforms and the Sharing Economy

K. Stanoevska-Slabeva, here.

Copyright Office introduces proposal to give consumers right to hack electronics for repairs

The Hill, here. 

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

The Atlantic, here. 

Who owns this AI-generated painting?

TechnoLlama, here. 

Richemont s'allie à Alibaba pour doper ses ventes en ligne en Chine

Les Echos, ici.

Financial Technology: Opportunities and Challenges to Law and Regulation

P. Hodge, here. 

Researchers complain to Brussels over ‘dominant position’ of RELX Group in scientific publishing

ScienceBusiness.net, here. 

Cryptoassets Taskforce: final report

HM Treasury, FCA, Bank of England, here. 

GM’s data mining is just the beginning of the in-car advertising blitz

The Verge, here. 

AI and the Global Economy

Bank of England, here.

Verbrauchergerechtes Scoring

Gutachten des Sachverständigenrats für Verbraucherfragen, hier. 

„Volkswagen hat betrogen und schuldet Schadenersatz“

FAZ, hier. 

Swedes grumbling about Apple Store in their park are lucky – in Toronto, Google eats all your data

The Register, here. 

Vestager on the intersection of data and competition

iapp, here. 

Recent Developments at DG Competition: 2017/2018

A. Amelio et al., here. 

Essential Principles for the Design of Antitrust Analysis for Multisided Platforms

D. Evans, here. 

Federal Circuit: Conference Distribution Still a Printed Publication even if No PHOSITA Attend

Patentlyo, here. 

Dish-HBO Standoff Shows How Trump's Justice Dept. Choked in the AT&T Merger Fight

The Hollywood Reporter, here. 

Competition, Market Power and Third-Party Tracking

A. Ezrachi, V. Robertson, here. 

WHY THE GOOGLE WALKOUT COULD BE A TURNING POINT FOR TECH

Vanity Fair, here.

In FTC Hearings, a Few Bright Spots Amid a Pro-Monopoly Status Quo

ILSR, here.

Goldman Sachs has asked one of its most prominent tech bankers to help infuse itself with that same tech

Recode, here. 

ComparetheMarket home insurance deals could deny people better prices

CMA, here. 

Apple Pay in Deutschland: Apple nennt Banken und Geschäfte

Heise.de, hier.

Our car-free future will be blocked by Comcast tactics

Transit, here. 

Soft ethics, the governance of the digital and the General Data Protection Regulation

L. Floridi, here. 

Google Chrome’s Users Take a Back Seat to Its Bottom Line

EFF, here. 

CMA’s new DaTA unit: exciting opportunities for data scientists

CMA, here. 

Google sets Android security updates rules but enforcement is unclear

Search Security, here. 

Google seemingly preparing Assistant for Europe Android app unbundling w/ Voice Action Services

9to5Google, here and here. 

INOVAÇÕES NO MERCADO DE SERVIÇOS FINANCEIROS: COMO A REGULAÇÃO DAS FINTECHS MODIFICA A COMPETIÇÃO NO MERCADO?

F. Tito, aqui. 

How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’

NYTimes, here.

HOW THREE FRENCH STUDENTS USED BORROWED CODE TO PUT THE FIRST AI PORTRAIT IN CHRISTIE’S

The Verge, here.
Sold for...here

Digital Platforms and Competition (in Mexico 2018)

OECD, here.

Individual and Collective Private Enforcement of Competition Law: Insights for Mexico

OECD, here.

We have to rewrite antitrust law to deal with tech monopolies, says ‘Positive Populism’ author Steve Hilton

Recode, here. 

Shaping Competition Policy in the Era of Digitisation

EC, Conference, Thursday 17 January 2019, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM CET, here.

Data superpowers in the age of AI: A research agenda

C. Biancotti, P. Ciocca, here. 

TOWARD MORE COMPETITION IN HIGH-TECH MARKETS? EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES

Interview with A. Walckiers, here. 

Obsolescenza programmata: Apple a Samsung sanzionate

AGCM, qui. 

Vente en ligne de matériel de motoculture interdite: l'après Coty

Autorité de la concurrence, ici. 

Apple und die Banken brauchen sich gegenseitig

IT Finanzmagazin, hier. 

Uber’s Secret Restaurant Empire

Bloomberg, here.

It Might Get Loud: Inside Silicon Valley’s Battle to Own Voice Tech

Fortune, here. 

What Can U.S. v. Microsoft Teach About Antitrust and Multi-Sided Platforms?

FTC Hearings, Video here. 

Mobile app data sharing 'out of control'

BBC News, here. 

Google could finally face serious competition for Android

The Verge, here. 

The Opportunity Costs of Socialism

US Council of Economic Advisers, here.
Don't ask.

Uber to appeal Singaporean competition watchdog decision on Grab merger

Cityam.com, here. 

How Senator Mark Werner Wants to Rein In Big Tech

Slate Podcast, here (from 00:13:20).

Google tax on Android makers in the EU: Fee offset if Search and Chrome included alongside Play Store, of course

The Register, here. 

Avec ses « skills », Amazon veut créer l'App Store des assistants vocaux

LesEchos.fr, ici. 

IBM introduces Open Banking platform

FinExtra, hier. 

DSGVO: ICANN debattiert zentrales Whois und schon den Zugriff darauf

Heise.de, hier. 

Is a Cashless Society Problematic?

Bank of Canada, Staff Discussion Paper here. 

How smartphone apps track users and share data

FT, here. 

From local impact to European added value: Digital Innovation Hubs

R. Viola, here. 

Leading academics reveal: what are we getting wrong about AI?

Researchers at Oxford University, here. 

The Dynamics of Technology Adoption and Vertical Restraints: An Empirical Analysis

A. Eizenberg, A. Pechy and M. Sovinsky, here. 

RETHINKING PRIVACY IN THE AGE OF AI

Intel, here. 

Third Party Tracking in the Mobile Ecosystem

R. Binns et al., here. 

AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF SILICON VALLEY DISRUPTION

Wired, here. 

A look at the Android Market (aka Google Play) on its 10th Anniversary

TechCrunch, here. 

Portugal's Aptoide says wins first court ruling against Google

Reuters, here.
Aptoide's statement here. Also aqui.

Don’t Break Up The Tech Oligarchs. Force Them To Share Instead

Shift.newco.co, here.

BWB veröffentlicht Fairnesskatalog für Unternehmen

BWB, hier. 

After Taking Berlin, Germany's Uber for Buses Targets Manhattan

Bloomberg, here. 

Android and that Google's Blog Post on Proposed Remedies

VergeCast, here (from 40:32)

JPMorgan to open fintech campus in Silicon Valley

FinExtra, here. 

CMA sends tough message to business cheats with cartel campaign

CMA, here. 

Sony makes no concessions to EU regulators in EMI music bid

Reuters, here. 

Acquisitions in the third party tracking industry: competition and data protection aspects

E. Bietti, R. Binns, here. 

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World: A Talk at Google

A. Giridharadas, here ("this is going to be like therapy").

US banks and fintechs form group to tackle customer data-sharing

FinExtra, here. 

Calculating art

Aeon, here. 

Weaponizing the Digital Influence Machine: The Political Perils of Online Ad Tech

Data & Society, here. 

PERSONALISED PRICING IN ESSENTIAL MARKETS

Frontier Economics for Citizens Advice, here. 

The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust

The New Yorker, here. 

Google app suite costs as much as $40 per phone under new EU Android deal

The Verge, here. 

As if the Last 30 Years Never Happened”: Towards a New Law and Economics

S. Naidu, E. Ash, here. 

Want to understand the future of Android in Europe? Look at China

The Verge, here. 

The urgent case for a new ePrivacy law

G. Buttarelli, here. 

The Amazon investigation and Europe’s “Big Tech” Crusade

D. Auer, here. 

Lawsuits Over Paparazzi Images on Instagram Raise Celebrity Questions Over Right of Publicity

The Fashion Law, here. 

Commission approves acquisition of GitHub by Microsoft

EC, here.

Europe’s Attacks on Google Are Backfiring

Bloomberg, here.

I’m an Amazon Employee. My Company Shouldn’t Sell Facial Recognition Tech to Police.

Medium, here.  Background hier. 

“Start Me Up”: Start-Up Nations, Innovation, and Antitrust Policy

M. Delrahim, here. 

Santé: ouverture d’une consultation publique

Autorité de la concurrence, ici. 

Évolution d’Android en Europe : vers des smartphones plus chers ?

Numérama, ici. 

Google Turns EU Regulatory Violations Into Fees

Bloomberg, here.

Philippine watchdog fines Grab, Uber for rushed merger, drop in service quality

Reuters, here.

Google will start charging Android device makers a fee for using its apps in Europe

The Verge, here. 

As Google splits Android in Europe, it risks losing control of its empire

Wired.co.uk, here. 

Next Generation Internet 2025

Study for the EC, here. 

Should We Regulate Digital Platforms? A New Framework for Evaluating Policy Options

P. Nooren et al., here, 

How Portable is Portable? Exercising the GDPR’s Right to Data Portability

J. Wong, T. Henderson, here. 

After $5 billion EU antitrust fine, Google will start charging for Android apps

ArsTechnica, here. 

Stroppy Google runs rings round Brussels with Android remedy

The Register, here. 

An opinion embedded in math

C. O'Neil, Video here. 

Android: more freedom to offer alternative services (not the original title, I know ;-))

NYTimes, here. 

Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property?

The New Yorker, here. 

Google-Chef: Tests für zensierte chinesische Suchmaschine vielversprechend

Heise.de, hier. 

Google to charge smartphone makers for Google Play in Europe

Reuters, here.
See also Google, Complying with the EC’s Android decision, here. Question: is it enough?
Deeper one: Dragonfly, privacy leaks, sidestepping, the demise of Google+, changes in app developers’ “access” to personal data, Android remedies...Is there a connection somewhere? Microsoft CEO Nadella has correctly pointed out that strategies in these "markets" are far more complex than just bundling...

Microsoft CEO: antitrust law doesn't really understand tech

Wired 25, Video here. 

Daimler, BMW offer concessions to ease EU concerns on car-sharing deal

Reuters, here. 

Radiotaxi Torino, aperta istruttoria per abuso di posizione dominante

AGCM, qui.
Provvedimenti precedenti sanzionano clausole di esclusiva come restrizioni verticali, qui (101 TFEU).

The EU Observatory on the Online Platform Economy: a talking shop or the beginnings of a new regulator?

Inline Policy, here.

BEREC Public Consultation on the data economy

Here. 

German court orders deletion of customer lists in Facebook Custom Audiences

Spirit Legal, here. 

Quality considerations in digital zero-price markets

OECD, Background Note, here. 

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

OECD, Background Note, here. 

Excessive Prices in Pharmaceutical Markets

OECD, Background Note, here. 

The value of data, big data, is only beginning to become apparent

R. Sims, here. 

eBay claims Amazon illegally poaches sellers for its marketplace

Engadget, here. 

Disney offers EU antitrust concessions over $71.3 billion Fox deal

Reuters, here. 

Butchers, bakers, and today’s digital marketplaces

R. Chopra, here. 

CNMC’s CONTRIBUTION ON THE “IMPLICATIONS OF DIGITISATION FOR COMPETITION POLICY”

Here..

Digital Competition Expert Panel: Open Consultation

UK Gov, here. 

Governing artificial intelligence: ethical, legal and technical opportunities and challenges

C. Cath, here. 

Epic Games Sues YouTuber ‘Golden Modz’ Over ‘Magical’ Fortnite Powers

TorrentFreak, here.
Complaint here. 

Governing artificial intelligence: ethical, legal, and technical opportunities and challenges

The Royal Society, Theme Issue, here. 

Apple acquires music analytics firm that claims it can ‘find the next Justin Bieber’

The Verge, here. 

Intellectual property and e-commerce: Alibaba’s perspective

WIPO Magazine, here. 

IP and Competition: Context, Test, and Balance

M. Carrier, here.

FTC agenda for the IP/competition hearing here. 

What's Monopsony? It May Be the Reason You Haven't Had a Raise

Bloomberg, here. 

The Myth of Capitalism – Introduction and Chapter One

J. Tepper, D. Hearn, here. Intro and Chapter 1, here. 

Modernising the law on abuse of market power

H. Schweitzer, here.

How Google’s China project undermines its claims to political neutrality

The Verge, here.
The Good Censor here.

A journey through the FCA regulatory sandbox

Deloitte, here.

Closing the Investigation on the Suspected Violation of the Antimonopoly Act by Airbnb Ireland UC and Airbnb Japan K.K.

Japan FTC, here.

The role of IP rights in the fashion business: a US perspective

WIPO Magazine, here.

Sidestepping Google Play: as simple as scanning a QR code

TechCrunch, here.

Alexa, Should We Trust You?

The Atlantic, here.

Twitter Under Formal Investigation for How It Tracks Users in the GDPR Era

Fortune, here.

DOJ giving cover to monopolizing firms that breach antitrust rules

M. Carrier, here.

Blockchain Competition

I. Lianos, here.

Debating Ethics in the digital age

G. Buttarelli, here.

When Your Boss Is an Algorithm

NYTimes, here.

Platform Giants and Venture-Backed Startups

IanHathaway.org, here.

Foreign Exchange Rigging ‘Cartel’ Started With Beers, Jury Told

Bloomberg, here.