Tuesday, December 01, 2020

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Scrambled Eggs and Paralyzed Policy: Breaking Up Consummated Mergers and Dominant Firms

 J. Kwoka, T. Valletti, here

Gaia-X: A trojan horse for Big Tech in Europe

 Euractiv, here

TO TRACK OR NOT TO TRACK?

 Panoptykon Foundation, here

Democratic Data: A Relational Theory For Data Governance

 S. Viljoen, here

Google as a de facto privacy regulator: Analyzing Chrome’s removal of third-party cookies from an antitrust perspective

 D. Geradin et al., here

Big tech, Garante Privacy: “Come rifondare il diritto nella nuova realtà digitale”

 AgendaDigitale, qui

Commission fines Teva and Cephalon €60.5 million for delaying entry of cheaper generic medicine

 EC, here

Legal Analysis of International Trade Law and Digital Trade

 EP, here

Dusseldorf Regional Court refers component-level licensing of standard-essential patents to Court of Justice of the EU

 Foss Patents, here

Strategy for Union institutions, offices, bodies and agencies to comply with the ‘Schrems II’ Ruling

 EDPS, here

Letter on cookie walls

 EDPB, here

Microsoft's new 'Productivity Score' lets your boss track how much you use email, Teams, and even whether you turn your camera on during meetings

 Business Insider, here

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

 BEUC, here

Chinese tech companies write off India

FT, here.  

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

AWS outage has taken down a big chunk of the internet

 The Verge, here

Lessons from the investigations in competition in digital markets

 With Nora Memetti, Oliver Budzinski and myself, Video here

Restoring Balance to Digital Competition

 Instituto de derecho de la competencia, Video here (Philip Marsden presenting and me praising the Report - you can safely skip my part perhaps).

Artificial Intelligence Regulation

 J. Bryson's Thoughts here

A top Democrat on the House antitrust panel sets sights on Big Pharma after wrapping up tech probe

 CNBC, here

Economics of streaming are 'threatening future of music', says Elbow's Guy Garvey

 The Guardian, here

Anwenderüberwachung durch Microsofts Office-Software

 Heise.de, hier

BILL C-11

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA, here

PROJET DE RECOMMANDATION RELATIVE À L’EXERCICE DES DROITS PAR L’INTERMÉDIAIRE D’UN MANDATAIRE

 CNIL, ici; Exemple de mandat pour l’exercice des droits conférés par le RGPD, ici

EU proposes tighter rules on political advertising

 FT, here

On the path to 'strategic autonomy'

 EPRS, here

Part human, part machine: is Apple turning us all into cyborgs?

 The Guardian, here

Justice Department Requires Divestiture of Credit Karma Tax for Intuit to Proceed with Acquisition of Credit Karma

 Department of Justice, here

Impact Assessment report and support study accompanying the Proposal for a Regulation on Data Governance

 EC, here

Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe

 EC, Communication here

The Data Governance Act and the Action Plan on Intellectual Property

 M. Vestager, here

The Action Plan on Intellectual Property

  Here; Q&A, here

Commissioners Vestager and Breton on the Data Governance Act

 Today, 11.30 CET, live here

Regulation on data governance – Questions and Answers, here
Press release, here
Factsheet, here
The Proposed DGA, here

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

India bans another 43 Chinese apps

 TechCrunch, here

Europe’s data strategy aims to tip the scales away from big tech

 TechCrunch, here.

Taming the big tech platforms: DG COMP’s remedy problem (as illustrated by the Google saga)

 D. Geradin, here

VRP Proposition Consultation Paper

 OBIE, here

Data for the wider economy

 ODI draft, here

Google’s Cash Makes Rivals Less Eager for Antitrust Crackdown

 Bloomberg, here (and here - convenience, you know).

Future of data economy: a conversation with Thierry Breton and Maximilian Schrems

 Bruegel Event, with T. Breton and M. Schrems, Video here

Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation

D. Arner, R. Auer and J. Frost, here.  

Stellungnahme zur Anhörung des Wirtschaftsausschusses des Deutschen Bundestags am 25. November 2020 zur Zehnten GWB-Novelle („GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz“)

Stellungnahme mit den Mitgliedern der Monopolkommission abgestimmt, hier

How Venture Capitalists Are Deforming Capitalism

 New Yorker, here

Urheberrechtsreform: Künstler laufen Sturm gegen freie Inhalte-Schnipsel

 Heise.de, hier

Latest #blockchain ecosystem developments and trends in the EU27, Switzerland and the UK

New EU Blockchain Observatory, here

Without mandatory interoperability, will the European Commission’s Digital Market Act and Digital Service Act be enough to reset the rules for big tech?

K. Szymielewicz, here

Friday, November 20, 2020

REVISION OF THE VERTICAL BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION AND THE VERTICAL GUIDELINES

 BEUC, here

Banal Smartphone Apps Are the New Surveillance State

 New Republic, here

What the EU’s investigation of Amazon means for U.S. antitrust probes

CNBC, here.  

Asimov’s Three Laws Helped Shape A.I. and Robotics. We Need Four More.

 OneZero, here

Apple to reduce its cut from in-app purchases as it faces new lawsuit from Fortnite maker

 The Guardian, here

OpenStreetMap is Having a Moment

 J. Morrison, here

Google revamps its strategy towards banking

 FT, here

Discovering Firms' Data Strategies: A Topic Modeling Approach

 A. Leiponen, Video here (from 2:28).

Epic v Apple (3): two perspectives on app stores’ 30% commission fee

 F. Bostoen, here.

Is the internet advertising economy about to implode?

 TechCrunch, here

Do you really want Amazon’s new drugstore knowing your medical condition?

 LATimes, here

China's Draft 'Personal Information Protection Law' (Full Translation)

 New America, here

#DSGVOwirkt: Microsoft passt sich europäischem Datenschutz an

Baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz.de, hier

Artificial intelligence is reshaping finance

 FT, here

Apple and Facebook trade accusations over data privacy

FT, here (more here). 

A Digital New Deal

 IT for Change, here

EU Tech Alliance in the game

 Here

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

How China’s big tech companies upset Beijing

 Ft, here

Progressive Groups Urge President-Elect Biden Not to Appoint Former Google CEO to Administration

 Revolving Door Project, here

Economic analysis in merger investigations

 OECD, Discussion Paper here

Ecosystem Competition

 D. Crane, here

Some Economics of Digital Ecosystems

 M. Bourreau, here

Digital competition policy: Are ecosystems different? –

 A. Fletcher, here

New proposed law to better protect Canadians’ privacy and increase their control over their data and personal information

 Government of Canada, here

AI regulation in Europe? What consumers have to say

 BEUC, here

Epic Games extends its fight against Apple to Australia

 Epic Games, here and here


Consumer Data Right powers shifted from ACCC

 Innovation Aus, here. See also herehere and here

Secrets and Likes: The Drive for Privacy and the Difficulty of Achieving It in the Digital Age

 A. Acquisti et al., here

Investigation into data protection compliance in the direct marketing data broking sector

 ICO, here

The Evolution of Cloud

 Greylock, here

noyb files complaints against Apple's tracking code "IDFA"

 NOYB, here

Jeder Piks registriert

 TAZ, hier

Digitale Souveränität: "Es gibt momentan im Internet keine Privatsphäre"

 Heise.de, hier

Aperta istruttoria nei confronti di ANIA in merito al “progetto antifrode” (con sviluppo algoritmi comuni) nei rami danni e vita

 AGCM, qui

How Private Is My Pay App?

 The Medium, here

How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps

 Vice, here

RULE BY DATA: THE END OF MARKETS?

 K. Pistor, here

Digital Regulation Handbook

 ITU, World Bank, here

Friday, November 13, 2020

Facebook v. CMA

 CAT, here

Uncertainty, or at least a specific kind of uncertainty

 FTC, here

The "external aspects" of the EU digital transformation agenda

 M. Vestager, here

Google Photos sets store by storage

 FT, here

Who Benefits from Financial Innovation?

 R. Mihet, here

The DSA: Part #04 Better connected through interoperability

EP Greens, here.  

Bank of England 's Bailey says stablecoins do not meet grade for broad use

 Reuters, here

Important projects of common European interest - Boosting EU strategic value chains

 EPRS, here

The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse

 The Atlantic, here

Just do it!? Nike will Händler in der EU ab 2021 nicht mehr beliefern

Onlinehaendler-news.de, hier

Le vrai défi posé par Amazon n’est pas de vendre quand les autres sont fermés mais la position dominante que lui donne la maîtrise de nos données

 F. Marty, ici

What’s Next for the Antitrust Case Against Google?

 AdWeek, here

The Global Antitrust Institute Report on the Digital Economy

 Here

Citizen-controlled health data sharing governance

Digital Health Europe, here.  

Towards New Tools in Competition Law: Some legal and economic considerations

 M. Cartapanis & F. Marty, here

Preisbindungsklauseln gegenüber Beherbergungsbetrieben sollen verboten werden

 CH Bundesrat, hier

Recommendations 01/2020 on measures that supplement transfer tools to ensure compliance with the EU level of protection of personal data

 EDPB, here

Bundesregierung strebt technologische Souveränität bei Chips an

 Heise.de, hier

The Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Has Charted a Course for President-Elect Biden: He Should Follow It

 H. Singer, here

COMPETITION AND E-COMMERCE

 Autorité de la concurrence, ici. 

Epic Gets Apple’s Theft Claim Knocked Out of Fortnite Fight

 Bloomberg, here

China’s banking regulator signals tougher fintech antitrust laws

 FT, here

Surprise: Latest Draft Of The EU's Next Big Privacy Law Includes Some Improvements

 TechDirt, here

Apple Pay becomes a must-have payment option for banks - Loup Ventures

 FinExtra, hier

Prinzip Mensch: Buchvorstellung und Diskussion

#GIWebTalk, hier

'Unfair surveillance'? Online exam software sparks global student revolt

 Thomson Reuters Foundation, here

GUIDELINES FOR SECURING THE INTERNET OF THINGS

 ENISA, here

Monday, November 09, 2020

Shaping the future interoperability policy

 ISA, here

The two sides of the (stable)coin

 F. Panetta, here

Replacing rentier capitalism is one of the defining challenges of our age

 Open Democracy, here

India opens antitrust case against Google over its payments app

 TechCrunch, here. CCI's Order here

What can Silicon Valley expect from Joe Biden?

 FT, here

Revisiting the Black Box Society by rethinking the political economy of big data

 B. Brevini and F. Pasquale, here

Setting democratic global standards for intelligence agencies: the way forward

CEO Webinar,
9 November 2020 (2 to 3.30pm CET), here

Data Governance and practices lessons during COVID-19

 IGF 2020 Main Session Data, here

A New Era of Innovation and Trust in Data

 T. Berners-Lee, here

Google app enables banks to lock Android devices over credit defaults

 FinExtra, here

Visa’s $5 billion bid for fintech darling Plaid sparks lawsuit by Justice Department

 MarketWatch, here

DoJ's Complaint here.

CMA's decision here

Emerging Architectures for Modern Data Infrastructure

 Andreessen Horowitz, here

Amsterdam and Helsinki become first cities to launch AI registers explaining how they use algorithms

 The NextWeb, here

Digitale Souveränität und Europa-Cloud Gaia-X: Viele Fragen im Digital-Ausschuss

 Heise.de, hier

DOJ V. GOOGLE – WIRD GOOGLE ZERSCHLAGEN?

J. Persch, hier.  

Parere alla Provincia autonoma di Trento su uno schema di regolamento concernente la medicina di iniziativa nel servizio sanitario provinciale

 Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, qui

Digital Platforms and Ecosystems

Digital Platforms and the Changing Regulatory Landscape, Panel here (Richard Kramer not to be missed), here

The pandemic exposes human nature: 10 evolutionary insights

 B. Seitz et al., here

It's Not Just About You

 The Why Not Lab, here

What Robots Can’t Do: An interview with Frank Pasquale

Commonweal, here.  

EUROPEAN COMMISSION LAUNCHES IMPACT ASSESSMENT PHASE IN ITS REVIEW OF THE VERTICAL BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION AND VERTICAL GUIDELINES

 Clifford Chance, here

The GDPR was the most lobbied law in EU history. DSA: Hold my beer

 Ofthewedge, here

The Internet of Bodies

 Rand Corporation, here

Google reCAPTCHA service under the microscope: Questions raised over privacy promises, cookie use

 The Register, here

Medienmäzen Google: Wie der Datenkonzern den Journalismus umgarnt

 Otto Brenner Stiftung, hier

Didattica online: individuati i punti critici, in tema di privacy e copyright, delle piattaforme utilizzate a supporto delle lezioni

 IlSole24Ore, here

Spotify to offer artists and labels the option to promote their music in your recommendations

 Fader, here (and listening to Spotify right now). 

She's Bursting Big Tech's Bubble

 Sway, Interview with Lina Khan, here

Beyond the buzzwords: Putting meaningful transparency at the heart of the Digital Services Act

M. Vestager, Keynote Speech delivered at Online Policy Dialogue hosted by AlgorithmWatch and the European Policy Centre on 30 October 2020, Video here

The Justice Department Finally—Finally!—Takes on Google and the Danger of Monopolies

 C. Doctorow, here

Bericht der Enquete-Kommission Künstliche Intelligenz – Gesellschaftliche Verantwortung und wirtschaftliche, soziale und ökologische Potenziale

 Hier.

§ 19a GWB: Welche Unternehmen sind betroffen?

 S. Louven, hier

This election season, Facebook, Google and the rest have embraced their role as gatekeepers.

 NYTimes, here

German EU presidency pushes for cybersecurity ‘by design’ in connected devices

 Euractiv, here

Privacy campaigners file legal challenge against UK’s handling of online ads

 Politico.eu, here

Cross-context behavioral advertising



Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications)

 Here

The volcano method for understanding the fintech revolution

 TechCrunch, here

Dark patterns

Forbrukerradet, here

Facebook Begins Controversial Integration of Messenger, Instagram

Digital Privacy News, here

Innovation Considerations in Horizontal Merger Control

 Antitrust Digest, here

The data will see you now

 Ada Lovelace Institute, here

Netflix files copyright claims against tweets criticizing movie, trailer

 Ars Technica, here

FTC likely to sue Facebook on antitrust violations by end of November

 Politico.com, here

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Better late than never: The Italian Competition Authority is investigating Google's AdTech



On October 28, the Italian Competition Authority announced that an investigation of Google’s core business - display advertising - is underway. The Authority claims that Google practices prevent rivals from competing effectively and affect consumers negatively.

For this reason, the Italian Competition Authority opened an investigation against Google for an alleged abuse of dominant position. The undertaking, controlled by Alphabet Inc, might have violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union with regard to the availability and use of data for the design of display advertising campaigns, i.e. the space that publishers and website owners make available for the display of advertising content.

The decision comes in a context in which Google is one of the most prominent players in both search advertising and digital display advertising. Moreover, Google is well established in the ad tech stack, capturing over 50% of the market that in 2019, in Italy was valued more than 3.3 billion euros. Unsurprisingly, Google has already had the pleasure of meeting other competition authorities around the world. Lately, in March 2019, the European Commission decided to fine Google € 1.49 billion for abusing its dominant position in the market of online search advertising by restricting users to see Google’s rivals search ads. 

Now, under the lens of the Italian Competition authority there is Google’s display advertising. We are all used to the ads that fill up websites and the feed on social networks. But let’s dig deeper: what is display advertising? The OECD describes it as the text, images, or videos that appear on our screen, be it in advertising boxes or banner ad. What makes this form of advertising so valuable is, basically, us. In terms of user data at least: data concerning the identity of the consumer visiting a website is particularly important for targeting digital display advertising, which cannot rely on user inputs in the same way as search advertising.

Two types of technology have raised the concerns of the Italian competition authority, e.g. the decryption keys of Google ID and the use of pixels. Pixels are small, almost invisible graphics that embed a piece of code that is loaded when a user visits a webpage or opens an email used often by businesses for third party tracking. Actually, what is wrong is not the technology to track user data itself - but the fact that Google is excluding its competitors to access (and benefit from) this data and technologies that enhance the process of targeting ads. Allegedly, Google has engaged in internal-external discrimination by refusing to provide the decryption keys of the Google ID and in excluding the possibility of tracking third-party pixels.

In short, the investigation of the Italian Competition Authority highly emphasizes the role of user data, technology, and the choices of Google regarding these tech. However, our concern as users in the first place, also regards our privacy as consumers. Secondly, the power gained by Google in the digital advertising market through data gathering and the tying of its services and products has created a scenario that favours targeted and invasive advertising with contents - while it is questionable whether or not this adds to the welfare of consumers. Indeed, the problem is not only how much data is being gathered or displayed but also the way these processes are actually taking place.

After all, are we really aware of how much information we disclose? And even if the answer is yes, are we aware of how our data contributes to the value-creating process of tech molochs - Google in the first place? The figures on the profits of Google and the other big-tech giants speak for themselves. But... Do users still enjoy a piece of the cake?

(Alvise, Gianluca, Julia, Lorenzo, Giulia and Daniel - UniTrento Master Students)

German watchdog launches new investigation into Amazon: report

 Reuters, here

French advertising organizations lodge complaint with competition regulator over Apple privacy changes

Digiday, here.  

Google’s display advertising business is under antitrust probe in Italy

 TechCrunch, here

Investigation opened against Google for an alleged abuse of dominant position in the Italian market for display advertising

 


Italian Competition Authority (!), here

Provvedimento qui.

Addictive Social Media: Why We Need Regulation and Competition for Digital Platforms

 ProMarket, here

Technology and Democracy

 JRC, here

Julian Nowag will be "previewing" his excellent OECD Competition and Sustainability Report to my Students next Friday: Join us if interested (the more the merrier, says Julian - and I agree)

9.30am CET, Julian's Report here (email me for the Zoom details simonetta.vezzoso@unitn.it)

Virtual Debate: Interoperability and the EU Digital Markets Act

 Join us, here.

Apple develops alternative to Google search

 Financial Times, here

Merkel drängt Autokonzerne: BMW, Daimler und VW sollen Datenschatz teilen

 Handelsblatt, hier (und hier). 

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

EU vs Big Tech: Leaked Enforcement Plans and the Dutch-French Counterproposal

 EFF, here

Epic claims App Store contract illegal; Facebook Gaming says Apple ‘frustrating’

 9to5mac, here

PlayStation : l’Autorité estime que les engagements proposés par Sony ne répondent pas de façon pertinente aux préoccupations de concurrence identifiées. Le dossier est renvoyé à l’instruction.

Adlc, ici

Big Tech Comes for Podcasts

 G. Gedye, here

Google’s Guardians

 D. Dayen, here

How the Digital Services Act can hold online marketplaces to account

 BEUC, here

Facebook launches cloud games but says Apple won’t allow it on iOS

 CNBC, here

Uber sued for using ‘biased’ customer ratings to fire drivers

Bloomberg, here

Facing Decisions

 A. Danni, here

Four Steps to Rein in Big Tech

 M. Rafi Atal, here. 

And, even juicier, here

Open Letter to European Commission: Request for Trilateral Meeting among Google, the EC, and Alternative Search Engines to Improve Search Preference Menu

DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Lilo, Qwant, Seznam, here

Investigation into data protection compliance in the direct marketing data broking sector

 ICO, here

Friday, October 23, 2020

Got a problem with trust in AI? Just add blockchain, Forrester urges. Then bust out the holographic meetings. Welcome to the future

 The Register, here

Using Market Studies to Tackle Emerging Competition Issues

 OECD, Background Note, here

Sustainability & Competition Law and Policy

 J. Nowag for the OECD, here

Julian will be discussing it with us @unitrento on Oct. 30 at 9:30AM (email me if you'd like to join us).

Digital advertising markets – Background note by the Secretariat

OECD Secretariat, Background note here

Regulatorischer Export – Wie die europäische Datenschutzgrundverordnung globale Datenmärkte beeinflusst

 M. Batikas et al., hier

Why Can’t I Fix My Own Phone, Toaster, or Tractor?

 The Markup, here

Building a Law-and-Political-Economy Framework: Beyond the Twentieth-Century Synthesis

J. Britton-Purdy et al., here.  

A deeply flawed lawsuit that would do nothing to help consumers

 Google, here

Apple Will Remove Fan App That Allowed Stadia Streaming on iOS

 Vice, here

A First Look at U.S. v. Google

 R. Picker, here

Erste Ergebnisse einer Konsultation gewerblicher Plattform-Kunden veröffentlicht

 Bundesnetzagentur, hier

PayPal is shilling crypto on the internet

 FT, here

Ex-Googler Meredith Whittaker on Political Power in Tech, the Flaws of ‘The Social Dilemma,’ and More

 OneZero, here

Gouvernance et régulation des données

Conseil d’État, ici

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE STRATEGY 2020 – 2023 Think Open

 EC, Communication here

The Justice Dept.’s Lawsuit Against Google: Too Little, Too Late

 K. Swisher, here

Wilson Parking agrees sell building leases, pay costs after investigation

 RNZ, here

European Networking and Training for National Competition Enforcers ENTraNCE for Judges 2019

 EUI, here

A US antitrust suit might break up Google. Good – it's the Standard Oil of our day

 The Guardian, here

As EU Starts To Draft Its Most Important New Online Law, The Digital Services Act, MEPs Want Basic Rights High On The Agenda

TechCrunch, here.  

Google's defense against antitrust lawsuit? You

 CNN, here

SOUVERAINETE EUROPEENNE - Un chemin semé d’embûches

 AGEFI, ici

The Google Case An Explanation and Evaluation for Non-Lawyers

 T. Wu, here

Artificial intelligence and the antitrust case against Google

 VentureBeat, here

Deep fake: il Garante privacy apre un’istruttoria nei confronti di Telegram per il software che "spoglia" le donne

 GPDP, qui

Helen Dixon backs data codes of conduct in life sciences

Out-Law, here

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

DOJ (and 11 -?- States) v. Google

 Complaint here. Official DoJ's announcement here.  Statement of the Attorney General on the Announcement Of Civil Antitrust Lawsuit Filed Against Google, here

Data Governance as a Collective Action Problem

 O. Benfeldt, here

Monday, October 19, 2020

If Facebook and Google limit services in Australia, could the ABC run a social network?

 The Guardian, here

Herover je data

 VPRO.nl, hier

From 6:30, 13:00 for a lively discussion if you want to show some of it to your non-Dutch speaking Students. 

35:02 comes Gaia-X (what else?).

Streamr partner with GSMA to deliver Data Unions to the mobile sector

 Streamr, here

KALEIDOSCOPIC DATA-RELATED ENFORCEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AGE

 S. Yakovleva, here

Data Protection or Data Frustration? Individual perceptions and attitudes towards the GDPR

 J. Strycharz et al., here.

Hoe werkt de platformeconomie?

 SER, hier

An EU framework for artificial intelligence

 EPRS, here

The Gig Economy and Covid-19: Looking Ahead

 Fair Work, here

Friday, October 16, 2020

Why Facebook and Google Face the Most Risk in an Overhaul of Antitrust Law

 Barrons, here

Building Community Network Policies: A Collaborative Governance towards Enabling Frameworks

 L. Belli et al., here

Progress can no longer be measured by growth in GDP

 The 😍 D. Coyle, here

Webinar @Echelle : Évolution du droit de la concurrence allemand : pour un droit de la concurrence 4.0 proactif et axé sur le digital

 Webinar @Echelle  (4 novembre), ici

IAB Europe’s ad tracking consent framework found to fail GDPR standard

 TechCrunch, here

GDPR watchdog’s investigation finds that tracking and consent pop-ups used by Google and other major websites and apps are unlawful.

 Irish Council for Civil Liberties, here

How AI is powering [a more helpful] Google

 Google, here

Duplex is getting smarter and making life a little easier

 Google, here

Privileging Consolidation and Proscribing Cooperation: The Perversity of Contemporary Antitrust Law

 S. Vaheesan, here

EU shoots for €10B ‘industrial cloud’ to rival US

 Politico.eu, here

EU antitrust deadline for Google, Fitbit deal extended to Jan. 8

 Reuters, here

Instagram to tackle hidden advertising after CMA action

 CMA, here.  The details of FB's undertakings, here

Bill Gates says that antitrust regulators should look at tech companies separately, not all at once

 CNBC, here

To Solve COVID-19, We Need to See It for What It Is: A Configuration Crisis

 L. Fennell, here

CONSUMER AND CITIZEN GROUPS CONTINUE TO HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT GOOGLE FITBIT TAKEOVER

 Here

Europe wants ‘strategic autonomy’ — it just has to decide what that means

 Politico.eu, here

Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself

 The NewYorker, here

British Airways: Penalty Notice

ICO, here

App Marketplace Battlemap

 


LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS FOR DIGITAL ASSETS

 J. Allen et al., here

Data Sovereignty, You Ask

 


Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Per i lobbisti del big tech il paradiso è in Italia

 Domani, qui

Platform Competition: A Systematic and Interdisciplinary Review of the Literature

 J. Rietveld, M. Schilling, here

The digital payment revolution

 Bank of France, here

Anonymisierung und Pseudonymisierung von Daten für Projekte des maschinellen Lernens

 Bitkom, hier

Amazon's Latest Gimmicks Are Pushing the Limits of Privacy

 Wired, here

Data protection and coronavirus: Case studies

 ICO, here

BigTech Firms in Finance in Emerging Market and Developing Economies

 FSB, here

Google v. Oracle and the search for an analogy

 M. Risch, here

The Lawless Realm

 M. Schaake, here

A ticking time bomb: The real and present danger of the data economy

 With C. Véliz, here (and here)

Press Publishers’ Right: the Court of Appeal of Paris upholds the Competition Authority’s order for Google to negotiate with the publishers

 B. Spitz, here

Dear Google: We Agree Search Competition Should Be "Only 1 Click Away" – So Why Is It 15+ on Android?

 DuckDuckGo, here

Future Market Dynamics Part 2 - Big Tech and data disruption

 FCA, here

No rivalry between public and private digital currency solutions – European Commission

 Finextra, here

EU Foreign Investment Screening Regulation takes effect: a high-level review of regimes across Europe

 Clifford Chance, here

What Will Drive Long-Run Growth in the Digital Age?

J. Growiec, here.  

The Big Tech antitrust report has one big conclusion: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are anti-competitive

 Vox, here

Abuse of Dominance in Digital Markets

 OECD, here

EU antitrust regulators may narrow Amazon investigation - sources

 Reuters, here

Facebook's Libra must not start until properly regulated - G7 draft

 Reuters, here

Monday, October 12, 2020

A Note about Spotify Transfers

 


SongShift, here

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS TO FIGHT COVID-19

 Council of Europe, here

YouTube testet Integration von Online-Shopping-Funktionen

 Heise Online, hier

Brussels eyes bigger stick to take on Big Tech

 Politico.eu, here

Digital transformation of Europe: State of Play

 Fireside chat with the Margrethe Vestager, here  and now.



Auguri!

 




Congress made a lousy case for breaking up Big Tech

 PPI, here.

EU automotive sector – exemption from antitrust rules (review)

 EC, here  (here the pdf of the questionnaire).

Lobbying and transparency: What Twitter can do...

 




Demystifying the Role of Data Interoperability in the Access and Sharing Debate

 J. Hoffmann, B. Gonzales Otero, here

Google should have picked Microsoft’s app store principles over Apple’s

 Venture Beat, here

CNIL observations on the US-accessible Health Data Hub

 I. Brown, here

Epic loses court bid to force Apple to reinstate Fortnite in the App Store

 Venture Beat, here

Google faces new antitrust case in India over abuse in smart TVs market

 Reuters, here

Google’s (Non-) Compliance with the EU Shopping Decision

 T. Hoppner, here

Frequently asked questions on Regulation (EU) 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union

 EC, here

BEREC Response to the Public Consultations on the Digital Services Act Package and the New Competition Tool

 Here.

Friday, October 09, 2020

We came to Fordham and we listened. And learned.

 M. Vestager, here

How to Make AI More Humane

 Oliver Wyman Forum, here

Capitalism Is Broken. The Fix Begins With a Free Covid-19 Vaccine.

 M. Mazzucato, here

Voedselmonitor geeft eerste inzicht in prijsvorming en belemmeringen voor biologische productie

 ACM, hier

Höchste Zeit für eine zukunftsfähige Datenstrategie

I. Bertschek, hier

Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumers

 CEPR, here

The Interchange Fees Regulation in a rapidly evolving payment landscape

 EC, here

Big Tech’s Big Competition Problem: Analyzing the House Judiciary Antitrust Report

 Panel organized by Public Knowledge, here

10 app store principles to promote choice, fairness and innovation

Microsoft, here.  

Google Assistant gets deeper app integrations as voice assistant usage skyrockets

 Venture Beat, here

Digital Markets: using our existing tools and emerging thoughts on a new regime

 A. Coscelli, here

Health Data Hub : Cédric O prévoit de quitter Microsoft pour un prestataire français

 Numérama, ici

Theorising and mapping modern economic rents

 M. Mazzucato, J. Ryan-Collins, G. Gouzoulis, here

CLIMATE LAWSUIT AGAINST DUTCH STATE ON KLM BAILOUT

 Greenpeace, here

Thursday, October 08, 2020

NCT Public Consultation

  • 188 stakeholders' replies, here (apparently, but I couldn't find them); 
  • more Contributions here
  • 27 pp. Factual summary of the contributions received, here
  • 13 pp. Summary of NCAs' Contributions, here;
  • Experts' Reports
    - 63 pp. Motta/Peitz, here
    - 41 pp. Larouche/de Streel, here
    - 57-pp. Schweitzer, here
    - 68 pp. Whish, here;
    - XX EAGCP 
TOTAL for now: 269 pp.

Digital-Services-Act: So will die EU die Macht der Tech-Konzerne brechen

 T3n.de, hier

What is a digital gatekeeper?

 D. Geradin, here.

Sektoruntersuchung Nutzerbewertungen - Abschlussbericht

 Bundeskartellamt, hier.

The global semiconductor value chain

 SNV, here.

Naver faces 26.7 bln-won fine, accused of manipulating algorithms

 Yonhap News, here.

Paytm, other Indian startups vow to fight 'big daddy' Google's clout: sources

 Reuters, here

Ruling by EU’s highest court finds that UK, French and Belgian mass surveillance regimes must respect privacy, even in the context of national security

 Privacy International, here

Digital platforms’ boundaries: The interplay of firm scope, platform sides, and digital interfaces

 A. Gawer, here.

Regulating digital finance: At a Glance

 EPRS, here.

REPORT on intellectual property rights for the development of artificial intelligence technologies

 EP, here.

House: Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google have “monopoly power,” should be split

 ArsTechnica, here.

The Economics of Platforms: A Theory Guide for Competition Policy

 B. Jullien, W. Sand-Zantman, here.

Cour d'Appel de Paris: Google News

 Ici.

Monday, October 05, 2020

A sustainable future for European industry

 M. Vestager, here

Data institutions: reducing costs and improving sustainability

 ODI, here

Message to Enrolled Students (MIM)


Tomorrow, Tuesday 6 October at 5.30 PM, I'll record an International Competition Law catch up class  (MIM) that I'll then make available to enrolled Students. If you wish to participate in the recording, please go to Moodle to find the Zoom invite for tomorrow- dreading being all alone in the Zoom Classroom and looking forward to your inspiring questions! Today's slides here and also on Moodle!


Saturday, October 03, 2020

Offene Märkte und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften – Gemeinwohlziele als Herausforderung für die Kartellrechtspraxis

 Bundeskartellamt, hier

The Marsden/Podszun Report: Restoring Balance to Digital Competition – Sensible Rules, Effective Enforcement

 


P. Marsden, R. Podszun, here; trailer here

Wearable tech makers ramp up opposition to Google’s $2.1bn Fitbit deal

FT, here.  

CONFERENCE DEBRIEFING (21/22): SUSTAINABILITY, PLATFORMS

 D'Kart, here

Google’s Epic response: Android 12 will make it easier to install app stores

 VentureBeat, here

SHAPING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE

 EC DG DNCT, here

Common Shareholding in Europe

 JRC, here.

Tactical Leak: List of (potentially) unfair practices (DSA)

 Who knows (from politico.eu), here (and OCR'd here - H/T @1Br0wn)

Consumer Data Right Rules amended to include intermediaries

 ACCC, here

DATA SHARING FOR DIGITAL MARKETS CONTESTABILITY

 CERRE, here

Google to pay out $1B to publishers to license content for new Google News Showcase

 TechCrunch, here

Report on a digital euro

 ECB, here

Cookies et autres traceurs : la CNIL publie des lignes directrices modificatives et sa recommandation

 CNIL, ici

Blockchain as a cult, Ant Group edition

 FT, here

An Alternative to Data Ownership: Managing Access to Non-Personal Data through the Commons

 T. Fia, here

Essential Platforms

 N. Guggenberger, here ( and accompanying video here). 

First firms to begin move to new data collection platform, RegData

 FCA, here

Digital services act: European added value assessment

 EPRS, here

New legal challenges of big data

 

J. Cannataci, V. Falce and O. Pollicino, here

Facebook's "reviews" the Social Dilemma

 Here

Monday, September 28, 2020

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Spotify criticizes new Apple services bundle on antitrust grounds

Reuters, here

The High Privacy Cost of a “Free” Website

The MarkUp, here

A Far Reach

Global Finance, here

Converging Disruptions

EPRS, here

Erneuter Vorwurf: Amazon soll bei Eigenprodukten Konkurrenz behindern

Heise, hier

FTC Petition for Ninth Circuit Rehearing in Qualcomm Antitrust Case

Here

A framework for mission-oriented innovation policy roadmapping for the SDGs: The case of plastic-free oceans

M. Miedzinski, M. Mazzucato, P. Ekins, here

Interoperability as a competition remedy for digital networks

M. Kades, F. Scott Morton, here

Digital Finance Package: Commission sets out new, ambitious approach to encourage responsible innovation to benefit consumers and businesses

EU Commission, here

Die Corona-Transformation – Wie die Pandemie die Globalisierung bremst und die Digitalisierung beschleunigt

BertelsmannStiftung, hier

UK regulator says Google not doing enough about scam ads

FT, here

Video del seminario: “Competencia, Privacidad y Datos Personales”

Capítulo América Latina de la Academic Society for Competition Law, Video aquì.










Is it game over for the console?

FT, here

New farm bill 2020: Who is protesting & why

Times of India, here.

And CCI 2012 Onion Study here

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Lessons in Data Access, Portability and Interoperability from Digital Agriculture

DataFed, here

The Green Deal and competition policy

M. Vestager, here

How can competition rules support the Green Deal?

With Margrethe, here

EPIC Demands Privacy Commitments From Oracle, TikTok

Here

The Progressive Case for a TikTok Sale

Wired, here

INNOVATION POLICY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY FOR POST-COVID ECONOMIC RECOVERY

M. Mazzucato, G. Dibb, here

Data Futures: Research to shift power through data governance

Mozilla, here

SURVEILLANCE IN AN ERA OF PANDEMIC AND PROTEST

N. Klein, S. Zuboff, and S. Browne, here

Why we need to do something about the monopsony power of employers

A. Manning, here

Microsoft Grabs Some of World’s Biggest Games in $7.5 Billion Deal

NYTimes, here

Ethics of Connected and Automated Vehicles

Horizon 2020 Commission Expert Group, here

Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come

Nesta, here

Digital Minilateralism: How governments cooperate on digital governance

T. Filer, A. Weiss, here

FTC: Virtual workshop on data portability

 This afternoon, here.
My draft paper presented at the Ascola 2020 Conference here, si jamais. 

Monday, September 21, 2020

Russischer Internetriese Yandex zieht sich aus Türkei zurück

Heise.de, hier

Aline Blankertz: «Das Internet wird zum geopolitischen Spielball»

SRF.ch, hier

DIE ZUKUNFT DER DATENSCHUTZAUFSICHT

Stiftung Datenschutz, hier

Humanising Machine Intelligence

Conference Videos, here. 👀

Google to pass on [regulatory operating cost] to advertisers

CityAm, here

Data institutions play critical role in solving global social problems

ComputerWeekly, here

Amazon staffers took bribes, manipulated marketplace, leaked data including search algorithms – DoJ claims

The Register, here

Ireland’s data watchdog slammed for letting adtech carry on ‘biggest breach of all time’

TechCrunch, here

This Deal Helped Turn Google Into an Ad Powerhouse. Is That a Problem?

NYTimes, here

U.S. app maker Blix in letter to EU's Vestager says Apple not playing fair

Reuters, here.
"The founders of Blix, an email app maker that has fought with Apple, suggested to me that Apple create an independent app review process to make sure it isn’t unfairly punishing rival apps" here

Privacy Experts Alarmed at Oracle’s Role in Proposed TikTok Deal

Digital Privacy News, here

The impact of algorithms for online content filtering or moderation

Study for the EP, here

Friday, September 18, 2020

Digitale Ordnungspolitik

Interdisziplinäre Konferenz, hier

The Case of Google ‘Snippets’: An IP Wrong that Competition Law Cannot Fix

V. Kathuria, J. Lai, here

Vins d’Alsace : l’Autorité de la concurrence sanctionne 3 organisations professionnelles pour entente

ADLC, ici

Google’s Call for Enforcement Action?

Foundem, here

Exploring principles for data stewardship: a case study analysis

Ada Lovelace Institute, here

Banksy trademark 'at risk' after street artist loses legal battle

The Guardian, here

Bringing an end to Apple’s anti-competitive practices on the App Store: A response to Völcker & Baker

D. Geradin, D. Katsifis, here

Apple Pay tech likely to be open to rivals in rules mulled by EU

TheStar, here

Tech investor Fred Wilson says Apple and Google ‘monopolies’ on app sales ‘must stop’

9to5Mac, here

Thursday, September 17, 2020

How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism

C. Doctorow, here (and pdf, if you want to speechify it for the gym, here). 

How can we fight surveillance capitalism?

Columbia Journalism Review, here

How to Govern Facebook: A Structural Model for Taxing and Regulating Big Tech

S. Benzell, A. Collis, here

DRAFT STAFF DISCUSSION PAPER ON SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES AND COMPETITION LAW

 Hellenic Competition Commission, here

Not a Monopoly


The Potential of Open Digital Ecosystems

ODE, here

Angriff auf das Monopol: Streit von Amazon mit Marktplatzhändlern eskaliert

Handelsblatt, hier

DSA: Google

 Here.

„Datenzugang, Verbraucherinteressen und Gemeinwohl“

J. Globocnik, S. Scheuerer, hier.

Der Facebook-Fall vor dem BGH: Kein kompletter Austausch der rechtlichen Begründung 😉

FRAND-Einwand: Bundesgerichtshof, Urteil vom 5. Mai 2020 - Az. KZR 36/17

 Hier

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

BIg Tech Hearing: GAFA’s responses for the record

 Here.

FTC takes aim at Google’s OS monopoly

The Korea Herald, here

Investiga COFECE posibles prácticas monopólicas relativas en el mercado de servicios de publicidad digital y servicios relacionados

COFECE, aquì

Rise of the central bank digital currencies: drivers, approaches and technologies

BIS, here

How to destroy surveillance capitalism

C. Doctorow, here

The ACCC’s ‘bargaining code’: A path towards ‘decentralised regulation’ of dominant digital platforms?

C. Caffarra, here

The effects of narrow price parity clauses on online sales – Investigation results from the Bundeskartellamt’s Booking proceeding

Bundeskartellamt, here

Competition in digital markets: a review of expert reports

F. Lancieri, P. Sakowski, here