Thursday, October 11, 2018

A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared

NYTimes, here

Amazon's new recruiting machine learning algo did not like women.

Reuters, here

Nos plaintes contres les GAFAM avancent !

La Quadrature Du Net, ici

Mastercard brings real-time bill payments to mobile banking apps

Finextra, here

Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

Cliqz.com, here

KI und die ewige Suche nach der richtigen Frage

Heise.de, hier

Expediente sancionador contra Acciona Construcción, Corsán-Corviam, Dragados, FCC Construcción, Ferrovial Agromán, OHL y Sacyr Construcción

CNMC, aquì.

The Facebook breach – a GDPR test-case

EDRi, here

Investigation of the Atlantic Joint Business Agreement

CMA, here

In the EU Blockchain Resolution we Trust

Daily Fintech, here

Microsoft tritt Open Invention Network bei

Linux-Magazin.de, hier

Judicial Infringements at the Court of Justice – A brief comment on the phenomenal Commission/France (C-416/17)

Despiteourdifferencesblog, here

Amazon patents new Alexa feature that knows when you're ill and offers you medicine

Telegraph.co.uk, here

FÜR IMMER ANONYM: WIE KANN DE-ANONYMISIERUNG VERHINDERT WERDEN?

ABIDA, hier

Walmart Patented a Cart That Reads Your Pulse and Temperature

MotherBoard, here

Plateformes de commerce en ligne et abus de position dominante Réflexions sur les possibilités d’abus d’exploitation et de dépendance économique

F. Marty, ici

Intelligence Artificielle et Organisation Industrielle : quels enjeux pour l’économie numérique

F. Marty, ici

Alipay Says Hackers Used Stolen Apple IDs to Siphon Off Money

Bloomberg, here.

Tuesday, October 09, 2018

The Indian Supreme Court's Aadhaar judgment — A privacy analysis

iapp, here

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Privacy and Freedom of Speech

Vice, Video, here (if you can stand the annoying "music" in the background and the rather empty questions).

Google+ Flaw Sparks German Privacy Probe

Bloomberg, here

Bayer-Monsanto-Fusion in Anhörung zur Agrarmarkt­konzentration

Video hier

Competition Commissioner Vestager discusses with MEPs. "These are formative years when it comes to data"

Poof! 
Video, here (from 10:37:23).
- Car emissions technologies cartel at 10:43:22; 11:24:35;
- Android 10:48:52;
- Google Shopping remedies Q 10:55:30; A 10:57:30 (looking into allegations of cooked up PCWs); 11:08:52 "we have no position yet";
- Merger control and data 11:04:16;
- Competition and innovation 11:17:09
- Tying and Android 11:18:24
- Apple Pay NFC 11:43:21; Amazon Alexa 11:43:47: "follow this quite closely" but also restricting possible intervention to 102; no room for 101, here?
- Digitization of Competition Enforcement 11:46:30.




Approach to final Regulatory Technical Standards and EBA guidelines under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)

FCA, Consultation Paper, here

TicketOne: AGCM spiega (brevemente) l'indagine

Bollettino dell'Antitrust, Audio qui.
Buona Giornata dall'Autorità Antitrust...

Deroghe ai principi e alle regole in materia di concorrenza e crollo del ponte di Genova

AGCM, qui.

Google will not bid for the Pentagon’s $10B cloud computing contract, citing its “AI Principles”

TechCrunch, here.

THE NEXT GREAT (DIGITAL) EXTINCTION

 J. Ito, here. 

Statutory audit market: Invitation to Comment

CMA, here

Tencent buys minority stake in Brazil's Nubank

FinExtra, here

Monday, October 08, 2018

Decoding the Chinese Super Micro super spy-chip super-scandal: What do we know – and who is telling the truth?

The Register, here

Shaping competition policy in the era of digitisation: predatory innovation & blockchain

T. Schrepel, here

Google Exposed User Data, Feared Repercussions of Disclosing to Public

WSJ, here. Google's reaction and further news here.

March 2018...Just in time for (avoiding) the GDPR (no data audit before? What about a settlement with the FTC? See here).

What should EU competition policy do to address the concerns raised by the Digital Platforms’ market power?

D. Geradin, here

In letter to Congress, Apple sends strongest denial over ‘spy chip’ story

TechCrunch, here

FTC Hearing #3: Multi-Sided Platforms, Antitrust in Labor Markets, and Acquisitions of Nascent and Potential Competitors in Digital Technology Markets

16-18 October 2018, Terrific Agenda here

Forex scandal comes down to case against the ‘Cartel’

FT, here

Digital Platforms and Antitrust: Towards a More Techno-Economic Approach (TEA)

Me, very first draft, here.

Please let me know if you have any comments!

Consumer Data Privacy: Examining Lessons From the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act

Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - 4 pm Trento Time.

US Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, here

An Internet Bill of Rights? One California representative says the time has come

Los Angeles Times, here.
Read/listen to also here and here

Now science was firmly seen as an engine of economic growth

J. Gans, here.
Telephone Interview with Paul Romer, hereScientific Background here

Reasserting cyber sovereignty: how states are taking back control

E. Morozov, here

Vorprüfung Preishöhenmissbrauch – Flugpreise Lufthansa

S. Hossenfelder, hier

Microsoft's $7.5 billion GitHub deal set for EU approval - sources

Reuters, here

Die Google Android Entscheidung der Kommission

G. Wolf, Präsentation hier

Modernisierung der Missbrauchsaufsicht

J. Haucap, Präsentation hier

Was kann und soll die kartellrechtliche Missbrauchsaufsicht?

Tagung des Arbeitskreises Kartellrecht, Hintergrundpapier, hier.

Pricing algorithms

CMA, here.
See also this recent CMA's Presentation, here

Europe’s Android Ruling Gives Google Rivals a Glimmer of Hope

Bloomberg, here

UK court blocks Google class action lawsuit over iPhone data

FT, here. Judgment here.
"Regulatory action was then taken against Google in the USA. In August 2012 the company agreed to pay a US$22.5 million civil penalty to settle charges brought by the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) that it misrepresented to users of the Safari browser that it would not place tracking cookies or serve targeted advertisements to those users...In this jurisdiction, these matters would fall under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Information Commissioner, but it appears that there has been no regulatory action taken here. The Safari Workaround has however been the subject of high profile civil litigation against Google in this jurisdiction."

Saturday, October 06, 2018

Blockchain Technology Overview

NIST, here.

Top antitrust cops speak with Axios (but not with each other?)

Video  here.

On the seventh anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, we give you 7 times he served humanity and acted as an example to others

Register, here (at least two antitrust related).

Google shows progress in addressing competition concerns, says EU's Vestager

Reuters, here.

The Big Disruption

J. Powell, here.

Google 'trying to circumvent EU ruling' with price comparison sites run by ad agencies

Sky News, here. Video here

Instagram is testing the ability to share your precise location history with Facebook

The Verge, here.

Spotify Integrates With Google Maps for Music on Every Mile of Your Journey

Spotify, here.

See also here “The update also includes the ability to control Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music through the Maps app so that users don’t have to switch between screens if they’re driving or checking your ETA on the bus.
To be able to use the features, users must set their home and work address as well as activating “web and app activity,” which gathers much more personal data including Chrome browsing history, location, credit card purchase history, and more.”


Thursday, October 04, 2018

First Ever Antitrust Condemnation For Excessive Pricing In Online Platform Services: Turkish Competition Authority Fines In Markets For Online Ads In Real Estate And Vehicle

ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law, here

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics - Canada

M, Stucke, testimony here (from 11:13:50)

Britain is coming for Silicon Valley’s unruly tech giants

Business Insider, here

Private Businesses Built Modern China. Now the Government Is Pushing Back.

NYTimes, here

How Humans Get Hacked

Wired, Video here

Tencent backs fintech firm Voyager to set up battle with Alibaba in the Philippines

TechCrunch, here

First GDPR fines coming this year is just the start, says data protection supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli

Techcrunch, here

Brazil: Antitrust Watchdog Sends Questions to Crypto Exchanges After Bank Account Closures

Cointelegraph, here

Are EU Markets More Competitive than Those in the U.S.?

NBER Digest, here

Alibaba investiert stark in Künstliche Intelligenz

FAZ, hier

Shaping competition policy in the era of digitization

TILEC, here

Publishers Escalate Legal Battle Against ResearchGate

Inside Higher Education, here

Antitrust Standing – Is There An App for That?

National Law Review, here

EU rules facilitating the free flow of non-personal data

EC, Press Release here

Collective redress in the Member States of the European Union

JURI Committee, here

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

Bloomberg, here.

Wednesday, October 03, 2018

Microsoft is embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows

The Verge, here

Open Markets amicus in Apple v. Pepper

Here

Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws

Judiciary.senate.gov, here. 🎬

Why your online data isn’t safe

Harvard Gazette, here

EBay Accuses Amazon of Poaching Sellers on Its Marketplace

Bloomberg, here

German firm fined millions in 'sausage cartel' case

DW, here

US: Feds to argue at SCOTUS Apple App Store case

CPI, here

German antitrust watchdog eyes steps against Facebook this year

Reuters, here

Amazon führt Kreditkarte für Prime-Kunden in Deutschland ein

Heise.de, hier

Australian regulator to probe foreign exchange services fees

FT, here.

What a few AU dollars well spent (by the Goverment) can do...

IT-Verband reicht Kartellbeschwerde gegen SAP ein

WiWo, hier

Another Facebook Security Breach

ENISA, here.

Berners-Lee: You Should Control Your Data, Not Internet Giants

PCMag, here

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Big Tech’s Purchases of Startups Under Microscope, FTC Chief Says

Big Law Business, here.

Android Phones are 10: For once, Google won fair and square

The Register, here.

Petrobras to pay $853m to resolve bribery charges in the US

FT, here.

How Do Hub-and-Spoke Cartels Operate? Lessons from Nine Case Studies

J. Harrington, here.

Open Government Data Report

OECD, here.

Competition Bureau to investigate Ticketmaster after CBC News/Toronto Star scalper investigatio

CBC, here.

European countries join Blockchain Partnership

DSM, here.

Italy joined today.

AI Strategies

T. Dutton, here

El retraso de la ley de pagos electrónicos en España provoca la fuga de las fintech a Irlanda

VozPopuli, aquì

Observatory on the Online Platform Economy Launched

Here.
No website yet?

Facebook Is Giving Advertisers Access to Your Shadow Contact Information

Gizmodo, here

America’s Courts Can’t Ignore the World

The Atlantic, here.

Warning! Bias alert, here

The case for publicly enforced online rights

E. Morozov, here

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Platforms, ad industry unveil self-regulatory code to fight online disinformation

IAPP, here

Supreme Court upholds validity of Aadhaar, BJP calls it a historic judgement

Scroll-in, here. Ruling here

High time for rhyme and reason

P. Marsden, here



A bit "banalization of hipster," IMHO, but I can totally subscribe to this one:



and I'm also a bit of an"open movement" devotee myself:





Google announces an opt-out feature to ‘forced login’ on Chrome coming in mid-Oct

TechCrunch, here

Twitter’s approach to privacy

D. Kieran, here.

Amazon’s Approach to Privacy

Andrew DeVore, here.

Vendita biglietti per i concerti di musica dal vivo: avviata istruttoria nei confronti di Ticketone

A523, Provvedimento qui

Margrethe Vestager at Bloomberg Global Business Forum 2018

Video here, here.

Australian agency claims blockchain breakthrough

FinExtra, here

Regulator calls in Paypal's $2.2bn iZettle merger on day it completes

Cityam.com, here.

See CMA, here.


Cartel in the smart card chip market: Philips’ appeal dismissed and Infineon’s fine needs a second look

Judgments in Cases C-98/17 P Koninklijke Philips NV and Philips France v Commission and C-99/17 P Infineon Technologies AG v Commission, Press Release here.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Effective Competition Standard: A New Standard for Antitrust

M. Steinbaum, M. Stucke, here

Exhaustion of intellectual property rights if there’s no Brexit deal

Gov.UK, here

UK Competition Appeal Tribunal Confirms Ban on Online Sales Is Inherently Restrictive of Competition

Cooley, here

Trust in blockchain based decentralized data infrastructures

B. Bodó et al., here

Nudge Turns 10: A Q&A With Cass Sunstein

Behavioral Scientist, here

ICO consults on privacy “regulatory sandbox”

Covington, here

Salesforce, AWS expand partnership with secure data sharing between platforms

TechCrunch, here

Public Consultation on Digital Ethics: Summary of outcomes

EDPS, here

European tech companies call on EU to toughen regulations

FT, here

John Oliver explains how Facebook is wreaking havoc overseas

Vox, here

The Alphabet Soup of Regulators in the Crypto Space Just Added a Few More Letters

Texas Lawyer, here

Intelligence artificielle : les banques françaises tâtonnent encore

La Tribune, ici

Analysing Apple Pay Transactions

Elcomsoft, here

Have ‘Big Tech’ Platforms Got Too Much Power?

S. King, here

Data, Innovation and Transatlantic Competition in Finance: The Case of the Access to Account Rule

G. Colangelo, O. Borgogno, here

The uncertain future for banking and regulation

S. King, here

Amazon Is Invading Your Home With Micro-Convenience

The Atlantic, here

Big Tech is overselling AI as the solution to online extremism

The Conversation, here

Google’s Forced Sign-in to Chrome Raises Privacy Red Flags

ThreatPost.com, here. See also here

STRATEGY ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES

UN Secretary General, here

How Platform Strategies Continue to Create Value

G. Parker, M. Van Alstyne, and P. Evans, here

AB InBev faces EU antitrust fine in Belgian beer case - sources

Reuters, here

Apple completes acquisition of Shazam, will remove ads from free version

Android Police, here

The Cryptocurrency Market

Source: @OxfordCompEcon

Why Instagram’s founders are leaving: dwindling independence from Facebook

TechCrunch, here

Monday, September 24, 2018

Drivers for Uber, Lyft are earning less than half of what they did four years ago, study finds

Market Watch, here

Helping the digital economy keep its promises

M. Vestager, here

Radical Markets versus Sensible Politics

Radical Markets, here

Bank customers increasingly open to big tech alternatives

FinExtra, here

The Ring is the smartphone

HT @flysanityfly

U.S. way behind the curve on open banking

American Banker, here

More on Chrome updates and headers

Unsearcher, here

Scott Galloway’s provocative predictions on Amazon, Walmart and the future of retail

Recode, here

Blockchain: Premiers éléments d’analyse

CNIL, ici

The Challenge of Digital Markets: First, Let Us Not Forget the Lessons Learnt Over the Years

P. Ibáñez Colomo, G. De Stefano, here

The next antitrust standoff — Big Tech’s use of data

Politico.eu, here

Grab-Uber Merger: CCCS Imposes Directions on Parties to Restore Market Contestability and Penalties to Deter Anti-Competitive Mergers

CCCS, here.

Singapore competition watchdog fines Uber and Grab $9.5m

FT, here

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Why the government must help shape the future of AI

Brookings, here.

Advantage China in the race to control AI?

FT, here.

The White House is considering an antitrust investigation into 'online platform bias' at Google and Facebook — read the leaked document here

Business Insider, here. See also here.

The Welfare Effects of Information

C. Sunstein, here.

Fifa transfer algorithm is 'ridiculous', says Premier League chief

The Telegraph, here.

Commission opens formal investigation into possible collusion between BMW, Daimler and the VW group on clean emission technology

EC, here.

Building smart transport with trust and confidence

M. Vestager, here.

E-mail: Google CEO denies bias in search results

Axios, here.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements

Bloomberg, here

Android and Forking Restrictions: On the Hidden Closedness of “Open” (new, extended, more relaxed version)

S. Vezzoso (me), here.


French bookshops revolt after prize selects novel self-published on Amazon

The Guardian, here

Google admits changing phone settings remotely

BBC, here

Commission opens formal investigation into possible collusion between BMW, Daimler and the VW group on clean emission technology

EC, here

BUNDESKARTELLAMT VS FACEBOOK: TIME TO REFRESH ‘GDPR’S WALL’?

A. Massolo, here

THE ONLINE HOTEL BOOKING MONITORING EXERCISE

F. Manca, here

COPYRIGHTS ON DATA AND COMPETITION POLICY IN THE DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET STRATEGY

V. Falce, here

ALGORITHMIC OPACITY AND EXCLUSION IN ANTITRUST LAW

M. Patterson, here

Resale Price Maintenance and Artificial Intelligence

Hausfeld, here

Google-Deal lässt Aktienkurs von Tomtom um 30 Prozent fallen

FAZ, hier

Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl: Reformierte Verbandsarbeit

Bundeskartellamt, Fallbericht, hier

Germany high court postpones YouTube intellectual property case for EU interpretation

Jurist.org, here

What is blocking blockchains? A common sense, legal evaluation

E. Mik, here

Google partners with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi to put Android into millions of vehicles

TechCrunch, here

Monday, September 17, 2018

U.S. to Spare Some Apple Goods From Latest China Tariffs, Sources Say

Bloomberg, here

Top German court delays YouTube illegal uploads case to seek EU opinion

Euractiv, here

An Estonian Startup Is Undercutting Billion-Dollar Gaming Stores

Bloomberg, here

Le plan qui fait trembler les revues scientifiques

Le Monde, ici

New York sues the OCC over fintech charter rule

FinExtra, here

Banks jump on to the fintech bandwagon

FT, here

German Digital Market Power Modernization - Update

D. Sokol, here

The German Monopolies Commission’s Proposals Regarding Pricing Algorithms

Covington, here

Developments in competition law in Australia in 2018

Clifford Chance, here

Amazon should split into two companies to avoid antitrust scrutiny from Trump administration: Citi

CNBC, here

What makes a monopoly in the age of Amazon?

CNN, here

Salesforce expands integrations between its clouds, Google Analytics 360

ZDNet, here

EU antitrust ruling on Microsoft buy of GitHub due by October 19

Reuters, here

Spotify can tell if you’re sad. Here’s why that should scare you

The Guardian, here.

Google aktivierte von außen Stromsparmodus auf Android-9-Smartphones

Der Standard, hier.

Amazon Investigates Report That Employees Leaked Data for Bribes

Bloomberg, here

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Friday, September 14, 2018

Apple 'wants to serve everyone,' says Tim Cook

Asian Review, here.

Class action in Italia contro Facebook: richiesta di rimborso per l’uso ‘abusivo’ dei dati

Business Insider, qui

F.T.C. Hearings Add to Efforts That Threaten Tech Industry

NYTimes, here

Think writing process

Ubernomics: Platform Monopolies & How to Fix Them

R. Pollock, here

Behördliche Durchsetzung des Verbraucherrechts?

R. Podszum, C. Busch, F. Hennig-Bodewig, hier

Viele Apps halten sich nicht an die neuen Datenschutzregeln

Handelsblatt, here

Open Energy

Fingleton Associates, here

Anatomy of an AI System

K. Crawford, V. Joler, here

IA, Big Data, robots : quels bénéfices en attendre ? À quelles conditions ?

Anvie, ici

FAIR PLAY: Apple’s Shazam Deal Shows EU Eyeing, Not Halting, Big Data

Bloomberg, here

Teller has abused its dominant position by using rebates conditional on exclusivity and provisions regarding exclusivity

Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, here

A Right to Reasonable Inferences: Re-thinking Data Protection Law in the Age of Big Data and AI

S. Wachter, B. Mittelstadt, here

Zu hohe Maklergebühren? Grüne fordern Kartellamts-Prüfung

Die Welt, hier

Haftung von YouTube für Urheberrechtsverletzungen

Bundesgerichtshof, hier.

Promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services

EP, Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Draft Report, here

SENIOR GOOGLE SCIENTIST RESIGNS OVER “FORFEITURE OF OUR VALUES” IN CHINA

The Intercept, here

Sector Inquiry Health

The Austrian Pharmacy Market, here

Congress seeks probe of deepfakes

Axios, here

FTC Hearings

FTC, here. Videos available here.

Economists (and Economics) in Tech Companies

S. athey, M. Luca, here

iTunes: Verwirrung um verschwundene Filme

Heise.de, hier. 

Man jailed in Italy for selling fake TripAdvisor reviews

The Guardian, here

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Is Silicon Valley home to this century’s robber barons?

N. Petit discusses with Jim Pethokoukis, Podcast here

Trump’s Ludicrous Attack on Big Tech

NYTimes, here

Big Data: is it bad for our health?

ABC, Podcast with F. Pasquale and J. Powles here

Der Digitalrat gibt Rätsel auf

FAZ, hier

TREB threatens legal action for realtors violating sales data rules

CP24, here

A Survey of Methods for Explaining Black Box Models

R. Guidotti et al. (sorry: too many Authors), here

Google VP of news: don't blame us for all the media's problems

ABC, here

Amazon-Whole Foods After One Year

Blog Symposium, here

Volkswagens Antwort auf Apple und Co.

FAZ, hier

SPD-Chefin Nahles will Tech-Riesen stärker regulieren und kooperative Plattformen fördern

Handelsblatt, hier

Can the taste of a cheese be protected by copyright?

Lexology,  here.
This Tomme is Art

Comisión Europea, Android y Google: ¿el bueno, el feo y el malo?

El Español, aquí

New US Legislation Would Hit Pause on Mega-Mergers

Competitivemarkets, here

Monday, August 27, 2018

Germany Takes Aim at Internet Giants

Bloomberg, here.
Jahresbericht 2017 hier

OECD on Blockchain Technology and Competition Policy

Videos: 12 and 3

Epic's first Fortnite Installer allowed hackers to download and install anything on your Android phone silently

Android Central, here

Google Korea faces antitrust probe for abusing game firms

The Korea Times, here

Dreist, dreister, Eventim

T3n.de, hier. S. auch
Bundeskartellamt untersagt Exklusivvereinbarungen zwischen CTS Eventim und Veranstaltern sowie Vorverkaufsstellen (04.12.2017), hier.

Statement of the EDPB on the data protection impacts of economic concentration

EDPB, here.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Central Banking

Bank of Canada, here

Competition, Stability, and Efficiency in Financial Markets

D. Corbae, R. Levine, here. Discussion here

How is Fintech changing the competitive structure of the financial service industry?

A. Schoar, here

How EU Markets Became More Competitive Than US Markets: A Study of Institutional Drift

G. Gutiérrez and T. Philippon, here

Understanding Weak Capital Investment: the Role of Market Concentration and Intangibles

N. Crouzet, J. Eberly, here. See also the Discussion here

Increasing Differences between firms: Market Power and the Macro-Economy

J. Van Reenen, here. See also here

Are Superstar Firms and Amazon Effects Reshaping the Economy?

NYTimes, here