Rather unusual open letter from four national competition authorities to the European Commission

Letter here. 

EU Chief Economist on the Dow/Dupont merger

Video here. 

Commission seeks feedback on commitments offered by NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, and Sky in pay-TV investigation

EC, here. 

Comparative approaches of the United States and the European Union to the monopoly/abuse of dominance problem

E. Fox, here. 

Competition Policy in the European Union and the United States: The Treatment of Dominant Firms

B. Kovacic, here. 

Prime and Punishment

The Verge, here. 

Why US Antitrust Law Should Not Emulate European Competition Policy

G. Manne, here. 

AG Racine Sues Facebook for Failing to Protect Millions of Users' Data

Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, here.
Complaint here. 

Travel agents seek EU antitrust probe into Lufthansa pricing

Reuters, here. 

Amazon and Facebook Reportedly Had a Secret Data-Sharing Agreement, and It Explains So Much

Gizmodo, here. 

Google Keeps Yelp, Consumer Watchdog Out of EU Court Appeal

Bloomberg, here. The Order here.

The Web (in this part of the world?) now belongs to Google, and that should worry us

ArsTechnica, here.
And Google says it was just a bug, here. 

As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants

NYTimes, here. 

CMA tackles loyalty penalty charges

CMA, here. 

A Painting Given to Eric Clapton Cannot be Used on Album Cover Rules French Supreme Court

The 1709 Blog, here. 

Vorwurf an Google: Microsoft Edge mit unfairen Mitteln verdrängt

Heise.de, hier and here and here. 

AG Bobek opinion on embedded plugins

EUCJ, here (and here)

The Tactics & Tropes of the Internet Research Agency

New Knowledge, Whitepaper here; slide deck here.

Google still claimed to be blocking search rivals on Android, despite Europe’s antitrust action

TechCrunch, here. 

UK watchdog says Big Tech pose biggest threat to banks

Reuters, here. 

Structuralist Innovation: A Shaky Legal Presumption in Need of an Overhaul

D. Auer, here. 

YES, BIG PLATFORMS COULD CHANGE THEIR BUSINESS MODELS

Wired, here. 

Warren bill would get feds into generic drug manufacturing

Politico, here. 

GOOGLE ANDROID: RECORD-BREAKING FINE ON ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES UNDER ARTICLE 102 TFEU

A. Chirita, here. 

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S ANDROID DECISION AND BROADER LESSONS FOR ARTICLE 102 ENFORCEMENT

N. Banasevic, here. 

AMAZON AND THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE

S. Vezzoso (this blog's author), here. 

A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S GOOGLE ANDROID DECISION

P. Akmar, here. 

WITH UNCERTAIN DAMAGE THEORY COME UNPREDICTABLE EFFECTS OF REMEDIES: “LIBRES PROPOS” ON THE ANDROID CASE

F. Marty, J. Pillot, here. 

Google Android Antitrust: Dominance Pivots and a Business Model Clash in Brussels

R. Picker, here. 

DRAFT ETHICS GUIDELINES FOR TRUSTWORTHY AI

EC's HIGH-LEVEL EXPERT GROUP ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, here. 

THE IP RIGHTS EXEMPTION TO THE AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION LAW RULES TO BE REPEALED

Clifford Chance, here. 

Commission approves plan by France, Germany, Italy and the UK to give €1.75 billion public support to joint research and innovation project in microelectronics

EC, here.
Statement here.

Trento also involved: Fondazione Bruno Kessler.

Mercedes-Benz customers benefit from new data services

Daimler, here. 

CMA proposes reforms to improve competition in audit sector

CMA, here. 

Modernisation of EU consumer protection rules: A new deal for consumers

EP ThinkTank, Briefing here.

The IRA, Social Media and Political Polarization in the United States, 2012-2018

P. Howard, B. Ganesh, D. Liotsiou, J. Kelly & C. François, here.

Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models

FCA, Final Report, here; Annexes here. 

COMCO Secretariat agrees with Apple about a TWINT-friendly solution

WEKO, here. 

GOOGLE’S SECRET CHINA PROJECT “EFFECTIVELY ENDED” AFTER INTERNAL CONFRONTATION

The Intercept, here. 

The folly of trolleys: Ethical challenges and autonomous vehicles

Brookings, here. 

Amazon Targets Unprofitable Items, With a Sharper Focus on the Bottom Line

WSJ, here. 

The End of the Ad-Supported Web - What if we got the business model of the web wrong?

Unlock, here. 

Shaping competition policy in the era of digitisation: Contributions Received

EC, here.
All of them in one single, searchable pdf file, here (930 pp.). You're welcome.

Commission fines BEH Group € 77 million for blocking access to key natural gas infrastructure in Bulgaria

EC, here. 

Apple Pay und nun?

IT-Finanzmagazin.de, hier. 

Year in a Word: Techlash

FT, here. 

UK Fintech Revolut Receives EU Banking Licence through the central bank in Lithuania

Financemagnates.com, here. 

ApplePay ist digitale Wegelagerei

H. Bender, hier. 

Judge Koh rejects Qualcomm's bid to introduce new evidence related to Intel's success with Apple, Qualcomm's new 5G agreements

FOSS Patents, here. 

Commission fines Guess €40 million for anticompetitive agreements to block cross-border sales

EC, here. 

It’s time for a Bill of Data Rights

M. Tisné, here. 

Vom Datenschutz zur human-zentrierten Datenwirtschaft

M. Beyer-Katzenberger, hier (s. 71 ff.), hier.

DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT: RISKS AND SOLUTIONS IN THE ERA OF DISINFORMATION AND DATA MONOPOLY

House of Commons, Canada, Report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, here. 

FTC Chair Simons Supports Federal Privacy Legislation, But Urges Caution

AdExchanger, here.

Amazon’s Disturbing Plan to Add Face Surveillance to Your Front Door

ACLUNC, here.

ACCC investigates Google abuse of power over Unlockd collapse

AFR, here.

Japan’s antitrust watchdog to study four tech giants to see if fair business regulations are needed

The Japan Times, here.

ACCC mulls forcing Google to offer users a choice of browsers, search engines

Computerworld.com.au, here.

Action brought on 9 October 2018 — Google and Alphabet/Commission: Pleas in law and main arguments

Here.

An EU Competition law Analysis of Online Display Advertising in the Programmatic Age

D. Geradin, D. Katsifis, here. 

Sorry, your data can still be identified even if it’s anonymized

FastCompany, here. 

The Case Against Idealising Control

W. Hartzog, here. 

Report: Google PLA antitrust remedy turning comparison engines into agencies

SearchEngineLang, here. 

You Should Have the Right to Sue Apple

NYTimes, here. 

Google Pay se lance enfin en France, mais sans les banques traditionnelles

Numérama, ici. 

SideCar v. Uber

Here. See also ArsTechnica, here. 

Streambait Pop

The Baffler, here. 

Accenture will acquire digital ad company Adaptly

TechCrunch, here. 

Appeals Court Weighs in on Resale of Digital Files

Hollywood Reporter, here. 

Building a European Data Infrastructure

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, here. 

Killer Acquisitions

C. Cunningham, F.  Ederer. S. Ma, here.

Groupe Canal + SA contre CE

T-873/16, ici.

Freigabe des Zusammenschlusses der CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA mit der FKP SCORPIO Konzertproduktionen GmbH

Bundeskartellamt, Fallbericht hier. 

Google 2018 Hearing

Live here.
For a piece of history, you can compare with Eric Schmidt's 2011 Hearing, Video here. 

On the privacy-conscientious use of mobile phone data

Y. de Montjoye et al., here.. 

Comments on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy

NTIA, here. 

Tencent: WeChat Is More Than A Product, It’s ‘An Ecosystem’

AdExchanger, here. 

The Business of Selling Your Location

NYTimes, Podcast here.

Investigation of generic ‘cartel’ expands to 300 drugs

WashingtonPost, here. 

Apple Pay finally launches in Germany

TechCrunch, here. 

Competition Cases Involving Platforms: Lessons from Europe

N. Petit, here. 

BEUC: Eine Europäische Strategie für die Daten und Platformwirtschaft (in 3 Bildern)

Economic dependence: what can we learn from the industrial organization approach?

P. Bougette, O. Budzinski, F. Marty, here. 

Apple Pay in Deutschland – Fragen und Antworten

Heise.de, hier. 

EU's Vestager may investigate Apple Pay if there are formal complaints

Reuters, here. 

Written Testimony

S. Pichai, Before the House Judiciary Committee, Hearing on “​Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use, and Filtering Practices” December 11, 2018, here.

Delete All Your Apps

Motherboard, here.

Regulating Big Tech

CRA Conference Panel, Video here. 

Here’s how to quit Google

Google Transparency Project, here. 

Après moi, le déluge! Tech giants in the digital age

T. Valletti, Presentation here; Video here. 

Affaire AT.39885 – Interactive Lab Décision de la Commission rejetant la plainte (AdWords)

EC, ici. 

Wettbewerbsbehörde untersucht Marktmanipulation von Amazon

Der Standard, hier. 

Trudeau government studying reforms for protecting consumer data amid tech scandals

CTVnews.ca, here. 

The SEC and its new financial technology division

Compliancex, here. 

Amazon might have a Cambridge Analytica-size problem

BigThink, here.

Facebook’s Refusal to Deal in Excellence

R. Woodcock, here. 

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret

NYTimes, here. 

Digital Platforms Inquiry: Preliminary report

ACCC, here.
Press conference, Video here (from 02:50).

Finanzaufsicht nimmt Google & Co. ins Visier

FAZ, hier (und hier).

Italian regulator fines Facebook £8.9m for misleading users

The Guardian, here.

Bikini app maker draws another disgruntled developer to its Facebook fight

ArsTechnica, here.

Uso dei dati degli utenti a fini commerciali: sanzioni per 10 milioni di euro a Facebook

AGCM, qui.

New Documents Show That Facebook Has Never Deserved Your Trust

EFF, here.

Antitrust’s Most Wanted

T. Wu, here. 

Location Data: GPS, Wi-Fi, and Spatial Analytics

Class 2 of Digital Data Flows Masterclass: Emerging Technologies, Presentation here. 

The State of Data 2018

IAB, here. 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

JRC, here.

Big tech in finance and new challenges for public policy

BIS, here. 

Collaborative Economy: Challenges & Opportunities

Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Internet, Law & Politics. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, 21-22 June, 2018, here. 

Could GDPR Consent String Fraud Bring Down the Whole Ad Tech Ecosystem?

CPO Magazine, here. 

AI Now Report 2018

AI Now, here. 

EU lawmakers agree on tough line against tech companies

Reuters, here.
IMCO Procedure File here.

Facebook Emails Could Add Fuel to Regulatory Bonfire

Bloomberg (@aoifewhite101), here.

What has Android got to do with the Advent?

J. Topel, here.

Facebook Used People’s Data to Favor Certain Partners and Punish Rivals, Documents Show

NYTimes, here.

Near the end of her term, the world’s toughest tech regulator is moving “as fast as possible”

Quartz, here.

The Myth of Capitalism?

With Caron Beaton-Wells and Jonathan Tepper, Podcast here.

These (Confidential?) Charts Show Why Facebook Bought WhatsApp

Buzzfeednews.com, here. 

Emails show Facebook offered preferential access to data, UK alleges

FT, here. 

Gender and Competition (Policy)

Seized cache of Facebook docs raise competition and consent questions

TechCrunch, here. 

Facebook Struck Deals Over Data and Burnt Rivals, Say Lawmakers

Bloomberg, here.
Note by Damian Collins MP, Chair of the DCMS Committee Summary of key issues from the Six4Three files, here.

The Digital Ad Market Is Overdue for Antitrust Review

BloombergQuint, here. 

The Economics of Big Data, Privacy, and Competition – An Introduction

G. Zhe Jin - FTC Hearings 2018/19, edited by @Wavesblog (for her students – teaching exception), here. Video here. 

PayPal dismisses competition concerns after $2.2 billion takeover of iZettle

CNBC, here.

Fortnite-maker aims for Steam’s head with Epic Games Store

TechCrunch, here.

Google personalizes search results even when you’re logged out, new study finds

The Verge, here.

Internet giants pose existential threat to banks: BIS chief

Reuters, here.

When Considering Federal Privacy Legislation

N. Chilson, here.

Experian/ClearScore

CMA, Provisional findings report here.

(What I find a bit surprising is the playing down of the PSD2-Open Banking effects)

Apple/Shazam: Data Is Power, But Not a Problem Here

N. Zingales, here.

Some Considerations on Intelligent Online Behavioural Advertising

G. Noto La Diega, here. 

Antitrust by Design – Kartellrechtliche Technik-Compliance für Algorithmen, Blockchain und Plattformen?

S. Louven, hier. 

The State of European Tech 2018

Orrick, here. 

EU's Vestager Urged to Probe How Tech Giants Cash In on Ads

Bloomberg, here.
Brave's letter here.
Transcript of the FTCHearing mentioned here, but you can also enjoy the video 🍿.

Apple Lawsuit Could Impact How Courts View Antitrust Cases

Legal Tech News, here. 

Datenschutzbehörde: STANDARD-Angebot entspricht DSGVO

Der Standard, hier. 

Preview: Amazon and the Law on the Jungle

CPI Antitrust Chronicle, December 2018.

EU competition rules on vertical agreements – evaluation

EC, here.
Now Feedback period, Public Consultation follows (Q1 2019)

OpenSchufa: The first results

Okfn.org, here. 

Spies and Big Data

C (alias Alex Younger), Video here.

Pension schemes to provide online data ‘dashboards’ for UK savers

FT, here.

The Curse of Bigness’ Review: Revisiting the Gilded Age

WSJ, here (and here.)

Japan's antitrust body to set rules for data-sharing tie-ups

Asia Nikkei, here.

World watches as Australian regulator rules on Facebook and Google

The Guardian, here. 

Does Google harm local search rivals? EU antitrust regulators ask

Reuters, here. 

The EU’s competition investigation into Amazon Marketplace

Hausfeld, here. 

Le Conseil constitutionnel sur la notion de “déséquilibre significatif”

Décision n° 2018-749 QPC du 30 novembre 2018, ici. 

You may not actually own your Bitcoin – legal expert

The Conversation, here.

First person with direct involvement in Dragonfly to go on the record about the project

The Intercept, here.

How Google manipulates users into constant location tracking

TACD, here. 

United States v AT&T/Time Warner

S. Salop, J. Wright, J. Rybnicek, here. 

What's in the water in Germany?

Competition Lore, with C. Beaton Wells and R. Podzun, Podcast here.

(Recorded before the Bundeskartellamt's Amazon investigation).

Our data-driven future in healthcare

The Academy of Medical Sciences, here. 

The complaint, and what comes next

Brave (@johnnyryan), here. 

Misguided ‘consumer welfare’ standard is hampering antitrust enforcement

FT, here. 

Comparison Guide: GDPR vs. CCPA

FPF, here.

An Amazon revolt could be brewing as the tech giant exerts more control over brands

Recode, here,.

Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Shire by Takeda, subject to conditions

EC, here.

On fair markets and gender equality

M. Vestager, here.

Facebook staff discussed selling API access to apps in 2012-2014

TechCrunch, here.

Can FTC consent orders effectively police privacy?

Iapp, here.

Einleitung eines Missbrauchsverfahrens gegen Amazon

Bundeskartellamt, hier.

Amazon Under Fire in Europe as Germany Adds Antitrust Probe

Bloomberg, here.

Didi Chuxing ‘lost control’ of safety, Chinese government says

FT, here.

Joint industry letter on the ePrivacy Regulation

Here.

#moretechnologicalapproach

@ashk4n

Former FTC official says Facebook representative made false statements to international leaders about how the company handles personal data

CNBC, here. 

COMPETITION LAW AND STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES: ENFORCEMENT

D. Healey, here. 

Zero-price markets: Updating the Analytical Toolkit

M. Botta, Presentation here.

1. 1. COMPETITION POLICY IN ZERO-PRICE MARKETS UPDATING THE ANALYTICAL TOOLKIT MARCO BOTTA Joint meeting of the OECD Competition and Consumer Policy Committees Paris, 28th November 2018 Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition | Munich
2. 2. Outline 2 • Updating the competition analytical tools: 1) Relevant market. 2) Market power. 3) Anti-competitive conducts. 4) Potential remedies. • Conclusions – questions for further debate. 
3. 3. Limits of the SSNIP test 3 • The relevant market is traditionally defined via the SSNIP test. • Problem: what is “small, but significant price increase” in a zero-price market? • ‘Free effect’ : when the reference price is zero, consumers will automatically switch to any competing product in case of price increase ➢ excessively broad definition of the relevant market. • Multi-sided markets: SSNIP test will limit market definition to one side of the market. 
4. 4. Alternative tools to define therelevant market 4 • Alternative tools follow a similar logic as the SSNIP test: 1) SSNIC (i.e. increase consumers’ costs): + data / attention ➢ + consumers’ costs. 2) SSNDQ (i.e. decline product quality): + data / attention ➢ - product quality. • Limits of the alternative tools in zero-price markets: 1) Quantification: +5% amount of personal data / attention? 2) Heterogeneous consumers’ preferences: what type of data/attention should we take into consideration? 3) Positive effects: + data transferred can increase the product quality. 4) SSNIC and SSDQ do NOT catch multi-sided markets. 
5. 5. Market power in zero-price markets 5 • Market power within the relevant market: element to trigger enforcement of competition policy (e.g. unilateral conducts, merger control, vertical agreements). • Traditional definition of market power: ability of the firm to raise prices above the competitive level. • ‘Free effect’ : in zero-price markets firms can never raise prices above 0 ➢ consumers would always switch to other products = NO firm has market power. • The market share has limited relevance to assess market power in zero- price markets. 
6. 6. Factors to estimate market power in zero-price markets 6 • A number of factors can be assessed to estimate the degree of market power in zero-price markets: 1) Attention degree: users’ attention on the Internet is a ‘scarce’ resource. 2) Direct and indirect network effects: number of users; product quality. 3) Multi-homing and switching costs. 4) Access to data ➢ possibility to purchase data from third parties. 5) Sunk investment costs. 6) Degree of innovation: a) Relevance of innovation in the market; b) Evidence of past radical innovations; c) Evidence of past entry. 
7. 7. Updating anti-competitive conducts 7 • Assessment of anti-competitive conducts based on ‘price’ should be revised in zero-price markets. • Cartels fixing the price at zero: shift from a per se prohibition to an effect analysis. • Predatory pricing ➢ what is ‘predatory’ in a zero-price market? 1) Fallacies in accordance with the current legal standards: a) EU: presumption of predation when prices are below average marginal costs. b) USA: requirement of likely recoupment in the same market. 2) Recoupment requirement should be always required, BUT extended to other ‘sides’ of the market. 
8. 8. Updating anti-competitive conducts 8 • Exploitative conducts in zero-price markets (EU): 1) Excessive pricing (i.e. asking ‘too much data’) ➢ NOT relevant. 2) Discriminatory pricing ➢ NOT relevant. 3) Unfair contractual clauses: relevant in zero-price markets a) Clauses ‘unilaterally’ imposed by the dominant firms (e.g. social network unilaterally modified the data protection terms). b) ’Unfair’: clauses ‘un-related’ to the product, and outside the ordinary commercial business practices (e.g. users’ data are transferred to third parties without the user’s consent). c) Relationship with consumer and data protection law: open question. 
9. 9. Competition law remedies in zero-price markets 9 • Zero-price markets pose new challenges to the application of the traditional antitrust toolkit ➢ infringement decision + fine is NOT an effective remedy. • Structural v. behavioural remedies: 1) Structural remedies (e.g. un-bundling; divestiture of a subsidiary): NOT efficient ➢ negative effect on direct network effects and product quality. 2) Behavioural remedies: the NCA ‘guides’ the firm in terms of competition law compliance: a) Tailor-made ➢ designed in cooperation with the firm (i.e. commitments); b) Possible periodic revision ➢ adaptation to the market dynamics. c) Need of monitoring. d) Risk of market regulation ➢ overlap with data protection and consumer law. 
10. 10. Behavioural remedies in zero-price markets 10 • Examples of behavioural remedies in zero-price markets: 1) Increase consumers’ awareness (e.g. increase transparency of the contractual terms; info about the personal data collected); 2) Setting minimum standards of data protection terms (e.g. max. duration of data storage); 3) Giving consumers the opportunity to periodically revise the consent to the processing of their personal data; 4) Right to data portability. 
11. 11. Relationship with sector-regulation 11 • Antitrust remedies can clarify unclear aspects in data/consumer law protection. • Cooperation between NCA and data protection /consumer law authorities: 1) Exchange of information during the investigations; 2) Joint sector-inquiries; 3) Consultation in designing behavioural remedies. • Competition v. consumer / data protection remedies: 1) Advantage: antitrust remedies ensure higher degree of deterrence. 2) Disadvantage: definition relevant market and market power. 
12. 12. Conclusions – questions for further debate 12 • Are SSNIC and SSNDQ effective tools to define the relevant market? • What aspects should be taken into consideration to assess market power in zero-price markets? • How should the assessment of anti-competitive conducts be adjusted to the peculiarities of zero-price markets? • What type of competition law remedies could be introduced in zero-price markets? • What are the possible forms of cooperation between NCAs and sector regulators when it comes to designing the remedies? 
13. 13. 13 Thank you very much for your attention! marco.botta@ip.mpg.de 

The regulation of personalised pricing in the digital era

M. Bourreau and A. de Streel, here. 

In Support of Privacy Engineering

IEEE, here. 

Google CEO Sets Date for House Panel After Senate No-Show

Bloomberg, here. 

‘Principles of the Law Governing the Internet’

Members of the national Parliaments of: the Argentine Republic; the Kingdom of Belgium; the Federative Republic of Brazil; Canada; the French Republic; Ireland; the Republic of Latvia; the Republic of Singapore; and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, here. 

What Facebook Really Doesn’t Want You to Talk About

Bloomberg, here. 

Britain may block Experian-ClearScore credit data merger

Reuters, here.

PSD2 sparks rise in UK reported tech and cyber incidents

Out-law.com, here. 

Disinformation and ‘fake news’ (and FB privacy and antitrust)

House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport International Grand Committee, here (both videos and transcripts). 

New Parents Complain Amazon Ads Are Deceptive

WSJ, here and here. 

If You Don’t Think Today’s Tech Giants Are Vicious, Just Ask Venture Capitalists

Pro Market, here. 

On sandboxes, Europe and China

M. Vestager, here.

How Apple hopes to stop a customer lawsuit over its App Store monopoly

Art Technica, here. 

Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple

Stratechery, here. 

Is a zero-price platform (for consumers) also a zero-ban platform (for app developers)?

GDPR complaints against Google’s deceptive practices to track user location

BEUC, here. 

EVERY STEP YOU TAKE: How deceptive design lets Google track users 24/7

Norwegian Consumer Council’s (NCC), here. 
And this video.

Consumer-Lending Discrimination in the Era of FinTech

R. Bartlett, A. Morse, R. Stanton, N. Wallace, here. 

YouTube and the music industry are wrong on copyright

FT, here. 

Google showing zero results again for many time, calculations & conversions search results

Search Engine Land, here. 

Verkehrsminister Andreas Scheuer: Die Massenüberwachung von Autos ist doch kein „Überwachungsstaat“

Netzpolitik, hier. 

Marginally Everywhere

R. Woocock, here. 

Apple v, Pepper

Oral argument transcript, here.

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

Note by the European Union, here.

RECHTE AN DATEN

J. Kühling, F. Sackmann, hier.  S. auch Positionspapier, hier. 

Quality considerations in the zero-price economy

Note by Germany, here and the EU, here.

RGPD : 45 000 Européens ont rejoint un recours collectif contre les géants du web

Numérama, ici.

PayPal / iZettle merger raises competition concerns

CMA, here. 

„Kommission Wettbewerbsrecht 4.0"

Stellungnahme der Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer. hier. 

Brussels launches probe into airline ticket system groups

FT, here. 

Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

TRPC, here.

Why the U.S. Is Beyond the Gilded Age

MSN.com, Video here. 

Why a French ruling against a small mobile ad firm has ad tech on the defensive

Marketing Land, here. 

ICO tells Washington Post it offers invalid cookie consent under GDPR

IAPP, here. 

Wie KI-Forscher sich die nötigen Trainingsdaten verschaffen

Heise.de, hier. 

Glen Weyl: “We need to find ways to organize collectively to exercise our rights online”

LINC, here. 

Superintendência-Geral recomenda arquivamento de investigação contra o Google

CADE, aqui.
Super interesting aqui, aqui, aqui, aqui, aqui e mais aqui. 

Kreditscoring: Urteil aus Finnland wirft Fragen zur Diskriminierung auf

Algorithmwatch.org, hier. 

3D printing and intellectual property futures

T. Birtchnell, A. Daly, T. Rayna and L. Striukova for the UK IPO, here. 

Vectaury: IAB statement and @johnnyryan's comments

Here. 

Das Ende des Bargelds – bald auch in Deutschland?

Handelsblatt, hier. 

How the GDPR will Help Europe Win the Race for AI

Yo-Da, here. 

Best of frenemies? Reflections on privacy and competition four years after the EDPS Preliminary Opinion

C. D'Cunha, here. 

AIRLINES FACE CRACK DOWN ON USE OF ‘EXPLOITATIVE’ ALGORITHM THAT SPLITS UP FAMILIES ON FLIGHTS

Independent, here. 

A study of the implications of advanced digital technologies (including AI systems) for the concept of responsibility within a human rights framework

K. Yeung, here. 

China’s Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn’t Real

Foreign Policy, here. 

Arreglar el desastre de Internet

El Pais, aquì. 

Rule by robots is easy to imagine – we’re already victims of superintelligent firms

The Guardian, here. 

Edward Snowden Explains Blockchain to His Lawyer — and the Rest of Us

ACLU, here. 

NFC im iPhone: Lufthansa erstes bekanntes Unternehmen, das die Schnittstelle nutzt

ComputerBild, hier. 

Sabbiere, Innovazione e Concorrenza: Il Caso Fintech

S. Vezzoso (autrice del blog), qui. Primissima bozza, commenti più che graditi!

INNOVATION POLICIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

OECD, here. 

Geld lenen? Dan worden eerst je social media-accounts gescreend

de Volkskrant, hier, 

Competition Law in the Eurovision Song Contest

P. Marsden, here.

„Die Gefahr besteht, dass wir ein Zwei-Klassen-Internet schaffen“

FAZ, hier. 

You Snooze, You Lose: How Insurers Dodge The Costs Of Popular Sleep Apnea Devices

NPR, here. 

Google Spleen

Ici. 

Competition in (data) privacy: ‘zero’-price markets, market power, and the role of competition law

S.Y. Esayas, here. 

The Norwegian Ski Federation before the EFTA Court

Ruling here, more here. 

Comparison sites cry foul over Google Shopping service

The Register, here, 

Visa, Mastercard offer tourist card fee cut in EU antitrust probe

Reuters, here. 

Update on the German Facebook Case

COMPETITION LAW AND STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

OECD  Secretariat, here. 

Quality considerations in digital zero-price markets

OECD Secretariat, here. 

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

Note by the United Kingdom to the OECD, here. 

How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy

 F. Lützow-Holm Myrstad, TedTalk here.

More about Cayla, here. 

Competition and fairness in a digital society

M. Vestager, here. 

Inside Tech’s “Kill Zone”: How to Deal With the Threat to Edge Innovation Posed by Multi-Sided Platforms

H. Singer, here. 

The dos of data: data trusts

The Economist, Podcast  here (at 08:22).

Algorithmic Price-Setting by Platforms

J. Nowag, here. 

How Facebook’s P.R. Firm Brought Political Trickery to Tech

NyTimes, here. 

Google, our "God"?

Competition Lore with Caron Beaton-Wells and Hal Varian, Podcast here. 

Nielsen/Ebiquity Merger

CMA, Final Report here. 

The war on cash in Belgium and The Netherlands: a state of play on contactless mobile payments

FinExtra, here. 

France is ditching Google to reclaim its online independence

Wired, here. 

Conclusions from the Cryptoassets Taskforce

FCA, here. 

The CNIL’s VECTAURY Decision and the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework

IAB, here. 

Break up Facebook (and while we're at it, Google, Apple and Amazon)

R. Reich, here. 

La CNMC incoa expediente sancionador contra Adidas España por posibles prácticas restrictivas de la competencia

CNMC, aquì.

Open Letter to Commissioner Vestager from 14 European CSSs Re Google Shopping

Here.

Apple reportedly buys AI startup focused on building on-device machine learning software

The Verge, here. 

Data Governance in Connected Cars: The Problem of Access to In-Vehicle Data

W. Kerber, here. 

BIG DATA AND COMPETITION POLICY

A. Claici, here, pp. 423-457.

Personalized Prices in the Digital Economy

J.-J. Ganuza and G. Llobet, here. 

The Economics of the Gig Economy – with an Application to the Spanish Taxi Industry

M. Silos Ribas, here., pp. 305-342.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Book, here.

Beijing to Judge Every Resident Based on Behavior by End of 2020

Bloomberg, here. 

Resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age

UN, here. 

Want Faster Airline Customer Service? Try Tweeting

NYTimes, here. 

Google: Three Thoughts

R. Picker, here. 

La irrupción de las fintech en el sector bancario generará precios más asequibles, según la CNMC

EuropaPress, aquì. 

We Need to Move Beyond Competition Policy

Forbes, here. 

Platform Accountability and Contemporary Competition Law: Practical Considerations

P. Verveer, here. 

How a small French privacy ruling could remake adtech for good

TechCrunch, here.

Un cártel de empresas catalanas encarecía los contratos de la Generalitat a espaldas de la Administración

Cadenaser, aquì. 

State of the Google Shopping auction heading into the 2018 holiday season

Search Engine Land, here. 

Regimes Regulatórios Promotores de Inovação no Setor Financeiro

Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), aqui. 

Visa, AmEx, Mastercard Face Antitrust Charges In Brazil

Pymnts, here. 

China alleges ‘massive’ evidence of chipmaker violations

FT, here. 

Android remedies: tearing down the wall?

Yours very truly, here. 

Stellar new board appointed to lead world-first Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

Gov.uk, here.  See also here. 

Google has a responsibility to protect DeepMind data

FT, here. 

Strength in diversity

M. Vestager, here. 

There is a ‘third way’ for Europe to navigate the digital world

FT, here. 

Datenschutz-Folgenabschätzung zeigt hohe Risiken bei Microsoft Office ProPlus Enterprise

Privacy Company, hier. Video here.

Paula Forteza : « Les citoyens doivent participer à la régulation des plates-formes numériques »

Le Monde, ici. 

How Software Is Helping Big Companies Dominate

J. Bessen, W. Frick, here. 

Microsoft/GitHub

Decision here.

What Are We Learning about Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services?

L. Brainard, here. 

DATA MOBILITY: The personal data portability growth opportunity for the UK economy

Ctrl-Shift for the UK  the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), here. 

Amazon: EC Investigation to Focus on Whether Amazon Uses Data to Develop and Favor Private Label Products

Capital Forum, here. 

ePrivacy-Verordnung (ePVO): Tickende Zeitbombe für Ihr Online-Marketing? – So bereiten Sie sich vor!

PIWIK, hier. 

The intensity of judicial review in complex economic matters—recent competition law judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU

J. L. da Cruz Vilaça, here.

Décision: VECTAURY

CNIL Décision n°MED-2018-042 du 30 octobre 2018, ici.

And this "much older" blog post for some context.

KI als Markenzeichen für Deutschland

Bundesregierung, Presse Mitteilung hier. Bericht hier.

Is technology re-engineering humanity?

The Economist, here. 

Want To See Your Dystopian Future? Look at China

C. O'Neil, here. 

WIPO Conference on the Global Digital Content Market

Videos here. 

Microsoft menaced with GDPR mega-fines in Europe for 'large scale and covert' gathering of people's info via Office

The Register, here.

Apple’s influence is greater than iPhone sales figures suggest

FT, here.

The EU 2018 Draft Directive on UTPs in B2b Food Supply Chains and the Polish 2016 Act on Combating the Unfair Use of Superior Bargaining Power in the Trade in Agricultural and Food Products

A. Piszcz, here.

Private Antitrust Enforcement Without Punitive Damages: A Half-Baked Reform?

C. Massa, here.

The Curse of Bigness by Timothy Wu — why size matters

FT, here. 

UK watchdog has eyes on Google-DeepMind’s health app hand-off

TechCrunch, here. 

Consumer Welfare in Financial Services: A View from EU Competition Law

V. Robertson, here. 

JOURNALISM, ‘FAKE NEWS’ & DISINFORMATION

UNESCO, here. 

Dutch government report says Microsoft Office telemetry collection breaks GDPR

ZdNet, here. 

Google Maps will let you chat with businesses

The Verge, here. 

Emerging Competition, Innovation, and Market Structure Questions Around Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Predictive Analytics

FTC Hearing, Video here. 

Algorithmic Collusion

FTC Hearing, Video here. 

Comments on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy

Submissions to NTIA here. 

FTC Commissioners Find that 1-800 Contacts Unlawfully Harmed Competition in Online Search Advertising Auctions, Restricting the Availability of Truthful Advertising to Consumers

FTC, here. 

WEKO eröffnet Untersuchung gegen Schweizer Finanzinstitute

WEKO, hier. 

AI & Global Governance: No One Should Trust AI

J. Bryson, here. 

How ZTE helps Venezuela create China-style social control

Reuters, here.

Privacy advocates sound the alarm after Google grabs DeepMind UK health app

The Verge, here. 

PFM app Fintonic to fund interest-free deferred payments at Amazon.es

FinExtra, here. 

Allergan Loses Appeal Over Validity of Restasis Patents

Bloomberg, here. 

COMPETITION IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

R Street, here. 

Free flow of data in the EU – a pathway into the cloud

R. Viola, here. 

Google 'betrays patient trust' with DeepMind Health move

The Guardian, here. 

FTC Secures Partial Victory Requiring SEP Holder to License to All Comers in Antitrust Case (Qualcomm)

McDermott Will & Emery, here. 

Market Study on the Impact on Competition of Technological Innovation in The Financial Sector (Fintech)

CNMC, here. 

IP for the Next Generation of Technology

Conference, video here. 

Consumer Choice and Fair Competition on the Digital Single Market in the Areas of Air Transportation and Accommodation

EP, Study here. 

Chrome oder Safari: Welcher Browser schützt unsere Daten?

Handelsblatt, hier. 

Be Afraid of Economic ‘Bigness.’ Be Very Afraid.

T. Wu, here. 

Google, Facebook, and Amazon benefit from an outdated definition of “monopoly”

Quartz, here. 

DPIA DIAGNOSTIC DATA IN MICROSOFT OFFICE PROPLUS

Commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and Security for the benefit of SLM Rijk, here.  

The curse of bigness

Tim Wu, video here. 

Google retreats on controversial 'fake' price comparison site scheme

SkyNews, here. 

The Potential Unintended Consequences of Article 13

YouTube, here. 

Facebook Failed to Police How Its Partners Handled User Data

NYTimes, here. 

CADE; Fintech et al. public hearing

Video aqui.

Who Has the Copyright Over My Cheese?

Brillat-Savarin: Art

NYTimes, here.
CJEU Judgment here. 

How to Regulate Tech Platforms

The American Prospect, here. 

London’s transport regulator looks to startups to help fix urban mobility

TechCrunch, here. 

Apple/Shazam

EC, CASE M.8788, here. 

The law that lets Europeans take back their data from big tech companies

CBSnews, here and video here (from 02:06 - 15:00).

Sustainable and Unchallenged Algorithmic Tacit Collusion

A. Ezrachi, M. Stucke, here. 

„Wir müssen Daten, den Rohstoff für Innovation, breiter streuen“

Handelsblatt, hier. 

Future proofing your bank? Digital transformation and regulatory reform in the financial sector

O. Rehn, here. See also here.

Artificial intelligence and intellectual property: an interview with Francis Gurry

WIPO, here.