PayPal Holdings, Inc / iZettle AB merger inquiry: Issues Statement

CMA, here. 

Basic Private Auctions Are ‘Going The Way Of The Dinosaur’ As Programmatic Cleans Up

AdExchanger, here. 

THE QUEST TO TOPPLE SCIENCE-STYMYING ACADEMIC PAYWALLS

J. Ito, here. 

Data-rich Markets: The Best of Possible Worlds?

ICLE, here (heavily redacted title ;-) - SV), here. 

Experian responds

Here; Appendices here. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING: TRENDS, BENEFITS AND RISKS FOR CONSUMERS

OECD Digital Economy Paper No.272, here. 

Geo-blocking of Audio-visual Services in the EU: Gone with the Wind?

S. Vezzoso (this Blog's Author), here.



(...years waiting for this moment)

BLOCKING THE DATA STALKERS

New Economics Foundation, here. 

La ACCO considera discriminatorio y restrictivo de la competencia imponer a los VTC’s la obligación que se les pre-contraten los servicios con una antelación mínima de 6 horas.

ACCO, Nota de Prensa aquí.

Kartellamt knöpft sich Facebook vor

Bild.de, hier. 

When data is capital: Datafication, accumulation, and extraction

J. Sadowski, here. 

CONFERENCE DEBRIEFING (5A): WIE GEFÄHRLICH SIND BIG DATA, KÜNSTLICHE INTELLIGENZ UND ALGORITHMEN FÜR DEN WETTBEWERB?

A. Rösner, hier. 

“Alexa, play some music” isn’t the only time Amazon is listening to you.

J. Voiovich, here. 

The Creative Industries

J. Waldfogel, here. 

From Mad Men to Maths Men: Concentration and Buyer Power in Online Advertising

F. Decarolis, G. Rovigatti, here. 

Data Brokers Co-Opetition

Y. Gu, L. Madio, C. Reggiani, here. 

S.M.A.R.T.

FTC v. Qualcomm: Trial and Implications?

Orrick, here. 

India central bank convenes digital payments panel

FinExtra, here. 

Coopération, dépendance et éviction. Quelle appréhension concurrentielle des liens inter-entreprises dans les écosystèmes de téléphonie mobile ?

F. Marty, J. Pillot, ici. 

AI for international economists

R. Baldwin, here.

Status quo on fighting planned obsolescence

Recent-ecl.blogspot.com, here. 

Why Regulators Went Soft on Monopolies

J. Tepper, here. 

Vente-Privée et « l’illusion de faire une bonne affaire » : le site rejette les accusations

Numérama, here.

Auf die digitale folgt die analoge Revolution

NZZ, hier. 

'Rule of Trust': The Power and Perils of China’s Social Credit Megaproject

Y.-J. Chen, C.-F.Lin, H.-W. Liu, here.

Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, and the Quest to Kill eBay

S. Yegge, here. 

Female Economists Push Their Field Toward a #MeToo Reckoning

NYTimes, here. 

Automatorts: How Should Accident Law Adapt to Autonomous Vehicles? Lessons from Law and Economics

E. Talley, here. 

Liability Rules in the Internet of Things: Why Traditional Legal Relations Encourage Modern Technological Innovation

R. Epstein, here.

Open Banking year one: Insights from the CMA9 and more

FinExtra, here. 

Le lien unissant un chauffeur et Uber reconnu « contrat de travail »

Le Monde, ici. 

What if algorithms could abide by ethical principles?

STOA, here.

Robotic Milkers and an Automated Greenhouse: Inside a High-Tech Small Farm

NYTimes, here. 

The California Consumer Privacy Act will have a significant business impact on the digital advertising industry.

IAB, here

Congress spends $0 on independent assessments of technology issues

Washington Post, here. 

German watchdog deals new blow to Alstom-Siemens rail tie-up

FT, here. 

Online Manipulation: Hidden Influences in a Digital World

D. Susser, B. Rossler, H. Nissenbaum, here. 

Apple Admits The Obvious: User Repairs Harm The Bottom Line

TechDirt, here. 

Preview

Professors Hartzog and Richards Insist It’s Time to Try Something Different on Internet Privacy

TAP, here. 

Should we think of Big Tech as Big Brother?

FT, here. 

Ansip: "La fragmentación del mercado digital es un rompecabezas malo"

Cadenaser, aquì.

FTC Displays Its Anti-Innovation Folly

Investors.com, here. 

“It’s Crucial to Break Up Facebook”

Pro-Market, here. 

Major Consulting Firm McKinsey Finds Little Evidence of Practical Blockchain Use Cases

CoinTelegraph, here. 

WILL REDIGI ASK THE SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH IN ON THE RESALE OF “USED” DIGITAL MUSIC FILES?

All Rights Reserved, here. 

NOWCASTING PRIVATE CONSUMPTION: TRADITIONAL INDICATORS, UNCERTAINTY MEASURES, CREDIT CARDS AND SOME INTERNET DATA

Banco de EspaÑa, here. 

Google gets payments licence in Ireland

FinExtra, here. 

Understanding the Unplanned Internet - How Ad Tech is Broken By Design

A. Zucker-Scharff, Video here. 

Online Advertisers Embrace Blockchain to Fight Fraud

Bloomberg, here. 

Structural presumption in U.S. merger control policy would strengthen modern antitrust enforcement

J. Kwoka, here. 

The Day Antitrust Died?: Episode 1, Frederic M. Scherer

Ipse Dixit podcast here. 

Senators aim to give internet companies doctor-like duties to protect our data

TechCrunch, here. 

Consumer data right: Rules outline

ACCC, here. 

Options to maintain a competitive digital economy

ESB, here (Google translate), original here. 

Facebook Is Developing a Cryptocurrency for WhatsApp Transfers, Sources Say

Bloomberg, here. 

The Law and Economics of Apple Inc. v. Pepper

Technology Policy Institute, here. 

Contre le pouvoir des plateformes, établir une portabilité sociale des données

S.I.Lex, here. 

Competitive Enhancement involving Digital Platformers: Japanese authorities

White & Case, here. And here.

The New ECN+ Directive: Towards an Even More Integrated Antitrust Enforcement in the EU

Arnold & Porter, here. 

WHY IT'S HARD TO ESCAPE AMAZON'S LONG REACH

Wired, here. 

How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually.

M. Read, here. 

2018 Code of conduct on internet quality of service

ARCEP, here. 

Google ofrecerá servicios bancarios: por una competencia financiera real y justa

El Economista, aquì.

Economists calculate the true value of Facebook to its users in new study

ArsTechnica, here. 

AncestryDNA ist in Deutschland - Und wo ist der Datenschutz?

T. Weichert, hier. 

AutomatedPricingAlgorithmsandCollusion:ABraveNewWorldorOldWineinNewBottles?

S. Li, C. Xie, here. 

How Apps on Android Share Data with Facebook - Report

Privacy International, here. 

How to Fix America's Monopoly Problem

L. Khan, here. 

The U.S. Needs Conglomerate Merger Legislation

R. Lande, here. 

Infectious healthcare waste disposal sector in Corsica: excessive prices

Autorité de la concurrence, here. 

Regulating the disrupters

J. Tirole, here. 

Banken sind Marktführer; aber welche Chance haben sie im Zahlungsverkehr gegen Apple, Google und PayPal?

IT-Finanzmagazin.de, hier. 

BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH COULD BECOME NETFLIX’S SECRET MARKETING WEAPON

The Verge, here. 

Thou shalt not sample… without permission!

J. Quintais, B. Jütte, here. 

Microsoft is privately testing 'Bali,' a way to give users control of data collected about them

ZDNet, here. 

What They Are Saying: Experts Continue To Point Out Flaws In EC’s Android Decision

Springboard, here. 

Perils of Surveillance capitalism

S. Zuboff, Video here. 

The Competitive Landscape of AI Startups

HBR, here. 

Qualcomm-FTC lawsuit: Everything you need to know

Cnet, here.

A Real Remedy the FTC Should Demand of Facebook

Public Knowledge, here. 

Bayer/Monsanto: Summary of the Decision (and the whole 946 pp.)

Here. and the whole Decision here.

Martha Lane Fox Interviews our beloved Commissioner

BBC, Podcast (from 17:00), here.

THE GENERAL COURT UPHOLDS THE COMMISSION’S DECISION TO MAKE PARAMOUNT’S COMMITMENTS IN THE PAY-TV CASE BINDING

Shearman & Sterling, here. 

Bayer/Monsanto - protecting innovation and product competition in seeds, traits and pesticides

EC Merger Brief, here (p. 6 ff.).

Bundesgerichtshof: Museen dürfen gemeinfreie Bilder wegsperren

Heise.de, hier. 

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 

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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. 

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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. 

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Bloomberg, here. 

Britain may block Experian-ClearScore credit data merger

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3D printing and intellectual property futures

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China’s Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn’t Real

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

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INNOVATION POLICIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

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

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Competition Law in the Eurovision Song Contest

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

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