A structural break cartel screen for dating and detecting collusion

C. Crede, here. 

Google Said to Be Under U.S. Antitrust Scrutiny Over Android

Bloomberg, here. 

Leistungsschutzrecht: Snippet-Tarif der VG Media "nicht angemessen"

Heise.de, hier. 

Competition rebooted: Enforcement and personal data in digital markets

A. Lamadrid, here. 

Public consultation on the regulatory environment for platforms, online intermediaries, data and cloud computing and the collaborative economy

Questionnaire, here.

(Short) Background info, here.

Safe Harbor menacé : l'industrie du Cloud monte au créneau

Numerama.com, ici. 

Building a global community of practice

M. Vestager, here. 

Loterie Nationale belge condamnée pour abus de position dominante

LeVif.be, ici. 

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.

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. 

Five steps to success in the sharing economy

PCW, here. 

Welcome To The Internet Of Cheating Things

TechDirt, here.

Oktoberfest 2015: no beer without patents

EPO, here. 

Droit au déréférencement : rejet du recours gracieux formé par Google à l’encontre de la mise en demeure

CNIL, ici. 

Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful

NYTimes.com, here. 

VW Is Said to Cheat on Diesel Emissions; U.S. to Order Big Recall

Nytimes.com, here. 

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. 

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.

Should libraries start ditching books to bring in new tech?

Washingtonpost.com, here.


“Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería algún tipo de biblioteca”
Jorge Luis Borges

Nestlé likely to lose bid to trade mark shape of Kit Kat bars in light of EU court ruling

Out-law.com, here. 

A Berne-compatible reconciliation of hyperlinking and the communication to the public right on the internet

ALAI, here. 

CMA closes hotel online booking investigation

CMA, Press release here. 

Stretching EU competition law tools for search engines and social networks

I. Graef, here. 

Fair Use vs. Algorithms: What the Dancing Baby Did to Copyright

Motherboard.vice.com, here. 

Is Uber's ultimate goal the privatisation of city governance?

TheGuardian.com, here. 

Competition impact assessment

CMA, Part 1 here; 2 here. 

Geld oder Daten! – Ihre Daten sind der Lufthansa teuer

Heise.de, hier. 

Google Found Guilty of ‘Abusing Dominant Market Position’ in Russia

WSJ, here. 

Google злоупотребляет доминирующим положением на рынке предустановленных магазинов приложений в ОС "Андроид"

Fas.gov.ru, вот and here.

Personal Data Stores

G. Brochot, J. Brunini, R. Larsen, D. Lewis, F. Liu Eisma, here. 

The Secret of Airbnb’s Pricing Algorithm

Spectrum.ieee.org, here. 

Provisional text of the Commission’s online platforms consultation

Politico.eu, here. 

Towards a new digital ethics

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), here. 

Intellectual property and competition

M. Vestager, here.

Why India’s online shopping revolution won’t kill brick-and-mortar stores

Qz.com, here.

What may make Amazon inclined to poach your product

HBR.org, here. Paper here. 

Die wettbewerbsrechtliche Zulässigkeit von Meistbegünstigungsklauseln auf Buchungsplattformen am Beispiel von HRS

L. Hamelmann, J. Haucap, C. Wey, hier.

Free Software Establishments in India Fight Back as Efforts to Spread Software Patents Are Reported

Techrights.org, here. 

Input Price Discrimination (Bans), Entry and Welfare

M. Dertwinkel-Kalt, J. Haucap, C. Wey, here.

In European Journal of Law and Economics 2015 under the title "Procompetitive Dual Pricing"

Matera v. Google

Case number 5:15-cv-04062, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, here. 

Impacto del Nuevo Artículo 32.2 de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual

Nera para la Asociación Española de Editoriales de Publicaciones Periódicas (AEEPP), aquì. 

Emerging forms of innovation in the Internet of Things

Deloitte, here. 

Beschluss zum Streit um das Leistungsschutzrecht

Bundeskartellamt, hier.

"Auch ein marktbeherrschendes Unternehmen kann kartellrechtlich nicht dazu verpflichtet werden, bei einer ungeklärten Rechtslage ein erhebliches Schadensersatzrisiko einzugehen"

Décision du 9 septembre 2015 relative à une demande de mesures conservatoires de la société Gibmedia

Autorité de la concurrence, ici. Communiqué de presse ici. 

The Billboard Effect is dead, says a study of hotels listed on OTAs

Tnooz, here. 

Competencia cuestiona la protección al sector del taxi

ElPais, aquì.

Cars, newspapers and permissionless innovation

B. Evans, here. 

Data protection and service providers - new obligations, liabilities and contract changes loom

Out-Law.com, here. 

Microsoft is using Bing to discourage Windows 10 users from downloading Chrome and Firefox

VentureBeat, here. 

Wettbewerbspolitik in digitalen Märkten aus Verbrauchersicht

Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, hier. 

Quand "l'ubérisation" gagne (aussi) nos assiettes

LExpress.fr, ici. 

When Big Data Becomes Bad Data

Propublica.org, here. 

The Role of Market Transparency in Assessing MFN Clauses

I. Vandenborre, M. Frese, here. 

Canadian company accuses majors of anti-competitive behaviour over public domain Beatles tracks

Completemusicupdate.com, here. 

Responses to CMA Consultation Regarding Potential Remedies in the Energy Market Investigation

C. Waddams, M. Hviid, D. Deller, here. 

Checking Out? Hilton’s App Now Lets You Grab An Uber

TechCrunch, here. 

Uber verbieten, um Monopole zu schützen

J. Haucap, hier. 

Wie Online-Händler Kunden zum Kauf drängen

NDR.de, hier. 

Il caso Booking: prove generali di cooperazione tra le autorita nazionali di concorrenza

N. Latronico, qui.

The Essential Guide to drafting Commission documents on EU competition law

F. Ronkes Agerbeek, here. 

A lawyer's alleged double life could screw up one of the biggest antitrust settlements in US history

UK.businessinsider.com, here. 

Google Redress and Integrity Platform

Grip.eu, here. Press release here. 

CCI charges Google with rigging search results; Flipkart, Facebook corroborate complaints

Economictimes.indiatimes.com, here. 

Hotels Fight Back Against Sites Like Expedia and Priceline

NYTimes, here. 

Flight Centre's legal win to be challenged

News.com.au, here.

Judgment here. 

Anything wrong with asking for the best price?

J. Sim, H.L. Tan, here. 

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.

UK Competition Authority Takes Action Against Suspected Excessive Pricing of Pharmaceuticals

Cooley.com, here. 

BGH verwirft Apple-Patent auf die typische Schiebe-Geste zum Entsperren der iPhones und iPads

FAZ, hier. 

Vente de jeux d'occasion : Fleur Pellerin appelée à plus de clarté

Numerama, ici. 

Digital surveillance 'worse than Orwell', says new UN privacy chief

TheGuardian, here. 

Intellectual Property Issues in a Global Context: Management & Policy Concerns

D. Teece, here.

EU seeks views on the Satellite and Cable Directive

Press announcement here.

Is Amazon Creating a Cultural Monopoly?

NewYorker, here. 

Canadian Maple Syrup ‘Rebels’ Clash With Law

NYTimes, here. 

In Uber’s Quest to Win Over China, Tencent Blocks the Way

Bloomberg.com, here.

Authors United asks DOJ for Amazon probe

Thebookseller.com, here. 

Open Data : Météo-France ouvre ses modèles atmosphériques

Nextinpact.com, ici.

Exploring Zero-Rating Challenges: Views From Five Countries

C. Rossini, T. Moore, here. 

Disneyland Paris faces pricing probe

BBC, here.

Uber: The Mirage of the Marketplace

Slate.com, here. 

The ‘gig economy’ is coming. What will it mean for work?

TheGuardian, here. 

Why the internet of things favours dominance

TheGuardian, here.

On Extraterritoriality and the Gazprom Case

M. Martyniszyn, here. 

EDPS recommendations on the EU’s options for data protection reform

Opinion 3/2015, here. 

The European Commission’s Battle Over Pay-TV Services: Can Segmenting the EU Market Be Justified?

A. Stephan, here.

Copyright reform through competition law? The Commission’s statement of objections in the pay TV investigation

P. Ibanez-Colomo, here.

The online classroom is a surveilled classroom: no privacy here

NYBook.com, here.

Apple Music's Worst Feature? You can't delete it

Wired, here.

Advocate general deals another blow to economic assessment of rebates

KluwerCompetitionLawBlog, here. 

Is streaming good for music?

BBC World Service, Beach Podcast  here.

Can anything curb the dominance of the internet's big guns?

TheGuardian, here.

European Commission sends Statement of Objections on cross-border provision of pay-TV services available in UK and Ireland

Press Release, here. 

Oracle seeks permission to update copyright lawsuit against Google

Reuters, here.

Oracle Request to Supplement Java Lawsuit here. 

Aeroflot boykottiert Kartenzahlung

Biztravel, hier.

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. 

On-demand Transport: A discussion paper for future innovation

West Australian Department of Transport, here. 

Das Bundeskartellamt und die TV-Branche

DWDL.de, hier. 

UK non-paper on the sharing economy

Department for Business, Innovation and Skill, here. 

Airline passengers file antitrust suit against the world’s three largest global distribution systems (GDSs) for airline tickets

Tnooz.com, here. 

Uber Says Spain Legal Case Has Been Referred To The European Court Of Justice

TechCrunch, here. 

Inside Spotify’s hunt for the perfect playlist

Wired, here. 

UK government releases rules to get self-driving cars onto public roads

ArsTechnica, here. 

The Importance of Protecting Our Attention

ABC, here. 

16 Franken pro Ticket – Swiss führt GDS-Gebühr ein

TravelInside.ch, hier. 

Countries should address disruptive effects of the digital economy

OECD, Press Release, here. 

Lufthansa claims it is on solid legal ground over GDS tax move

Tnooz.com, here. See also here. 

Everything to know about the FTC’s antitrust review of Apple’s music business

WashingtonPost, here. 

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.

Leniency, damages, and EU competition policy

P. Buccirossi, C. Marvão, G. Spagnolo, here. 

TripAdvisor Wins in Italy as Court Rejects Hotels’ Fake Reviews Complaints

Skift, here.

And Then the Earth Shook: Google Enters Travel Booking

Skift, here. 

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

Here.

Costly comparison

The Economist, here.

Accusing Amazon of Antitrust Violations, Authors and Booksellers Demand Inquiry

NYTimes, here.

Spotify makes case against Apple in Congress

Politico.com, here. 

Authors Guild Slams 'Inadequate' E-book Royalty

PublishersWeekly, here,
Authors Guild's analysis here.

Platform Shift

M. Van Alstyne, here.

FTC exploring Apple rules for streaming music rivals in App Store

Reuters, here.

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).

A Regulator’s Comparison Website for Energy Tariffs is Not Sensible

S.Littlechild, here. 

European Commission sends Statement of Objections to MasterCard on cross-border rules and inter-regional interchange fees

Press Release, here. 

Abonnement illimité : après la médiation, l'Autorité de la concurrence...

ActuaLitté, ici. Voir également ici.
Avis de la médiatrice du livre (9/2/2015) ici. 

Gestures Will Be the Interface for the Internet of Things

Hbr.org, here.

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.

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. 

Why Airbnb needs to be better at search than Google

Wired, here.

Google gets into the carpooling game with the launch of RideWith in Israel

VentureBeat, here. See also here. 

International cooperation in merger cases as a tool for effective enforcement of competition law

UNCTAD Secretariat, here. 

The role of competition in the pharmaceutical sector and its benefits for consumers

UNCTAD Secretariat, here.
See other contributions and presentations here. 

Writers Are Going Cuckoo For Kindle Unlimited

TechCrunch, here. 

The Internet of Things: Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype

McKinsey, here. 

Are National Courts the Addressees of the Infosoc Three-Step Test?

R. Arnold, E. Rosati, here. 

Après Uber, AirBnb dans le collimateur de Bercy ?

Deplacementspros.com, ici. 

Beach Reading: "Debt: The First 5,000 Years"

D. Graeber, here.

Vivil startet Pilotprozess gegen Südzucker

Handelsblatt, hier.

The French, Italian and Swedish Competition Authorities Accept the Commitments Offered by Booking.com

ECN Brief 2/2015, here.
No direct link, hence:

In their investigations of so-called "price parity" clauses (also called "best price" clauses) contained in agreements between online travel agencies (OTAs) and hotels, the French Competition Authority (FCA), the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) and the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA) coordinated their investigations and, on 21 April 2015, adopted parallel decisions accepting identical commitments [1] from the market-leading OTA Booking.com and making them binding in their respective jurisdictions. The European Commission assisted the authorities in coordinating their work.

OTAs such as Booking.com operate internet platforms, on which consumers can search for, compare and book hotel rooms free of charge. Hotels only pay commission to the OTA for its services when a booking is made. The price parity clauses essentially require the hotels to offer the same or a better room price on Booking.com's platform as they offer on their other sales channels, including the hotel's own direct sales channels, be it online or offline. This means that Booking.com can raise its commission rate without the risk that hotels will translate this cost increase by offering higher room prices on Booking.com’s platform than on competing OTA platforms. The price parity clause, combined with the fact that hotels generally tend to sign up with several competing platforms, implies that Booking.com has less incentive to compete with other OTAs by charging lower commission rates to hotels than would otherwise be the case. As a result, the price parity clauses may restrict competition between existing OTAs and may lead to higher commission rates, which in turn may translate into higher consumer prices for hotel rooms. Furthermore, the price parity clause may constitute a barrier to entry on the market, by making it more difficult for an OTA to enter or expand on the market by competing with low commission rates in exchange for hotels offering lower room prices on that OTA’s platform. The three national competition authorities (NCAs) launched investigations to ascertain whether the price parity clauses in Booking.com’s agreements with hotels infringed the prohibition of restrictive agreements in Article 101 TFEU and, in the case of France and Sweden, the equivalent national legislation. The FCA’s investigation was also initiated on the basis of a possible infringement of the prohibition against abuse of dominance of Article 102 TFEU and its national equivalent.

In the course of the investigations, Booking.com conducted a customer survey of 14 000 consumers in 9 Member States and produced economic papers to argue, essentially, that parity between room prices in hotels’ own sales channels and prices offered on Booking.com’s platform is important in preventing free-riding on Booking.com’s investments and ensuring the continued supply of search and comparison services free of charge to consumers.

To solve the identified competition concerns, Booking.com offered a first version of commitments that were market tested and subsequently improved. In essence, the adopted commitments prevent Booking.com from requiring hotels to offer better or equal room prices via Booking.com than they do via competing OTAs. In addition, Booking.com cannot prevent hotels from offering discounted room prices provided that these are not marketed or made available to the general public online. The discounted prices can be offered online to members of a hotel’s loyalty scheme and/or via offline channels (e g direct emails, telephone and walk-in bookings).

The three NCAs performed economic analyses of the commitments and concluded that the will meet their competition concerns. The commitments will put pressure on OTAs' commission rates and the quality of service, which will ultimately lead to lower room prices and better services for consumers. The commitments will also make it easier for new OTAs to enter the market and for innovative OTAs to expand.

Following the commitment decision, the Booking.com cases were closed in France, Italy and Sweden. However, the respective competition authorities continue their investigations concerning Expedia’s price parity clauses and in France also concerning HRS's parity clauses.

See further:

Decision of the Autorité de la concurrence:

Decision of the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato:

Decision of the Konkurrensverket (translation):

[1] The French version of the commitments provides for a mid-term review.

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