Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Beginnings of the "more technological approach"

1998: "To meet Microsoft’s arguments about the integration of the operating system and the browser, Justice Department lawyers needed to understand how software programs were written...They needed to appreciate the technical characteristics of software code and design, something that Microsoft and its software engineers already understood", in  A. Gavil, H. First, The Microsoft Antitrust Cases: Competition Policy for the Twenty-first Century, MIT Press, 2014. A terrific read, see here for a book review - with which I only partially agree, though. Contrary to the reviewer's opinion, I didn't miss the "drama" at all (read the footnotes!). Moreover, there are plenty of references to the economic underpinnings of the Microsoft cases (basically, network economics and the then nascent theory of two-sided markets). However, what I'd have liked to find in the book is also an in-depth discussion of the suitability of the economic theories that played a decisive role in the Microsoft cases for competition policy going forward (legal theories are already depicted by the authors as sufficiently flexible to cope with new challenges). For instance, how solid is the application barrier to entry argument  likely to be in other high-tech markets such as mobile?

Why Xiaomi Worries Google

TheInformant, here (only partially accessible without subscription, but already very interesting).

Capturing the Transplant: U.S. Antitrust Law in the EU

S. Beltrametti, here

Copyright and the Value of the Public Domain

K. Erickson, P. Heald, F. Homberg, M. Kretschmer and D. Mendis, here.

Die Welt braucht ein sicheres Betriebssystem

FAZ, hier.

John Oliver on plain-packaging

Video here

Competition Policy and Regulation in Credit Card Markets: Insights from Single-Sided Market Analysis

D. Carlton, R. Winter, here

Council of the European Union agrees draft on financial benchmark controls

Out-Law.com, here

Le statut d'hébergeur de YouTube encore conforté en justice

Nextinpact.com, ici.

Jugement TGI Paris, Kare et Delante / YouTube, 29 janvier 2015, ici

Cloud Computing: Microsoft integriert Standards zum Datenschutz für Unternehmen

Heise.de, hier

Fostering Freedom Online: the Role of Internet Intermediaries

UNESCO, here

Price-match guarantees prevent rather than provoke price wars

The Economist, here

Négociations fournisseurs-distributeurs : sans accord, les amendes vont pleuvoir

LaTribune.fr, ici

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Expedia Will Pay Orbitz $115 Million if Antitrust Complications Scuttle Acquisition

Skift, here.

Stiftung Warentest: Reiseportale tricksen immer noch bei Onlinebuchungen

Spiegel.de, hier.

Fall Viagra und Co.: Bei Potenzmitteln spielt der Wettbewerb

NZZ, hier.

Google following Facebook down the zero-rate rabbit hole

GigaOm, here.

Konkurrenz für Tesla: Apple entwickelt offenbar eigenes Auto

FAZ.net, hier.

Google boss warns of 'forgotten century' with email and photos at risk

The Guardian, here.

Les bibliothécaires européens 'soutiennent le rapport Reda'

Actualitte.com, ici.

Why the high street is overdosing on caffeine

Tim Harford, here.

Data reveals a surge in the success rate of motions to dismiss after Alice

Iam-magazine.com/blog, here.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Competition, Consumer Protection, and The Right [Approach] to Privacy

M. Ohlhausen, A. Okuliar, here.

CMA appoints researchers to explore the commercial use of consumer data in three sectors

CMA, here.

Authorpreneurship

The Economist, here.

How 21 big tech companies got their names

TheNextWeb, here.

Droit d'auteur : rien n'empêche une loi d'être "inadaptée au contexte"

ActuaLitté, ici

La CNMC debate con expertos internacionales el diseño institucional de las autoridades de competencia y regulación

CNMC, Nota de Prensa, aquì

Antitrust, Privacy & Big Data: Setting the Scene

A. Burnside, here

La indemnización de los daños por el cártel de los rodamientos ferroviarios: ¿algunos millones de euros más para el Plan +Renfe?

F. Marcos, aquì

Regulation, antitrust and promotion of innovation? Challenges and experiences from communications to payment systems

Thursday 12 March 2015, 18:00 - 19:30 (registration from 17:30)
UCL Laws Graduate Wing, 1-2 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0EG


Speakers:
David Evans (Global Economics Group / UCL)
Steve Unger (Ofcom)
Andrea Coscelli (CMA)
Hannah Nixon (Payment Systems Regulator)
John Fingleton (Fingleton Associates)

Chair:
Antonio Bavasso (UCL / Allen & Overy LLP)

Website here.

EU Council backs European Commission proposal to fight against the manipulation of financial benchmarks

EC Press Release, here

New agency to sniff out threats in cyberspace

WashingtonPost, here.

Expedia's $1.6 Billion Purchase Of Orbitz Not Likely An Antitrust Concern

Forbes, here.

Sometimes one wonders...Is this still journalism or should we better find another name for it? Competition  policy propaganda campaign (CPPC) perhaps? It is worth $115 million, apparently, here.

Most Big Data is Social Data

Blogs.lse.ac.uk, here.

Friday, February 06, 2015

The first Tizen smartphone isn't an "Android killer"—it's a bad Android clone

ArsTechnica, here

Copyright and the Music Marketplace

US Copyright Office, here

As Apple-Google Deal Expires, Who Will Win The Safari Default Search Business?

Searchengineland.com, here

Bilan 2014 du marché de la musique enregistrée

Syndicat National de l'édition Phonographique (SNEP), ici.

The Valuation of Unprotected Works: A Case Study of Public Domain Photographs on Wikipedia

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

Weiteres Bußgeld wegen vertikaler Preisbindung im Matratzenfall verhängt

Bundeskartellamt, hier

Learning from each other's experiences' - a review of the ICN Merger Workshop on cross-border cooperation

A.Baker, here.

The Advisory Council to Google on the Right To Be Forgotten

Thursday, February 05, 2015

Google’s slippery slope: If search giant pays Twitter for content, should it pay all publishers?

VentureBeat, here.

Apple développe sa première application Android

Numerama, ici

EU taskforce to fight new Facebook privacy policy

ITpro.co.uk, here

Open Government Licenses Interoperability

LAPSI Report, here

Big Data and Differential Pricing

US White House, here.

(FTC "under pressure"?).

Dept. of Justice Blesses IEEE Rules on Injunctions and Reasonability

Consortiuminfo.org, here

Obama finds bipartisan support for first 'Big Data' privacy plan

Reuters, here.

How White House Thwarted FCC Chief on Internet Rules

WSJ, here.

Monday, February 02, 2015

Patents Become A Literal 'Get Out Of Jail Early' Card For Chinese Prisoners

TechDirt, here.


Let the Right 'One' Win: Policy Lessons from the New Economics of Platforms

E. Weyl, A. White, here

Competition Policy and Intellectual Property: Insights from Developed Country Experience

F. M. Scherer, J. Watal, here

Evaluating Appropriability Defenses for the Exclusionary Conduct of Dominant Firms in Innovative Industries

J. Baker, here

Copyright policy and the right to science and culture

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, here (Word File).

UK IPO Copyright Notice: knitting and sewing patterns (seriously!)

Here

PSI Charging Policy: A Conceptual Framework For EU Guidance to the Member States

M. Ricolfi, here

Friedrich Hayek's Contribution to Antitrust Law and Its Modern Application

T. Schrepel, here

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Off-topic: la légèreté c'est très dur à faire

Cabu interviewé par Charles Sigel,  Podcast ici.

Digital vs. Print: Reading Comprehension and the Future of the Book

J. Tanner, here.

(missing from the analysis, though: tablets powered by great apps like GoodReader, used indoor and positioned at a convenient angle - moreover, not clearly stated that reading and taking notes with whatever medium are two distinct processes)

Thursday, January 08, 2015

The Sharing Economy and Consumer Protection Regulation: The Case for Policy Change

Mercatus Research, here

End of the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust Saga

ARL Policy Notes, here

Marrakesh Treaty: Mali takes the plunge for Africa

Afro-ip.blogspot, here

Switzerland: The library’s document delivery service (scanning and sending journal articles by email to users) complies with copyright law

Kluwer Copyright Blog, here

PMI: Draft final order published for formal public consultation

CMA, draft order here; Draft Explanatory Note here.

(a whole two pages required to explain the prohibition on equivalent behaviour, 14-16)

Googles Dominanz in Amerika bröckelt

FAZ, hier

EU negotiating texts in TTIP

EC, here.

Troll fatigue: Earnest debate on patent abuse at CES

ArsTechnica, here.

Monday, January 05, 2015

Apple Watch Will Deliver ‘Hyper-Local’ Ads On Your Wrist

BusinessInsider, here

Building the Entrepreneurial State: A New Framework for Envisioning and Evaluating a Mission-oriented Public Sector

M. Mazzucato, here

The Enormous Implications Of Facebook Indexing 1 Trillion Of Our Posts

TechCrunch, here

Injunctive Relief in Disputes Related to Standard-Essential Patents: Time for the CJEU to Set Fair and Reasonable Presumptions

P. Larouche, N. Zingales, here

Abuso del diritto al brevetto e abuso di posizione dominante: il caso Pfizer

G. Ghidini, G. Cavani, P. F. Piserà, qui

Big Data, Machine Learning, and the Social Sciences: Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency

Medium.com, here

Les prix personnalisés, un défi pour l'autorité de la concurrence

LesEchos, ici

Friday, December 19, 2014

Study on the making available right and its relationship with the reproduction right in cross-border digital transmissions

Prepared by De Wolf & Partners for the European Commission, here

U.S. judge concerned Android antitrust lawsuit too vague

Reuters, here

The Future of Privacy: Digital Life in 2025

Pew Research Center, here

Prêt numérique en bibliothèque: à peine acté, déjà critiqué

Lexpress.fr, ici

After Intel: Effects-Based Approach, Price-Cost Test, and Administrability

M. Motta, Presentation, here

How much traffic did Facebook deliver to Bing? Very little

Insidefacebook, here

Apple 'failing to protect Chinese factory workers'

BBC.com, here.

Apple's reaction here (from The Verge)

IP and Standard Setting

OECD Competition Committee, Note by Germany, here

Opinion 2/13 on EU Accession to the ECHR: The CJEU as Humpty Dumpty

Eutopialaw.com, here

Google aiming to go straight into car with next Android

Reuters, here.

Monopolkommission: Die Zähmung der Internet-Giganten

FAZ.net, hier.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Microsoft stops offering alternative browsers to Windows users in Europe

PCWorld, here

ETH-Bibliothek document delivery service is admissible

Ethz.ch, here.

Federal Court's press release ici; Judgment 4A_295/2014 hier

Governments Should Make Markets, Not Just Fix Them

M. Mazzucato, here

Canada court to order Apple to turn over records in iPhone probe

Reuters.com, here

EU court ruling could make it easier to get patents for cell therapies

Out-law.com, here

How to crack the Booking.com algorithm

Tnooz, here

WIPO: Study On Copyright Exceptions Stimulates Broad Discussion With Author

IP-Watch, here

Deux ententes entre fabricants de produits d'hygiène et d'entretien sanctionnées

Autorité de la concurrence, magnifique Communiqué de presse ici, Décision ici

IP, Standard Setting, and Injunctions

M. Dolmans, OECD Competition Committee, here

Intellectual Property and Standard Setting

OECD Competition Committee, Note by the United States, here

Global internet authority ICANN has been hacked

TheVerge, here

Independent Library Report for England

Presented to Government by William Sieghart and an expert panel, here

Google looks to head off U.S. antitrust lawsuit over Android

Yahoo.finance, here.

An organism which is incapable of developing into a human being does not constitute a human embryo within the meaning of the Biotech Directive


CJEU Case C-364/13,  here.

The art – and science – of scaling in the two-sided marketplace

TheNextWeb, here

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Open Content – A practical guide to using Creative Commons Licences

T. Kreutzer for UNESCO, here

Jury finds Apple not guilty of harming consumers in iTunes DRM case

TheVerge, here

The economics of open and closed systems

Autorité de la concurrence and CMA, here (French version here).

The sharing economy: Will self-regulation by startups suffice to protect consumers?

TechRepublic, here.

Scrutinizing Patent Assertion Entities: What Competition Enforcers are Doing

AAI and CCIA, Video here.

Parity clauses from hotel distribution contracts to be banned once for all

HotRec.eu, here.

CBP onderzoekt nieuwe privacyvoorwaarden Facebook

CBPweb.nl, hier

Boycott Called Against Spanish Newspaper Publishers' Association Titles In Protest Of New Copyright Law

TechDirt, here

Uber responds to Sen. Al Franken: ‘We care deeply’ about privacy

VentureBeat, here

E-Book Legal Restrictions Are Screwing Over Blind People

Wired, here

Monday, December 15, 2014

Monday's e-book antitrust appeal hearing went well for Apple

Fortune.com, here

Mobilitics, saison 2 : Les smartphones et leurs apps sous le microscope de la CNIL et d'Inria

CNIL, ici

Datenschutz: Justizministerium drängt auf klaren Rechtsrahmen für Scoring

Heise.de, hier

CBP issues sanction to Google for infringements privacy policy

CBPweb.nl, here

ACCC authorises resale price maintenance for the first time

Clifford Chance, here

UberPop sera interdit dès le 1er janvier

LeMonde, ici.

Warum all die Pakete?

FAZ.net, hier

Commission announces the launch of market tests in investigations in the online hotel booking sector by the French, Swedish and Italian competition authorities

EC, here.

Italian Competition Authority, here.
Swedish Competition Authority, here.
French Competition Authority, here.

Text of the proposed commitments (in French), here

Che cosa indica e come si traduce la parola inglese whistleblower?

Accademia della Crusca, qui.

Facebook dumps Microsoft Web search results

Reuters.com, here

Glitch Causes Items To Be Sold On Amazon For 1p

News.Sky.com, here

The economics of P2P lending

Bruegel.org, here

The Rise of a New Smartphone Giant: China's Xiaomi

NYTimes.com, here

Friday, December 12, 2014

Kenneth Crews Presenting the Update of His Report to WIPO SCCR

Archived Webcast here (Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Ninth Session - December 8 to December 12, 2014, Wed 10, Afternoon, from 4:47). 

The Independence of National Competition Authorities

A. Italiener, here

Obama's DOJ is bringing its big guns to the Apple e-book appeal

Fortune.com, here

Efficiencies and Antitrust Reconsidered: An Evolutionary Perspective

T. Horton, here

Consolidation of Proposed Texts Contained In Document SCCR/26/3

Prepared by African Group, Brazil, Ecuador, India and Uruguay, here

COMESA's merger assessment guidelines: What you need to know

Werksmans.com, here.

Urheberrecht: Razzia bei Betreibern und Nutzern zweier E-Book-Plattformen

Heise.de, hier

Canada competition watchdog probing Apple over iPhone contracts

PcWorld, here.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Google Forced Amazon To Remove Its Main Shopping App From The Play Store Because Of Its Appstore Integration

Android Police, here.

Dear Günther, we need to talk about ancillary copyright

Some European Publishers, Letter here.

EU Quizzes Google Rivals on Search and Ads

Businessweek.com, here

Google's Schmidt: You have nothing to fear from AI

Cnet.com, here

Barclays and Deutsche Bank to be investigated over forex algorithm

EuropeanCeo.com, here

The Internet of Things

OECD Technology Foresight Forum 2014, here

Shaping Up to the Future

Raconteur.net, here

The Data Protection Directive applies to a video recording made with a surveillance camera installed by a person on his family home and directed towards the public footpath

Case C-212/13, František Ryneš v Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů, here

Google News Shuttered in Spain Thanks to “Ancillary Copyright” Law

EFF.org, here.

See also  here (ElMundo) and here (FAZ). 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dancing around data

M. Stucke and A. Grunes, here

Google Cultural Institute opens up as a platform for museums to build their own mobile apps

VentureBeat, here

Canada: Tories target cross-border price gap with Competition Bureau bill

Theglobeandmail.com, here

Giants of digital: separating the signal from the noise and the sound from the fury

A. Chisholm, here

Nokia's map app for Android is no longer a Samsung exclusive

Theverge.com, here. More background info here.

Android Wear gets Lollipop update, adds watch face API, new features

Arstechnica.com, here

Open Letter to App Marketplaces from 23 Privacy Authorities

Priv.gc.ca, here

The Object of Effects

A. Italiener, here.

The General Court confirms that the French Ordre national des pharmaciens restricted competition on the clinical biology analysis market

Case T-90/11, here.

La CNMC y la economía colaborativa

CNMCblog, aquí

Intel and Article 102 TFEU Case Law: Making Sense of a Perpetual Controversy


P. Ibáñez Colomo, here.

Android's winning mobile strategy: Sell to the poor

TechRepublic, here.

How much of your news site’s search traffic comes from Google News? Probably 5 to 25 percent

Nieman.lab, here.

Foreign Antitrust Defendants Feel Some Relief from the Reach of the Sherman Act in Civil Matters

Shearman.com, here.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

The Sharing Economy and Consumer Protection Regulation: The Case for Policy Change

Mercatus Research, here

YouTube Now Tells You How Copyrighted Music Will Affect Your Video Before You Upload It

TechCrunch, here

A privacy policy for cars: What automakers know about you (and what they’re doing with it)

Washingtonpost, here

Amazon Debuts New 'Make an Offer' Feature for Price Negotiations

Streetinsider.com, here

Google Fights to Stop Lawsuit Over ‘Clandestine’ Cookies

Bloomberg.com, here

Uber’s “ruthless execution” and “swagger” are key to its success

VentureBeat, here

Exclusion and sources of technological competition in mobile networks

K. Stylianou, here

Oracle asks Supreme Court to reject Android copyright case

ComputerWorld, here

Future of AI and the Law

R. Susskind, Video here

Signé protocole sur la diffusion du livre numérique par les bibliothèques publiques

Livreshebdo.fr, ici.  

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Monday, December 01, 2014

Who pays for us to browse the web? Be wary of Google’s latest answer

E. Morozov, here

ACM’s strategy regarding enforcement of vertical restraints

C. Fonteijn, here.

Star Witness in Apple Lawsuit Is Steve Jobs

NYTimes, here.

Original Complaint (2005) here. Original Motion to Dismiss here

Priceline maintains focus on reducing friction for local experiences, no plans to become the next Oracle

Tnooz.com, here.

The Tempting Of Antitrust: Robert Bork and the Goals of Antitrust Policy

D. Crane, here

Out of control? Robert Bork’s portrayal of the U.S. Antitrust system in the 1970s

W. Kovacic, here

Robert Bork’s Forgotten Role in the Transaction Cost Revolution

A. Meese, here

Bork and Microsoft: Why Bork Was Right and What We Learn About Judging Exclusionary Behavior

H. First, here

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Taylor Swift leaving Spotify was great news for YouTube

TheVerge, here.

Copyrightability of Java APIs revisited

P. Samuelson, here.

Copie Privée : le vrai préjudice... des consommateurs français !

UFC-QueChoisir, ici.

The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs Private Sector Myths

M. Mazzucato, Transcript of the presentation given to OECD Staff, here (p. 3 ff.).

Is the Head of Germany’s Bundeskartellamt Right to Suggest Criminal Law Sanctions are Too Severe for Cartels?

A. Stephan, here

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin : « Ceux qui pensent être propriétaires de nos données se trompent »

LesEchos.fr, ici.

Wah-the-ley on Wah-way: a matter of Opinion

IPKat, here

83% of Global Internet Users Believe Affordable Access to the Internet Should be a Basic Human Right

Ipsos, on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (“CIGI”), here

Monday, November 24, 2014

A Nobel Laureate, Darth Vader© and Access to Health: Balancing IP and Competition in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Giovanni Napolitano
World Intellectual Property Organization 

4th December, 2014, 2 p.m.

DEM - Conference Room
Trento University 

How the UN is using open data to tackle Ebola

Futuregov.asia, here

Virgin Media sets the cat among the pigeons – Ofcom examines Premier League football

Brian Cave, here.

Google settles Internet trolling court case

TheGuardian.com, here

Suède : Les éditeurs lèvent les restrictions sur le prêt numérique

ActuaLitte.com, ici.

Structural Remedies in the Google Case?

I-Comp, here.

Why Textbooks Count: A Policy Paper

T. Oates, here

Brief of Amici Curiae Antitrust Law Professors in O'Bannon v. NCAA

Google launches 'Contributor' payment service

Independent.co.uk, here

Update on Trademark-Related Aspects of the Domain Name System

WIPO Secretariat, here

Europeans Have Authority To Seek Google Break Up Though Unlikely To Do So

SearchEngineLand, here

RBS apologises for 'incorrect' evidence to MPs' committee

BBC.com, here

Where Creativity Thrives: BitTorrent 2014 User Study

Blog.bittorrent.com, here.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Summary of the Advocate General's Opinion in Huawei v. ZTE

Comparativepatentremedies, here.

How Not To Apply Actavis

M. Carrier,  here.

Google Should Face EU Web Law If Competition Probe Fails

Bloomberg.com, here.

How Google Inbox shares 70% of its code across Android, iOS, and the Web

ArsTechnica, here.

Monitor and the Competition and Markets Authority


A. Sánchez Graells, here

Algorithms Are Great and All, But They Can Also Ruin Lives

Wired.com, here

Payment card ruling could open new era for EU transparency

Euractiv.com, here

AG: SEP owner may be required, before seeking an injunction, to make a specific licensing offer

Press Release here; Opinion here

Senator Al Franken Asks Uber’s CEO Tough Questions On User Privacy

TechCrunch, here.

Which Mobile Apps Are Worst Privacy Offenders?

Spectrum.ieee.org, here.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Court: Google Can Arrange Search Results Any Way It Damn Pleases

Gizmodo.com, here

The Uncertain Scope of the Public Performance Right After American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo, Inc.

M. Sag, here

Privatisation

UK House of Commons Library Research Paper, here

The Competitive Effects of Across-Platform Parity Agreements

Paolo Buccirossi
LEAR, Rome

Friday, 28th November, 2014 – 1.45 p.m.

Room 2B
Department of Economics and Management
Trento University, Italy

Airbnb and Hotels: What to Do About the Sharing Economy?

Wired.com, here.

Autorité de la concurrence saisie sur les relations contractuelles entre les hôteliers et les centrales de réservation sur internet

Reuters, ici.

Silicon Valley Antitrust: Syllabus

H. Kaiser, here.

Confessions of a price fixer

AutoNews.com, here.

The Ladies Vanish

Thenewinquiry.com, here

High-Cost Generic Drugs — Implications for Patients and Policymakers

J. Alpern, W. Stauffer, and A. Kesselheim, here

Au ministère de la Culture, inquiétudes autour du marché de l’occasion numérique

NextImpact, ici.

Est-ce que les juges européens seront moins frileux et plus imaginatifs que la plupart des politiciens nationaux? De toute façon, bon sujet à débattre dans le cadre de la Concertation nationale sur le numérique.

Internet of Things – Top 10 privacy and data protection concerns

JDSupra, here.

Federal Circuit: Novelty in Implementation of an Abstract Idea Insufficient to Overcome Alice

Patentlyo, here.