CMA fines Pfizer and Flynn £90 million for drug price hike to NHS

CMA, here.

What are competition authorities talking about when they talk about big data?

OECD Hearing: Providing help to understand big data analytically

Last week, on a sunny and frosty November day (“Cold frost and sunshine: day of wonder! - Мороз и солнце; день чудесный”), competition authorities gathered at the OECD in Paris with the intention of figuring out analytically what big data could mean for competition enforcement.
In essence, discussions mainly focused on the impact on competition policy of the massive processing and exploitation of private data for commercial gain. While it goes without saying that big data is already significantly affecting business strategies, both on and offline, the question competition authorities are ever warming to is how big data might affect their own competition enforcement activities.

The topic "Big data: Bringing competition policy to the digital era"

was discussed by invited experts from academia and the private sector, followed by contributions provided by BIAC (with a Microsoft representative as ad hoc speaker), Germany, France, the EU (DGCom and EDPS), the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Committee Chair, after noticing that big data for competition authorities was a bit like sex for teenagers (“everybody talks about it, nobody has experienced it, everybody thinks that the others know more about it than this"), warned the distinguished attendees that views on this subject tended to be quite polarized, also due to the novelty of the economic and legal questions raised. Despite a few genuinely irreconcilable views, my understanding was that none of the experts and other contributors would have gone so far as to deny that big data had at least some implications for consumers and competition authorities (“too big an issue to be ignored”). The discussions within the OECD Committee were mainly theoretical, however, as case-related experience by competition authorities is still much limited.  It should also be noted that, while the attention of the Competition Committee and its invited experts was almost entirely focused on the online tracking of activities by users of digitally-enabled services, big data logically comprises also data produced directly by machines (non-personal data). Besides, a series of advances in the area of artificial intelligence and virtual/advanced reality, as well as the increased popularity of the Internet of Things, provide strong indications that the competitive significance of data is reasonably expected to grow in the future. Indeed, we might still be at a comparatively early stage in the transition towards an increasingly, and potentially paradigm-shifting, data-based economy.

What follows is a brief account of the some of the discussions that took place at the hearing, for personal memory and sharing with my students and other patient @wavesblog readers.

What is data in economic terms?

Basically, data can be in input or an output. As an input, or asset, data in digital markets would seem rather on the cheap side in the sense that nowadays there are inexpensive ways to generate and collect data produced by consumers while they are connected to the Internet (“web logs, sensors, etc.”). While firms offering digitally-enabled services get a lot of data almost automatically, data becomes really helpful and valuable “if it can be turned into information, knowledge and action”. This type of data analytics requires investment in complementary assets such as hardware, software, and skilled labour. Arguably, improvements in terms of value extraction (“information, knowledge and action “) are directly related to improvements in software and hardware and not only to improvements in terms of the amount and variety of data that is available.

On the demand side, increasing returns to scale that have attracted much attention in the case of online platforms such as Google and Facebook are so called direct and indirect network effects. Here what matters is share: the firm that has the larger share of users has power, as more users automatically make the digitally-enabled service more attractive relative to another online platform. On the supply side, classic returns to scale are often caused by high fixed costs, entry costs, relatively low marginal costs. In this respect, size is what matters for supply side economies of scale. The cost per unit decreases as the quantity produced increases. That said, the digital economy is characterized nowadays by less fixed costs (thanks to cloud computing, software as a service, freely available productivity tools, etc.). In this scenario, firms can relatively easily enter new markets and scale up their business.

The classic demand and supply side returns to scale are produced almost automatically (“positive feedback loop”). A critical aspect in the world of big data, however, is that it is mainly user generated data which directly helps with product improvement. This specific “return to scale” has also been called a “data network effect”. For instance, the consumer uses a digitally enabled service that is connected to the Internet, like Google Maps. In this case, the user is not only producing the data while using the service so that the supplier of the service can learn, but the user directly produces the data that enables the service and improves it in real time. It could be argued that this is a supply side phenomenon rather than a demand side phenomenon. More specifically, considered from the supply side, it’s not really a network effect but rather a matter of learning by doing, as the cost per unit decreases and quality increases as experience increases. This continuous improvement on the production side would be reminiscent of the Japanese Kaizen, with its focus on constant learning on how to optimise production and how to optimise the characteristics of the product to make it more attractive to user. Experience is particularly relevant for learning by doing: How long firms have been around and what they have learned. As such, this supply side phenomenon known as learning by doing wouldn’t be specific to the data economy but is present in virtually all industries (“companies from all industries have long sought to improve the relevance of their data, in order to inform their decision making, and better serve consumers”). Differently from more traditional returns to scale, this type of positive feedback would require a serious investment and commitment. In particular, learning by doing by online platforms requires data, hardware, software, tools, and expertise.

In this respect, a really intriguing question discussed at the hearing is whether there is something genuinely new going on here. The user is not only producing the data while using the service, from which the online platform can obviously learn, but the user produces the data that directly contributes to the making available of the service and its improvement in real time.

This specific feedback loop might be something peculiar to the data economy, as using the service has an effect not only on the capacity of the firm to improve the service, but on the capacity of the firm to provide it. Thus, using a digitally-enabled service such as Google Maps would have a direct influence on the production of the service, as if by driving a car the user "might make the car production line goes faster". Consumption would thus be intertwined with production, from the demand side to the supply side.

Is there a data barrier to entry?

The fact that data is relatively cheap and available, or that some companies are better than others at utilising data to extract value, would not seem to exclude per se that there might be serious data-related impediments or even barriers to entry.
Conversely, there is no automatic barrier to entry because of  the increasingly importance of data as a parameter of competition.

As seen above, an interesting peculiarity characterizing big data-driven economic sectors is that valuable data is generated by the interaction between the consumer and the digitally-enabled service, that is when the firm is already in the market. In this respect, a distinction should be made between data for entry and data that can  be generated only after entry. This would raise the question about the minimum quantity and variety of data necessary in order to enter the specific big data-driven market (a sort of "minimum efficient scale").

At any rate, there seemed to be general consensus that the attention of

competition authorities should be primarily focused on sectors in which a certain quantity/variety of data is  indispensable for firms and alternative data sources (such as data brokers) cannot be tapped. Future examples of this situation could arise in the world of so called Industry 4.0, i.e. the trend towards the full computerization of manufacturing where machine directly produce and exchange  valuable data.

Should privacy be protected as a component of quality competition?

It is clear to anyone who has been around in the “last 45 years” that competition policy has become quite price-centric. Antitrust is parameterized to assessing short-term price effects in narrowly defined markets. But, as Hayek has been warning, "unlike the position that exists in the physical sciences, in economics and other disciplines that deal with essentially complex phenomena, the aspects of the events to be accounted for about which we can get quantitative data are necessarily limited and may not include the important ones”.

With regard to competition enforcement, it is often the case that quality and innovation concerns that are non-price-related (and therefore not easily quantifiable) are what should really matter in terms of this policy’s exclusive goal, i.e. to make competition processes work best in the interest of consumers.  In this respect, big data could be like a canary in the coalmine, i.e. could serve to expose a crucial weakness in the current antitrust framework.

A more specific question discussed during the hearing is whether privacy can be treated as a parameter of quality competition. In this respect, for instance, privacy degradation (i.e., to demand more data than firms could in a competitive market, or to use data in ways that are contrary to the consumer’s wishes) could come across as an exercise of market power and, possibly, as an abuse of dominant position. The CJEU in ASNEF-Equifax held that “(a)ny possible issues relating to the sensitivity of personal data are not, as such, a matter for competition law, they may be resolved on the basis of the relevant provisions governing data protection”. Based on the Court’s “as such” language, the European Commission seems perfectly entitled to look “at big data and privacy where an antitrust concern may exist”. 

Of course, it is not a matter of incorporating privacy concerns into antitrust analysis as such. Only those product/service characteristics that are important to consumers are likely to be relevant in terms of competition enforcement, as specific practices can only be anticompetitive as long as consumers are negatively affected by them. Therefore, competition authorities have to decide whether consumers affected by the practice under analysis see privacy as a significant factor of quality, and companies compete with each other on this parameter. Thus, with regard to the Google/DoubleClick merger, the US Competition Authority decided that the combination of Google’s user search information with consumer data that DoubleClick was collecting on behalf of the publishers did not enhance Google’s market power in the intermediation market. The Authority also concluded that privacy as an element of quality competition would not have been negatively affected by the merger.

Last March, the German Competition Authority initiated proceedings against Facebook for possible abuse of dominant position. This case attracted much attention during the OECD hearing for its potential significance at the interface between competition policy and data protection. The dominant social network generates data from users on one side of the platform and directly monetizes that data on another side of the platform. The question is whether Facebook is abusing its dominant position by degrading privacy, that is by lowering the quality of the services it provides to its users. In particular, the German Competition Authority is considering whether the possible breach of data protection by Facebook’s terms and conditions of service may also constitute an abuse of dominance under competition law. It was also recalled that Germany’s Bundesgerichtshof sort of “paved the way” by stating that the “use of illegal general terms and conditions by a dominant company can constitute an abuse under the terms of German competition law”. Excessive “data extraction” from consumers is not that much dissimilar from excessive pricing. Of course, this would imply a data collection by the dominant firm going well beyond what is necessary in order to improve the quality of the service and/or lower its costs. In specific cases, identifying harm and distinguishing it from pro-competitive platform and service design can pose significant challenges.

Understandably, some expressed concerns that, by embracing a less price-centric view, competition authorities and courts would daringly depart from traditional, well established economics-based theories of harm. But it is also clear that it would make little sense to stick with traditional theories and tools while markets and competition processes undergo technology-driven “revolutions” (yes, someone actually employed the r word).

While it is not yet clear to what extent brand new theories of harm might be needed in order to assess anticompetitive practices in (big) data-driven markets, competition authorities are already reflecting on the need to adapt their enforcement tools to some of the peculiarities of digital markets. Thus, the OECD Competition Commission in 2013 discussed the idea of defining a relevant market based on product quality by replacing the customary SSNIP test (small but significant non-transitory increase in price) with a SSNDQ test (small but significant non-transitory decrease in product quality).

From (big) data to (big) market failures?

It is a well-established fact that many users of online service do not feel in control of their data. If online service providers are not offering the level of data privacy that consumers would appreciate, another way to look at this issue is from a more regulatory perspective. In this regard, it might be helpful to start investigating what could be the current obstacles to well-functioning data privacy competition. Lack of confidence and trust by consumers are a matter of interest also to market regulators, especially if this risks undermining the functioning of digital markets. Thus, for instance, if the maximizing strategy in some digital markets is the creation of confusion, new entrants committed to transparency do not necessarily succeed. In other words, if market incentives for transparency and data privacy are insufficient, a form of procompetitive regulation becomes necessary.

Another type of possible and potentially significant failure of big data-driven markets is that, as seen above, consumers are only partially benefiting from the valuable data that they are producing and that fuels a set of extremely profitable digital services.

Conclusion

Competition authorities' adolescent fascination with big data has quickly matured into full grown interest and analysis. In any event, new theories of harm and enforcement tools will need to be tested on the basis of real cases. Time might be ripe for more competition enforcement on digital markets. 

Fly on the Wall Series, Episode 1

Microsoft’s LinkedIn acquisition approved by regulators, but there’s a catch

VentureBeat, here.

EC approves Microsoft/LinkedIn, subject to conditions

Press Release, here. 

Archéologie et concurrence: proposition d'engagements et test de marché

Autorité de la concurrence, ici. 

Holding AI to account: will algorithms ever be free from bias if they're created by humans?

Wired, here. 

Privacy, free expression and transparency: Redefining their new boundaries in the digital age

UNESCO, here. 

EU competition law, personal data, and big data

C. Ritter, Presentation here. 

Fifth Circuit Scraps $340M EDTX Antitrust Verdict

TexasLawyer, here.

A New Front Opens in the IP Wars

AmericanLawyer.com, here. 

Die Menschensuchmaschine

Das Magazin, hier. 

Uber Buys a Mysterious Startup to Make Itself an AI Company

Wired, here. 

In five years, machine learning will be a part of every doctor’s job, Vic Gundotra says

Recode, here. 

BMW traps alleged thief by remotely locking him in car

CNET, here. 

Google DeepMind Makes AI Training Platform Publicly Available

Bloomberg, here. 

Ads and Adblocking

S. Jeong, Video here. 

China’s New Tool for Social Control: A Credit Rating for Everything

WSJ, here. 

Google, democracy and the truth about internet search

TheGuardian, here. 

Flywheel Taxi sues Uber for antitrust violations

SFGate, here. 

Human rights and encryption

UNESCO, here. 

La Economìa de los Datos. Retos para la competencia

Autoritat Catalana de la Competència, aquì.

The taxi unicorn’s new clothes

FT, here. 

Position Paper on the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Digitalsme, here. 

Interfaces on demand: the new services inside chatbots, voice computing, and mixed reality

VentureBeat, here. 

Uber Now Tracks Passengers' Locations Even After They're Dropped Off

NPR, here. 

Facebook’s advice to students interested in artificial intelligence

TechCrunch, here. 

Transformation of the Recorded Music Industry to the Digital Age: A Review of Technology-Driven Changes in the EU Copyright Framework Focusing on Their Effect on Digital Music Markets

P. Günther, here. 

Data populists must seize our information – for the benefit of us all

E. Morozov, here. 

The Innovation Illusion: How So Little Is Created by So Many Working So Hard

F. Erixon, B. Weigel, here. 

The Opening of the Door: Is Excessive Pricing Control under Article 102 TFEU coming back into vogue?

T. Soames, here. 

Intellectual Property and Standard Setting

K. Wong-Ervin, J. Wright, here. 

Competition Policy and Regulatory Reforms for Big Data: Propositions To Harness The Power of Big Data While Curbing Platforms’ Abuse Of Dominance

A. Gawer, here. 

AIPPI Congress Report 5: Antitrust and Pharma - seeking a balance

IPKat, here.

ACCC proposes to deny authorisation for banks to collectively bargain with and boycott Apple on Apple Pay

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How to regulate Internet giants

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OECD Hearing on Big Data

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Eine „Charta der Digitalen Grundrechte der EU“

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Geo-blocking: removing barriers to e-commerce

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Wir Individualisten: Datenschutz als Egotrip

N. Härting, hier. 

The Advocate General's Opinion in Intel v Commission: Eight Points of Common Sense for Consideration by the CJEU

N. Petit, here. 

Blockchain: competition issues in nascent markets

Nortonrosefulbright.com, here (p. 23 ff.)

What are the competition implications of “digital disruption”?

Nortonrosefulbright.com, here (p.17 ff.)

Online retailers should tread carefully after Trod

Nortonrosefulbright.com, here (p.10 ff.)

Xiaomi says shrinking smartphone sales won't hit the company

Reuters, here. 

A Proposal to Limit the Anti-Competitive Power of Institutional Investors

E. Posner, F.Scott Morton, E. Glen Weyl, here. 

Barcelona hits Airbnb with a hefty fine

TheEconomist, here.

Economists are prone to fads, and the latest is machine learning

TheEconomist, here.

Skyscanner sells to Ctrip for $1.75 billion

Tnooz, here. 

Monsanto Sued Over Alleged CEO, Board Bayer Merger Conflicts

Bloomberg, here. 

The Interesting Case of the Vertical Merger

J. Sallet, here. 

Lutte contre les cartels et comportement des managers

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“I want my update!”

Consumentenbond, here. 

Competition in the GCC SME Lending Markets: An Initial Assessment

World Bank, here. 

Russia losing patience with Google over non-compliance with antitrust ruling

RT, here. 

Response to the Preliminary Report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry

CMA, here. 

9. GWB-Novelle und Digitalisierung: Innovative oder innovationshemmende Gesetzgebung?

P. Pohlmann, hier. 

The challenges of measuring GDP in the digital, borderless world

D. Coyle, here. 

Facebook, Google and now Verizon are accelerating their tracking efforts despite consumers’ privacy concerns

Recode, here. 

Going with the flow: The global battle for your personal data

ArsTechnica, here. 

“The Big Data rich and the Big Data poor”: the new digital divide raises questions about future academic research

K. Metzler, here. 

Hub-Konferenz des Bitkom: Die "New new Economy" boomt

Heise.de, hier. 

Samsung receives antimonopoly watchdog's query on price coordination, prepares response

Tass, here. 

Neutrality in Distribution

B. Batchelor, Presentation here. 

Retailers look to artificial intelligence to bag sales

FT, here.

Uber: No, We’re Not Going To Sell User Information

Consumerist, here. 

Microsoft offers EU hardware, software LinkedIn concessions: sources

Reuters, here.

(See also here).

Schumpeter über Ökonomik und Ökonomen

FAZ, hier. 

Fears raised over Google company’s deal to use NHS medical data

FT, here.

Kartellamt soll Internetnutzer besser schützen

Morgenpost.de, hier. 

Otto verwirrt mit persönlicher Hotline-Ansprache

Golem.de, hier. 

Un label pour le matériel libre !

Pingbase, ici. 

Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Are Remaking Themselves Around AI

Wired, here. 

The ethics of big data as a public good: which public? Whose good?

L. Taylor, here. 

Accordo fra Amazon ed Fca: Fiat Panda e 500 «acquistabili» con un click

IlSole24Ore, qui.

Protecting consumers from exploitation

M. Vestager, here. Video here. 

Consultation publique sur le Règlement européen sur la protection des données: Synthèse des contributions

CNIL, ici. 

The EU’s Android Antitrust Complaints Are Contrived

Wired, here. 

Smartphones als Lernmittel

Heise.de, hier. 

Die Verbraucherschutzbehörde fürs Internet kommt

FAZ, hier.. 

One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence

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We are on the verge of a consumer M&A avalanche

TechCrunch, here.

Once again, Siri helps attackers bypass your iPhone’s passcode

Hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com, here. 

Facebook halts WhatsApp data sharing across Europe over privacy concerns

ArsTechnica, here. 

How to fight weapons of math destruction

EDRi, here. 

Le numérique sous l'angle du droit de la concurrence

I. De Silva, Vidéo ici.

(Assez bizarre...Complètement ignorées les décisions allemandes en matière de rate parity - parité tarifaire).

The “Sharing” Economy: Issues Facing Platforms, Participants & Regulators

FTC, here. 

Budget US Android smartphones found secretly sending personal data to China

TechCrunch, here. 

Microsoft offers concessions to EU regulators eyeing its $26.2BN LinkedIn bid

TechCrunch, here.

La CJUE décapite ReLire, le régime français des livres indisponibles

NextImpact, ici, 

Salesforce CEO says companies buy each other for the data, and the government isn’t doing anything about it

Recode, here. 

The ethics of data and of data science: an economist’s perspective

J. Cave, here. 

Ce n’est pas une blague : Microsoft vient de rejoindre la Linux Foundation

Numerama, ici. 

Facebook says it miscalculated more metrics, but it’s telling advertisers not to worry

Recode.net, here.

These Professors Make More Than a Thousand Bucks an Hour Peddling Mega-Mergers

ProPublica, here. 

Amazon Files Lawsuits to Keep Counterfeit Goods Off Website

Bloomberg, here. 

Auditing for Transparency in Content Personalization Systems

B. Mittelstadt, here. 

Google and Facebook's "fake news" ban is a welcome nail in the coffin of "software objectivity"

BoingBoing, here. 

Mark Zuckerberg Is in Denial

NYTimes, here. 

Antitrust in the digital age

M. Grenfell, here. 

(Most competition authorities waiting for Coty?) 

Notice on certain articles of Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions

EC, here. 

Europe’s new privacy regime will disrupt the adtech Lumascape

Pagefair, here.

The Ripple Effects of Online Marketplace Bans

A. Ezrachi, here (research supported by the Computer and Communications Industry Association - CCIA).

I Think, Therefore I Invent: Creative Computers and the Future of Patent Law

R. Abbott, here. 

AI at Facebook

A. Bordes, Video here. 

The Trick Data Scientists Use To Know You’re Paying Attention To Beyoncé

FastCompany, here. 

Bundling

H. Singer, Presentation here. 

Privacy is an essentially contested concept: a multi-dimensional analytic for mapping privacy

D. Mulligan, C. Koopman, N. Doty, here. 

Les applications de messagerie sortent leurs « bots » pour séduire les marques

LesEchos, ici. 

Clicks and mortarboards: how can higher education make the most of digital technology?

Nesta, here. 

Google, Facebook Move to Punish Fake News Sites With Ad Rules

Bloomberg, here. 

‘I’m sorry, my friend, but you’re implicit in the algorithm…’ Privacy and internal access to #BigDataStream

An interview with Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor, here. 

Artificial Intelligence and Ethics – Who does the thinking?

IEEE AI & Ethics Summit 2016, here. 

Die Union will der Ministererlaubnis Zügel anlegen

FAZ, hier.

Man hacks Alexa into singing fish robot, terror ensues

TheVerge, here.

Work done: “Microsoft” rushed to the disadvantage of others

FAS, here.

Can Google Make Its Mark on the Cloud?

Bloomberg, here.

While Amazon Alexa quickly becomes part of the family, Google Home is like a stranger who knows too much about you

Recode, here.

Russia to Block Access to LinkedIn Over Alleged Legal Violations

Bloomberg, here.

Microsoft-LinkedIn deal gets approved in South Africa

Mybroadband.co.za, here.

FTC Seeks Comment on Proposed Changes to Contact Lens Rule

FTC, here.

Google sanctioned in Italy for abuse of economic dependence

Preiskel & Co, here.

Skating on Thin Ice: The European Commission challenges the governance rules of an international sports association as being incompatible with European antitrust rules

P. Alexiados, P. Figueroa, here.

Twitter and Facebook go soul-searching after Trump's win

Bloomberg, here.

CJEU annuls EUIPO decision on registration of Rubik’s Cube shape as EU trade mark

Judgment in Case C-30/15 P Simba Toys GmbH & Co. KG v EUIPO, here. 

The Data Said Clinton Would Win. Why You Shouldn’t Have Believed It.

NYTimes, here. 

Algorithmic accountability and transparency in the digital single market

European Parliament Hearing, Video here. 

Rapport de la mission de réflexion sur la création d’un droit voisin pour les éditeurs de presse

L. Franceschini, ici. 

Why we should worry about WhatsApp accessing our personal information

ICO for the Guardian, here. 

Siri can now send money via PayPal

TechCrunch, here. 

Ergebnisse der 92. Konferenz der unabhängigen Datenschutzbehörden

Pressemitteilung, hier. 

Parallels Between Europe’s Antitrust Cases Against Google and Microsoft

NYTimes, here.

Bradley Tusk points out the bright side of Trump presidency in memo to portfolio companies

TechCrunch, here.

Future of Big Mergers Under Trump? Like Much Else, It’s Unclear

NYTimes, here.

Robots and the Developing World

UNCTAD, here. 

Le prêt d'ebook assimilable au prêt d'un livre papier, sous conditions

Actualitte, ici.
Judgment in Case C-174/15, here.  

Looking beyond transatlantic data transfers

Brookings, here.

Facebook’s new ads let brands connect with you on Messenger

Recode, here. 

Trump on Antitrust

NatLawReview, here.

Guidelines on the protection of personal data processed by mobile applications provided by European Union institutions

EDPS, here.

Apple says Australian banks are ‘not interested’ in promoting mobile payments competition

Nfcworld.com, here. Apple's submission here. Other submissions here. 

U.S. Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil: Data can help everyone

Recode, Podcast here.

Commission to open probe into tech companies’ algorithms next year

EurActiv, here.

The Role of Demand-Side Remedies in Driving Effective Competition: A Review for Which?

A. Fletcher, here. 

The Brilliance of Spotify Internal APIs to Mitigate Payments

Nordicapis, here. 

FCC Releases Order Imposing New Privacy Rules on ISPs and Telcos

Paulhastings.com, here. 

Start-ups sollen Bahn helfen, sich zu digitalisieren

Heise.de, hier. 

Competition and Data Protection Policies in the Era of Big Data: Privacy Guarantees as Policy Tools

N. Jentzsch, here.

Guidelines on the protection of personal data processed through web services provided by EU institutions

EDPS, .here.

Evidence to the Royal Society and British Academy on Data Governance

The Royal Statistical Society, here.

Facebook agreed to pause using data from UK WhatsApp users for advertisements or product improvement purposes.

ICO, here.

If Facebook earns 1.2 dollars for every user, how come users of CitizenMe can earn more than Facebook profits pro capita?

CitizenMe, here. 

CMA warns online sellers about price-fixing

CMA, here. 

Twitter-as-platform-cooperative

Wired, here. 

The state of debate – what to expect from the EU e-commerce sector inquiry

Squire Patton Boggs, here.

SANCTIONS IN ANTITRUST CASES

OECD Background Paper, here.

Is hyperlinking copyright infringement? EU vs. US

M. Stanganelli, here.

M&S, Disney and the BBC on why data is key to loyalty

MarketingWeek, here.

The Facebook/Admiral Scandal Shows The Limits And Dangers Of Big Data Capitalism

HuffPost, here.

Regulating Rideshare: Uber & Lyft in Austin, TX

Federalist Society, video here.

Examination of differential pricing practices related to Internet data plans

CA Competition Bureau, here.

LinkedIn Deal Exposes Dominance In The CRM Market

Forbes, here.

Lost in the splinternet

TheEconomist, here.

Will Open Banking trigger the API of Me?

C. Wood, Video here. Read also here.
More about Figo here.

News of Charges in Price-Fixing Inquiry Sends Pharmaceuticals Tumbling

NYTimes, here.

Digital Exhaustion: North American Observations

A. Katz, here.

Les données personnelles: entre protection et exploitation

G. Buttarelli, ici.

China internet authority formalizes regulations for live-streaming industry

Reuters, here.

Tenth Circuit Rules That Invocation of IP Rights Is Presumptively Valid Defense to Antitrust Refusal to Deal Claims

Orrick, Here.

Sozial geschickte Chatbots

TechnologyReview, hier.

Consumers Need To Pay More Attention To Monetizing Their Personal Data

TheMerkle, here.

Sole and despotic dominion

C. Doctorow, here.

Sen. Al Franken asks Uber and Lyft about alleged racial discrimination against passengers

TechCrunch, here. 

Slapped wrists for “privacy law breakers” Fitbit, Jawbone, Garmin, and Mio

ArsTechnica, here. 

Abgegriffene Browserdaten: Mozilla entfernt "Web of Trust"

Heise.de, hier. 

Uber's redesigned app wants to mine personal information on your phone

LATimes, here. 

Microsoft/LinkedIn deal notified for EU merger control clearance: Will it be smooth sailing?

Lavoielegal.eu, here. 

The Competitive Landscape for Machine Intelligence

Bloomberg Beta, here. 

Google and Facebook are booming. Is the rest of the digital ad business sinking?

Recode, here. 

These Apps Let Anyone Build a (Dumb) Chatbot

Bloomberg, here. 

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield challenged

White & Case, here. 

Cloud: Datenschützer prüfen Speicherung von Unternehmensdaten im Ausland

Heise.de, hier. 

Reform des europäischen Urheberrechts: Viel Luft nach oben

VZBV, hier. 

Court challenge to Privacy Shield will have wide reverberations

The Irish Times, here. 

Carnegie Mellon to open research center focused on AI ethics

ZDNet, here. 

Review: ‘The Attention Merchants’ Dissects the Battle for Clicks and Eyeballs

NYTimes, here. 

Walmart joins antitrust suit alleging tuna collusion

Under Current News, here.

Improving Quality Isn’t Anti- Competitive, Part II

Google, here.

The German Bundesgerichtshof changes its concept of parody following CJEU Deckmyn v. Vrijheidsfonds/ Vandersteen

Kluwercopyrightblog, here. 

Europe rewrites the rules for Silicon Valley

FT, here.

Flywheel Taxi sues Uber for antitrust violations

SF Gate, here.

Managing the Machines

 A. Agrawal, J. Gans, and A. Goldfarb, here. 

It’s Finally Legal To Hack Your Own Devices (Even Your Car)

Wired, here.

Merger trends in innovation markets on the two sides of the Atlantic

F. Jenny, Presentation here. 

Ninth Annual Conference on Antitrust Economics and Competition Policy: Conference Summary

Techpolicy, here. 

Facebook clamps down on piracy as it wipes out several music-sharing groups

TheNextWeb, here. 

Justice Department Sues DIRECTV for Orchestrating Information Sharing Agreements with Three Competitors

DOJ, here. 

Competition watchdog criticised by MPs over bank reform

TheGuardian, here. 

How big will big data be under the GDPR ?

Iapp, here. 

Will The FCC’s Privacy Regs Actually Change The Status Quo On Consent?

AdExchanger, here. 

Facebook isn't looking out for your privacy. It wants your data for itself

TheGuardian, here.

Why Amazon Alexa is so dominant right now

VentureBeat, here.

Workers in gig economy need minimum wage, says ex-minister

TheTimes, here.

What is Blockchain Technology? A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners

BlockGeeks, here.

Facebook is right to sink Admiral’s app

Openrightsgroup, here.

Proposed Update of Antitrust Guidelines for International Enforcement and Cooperation

FTC, DOJ, here. 

Loi Macron: les notaires opposés jusqu'au bout à l'ouverture à la concurrence

Challenges, ici.

Privacy group takes challenge on Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s independence

Irishtimes.com, here. 

Feature statt Bug: Facebook redet Diskriminierung als „multikulturelles Marketing“ schön

Netzpolitik, hier. 

Ennio Morricone Sues to Reclaim Rights to Film Scores

  HollywoodReporter, here.

  See also here.

How Zcash Tries to Balance Privacy, Transparency in Blockchain

Americanbanker.com, here. 

What could Facebook target next? Our mental health data

TheGuardian, here. 

The (curiously unhelpful) proposed update of the Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property

Fordham IPLJ, Video here (bootleg quality, sadly).

Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property: Proposed Update, here. 

Missing: SEP, FRAND, pay-for-delay (Actavis), etc.

Overall impression: update  in the current form curiously non informative, better read speeches given by agency officials, apply for business review letters, etc., or get in touch (say agency officials themselves ;-)). Possibly, fear of being too influential abroad?

Youtube zahlt Gema

FAZ, hier. 

Varsity Brands

Oral argument before the Supreme Court, here.
See also here and here.
Audio of the oral argument here.

Copyright Office Gratuitously Kills the DMCA Safe Harbor For Thousands of Websites

E. Goldman, here.

Copyright Impacts Everything

M. Masnick, Video here. 

The e-Commerce Sector Inquiry

T. Kramler, R. Rende Granata, Presentation here.

Yandex v. Google: Unofficial English Translation of the September 2015 Decision

Here. 

The Ride-Share Startup That's Competing With Uber And Lyft By Charging $1

FastCompany, here. 

Toyota is testing a Smart Key Box that makes it easier to share your car with strangers

VentureBeat, here. 

Klagewelle gegen Lkw-Kartellanten rollt

Handelsblatt, hier. 

Uber drivers are company employees not self-employed contractors, UK court rules

Arstechnica.co.uk, here. 

Who oversees data brokers selling your personal info? No one

LATimes, here. 

La/The « Berkeley School of Antitrust »

Leconcurrentialiste, Ici/here.

Territorial restrictions in media content licensing – lessons from the Paramount commitments decision

FieldFischer, here.

Watch: 52,000 library books being shelved

Qz, here.

Complexity Theory and Evolutionary Economics

OECD, here.

(Coincidentally recalling that my PhD in economics was on vertical restraints from the perspective of evolutionary economics, here).

The Tragedy of the Commons: How Elinor Ostrom Solved One of Life’s Greatest Dilemmas

Evonomics, here.

Rochade in EU-Kommission: Günther Oettinger wechselt von Digitales zu Haushalt!

Netzpolitik, hier.

Agency Decision-Making In Merger Cases: From A Prohibition Decision To A Conditional Clearance

OECD Background Note, here.

Paying to Have and Not to Hold

Slate, here.

The Costs and Benefits of Antitrust Consents

J. Wright, D. Ginsburg, here.

Comparing Google Assistant on Pixel to Apple Siri on iPhone 7

SearchEngineLand, here.

The GDPR will set the benchmark for global privacy contracting – and here's why.

P. Lee, here.

How Economists View the Rise of Artificial Intelligence

Fortune, here.

Why chatbots are an important opportunity for retailers

Econconsultancy, here.

The Italian Competition Authority has launched two investigations into WhatsApp Inc. practices over alleged violations of the Consumer Code

AGCM, here.

Euribor 2013 Cartel Decision

Here.

WP29 to WhatsApp

Letter, here.

Des Républicains proposent une loi sur l’impression 3D qui ne changerait rien

Numerama, ici. 

Patent Assertion Entities in Europe

EC  Joint Research Centre (JRC), here. 

Google Android antitrust case: more competition means better conditions for App Developers

DIGITAL SME Alliance, here. 

Nudge Units Around the World

Statement of Objections to Brussels Airlines and TAP Portugal on code-sharing on Brussels-Lisbon route

EC, here, 

Uber’s newest API lets developers reach and reward drivers

VentureBeat, here. 

Handel mit Produktfälschungen: Neue Pflichten für Weihnachtsmarkt-Veranstalter

Spiritlegal.com, hier. 

Privacy group launches legal challenge against EU-U.S. data pact: sources

Reuters, here.

State Commercial Court of Moscow District confirmed legitimacy of FAS refusal to register excessive prices for medicinal drugs

FAS, here. 

Apple is launching its new TV guide tomorrow — but Netflix won’t be a part of it

Recode, here.

New Strategies for Securing Our Private Lives

J. Zittrain, here.

The Battle for Our Attention

T. Wu,  Video here.

Ryanair looking for data as passengers will have to 'sign in' to book flights

Newstalk, here. 

Warum Merkel an die Algorithmen will

Spiegel.de, hier. 

ChemChina ready for concessions to clinch delayed Syngenta deal in 2017: source

Bloomberg, here. 

10 Emerging Technologies That Will Drive The Next Economy

Game-changer.net, here. 

Juno Wants to Outperform Uber With Kindness

Bloomberg, here. 

The Reason The Copyright Office Misrepresented Copyright Law To The FCC: Hollywood Told It To

TechDirt, here. 

Press Publishers and Copyright

J. Diaz Noci, here. 

Netflix CEO Wary That AT&T's Latest Merger Could Hurt Streaming Competitors

TechDirt, here. 

Promises, Promises From AT&T

Nytimes.com, here. 

Getting a handle on Twitter

WIPO Magazine, here. 

Breyer decision and the concept of personal data

Datonomy, here. 

Fairness and flexibility: Citizens Advice Bureau go right to the source

MyDex, here. 

Warner Bros sues talent agency for copyright infringement

WIPR, here.
See here.

Microsoft launches the next version of its deep learning toolkit into beta

TechCrunch, here. 

Mastercard to launch personal finance bot and commerce API for payments

VentureBeat, here. 

Whitepaper on EU Data Protection

Amazon Web Services, here. 

WhatsApp fights back over criticism of new privacy policy

FT, here. 

Merkel fordert von Internetplattformen mehr Transparenz

Heise.de, hier.

Investigation into suspected breaches of competition law in the pharmaceutical sector.

CMA, here.

Competition and innovation in land transport

OECD, Background Note, here.

Mergers Raise Prices, Not Efficiency

BloombergView, here.

Forscher empfehlen Datenschutz, Urheber- und Wettbewerbsrecht zu verheiraten

Heise.de, hier.

Study on the Passing-on of Overcharges

EC, Final Report, here. 

A Chilly Reaction to AT&T-Time Warner Deal

NYTimes, here. 

AT&T Is Spying on Americans for Profit, New Documents Reveal

TheDailyBeast, here. 

A Survey of Worldwide Censorship Techniques

IETF, here.

Brexit and Competition: Issues Paper

Brexit Competition Law Working Group (BCLWG), here.

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.

Enterpriseirregulars, here. 

Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy

White House and UW’s Tech Policy Lab (24.04.2016), Video here.

The Rise of Big Data and the Loss of Privacy

A. Chirita, here. 

From Personality To Property: Data Protection Needs Competition, Consumer Protection Law, Conference Says

IP-watch, here.

Geoblocking in context

Bird&Bird, Presentation here.

Google, OpenAI create algorithms to use personal data, protect privacy

IAPP.org, here.

The Current State of Competition in the App Ecosystem

Appdevelopersalliance, here.

Ranking 11 technology companies on encryption and human rights

Amnesty International, here.

Pokémon Go-Entwickler Niantic lenkt ein

VZBV, hier.

Philips klagt gegen Android-Smartphones und -Tablets

Heise.de, Hier.

The Long Wait for Innovation: The Global Patent Pendency Problem

CPIP, here.

Resetting competition policy frameworks for the digital ecosystem

GSMA, here

“La mayoría de universidades del mundo van a desaparecer”

ElPais, aquí.

Gare à la datacratie galopante

Libération, ici.

The Behavioural Economics Revolution

Inno.bva.fr, here.

Der große Coup der Hacker

FAZ, hier.

Double-dip Internet-of-Things botnet attack felt across the Internet

ArsTechnica, here.

In-progress UN report on Big Data and Open Data - Defining issues and mitigating risks

OpenGovAsia, here.

Pokémon Go, AR and Privacy in Virtual Spaces

A. Guadamuz, Presentation here.

Pokémon Go is just the beginning of an absurd copyright struggle in AR

Gamesindustry.biz, here.

Opinion on Personal Information Management Systems

EDPS, here.

Bayer-Monsanto-Deal: Morgan Stanley kassiert Millionen für vier Monate Arbeit

FAZ, here.

AI-Ready or Not: Artificial Intelligence Here We Come!

Weber Shandwick, here.

The Sharing Economy - What It Is, Examples, And How Big Data, Platforms And Algorithms Fuel It

Forbes, here.
(Not much substance, but many cute examples of SE platforms)

WE Reading: Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution

Google Has Quietly Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

ProPublica, here.

US Comments on AU Draft on Misuse of Market Power

Americanbar, here

Using behavioral design to overcome decision-making paralysis

Deloitte, here.

Airbnb is now banned from listing short-term rentals in New York

TheVerge, here.

The Power of Conditional Payments

A. Hope-Bailie, here.

The app market could be the next target for US antitrust regulators

BusinessInsider, here (not the most precise of all articles, but the news is there). 

Creative Destruction Kaputt?

TheEconomist, here.

Making the most of platforms: a policy research agenda

D. Coyle, here.

Technology Giants, the Moligopoly Hypothezis and Holistic Competition: A Primer

N. Petit, here.