Opinion in Case C-439/09 Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique SAS v Président de l'Autorité de la Concurrence & Ministre de l'Économie, de l'Industrie et de l'Emploi.
Friday, March 04, 2011
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Metcash-Franklins Merger: Australian Federal Court to Decide
Australian Senate, Economics References Committee's Report
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
FAIR ACCESS TO CULTURE AND THE RIGHT TO READ OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS
Exceptions and limitations to copyright with regard to libraries, education and print disabled persons - European Parliament P7C050 - 13th April 2011 10.00-13.00
10.00 Introduction
Luigi Berlinguer MEP - Overview of the issues
Ádám Kósa MEP President Disability Intergroup - Copyright and disabled people’s rights
Ben White –IFLA/EBLIDA / British Library - The case for Education and Libraries
10.30 Panel 1. The book famine- what are the barriers and solutions?
Ádám Kósa MEP President Disability Intergroup - Copyright and disabled people’s rights
Ben White –IFLA/EBLIDA / British Library - The case for Education and Libraries
10.30 Panel 1. The book famine- what are the barriers and solutions?
Wolfgang Angermann– European Blind Union
European Dyslexia Association- Raymond Claes
Q&A from the floor
11.00 Panel 2. A WIPO treaty for print disabled people?
Rodolfo Cattani EBU - Rationale for a treaty and the campaign so far
David Hammerstein – Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue
Q&A from the floor
11.45 Panel 3. Limitations and exceptions to copyright. Opinion of the EP, Commission and Council
An MEP perspective: F. Keller, F.Sosa Wagner.
The Commission’s position (speaker TBC)
Council position – Representative from Hungarian Presidency
Dan Pescod – European Blind Union
Ben White – IFLA/EBLIDA
Q&A from the floor
12.45 Conclusions
European Dyslexia Association- Raymond Claes
Q&A from the floor
11.00 Panel 2. A WIPO treaty for print disabled people?
Rodolfo Cattani EBU - Rationale for a treaty and the campaign so far
David Hammerstein – Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue
Q&A from the floor
11.45 Panel 3. Limitations and exceptions to copyright. Opinion of the EP, Commission and Council
An MEP perspective: F. Keller, F.Sosa Wagner.
The Commission’s position (speaker TBC)
Council position – Representative from Hungarian Presidency
Dan Pescod – European Blind Union
Ben White – IFLA/EBLIDA
Q&A from the floor
12.45 Conclusions
Concluding remarks - Luigi Berlinguer MEP
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Media, Aggregators and the Link Economy: Strategic Hyperlink Formation in Content Networks
C. Dellarocas, Z. Katona, W. Rand, here.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Greece's Competition Commission fines crisis cartel in the fish farming sector
Here. See also Greece's contribution on the topic of crisis cartels to the OECD 10th GFC
OECD 10th Global Forum on Competition
Forum documents.
In particular:
Session I Cross-border Merger Control: Challenges for Developing and Emerging Economies
Session III Crisis Cartels
WHY (EVER) DEFINE MARKETS?
K.Kaplow, here ("The thesis of this Article is that the market definition process should be abandoned").
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Independence of the Egyptian Competition Authority: Assessment and Recommendations
Y. Afifi, here (GAR 2010, pp. 4-49).
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
JRR Tolkien Estate Threatens Lawsuit Over Book Featuring Tolkien As Character
Here (from hollywoodreporter.com).
Statut d’hébergeur de fuzz.fr aussi confirmé par par la Cour de cassation
Arrêt n° 164 du 17 février 2011 (09-13.202) - Cour de cassation - Première chambre civile
Friday, February 18, 2011
On Horizontal and Vertical "Price Fixing" in Poland
Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, here.
Dailymotion: statut d’hébergeur confirmé par la Cour de cassation
Arrêt n° 165 du 17 février 2011 (09-67.896) - Cour de cassation - Première chambre civile
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Loi sur le prix unique du livre numérique adoptée en France par l'Assemblée Nationale
Ici. Lire aussi l'Avis de l'Autorité de la concurrence, son Communiqué de presse e le Rapport d'information du Sénat " La politique du livre face au défi du numérique ".
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Schadensersatzanspruch bei Lesser General Public License-Verletzung
LG Bochum, Teilurteil vom 20.01.2011 (Az. I-8 O 293/09)
Hotfile: Complaint for Copyright Infringement
Here. Read also MOTION PICTURE STUDIOS' press release.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Chairman of the Australian Competition Commission: First Criminal Case Looming
Here. From the interview: "Every day, every minute, even while you sleep, everything you do will be oversighted by the ACCC"
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Monday, February 07, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
UK Ofcom's proposal on ex ante competition check in respect of trades of mobile spectrum
Notice of proposals to make 900 MHz, 1800 MHz & 2100 MHz public wireless network licences tradable, here.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Italian "class" action against Microsoft for bundling and refusal to reimburse Windows
Techrights, here. Here the writ of summons filed (in Italian)
FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules and Implications for Research Libraries
Association of Research Libraries, here.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Österreich: Spediteure anerkennenTeilnahme an Kartellen vor Kartellgericht
Hier. S. auch die Bestätigung, dass die Kommission "dawn raids" bereits durchgeführt hat.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Free Software in Contemporary Civil Society
Sociology Faculty at Trento University.
Speakers: Karsten Gerloff, Carlo Piana, Tiziano Sartori, Patrick Ohnewein, Fabio Ropelato, Program (in Italian).
Speakers: Karsten Gerloff, Carlo Piana, Tiziano Sartori, Patrick Ohnewein, Fabio Ropelato, Program (in Italian).
Oracle/Sun Microsystems: The challenge of reviewing a merger involving open source software
C.-C. Buhr, S.Crome, A. Lübbert, V.Pozzato, Y.Simon, R.Thomas, here.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Judge Posner on the interpretation of the pleading standard set forth in Twombly
IN RE: TEXT MESSAGING ANTITRUST LITIGATION. Appeal of: Verizon Wireless, et al., Defendants, No. 10-8037, here.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
E-Learning: Intranet-Klausel ( § 52a Urheberrechtsgesetz) vor Gericht
Alfred Kröner Verlag gegen Fernuniversität in Hagen, Klageschrift.
Règles du code de procédure civile et pratiques anticoncurrentielles
Cour de cassation française, 7 janvier 2011 Société Philips France – Arrêt n° 587
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
"Comité des Sages" on bringing Europe's cultural heritage online presents its report "The new Renaissance"
Here. See also the Summary Record of the public hearing of the Comité des Sages on "Bringing Europe's cultural heritage online".
Monday, January 10, 2011
WIPO Seminar Series on “The Economics of Intellectual Property”: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Intellectual Property and Litigation
Christine Greenhalgh, January 12, 2011 paper here.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Copying an Entire Article and Fair Use
RIGHTHAVEN LLC v. CENTER FOR INTERCULTURAL
ORGANIZING, CASE NO.: 2:10-cv-01322-JCM-LRL, BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE
PROFESSOR JASON SCHULTZ
ORGANIZING, CASE NO.: 2:10-cv-01322-JCM-LRL, BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE
PROFESSOR JASON SCHULTZ
US Ambassador: Over-Focus On Development “Will Kill” WIPO
W.New, here. Official Transcript of Ambassador King’s December 16, 2010 Press Conference
Monday, December 20, 2010
L’INSTITUT NATIONAL DE L'AUDIOVISUEL (INA) C/ La Société YOUTUBE
TRIBUNAL DE GRANDE INSTANCE DE CRETEIL, Jugement du 14 Décembre 2010, DOSSIER : N° 06/1281, ici.
Bank Competition and Stability: Reconciling Conflicting Empirical Evidence
T. Beck, O. De Jonghe, G. Schepens, here.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
European Competition Network Brief
No. 5/2010 and Special Issue December 2010 - A look inside the ECN: its members and its work
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
L'Autorité de la concurrence estime que Google est en position dominante sur le marché de la publicité liée aux moteurs de recherche
Avis n° 10-A-29 du 14 décembre 2010 sur le fonctionnement concurrentiel de la publicité en ligne.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
EU Commission adopts revised competition rules on horizontal co-operation agreements
Press Release, Horizontal Guidelines, Block exemption regulations applicable to specialisation agreements and research and development agreements
Monday, December 13, 2010
Information Exchanges among Competitors
Antonio CAPOBIANCO, OECD Competition Division, Exchange of Information among Competitors: Antitrust Challenges (Presentation)
Monday December 13, 2010 - 2 pm
Conference Room, Economics Faculty - Trento University
Via Inama, 5 TRENTO
Monday December 13, 2010 - 2 pm
Conference Room, Economics Faculty - Trento University
Via Inama, 5 TRENTO
Friday, December 10, 2010
Contrats d’affiliation de magasins indépendants et modalités d’acquisition de foncier commercial dans le secteur de la distribution alimentaire
Avis n° 10-A-26 du 7 décembre 2010 de l'Autorité de la Concurrence.
Unilateral Competitive Effects of Mergers Between Firms with High Profit Margins
E. B A I L E Y , G. L E O N A R D , A N D L.W U, here.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
On facilitating downloading from an illegal source in The Netherlands
FTD v Eyeworks, English translation here.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Apertura de un expediente sancionador contra SGAE por posibles conductas restrictivas de la competencia,
Comisión Nacional de la Competencia, aqui
Friday, December 03, 2010
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Second Decade of the International Competition Network: Challenges Ahead?
Oliver BUDZINSKI, University of Southern Denmark, "The Governance of Global Competition: Challenges for the Second Decade of the ICN"
Alessandra TONAZZI, Italian Competition Authority, "The Governance of Global Competition: ICN’s Next Decade"
Friday November 26, 2010 8:30 am
Trento Economics Faculty, Law Department
Room 3
via Verdi 53
Trento - Italy
Trento Economics Faculty, Law Department
Room 3
via Verdi 53
Trento - Italy
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Entflechtung als Instrument des Kartellrechts
Sitzung des Arbeitskreises Kartellrecht, Pressemeldung und Arbeitspapier
Monday, November 22, 2010
Pratiques mises en oeuvre dans le secteur de la télévision payante
Autorité de la concurrence, Décision du 16 novembre 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE ALLIANCES: COMPETITIVE ISSUES AND REGULATORY APPROACHES
A report by the European Commission and the United States Department of Transportation
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Healthy competition is good environmental policy
Competition Policy and Green Growth, Report from the Nordic competition authorities.
Monday, November 15, 2010
ACTA: Negotiations Concluded
See the final version and the joint statement from all the negotiating partners of the agreement
Entwicklung des Urheberrechts in der digitalen Gesellschaft
29. November 2010, öffentliche Expertenanhörung veranstaltet von der Enquete-Kommission Internet und digitale Gesellschaft. Video und Stellungsnahmen zur Anhörung hier..
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Linksetzung, technisch unwirksame Schutzmaßnahme und Urheberrechtsverletzung
Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Urteil des I. Zivilsenats vom 29.4.2010 - I ZR 39/08
Deins, meins, unseres. Kulturen des Urheberrechts
Vortrag von Reto Hilty auf dem Netzpolitischen Kongress der Grünen live gebloggt
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Italian Competition Authority to Investigate Sky's World Cup Sport Rights Exclusivity
Press release (in Italian only), from the Authority's website.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
WIPO SCCR/21
Closed captioning (stream text) at the following link: http://streamtext.net/text.aspx?event=WIPO (pw: wipo4me). Final Conclusions (from KEI)
Monday, November 08, 2010
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Friday, November 05, 2010
Cameron on reviewing IP laws to make them fit for the digital age
From the speech:
"The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain.
"The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain.
The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot of all the content on the internet at any one time and they feel our copyright system is not as friendly to this sort of innovation as it is in the United States.
Over there, they have what are called ‘fair-use’ provisions, which some people believe gives companies more breathing space to create new products and services.
So I can announce today that we are reviewing our IP laws, to see if we can make them fit for the internet age."
See also the IPO's press release on the scope of the review.
See also the IPO's press release on the scope of the review.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Monday, November 01, 2010
Kein wettbewerbsrechtlicher Leistungsschutz für Amateurfußballspiele
"www.hartplatzhelden.de", Urteil des I. Zivilsenats vom 28.10.2010 - I ZR 60/09 (noch nicht veröffentlicht, nur Pressemitteilung).
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Vince Cable on Competition Policy in the UK
From the Speech given to the Confederation of British Industry - 25 October 2010:
"What business does however need to know to promote growth is that there are clear, consistent rules to govern business behaviour. Which brings me on to competition policy. Competition is one of the great drivers of growth, keeping prices low for consumers, driving innovation, experimentation and investment.
"What business does however need to know to promote growth is that there are clear, consistent rules to govern business behaviour. Which brings me on to competition policy. Competition is one of the great drivers of growth, keeping prices low for consumers, driving innovation, experimentation and investment.
When I used my party conference speech to suggest the need for a more active competition policy, this was interpreted as some kind of modern Marxism. Far from it – this is a defence of capitalism, not an assault.
And the UK’s competition regime is regarded as one of the best in the world – particularly because of its independence and the transparency of decision making. And the EU regime on top of it – including the system of state aid rules that helps to prevent subsidy wars - is one of the Community’s most successful activities.
But there is scope for improvement. In particular, there are difficulties in successfully prosecuting anti-trust cases and a paucity of market investigation cases. I would also like to question whether our current system of sector-specific regulation is ideal, or could we achieve something better through cross sector regulation.
A system that is too slow imposes unacceptable costs on the regulated, and is an insufficient deterrent for would-be abusers of a dominant position. Competition Act cases have taken on average three and a half years between the investigation to a final decision. This is too slow – hardly the “efficient and timely processes” that the CBI has called for.
I also want to ask if we are making enough investigations. Our rate of three or four a year looks odd compared to 15 in France and even more in Germany.
In the New Year, the Government will consult on proposals to deliver more streamlined and consistent processes - including bringing the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading together to form a single competition authority, which I hope will be more proactive in addressing problems."
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Is IP Good or Evil? A Vatican's Perspective
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (from KEI)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
IPKat Patent Limerick Competition
The winner has been announced, here. My pick:
A crafty inventor called Fred
Built an aircraft entirely from lead
When they cried "Why Fred Why?"
"You know it won't fly!"
"Not obvious for patent" he said.
A crafty inventor called Fred
Built an aircraft entirely from lead
When they cried "Why Fred Why?"
"You know it won't fly!"
"Not obvious for patent" he said.
Chris Torrero
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Google Books: Wonder or Threat in the Digital Age?
LawTech Seminars 2010, University of Trento, Law Department, Program here (in Italian). My presentation here.
Exclusions from Patentability and Exceptions and Limitations to Patentees’ Rights
L.Bently et al., Experts' Study on Exclusions from Patentable Subject Matter and Exceptions and Limitations to the Rights. The WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents agreed to include a number of key substantive issues relating to patent law and practice in its future work.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Revising the Horizontal Merger Guidelines: Lessons from the E.U. and the U.S.
Richard J. Gilbert and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, here
A Single UK Competition and Markets Authority.
The Competition Commission (CC) and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will possibly merge.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
OLG Düsseldorf: Zum Verhältnis der GPL zu Markenrechten - xtCommerce
OLG Düsseldorf, Urteil v. 28.09.2010, Az. I-20 U 41/09, Telemedicus und ifrOSS ausführlich zum Fall.
A Library Without Walls - A US National Digital Library?
Robert Darnton, The New York Review of Books, here.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Un signe qui identifie un site et non une marque n’est pas une contrefaçon
Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris 3ème chambre, 2ème section Jugement du 01 octobre 2010
Place des Tendances / Promod, (Legalis.net)
Place des Tendances / Promod, (Legalis.net)
From "Radical Extremism" to "Balanced Copyright": Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda
Michael Geist, Introduction. From October 14th the book will be available in both paper and as a Creative Commons licenced download.
Der dritte Korb im Interesse von Bildung und Wissenschaft
NEUREGELUNG DES URHEBERRECHTS: ANLIEGEN UND DESIDERATE FÜR EINEN DRITTEN KORB (Wissenschaftsallianz) und Stellungnahme des Börsenvereins. Heise online berichtet über ein lebhaftes Fachgespräch der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion insbesondere zum formatgleichen Zweitveröffentlichungsrecht.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Public Policy and Market Competition: How the Master Settlement Agreement Changed the Cigarette Industry
Ciliberto, Federico and Kumino , Nicolai, here.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Monday, October 04, 2010
WIPO Symposium on Intellectual Property and Competition Policy
Enforcing Antitrust Law with Reference to Intellectual Property Assets: New Developments and Perspectives, October, 25, Geneva. Program.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
IP Rights and Competition
Italian Competition Authority's 20th Anniversary Celebratory Event, Rome October 8, 2010, Program. My presentation on Google Books (in Italian).
The First Decade: Challenges Facing New Competition Agencies
William Kovacic, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, here.
JOINT STATEMENT FROM ALL THE NEGOCIATING PARTIES TO ACTA
Here. Read also ECIS' position paper on ACTA.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
WIPO's Medium Term Strategic Plan 2010-15
Here.
Concerning the SCCR, strategies include:
Concerning the SCCR, strategies include:
– "continuing to support the work of Member States on copyright limitations and exceptions, with a particular focus on improving access for visually impaired and other persons with print disabilities, while accelerating work with respect to access for persons with other disabilities, educational institutions, libraries and archives;
– continuing to support the work of Member States on the protection of audiovisual performances and on the protection of broadcasting organizations;
– exploring the scope for discussion of new issues with important global consequences, such as orphan works or the need for increased cooperation between copyright owners and Internet intermediaries in the making available of legitimate creative content, and encouraging consideration of self-regulatory, as well as formal solutions".
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Copyright law needs a digital-age upgrade
Pamela Samuelson, here, and by the same author et al. THE COPYRIGHT PRINCIPLES PROJECT: DIRECTIONS FOR REFORM
Derechos de retransmisión de acontecimientos futbolísticos en España
Apertura de un expediente sancionador por posibles prácticas restrictivas de la competencia, por vincular la reventa de derechos de retransmisión de acontecimientos futbolísticos a la contratación de los servicios de producción y transporte de la señal de partidos de fútbol, Comunicado de Prensa.
Competition for High Tech Employees
US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REQUIRES SIX HIGH TECH COMPANIES TO STOP
ENTERING INTO ANTICOMPETITIVE EMPLOYEE
SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS, Press Release.
ENTERING INTO ANTICOMPETITIVE EMPLOYEE
SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS, Press Release.
Koexistenz, keine Konkurrenz: Gedruckte Bücher und E-Books ergänzen sich
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, hier.
Google Suggest : le directeur de la publication condamné pour diffamation
TGI de Paris, 8 septembre 2010, ici.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Gemeinsame Erklärung zum Vorhaben eines „Leistungsschutzrechts für Presseverleger“
Der Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI) zusammen mit anderen Verbänden, hier.
Fernsehmitschnitte und Urheberrechtsschranken für Bildung und Wissenschaft
Vernichtungsanordnung als vorauseilender Gehorsam, Aktionsbündnis Urheberrecht für Bildung und Wissenschaft e.V.
Spain Court Dismisses Telecinco Copyright Charges Vs YouTube
The Wall Street Journal, here. A quick French perspective here. Spanish press news here. Unofficial English translation of the decision here. See also E.Bonadio, D.Mula, Madrid court confirms YouTube's host status
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
WIPO Assemblies: Stevie Wonder Calls for International Action to Enhance Accessibility for Visually Impaired Persons
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Open Source and Merger Policy: Insights from the EU Oracle/Sun Decision
Simonetta Vezzoso (this blog's author), here. International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC), Forthcoming.
Abstract:
In Europe the merger between Oracle and Sun raised a series of substantial competition concerns, especially related to the acquisition by Oracle of MySQL, an open source business, and its impact on the database market. In the end, the acquisition was unconditionally cleared by the Commission. The open source nature of MySQL played a decisive role in the competition assessment of the merger conducted by the European competition authority according to the "significant impediment to effective competition" legal test. In this Article we will review the Commission’s decision with the specific aim of determining to what extent the open source nature of MySQL’s business model actually affected the scrutiny of Sun’s acquisition by Oracle under the relevant test. In particular, it will be questioned whether Oracle’s public announcement concerning its future behaviour on the database and related markets can be expected to duly address the concerns voiced by the Commission in the course of the merger proceedings. We will conclude that Judge Easterbrook’s much quoted conclusion that «[t]he GPL and open-source software have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws» may possibly need some qualification.
Content:
I. Introduction
II. The EU Oracle/Sun Merger Decision
1. The legal background
2. The SIEC test in the context of the Oracle/Sun case
3. The SIEC test and MySQL’s open source nature
III. The competition assessment of open source in the context of merger policy: in search of a
balanced approach
IV. Conclusion
Abstract:
In Europe the merger between Oracle and Sun raised a series of substantial competition concerns, especially related to the acquisition by Oracle of MySQL, an open source business, and its impact on the database market. In the end, the acquisition was unconditionally cleared by the Commission. The open source nature of MySQL played a decisive role in the competition assessment of the merger conducted by the European competition authority according to the "significant impediment to effective competition" legal test. In this Article we will review the Commission’s decision with the specific aim of determining to what extent the open source nature of MySQL’s business model actually affected the scrutiny of Sun’s acquisition by Oracle under the relevant test. In particular, it will be questioned whether Oracle’s public announcement concerning its future behaviour on the database and related markets can be expected to duly address the concerns voiced by the Commission in the course of the merger proceedings. We will conclude that Judge Easterbrook’s much quoted conclusion that «[t]he GPL and open-source software have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws» may possibly need some qualification.
Content:
I. Introduction
II. The EU Oracle/Sun Merger Decision
1. The legal background
2. The SIEC test in the context of the Oracle/Sun case
3. The SIEC test and MySQL’s open source nature
III. The competition assessment of open source in the context of merger policy: in search of a
balanced approach
IV. Conclusion
Thursday, September 16, 2010
EU Stakeholders Dialogue Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on access to works by people with print disabilities
Here. See also the EU Commission's press release (thanks to Antonella De Robbio for pointing it to me).
UK Joint Merger Assessment Guidelines Released
From the Press Release: "The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Competition Commission (CC) have today for the first time published joint Merger Assessment Guidelines (...) The publication revises and expands guidance previously contained in several publications issued separately by the two Authorities after the introduction of the Enterprise Act 2002".
Competition in the Evolving Digital Marketplace
US House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, Thursday 9/16/2010.
Written testimonies:
Richard Feinstein (Federal Trade Commission), here.
Geoffrey A. Manne (LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL), here.
Edward J. Black (Computer and Communications Industry Association), here.
Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), here
Morgan Reed (Association for Competitive Technology), here
Scott Cleland (Precursor LLC), here.
Written testimonies:
Richard Feinstein (Federal Trade Commission), here.
Geoffrey A. Manne (LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL), here.
Edward J. Black (Computer and Communications Industry Association), here.
Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), here
Morgan Reed (Association for Competitive Technology), here
Scott Cleland (Precursor LLC), here.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Facilitating Access to Culture in the Digital Age - WIPO Global Meeting on Emerging Copyright Licensing Modalities
November 4 and 5, 2010 – WIPO, 34, chemin des Colombettes, Geneva. Audio recording of the meeting now available.
Monday, September 13, 2010
On establishing the leader of a cartel
General Court, T-29/05 Deltafina / Commission, in particular paras 332-336
Software licenses and first sale doctrine
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Vernor v. Autodesk. See also this comprehensive post on Groklaw.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
On Copyright in Headlines
Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 984 (7 September 2010), Federal Court of Australia.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Rachat par la coopérative agricole Sodiaal du groupe Entremont autorisé
D'après le Communiqué "Avec l'acquisition du groupe Entremont, Sodiaal deviendra le numéro 2 sur le marché de la collecte de lait en France, derrière le groupe Lactalis. Les fournisseurs auxquels cette coopérative fera face sur ce marché seront cependant ses propres adhérents et l'Autorité a rappelé que ce contexte assurait un équilibre des relations entre vendeurs et acheteur, les éleveurs bénéficiant de leur position de sociétaires et de la sécurisation de leurs débouchés."
Friday, September 03, 2010
Price fixing in the air transportation industry
From the US Department of Justice Press Release: "Polar Air Cargo LLC has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $17.4 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry".
Advocate General Ján Mazák on (the absence of) margin squeeze
Opinion, Case C-52/09, Konkurrensverket v TeliaSonera AB.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Internet Archive: Over 1 Million Digital Books Available to the Print-Disabled
Those books are available for free, in a format called DAISY, either open or protected. Open DAISYs can be read by anyone in the world on many different devices. Protected DAISYs can only be opened using a key issued by the Library of Congress NLS program.
Netzneutralität aus deutscher Sicht: "Wettbewerb ist Garant für Netzneutralität"
Matthias Kurth, Präsident der Bundesnetzagentur, hier.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Post Oracle-Sun Merger: OpenSolaris' fate revealed (and what about Oracle's public announcement)?
Here.
From the Oracle-Sun merger decision, para 182:
"Although, with the exception of points 1, 2 and 3 (see below paragraph 184), Oracle's
public announcement is not legally binding on Oracle, the Commission considers that
the strong specificities of open source software and the vibrant ecosystem surrounding
MySQL provide for a self-enforcing mechanism ensuring that Oracle would not have
the ability and incentives to deviate from its announced future conduct. Reputation and
trust is of utmost importance for the sponsor of an open source project which depends
on contributions by a large ecosystem of users, developers and customers. After the
merger Oracle will become the sponsor of a number of significant open source projects
of Sun, including Java, MySQL and OpenSolaris, and will as such need to gain and
retain the trust from the open source community. In this respect, it can be expected that
all of the public pledges made by Oracle to reassure MySQL users, developers and
storage engine vendors will be subject to close scrutiny from the open source
community."
Was the EU Commission somehow slightly too optimistic?
From the Oracle-Sun merger decision, para 182:
"Although, with the exception of points 1, 2 and 3 (see below paragraph 184), Oracle's
public announcement is not legally binding on Oracle, the Commission considers that
the strong specificities of open source software and the vibrant ecosystem surrounding
MySQL provide for a self-enforcing mechanism ensuring that Oracle would not have
the ability and incentives to deviate from its announced future conduct. Reputation and
trust is of utmost importance for the sponsor of an open source project which depends
on contributions by a large ecosystem of users, developers and customers. After the
merger Oracle will become the sponsor of a number of significant open source projects
of Sun, including Java, MySQL and OpenSolaris, and will as such need to gain and
retain the trust from the open source community. In this respect, it can be expected that
all of the public pledges made by Oracle to reassure MySQL users, developers and
storage engine vendors will be subject to close scrutiny from the open source
community."
Was the EU Commission somehow slightly too optimistic?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Online markets: discussion paper
A report for the Office of Fair Trading, Phillipa Marks, Stephen Adshead and Brian Williamson of Plum Consulting, Yali Sassoon of Keplar LLP and Ian Jewitt
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Spiegel: Explosion des Wissens
Access to Knowledge in Africa: The Role of Copyright
C Armstrong, J De Beer, D Kawooya, A Prabhala, T Schonwetter, here.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
On incentives to engage in designing around patents and standards for triggering a summary contempt proceeding
FTC Amicus Brief in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Matter of TiVo, Inc., vs. EchoStar Corporation (Commissioners William E. Kovacic and Edith Ramirez dissenting)
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Voluntary Competition Compliance Code launched in Pakistan
Downloadable from the Competition Commission's website.
Monday, August 02, 2010
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Centre for a Digital Society , Video here . These are my very rough talking points on pay or okay in full length (more than I actually had...
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LG Frankfurt am Main, 2-06 O 172/09 (verkündet am 13.05.2009). Lesenswertes aus der Begründung (meine Hervorhebungen): "Vorstellbare ...
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Stratechery, here .
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Here (thanks to Netzpolitik).
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G. Kallfass, presentation here .
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Public Knowledge, here .