Thursday, October 22, 2015

Follow the user - digital news in a digital world

Googlepolicyeurope, here

Users are the real winners of the Google books case

K. Brown, here

Switching Principles

CMA, Call for Evidence here.

Development of the Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement

Google, here

AC‑Treuhand AG v.European Commission

Case C‑194/14 P, here

Open Data Handbook

Opendatahandbook.org, here

Hotel chains disagree over open marketplace concept

TNooz, here

Net Neutrality in Europe: Now or Never!

LaQuadrature.Net, here

Appeals court reverses itself, gives Amazon a trademark win over watchmaker

ArsTechnica, here

How Walmart Can Start Competing Online

HBR.org, here

Retail banking market investigation

CMA, Summary of provisional findings report, here.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Irish privacy regulator concedes must investigate Facebook data

Reuters.com, here

Gesellschaftliche Konfliktlinien im Kontext von Big Data am Beispiel von Smart Health und Smart Mobility

 H. Lahmann, hier

Pour les VTC, gérée par les VTC: Des chauffeurs Uber lancent une application "made in France"

Franceinfo.fr, ici

UK’s largest online pharmacy fined £130,000 for selling patients’ data to scammers

MedConfidential, here.

ICO's "Monetary Penalty Notice" here.

"35. Pharmacy2U has obtained personal data unfairly because its online registration form and privacy policy did not inform its customers that it intended to sell their details to third party organisations, in addition to sending out its own marketing material. It would not be within a customer’s reasonable expectation that this form of disclosure would occur, even if they were willing to agree to the receipt of marketing material from Pharmacy2U itself. If a customer wished to take up Pharmacy2U’s offer to opt out of “Selected company data sharing”, they also had to go to the trouble of logging into their account and changing the setting.
36. In addition, Pharmacy2U did not provide the further information that was necessary to enable the processing in respect of its customers to be fair.
37. In the circumstances, Pharmacy2U’s customers did not give their informed consent to the sale of their personal data to third party organisations. Therefore Pharmacy2U did not have a lawful basis for processing the data under Part I of Schedule 2 to the DPA.
73. The Commissioner has decided that it is appropriate to issue a monetary penalty in this case, in light of the nature and seriousness of the contravention, Pharmacy2U’s shortcomings in terms of its DPA duties and the risks posed to a number of individuals. He has also considered the importance of monetary penalties in dissuading future contraventions of the DPA and encouraging compliance, in accordance with his policy."

Researchers find 256 iOS apps that collect users’ personal info (in breach of platform's rules)

ArsTechnica, here

Monday, October 19, 2015

Le.TAXI platform launched: Open Data to foster innovation in French taxi services

EpsiPlatform, here

France hailed as pioneer with landmark agreement

Musicweek, here.

Amazon sues 1,000 'fake reviewers'

TheGuardian, here

Google ordered to disclose personal data shared with 3rd parties in S. Korea

Koreatimesus.com, here

Ofgem investigates energy price comparison sites

Energylivenews.com, here

Why Internet Platforms Don’t Need Special Regulation

ITIF, here

Publishers Straddle the Apple-Google, App-Web Divide

NYTimes, here

Cartels involving intermediate goods

Background Paper by the OECD Secretariat, here.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Data Protection Commissioner gets extra €1.2m funding

Irishtimes.com, here

Lyft Adds Ride History With Map Details, Price Breakdown, Tips, And Lost & Found

Androidpolice.com, here.

Amazon reaches deal with deaf rights group to caption all video

ArsTechnica, here

Applied Infonomics: Why and How to Value Your Information as an Asset

Blogs.gartner.com, here

Netflix’s excuse for its slow growth is a head-scratcher

Wired, here

The Role of Consumer Protection in a Fair Market Economy

W. Kovacic, Presentation here 

How Machines Learn (And You Win)

HBR, here

How to listen to (and delete) everything you've ever said to Google

Theguardian.com, here

European Commission signs best practices merger cooperation framework with China

Press Release, here

Consumers are no longer 'Googling' products, they're 'Amazoning' them

Bizjournals.com, here (research by BloomReach, co-founded by former Google scientist).

Europe’s big data protection opportunity

G. Buttarelli, here

Deterrence and macroeconomic impact of the work of competition authorities

Motivation and purpose of the conference explained here. Conference presentations, here..

Ordnungspolitik und Kartellrecht im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung

J. Haucap, hier

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Vertical agreements between suppliers and retailers that specify a relative price relationship between competing products or competing retailers

M. Hviid for the OECD, here .

Contributions to the October 2015 OECD hearing by Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, UK, US (to be updated). Two key contributions (still?) missing: Australia and the European Union...

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Data-Driven Innovation: Big Data for Growth and Well-Being

OECD, here (read only - no search, offline reading, etc.; PDF available, 73 EUR).

Amazon now wants to sell you yogurt soaps and handmade cat lamps, too

ArsTechnica, here

Google denies Android Auto car system sends it user's driving data

TheGuardian, here.

Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal has a long, complicated history

ArsTechnica, here

Competition Commission of Pakistan to probe fare raise by private airlines

Thenews.com.pk, here

Panels: WTO Could Play Crucial Role In Challenges Facing Global Digital Trade

IP-watch.org, here

The Brussels Court Judgement in Commission v Elevators Manufacturers, or the Story of How the Commission Lost an Action for Damages Based on its Own Infringement Decision

J. Marcos Ramos, D. Muheme, here

Expedia defends hotel contracts being scrutinised by ACCC

Theage.com.au, here

Get AMP’d: Here’s what publishers need to know about Google’s new plan to speed up your website

NiemanLab, here.

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Position Paper Concerning the Implementation of the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, here

Amazon Shuts Down Its Music Importer Software, Points Users To Amazon Music App Instead

Techcrunch.com, here

Uber ou comment conquérir une position dominante mondiale en un temps record

F. Lévêque, ici

Sunken Safe Harbor: 5 Implications of Schrems and US-EU Data Transfer

D. Solove, here

Airbnb expands business travel focus with BridgeStreet deal

TNooz, here

University of Luxembourg professor makes internet waves

wwwen.uni.lu, here

Does your website have a leak?

Iconewsblog.wordpress.com, here

Non-disparagement clauses vs. your right to leave negative reviews online

VentureBeat, here.

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Ddl concorrenza: sì all'emendamento sugli hotel (narrow MFN)

IlSole24Ore, qui.

Art. 32. 1.
(Nullità delle clausole contrattuali che vietano alle imprese ricettive di offrire prezzi e condizioni migliori rispetto a quelli praticati da piattaforme di distribuzione online).
  1. È nullo ogni patto con il quale l'impresa turistico-ricettiva si obbliga a non praticare alla clientela finale, con qualsiasi modalità e qualsiasi strumento, prezzi, termini e ogni altra condizione che siano migliorativi rispetto a quelli praticati dalla stessa impresa per il tramite di soggetti terzi, indipendentemente dalla legge regolatrice del contratto. 

ФАС России выдала Google предписание

Fas.gov.ru, Вот
Резолютивная часть решения, Вот.

Haunted By Data

M. Cegłowski, here

The Court of Justice of the European Union invalidates the EU Commission Safe Harbor Decision

WP29, here

Apple Approves An App That Blocks Ads In Native Apps, Including Apple News

TechCrunch, here

Amazon commands almost half of all product searches, and marketers are ignoring omnichannel

VentureBeat, here

The Arrival of Algorithmic Business

Gartner.com, here

Digitale Ökonomie – Internetplattformen zwischen Wettbewerbsrecht, Privatsphäre und Verbraucherschutz

Bundeskartellamt, hier

Monday, October 05, 2015

Investigation of the online travel agency Expedia closed

Konkurrensverket, here

Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, George Mason University School of Law, on the Korea Fair Trade Commission's Revised Review Guidelines on Unfair Exercise of Intellectual Property Rights

IoT: Enterprises, not consumers, the likely beneficiaries

Deloitte, here

Functionality and Expression in Computer Programs: Refining the Tests for Software Copyright Infringement

P. Samuelson, here

"Prep document" ahead of the CJEU ruling on Safe Harbor

M. Schrems, here

The European Commission’s ISU antitrust investigation explained

Asser.nl, here

Schrems gegen Facebook: "Offline gehen ist keine Lösung"

Diepresse.com, hier

DMCA doesn't block reverse engineering of vehicle diagnosis software but TM might

Tushnet.blogspot.ch, here

Lufthansa stellt sich der Kritik an Buchungskosten

Heise.de, hier

Commission opens formal investigation into International Skating Union's eligibility rules

Press Release, here

Friday, October 02, 2015

Tracking not allowed (unless you’re Google)

A. Grunes, here

Huaweï v ZTE – Judicial Conservatism at the Antitrust and IP Intersection

N. Petit, here

Searching for harm or harming search? A look at the European Commission’s antitrust investigation against Google

A. Renda, here

Competition in telecom markets

M. Vestager, here

Protocole d'accord pour un développement équitable de la musique en ligne : Les Artistes disent oui

Lagam.org, ici

Macht das Kartellrecht deutsche Internetunternehmen kaputt?

Diskussionsrunde zum Kartellrecht, Video hier

The values of competition policy in Europe

M. Vestager, here

Des taxis robots testés dès aujourd'hui au Japon

Numerama.com, ici

Amazons alberne Argumente

Heise.de, hier.

Newsonomics: The Washington Post offers an Arc in the storm

Niemanlab.org, here.

The price of the Internet of Things will be a vague dread of a malicious world

Ieet.org, here

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Broadening the Lens on Investigating Potential Collusion in the U.S. Airline Industry

AAI, here

How big (and bad) adblocking could get – and why news sites should sell adblockers

TheOverspill, here

The Arrival of Artificial Intelligence and “The Death of Contract”

I. Kerr, here

European Court Adviser Calls Trans-Atlantic Data-Sharing Pact Insufficient

NYTimes, here

Stellungnahmen zur Sektoruntersuchung Nachfragemacht im Lebensmitteleinzelhandel

Bundeskartellamt.de, hier

The Web as Platform Data: Flows in Social Media

A. Helmond, here

If cars cheat, what else?

NYTimes, here

The Internet of Everything: Data, Networks & Opportunities

M. Ohlhausen, here.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

VW scandal highlights irony of EPA opposition to vehicle software tinkering

ArsTechnica, here.

See also EFF, here

Who owns the road? The IoT-connected car of today—and tomorrow

Deloitte, here

Airlines' privacy policies do little to protect consumers' personal data

LATimes, here

Big Data and smart devices and their impact on privacy

European Parliament, Study for the LIBE Committee, here

The Macron Law: what it changes in Competition Law

Eversheds.com, here

Les chiffres qui expliquent pourquoi Uber cartonne

LeMonde, ici

The Digital Single Market, consumers and EU competition policy

J. Laitenberger, here

Upcoming OECD buoyant roundtable: Competition and across platform parity agreements!

OECD, here.


Facebook’s Restrictions on User Data Cast a Long Shadow

WSJ, here

Friday, September 18, 2015

Uber Files Antitrust Suit Against Taxi Commission; Defiantly Turns On UberX

Stlouis.cbslocal.com, here

Airlines not trying very hard to fight intermediaries in Google search

Tnooz, here

Uber accused of price-fixing in $150M lawsuit by Edmonton taxi companies

CBC.ca, here. Legal filing here (competition, §§ 348 ff.).

Transfer fees could go if Fifpro wins legal action against Fifa

TheGuardian, here

Huawei v ZTE – No More Need To Look At The Orange Book In SEP Disputes

White & Case, here

BlaBlaCar, Airbnb : le Sénat veut fiscaliser les revenus supérieurs à 5.000 euros

LesEchos.fr, ici

Herzensbrecher - Dating-Plattform Lovoo im Fake-Verdacht

Heise.de, hier

German and Spanish Competition Authorities Got It Right on the Ancillary Copyright for Press Publishers

Project-disco.org, here

Measuring The Offline Value Of Paid Search Clicks During The Holidays & Beyond

Searchengineland.com, here

Does the 'right to be forgotten' apply to company registers?

Case C-398/15 - Manni, Questions to the CJEU (not yet available on the Curia's website - ?), referring Corte di Cassazione qui.

Exploitative Prices in European Competition Law

A. Robles Martín-Laborda, here

Thursday, September 17, 2015

E-books: A Tale of Digital Disruption

R. Gilbert, here

Global Innovation Index 2015

WIPO, here

Online Platforms and the EU Digital Single Market: Call for Evidence

UK House of Lords, here

EU Directive on Antitrust Damages Actions: an economic analysis

P. van Wijck, J. Winter, here

Patent Settlements in the Pharmaceutical Industry: What Can We Learn From Economic Analysis?

W. Kerber, S. Frank, here

Searching a Rationale for Search Neutrality in the Age of Google

V. Falce, M. Granieri, here

Public and Private Antitrust Enforcement: Does the EU Directive Preserve Leniency Incentives?

M. Buiten, here

The valuation of unprotected works: A case study of public domain photopraphs on Wikipedia

P. Heald, M. Kretschmer, K. Erickson, here

Justice Department Will Not Challenge Expedia's Acquisition of Orbitz

Justice.gov, here

Apple will ask Supreme Court to hear its ebooks price-fixing case

Fortune.com, here

Refusal to license intellectual property under Chinese antitrust regime

Internationallawoffice.com, here

5 Ways Big Data is Making a Splash in the Insurance Industry

Bigdatanews.com, here

TV ad on abuse of dominance (India)

Video here.

Thank you CCI! Also a powerful introduction to a course on competition policy for managers.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Offline? How Europe can catch up with US technology

 Centre for European Reform, here

The essence of Josh Wright’s FTC tenure was to ensure that benefits outweigh costs; the rest is commentary

G. Manne, here

Improving quality isn’t anti-competitive

Googlepolicyeurope.blogspot, here

Price Comparison Websites

D. Ronayne, here

Rechtswidrige Beschränkungen des Online-Vertriebs bei Laufschuhen von ASICS

Bundeskartellamt, hier

PRS for Music takes SoundCloud to court

Musicweek.com, here

Internet and Mobile Association of India Opposes Zero Rating

Press Release, here

Digital Star Chamber

F. Pasquale, here

#BajarPrecioGasolina: 30 recomendaciones de la CNMC

CNMC, aquì

Lobby-Kampf um die EU-Datenschutzreform kommt ins Kino

Heise.de, hier

Digital platforms: Competition and government oversight

Application Developers Alliance, here.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Wenn die Bestpreisklauseln wegfallen, sinken dann jetzt die Preise?

FAZ, hier

Supply Chains Morphing Into ‘Value Webs’

Deloitte, here

Consumer Watchdog alleges Apple Music plot to crush streaming music business

Katyonthehill.com, here.
Letter here

Australian Online Copyright Infringement Research

TNS for the Department of Communications, here

CJEU ruling in Huawei/ZTE leaves the door open to injunctive relief in SEP litigation

Allen & Overy, here

Google, Facebook get behind Samsung in patent battle with Apple

CNET.com, here

Taylor Swift: Can online travel learn from her haggling skill?

Tnooz, here

Auch Monopolist darf Patentverletzer verklagen

FAZ, hier

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Brazil agency to offer pro-competition view on any Uber lawsuits

WKZO, here

CJEU: Huawei v. ZTE

Press release, here. Judgment here.

"Moreover, in February 2013 a German Regional Tribunal posed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) five questions whose answers could be influential in shaping the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU with regard to intellectual property rights’ enforcement in the context of standardization" from some notes I took back in April 2013, here (it feels like AGES ago).

Bundeskartellamt verhängt Bußgelder gegen Rüstungslieferanten wegen Kartellabsprachen

Bundeskartellamt, hier

European Commission opens antitrust investigations against Qualcomm—again

ArsTechnica, here.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Apple’s Share of Smartphone Industry’s Profits Soars to 92%

Wsj.com, here

Google accidentally reveals data on 'right to be forgotten' requests

TheGuardian, here

Position Paper on Amazon’s Book Selling Practices

Authors United, here.

Challenges for Competition Policy in a Digitalised Economy

European Parliament, here

Banken im Strudel der Digitalisierung

Capital.de, hier

Patent Landscape Report on Assistive Devices and Technologies for Visually and Hearing Impaired Persons

WIPO, here

Silently debuting homestays, Booking.com jabs Airbnb

Tnooz.com, here

Focus on the User

Costly comparison

The Economist, here.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Google, Yelp, and the Future of Search

J. Gans, here.

A few remarks on the role of intermediaries in the Digital Economy

J. Tirole, Presentation here

Productivity and competition: a summary of the evidence

CMA, here

Google quietly adds instant booking for hotels, copying TripAdvisor

Tnooz, here

The government says airlines prey on consumers. That’s the government’s fault.

Washingtonpost.com, here

Enabling versus controlling

A. Hagiu, J. Wright, here

The Ecosystem of Software Platform: A Study of Asymmetric Cross-side Network Effects and Platform Governance

P. Song, L. Xue, A. Rai, C. Zhang, here

Dependency Challenges, Response Strategies, and Complementor Maturity: Joining a Multi-Sided Platform Ecosystem

E.Altman, here

France forbids rate parity clauses by law

HotRec, here.

Passionate video explaining the "Loi dite Macron's" OTAs provisions and much more here (French).

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Google's ad system: too big to control

Wired, here.

Right to open access laid down in Dutch Copyright Act

UU.nl, here

Facebook voices support for EU data protection law changes

V3.co.uk, here.

(A true "man bites dog" moment).

Rapport annuel 2014

B. Lasserre, Présentation à la presse, ici

Le dommage à l’économie

Autorité de la concurrence, ici

Passengers sue airlines over allegations of price collusion

TheHill, here.

Données de santé : anonymat et risque de ré-identification

Direction de la recherche, des études, de l’évaluation et des statistiques (Drees), ici

Are the European Competition Authorities making a less anticompetitive market more anticompetitive? The Booking.com saga

P. Akman, here

Complaint Regarding Google’s Failure To Offer ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ In The U.S

Consumer Watchdog, here

Competitive neutrality and its application in selected developing countries

UNCTAD, here.

Activating Actavis in Europe – The Proposal of a “Structured Effects-based” Analysis for Pay for Delay Settlements

S. Gullasch, here

Adding a New Dimension to EU Pharmaceutical Antitrust - Pay for Delay Settlements as Part of a Unilateral Strategy such as Product Hopping

S. Gullasch, here

Neuer juristischer Ärger für Daimler-Tochter myTaxi wegen Rabatten

Heise.de, hier.

Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Bulgarian Competition Authority has fined the companies that provide Uber's services

Novinite.com, here.
Press Release of the Commission for Protection of Competition, here.

Google Translate: 
CPC penalize companies Hubert Dutch BV and Razier Opareyshans BV with 50 000 lev for violations under Art. 29 of the LPC (general prohibition of unfair competition) in connection with the provision of the service UberX in the city. Sofia on 12.09.2014 In its decision, the Commission states the termination of the infringements. , and immediate execution of the decision in that part .
The proceedings is initiated automatically by a Commission decision in relation to the received from the Municipality of Sofia information on the introduction of the service "UberX" in the city. Sofia and subsequently merged with other proceedings instituted at the request of "Okay Supertrans" against AD "Hubert Bulgaria" EOOD, again in connection with the service UberX .
During the study found that in providing the service UberX by Hubert BV and Razier Opareyshans BV offenses against the general prohibition of Art. 29 of the CPA. The service has the marks of taxi passengers as far as is done by car fee, requested by the passenger route through the mobile app Uber, which liaises between the passenger and the actual executor of carriage - the user-guide.A comparison between p redlaganite by Hubert BV and Razier Opareyshans BV services and services provided by other mobile applications (even the services of a typical taxi companies) reaches the conclusion that the services are interchangeable, since   lead to the same result - the implementation of a paid shuttle point to another. But in the case at UberX not require the contractor to transport meets specified in the Bulgarian legislation requirements to taxi drivers and their cars. In this sense, when providing service process Hubert BV and Razier Opareyshans BV violate fair trade practice being contrary to the statutory rules governing the conduct of public transport / taxi. Hubert BV and Razier Opareyshans BV create conditions for circumvention, saving users guides means of obtaining the necessary licenses and permits for taxis. Thus the defendants violated the rules of fair competition, procure unfair advantage over competitors and the economic benefit of this behavior.
The Commission also imposed a fine of two companies 50 000 Levs of default for assistance for lack of refined during the study information.
 Commission finds that by "Hubert Bulgaria" EOOD is not a violation of art. 29 of the CPA, as the company is not directly involved in providing the service UberX,   and perform ancillary to Hubert B. C.
Full text of the Decision in Bulgarian, here

Net Neutrality: Department of Telecom panel against Facebook's Internet.org, favours Airtel Zero

IndiaToday, here

Personal Data and Privacy

WIK-Consult for Ofcom, here.

Orphan works in the US: getting rid of “a frustration, a liability risk, and a major cause of gridlock”?

R.Meier, here

Discovering the Miracle of Large Numbers of Antitrust Investigations in Russia: The Role of Competition Authority Incentives

S. Advasheva, D. Tsytsulina, S. Golovanova,  Y. Sidorova, here

Promoting or restricting competition?: Regulation of the UK retail residential energy market since 2008

S. Littlechild, here

Product Redesign and the Abuse of Dominance: The apple IPod Itune Litigation

L. Popofsky, here

The Fine Line Between “Fortuitous Discovery” and “Fishing Expedition:" CoJ Finds Dawn Raids by the EC to be Illegal

Steptoe.com, here

Netzneutralität: Europa schafft ab

FAZ, hier

At last, Uber has found a friend in India

QZ.com, here

UK Energy market investigation

Summary of provisional findings report, here; Notice of possible remedies, here

Marktmachtmissbrauch der Deutsche Post AG im Bereich der Großkundentarife

Bundeskartellamt, hier

Automated Experiments on Ad Privacy Settings: A Tale of Opacity, Choice, and Discrimination

Am.Datta, Michael C. Tschantz, and An. Datta, here.

Probing the Dark Side of Google’s Ad-Targeting System

Technologyreview.com, here

Openness/Open Access for Public Sector information and works — the Creative Commons licensing model

Epsiplatform.eu, here