And now for something totally different: Friedrich von Hayek and Robert Bork

 Part I, Part II, Part III.

Islands in the Stream: Musicians are in peril, at the mercy of giant monopolies that profit off their work.

 D. Dayen, here. 

The EU, Competition Law and Workers’ Rights

 N. Countouris, V. De Stefano, I. Lianos, here. 

On the governance of privacy-preserving systems

 L. Olejnik, here. 

Italian Section 19a GWB on AGCM's wishlist

SEGNALAZIONE ai sensi degli artt. 21 e 22 della legge 10 ottobre 1990, n. 287
in merito a: Proposte di riforma concorrenziale, ai fini della Legge Annuale per il Mercato e la Concorrenza anno 2021, qui.

Decent DeepL translation of the proposed provision here. 

What Google’s Privacy Sandbox Means for Internet Governance

 CIGI, here. 

Facebook faces antitrust probe by UK regulator

 FT, here. 

Why I agree with the Google-Fitbit decision

 P. Régibeau, here. 

ADIs: New entrants – a pathway to sustainability

 APRA, here. 

Ruling and remedies on the case No.110110-242019 against Apple Inc. (abuse of dominant position in the market for distributing mobile apps on the iOS operating system)

 FAS, here. 

Reviving Competition, Part 3: Strengthening the Laws to Address Monopoly Power

 House Committee on the Judiciary, here. 

Multi-CBDC arrangements and the future of crossborder payments

 BIS, here. 

DPC correspondence with LIBE Committee

 Here. 

Data for Good

 DCC, here. 

Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground

 EC, here. 

Privacy washing, dites vous?

 Yahoo, here. 

You can be heroes

 M. Vestager, here. 

The EDPS not happy with the DGA

 Speech here. 

Inteligencia Artificial: retos y oportunidades

CNMC, aquì.  

The Neglected Concern of Firm Size in Pharmaceutical Mergers

 P. Danzon, M. Carrier, here. 

La CNIL ouvre une enquête sur l’application Clubhouse

 Ici. 

Décision Apple ATT (mesures conservatoires)

 AdlC, ici. 

The FTC Google Memos

 Here and here. 

FTC Announces Multilateral Working Group to Build a New Approach to Pharmaceutical Mergers

FTC, here. 

Google Play drops commissions to 15% from 30%, following Apple’s move last year Manish Singh

 TechCrunch, here. 

Amended AGs Google Complaint

 Here. 

BEREC on the DMA and Ex-Ante

 Here. 

Google wanted to ‘own’ the mobile search market. The U.S. let it.

 Politico.com, here. 

How Washington fumbled the future: The Google Files

 Politico.com, here. 

Big techs in finance: regulatory approaches and policy options

 BIS, here.

News Corp Australia, Nine strike Facebook content deals

 SMH, here. 

China’s tech giants test way around Apple’s new privacy rules

 FT, here. 

EDPB-EDPS Joint Opinion 03/2021 on the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European data governance (Data Governance Act)

 Here.

Why we need new, nationwide personal data infrastructure

 Mydex, here. 

Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum: Plan of work for 2021 to 2022

Here.  

Copyright Protection for Algorithm Products?

 L. Specht, here. 

‘An invaluable asset’: Participants praise opportunity for feedback via GDPR sandboxes

 Compliance Week, here. 

CCIA Position Paper on the EU Digital Markets Act

 Here. 

Opinion 5/2021 on the Cybersecurity Strategy and the NIS 2.0 Directive

EDPS, here.  

EU CONSUMER PROTECTION 2.0 Structural asymmetries in digital consumer markets

 BEUC, here. 

Online platforms: Economic and societal effects

 EPRS, here. 

Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues

 IMF Staff Discussion Note, here. 

Uncovering blindspots in the policy debate on platform power

 Expert Group for the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy, here. 

EU proposals to shape the digital landscape, a step forward for consumers

 BEUC, here. 

Andrea Coscelli, the watchdog taking on the tech giants

 BBC 4, here. 

Jack Ma’s Ant defies pressure from Beijing to share more customer data

 FT, here. 

Commission publishes study on geographical indications (GI) and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG) protected in the EU

 EC, here. 

Music Streaming: Is It a Level Playing Field?

 D. Antal et al., here. 

“The Digital Markets Act - how to break the market dominance of Big Tech”

 Panel, here. 

CMA investigates Apple over suspected anti-competitive behaviour

 CMA, here. 

RELATIF AUX TRAITEMENTS DE DONNÉES A CARACTÈRE PERSONNEL MIS EN ŒUVRE A DES FINS DE CRÉATION D’ENTREPÔTS DANS LE DOMAINE DE LA SANTÉ

 CNIL, ici. 

Critical notes on ‘platformised’ education: untangling privacy and data protection in postpandemic universities

A. Giannopoulou et al., here.  

Arizona House passes bill that threatens Apple and Google’s app stores

 CNBC, here. 

Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship

 Ada Lovelace Institute, here. 

Commission invites stakeholders to provide comments on the application of EU competition law to collective bargaining agreements for self-employed

 EC, here.

OECD Competition Open Day

 Here.

The Draft Digital Markets Act: a legal and institutional analysis

 P. Ibáñez Colomo, here. 

Epic Games hits Apple with new antitrust complaint, this time in Brussels

 Politico.eu, here. 

Changes to Sharing and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia

 Facebook, here. 

News Corp agrees deal with Google on payments for its journalism

 FT, here. 

A letter to Mr. Cook

 Here.

Sanzione a Facebook per 7 milioni

 AGCM, qui. 

Google’s search choice screen had virtually no effect on search market share, perhaps by design

 Search Engine Land, here. 

Indian trader group calls for ban on Amazon following damning report

 TechCrunch, here. 

Dutch position on the Digital Markets Act

 Here. 

Big Tech opens wallet for publishers as Australian news code looms

 FT, here. 

Google condamné à payer un million d'euros pour abus de position dominante dans la publicité

 Les Echos, ici. 

Choice Screen Auctions

 M. Ostrovsky, here. 

BEUC files complaint against TikTok for multiple EU consumer law breaches

 BEUC, here. 

Protecting Consumer Privacy in a Time of Crisis

 FTC, here. 

A New Era for Antitrust Market Definition

 V. Robertson, here. 

Why Big Tech deplatforming should be deeply disturbing for everyone, regardless of your politics

 ProtonMail, here. 

Privacy Without Monopoly: Data Protection and Interoperability

 EFF, here. 

The European Commission’s expert group Report on SEP licensing and valuation: What did we achieve? What did we miss?

 D. Geradin, here. 

The UK digital identity and attributes trust framework

 Here. 

Can rentier capitalism explain big tech?

 S. Gilbert, here. 

Commission accepts commitments by Aspen to reduce prices for six off-patent cancer medicines by 73% addressing excessive pricing concerns

 Here. 

Public policy for big techs in finance

 BIS, here. 

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey wants to build an app store for social media algorithms

 The Verge, here. 

The EDPS on the DMA and DSA

 On the DMA, on the DSA. 

Netdoktor gegen BRD und Google: Vereinbarung über Knowledge Panels kartellrechtswidrig

 

Landgericht München, hier. 

Oversight of algorithms

 ACM, here. 

Clearview’s Biometric Database Ruled ‘Illegal’ in Canada

 DigitalPrivacyNews, here. 

Commission proposal on the temporary derogation from the e-PrivacyDirective for the purpose of fighting online child sexual abuse

EPRS, here.  

The CMA’s Digital Markets Strategy: February 2021 refresh

 CMA, here.

Ahead of the curve

 A. Coscelli, here. 

The EU Digital Markets Act: A Report from a Panel of Economic Experts

 JRC, here. 

Banks and fintechs battle over financial data

 Protocol, here. 

Why the ACCC is rightly zeroing in on Google’s ad tech monopoly

 D. Geradin, D. Katsifis, here. 

Do All Roads Lead to Datocracy?

EDPS Podcast, here.  

Reimagining the Platform Economy

 M. Mazzucato et al., here. 

From TikTok to Instagram: Data is key to adapting ad creative to every platform

 VentureBeat, here. 

You can set Spotify as your default music player in iOS 14.5 beta

 9to5Mac, here. 

The Digital Markets Act: the role of gatekeepers

 EIF, here. 

The European proposal for a Digital Markets Act: A first assessment

 CERRE, here. 

The Chinese Alternative to the DMA and §19a GWB

Google Translation (!), here; Interpretation of the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines of the Antitrust Commission of the State Council on the Platform Economy; Q&A.

EDPB Document on response to the request from the European Commission for clarifications on the consistent application of the GDPR, focusing on health research

 Here.

Apple, Its Control Over the iPhone, The Internet, And The Metaverse

 MatthewBall.vc, here. 

Ostrom Data Trusts

 Panel, here. 

Gaia-X: "Wir brauchen niemand aus dem Silicon Valley oder China"

 Heise.de, hier. 

Regulatory Sandbox Final Report: Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd

 ICO, here. 

European Data Governance Act consultation response

 ODI's response here (pdf).

Distributors that also act as agents for certain products for the same supplier

 European Commission, here. 

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

 Here. Video here.

The geopolitics of the European Green Deal

 Bruegel, here. 

The Contradictions of Platform Regulation

 M. Lemley, here. 

Data Talks - Recommended Contract Terms

 European Data Portal, Video here. 

Beijing wants a market for data trading: the question is how?

 South China Morning Post, here. 

Remote Teaching During the Emergency and Beyond: Four Open Privacy and Data Protection Issues of ‘Platformised’ Education

 C. Angiolini et al., here. 

Proctoring and data protection: decision by the Danish DPA

 Translated by Google, here. 

Commission opens infringement procedures against 24 Member States for not transposing new EU telecom rules

 Here.

COMPETITION GREEN DEAL CONFERENCE

 EU Commission BIG Conference, here.

Data brokers under the spotlight: A commentary on the ICO vs. Experian case

 iapp, here. 

The Woolard Review - A review of change and innovation in the unsecured credit market

FCA, here.  

Rethinking competition in light of the digital revolution

Autoritat Catalana de la Competència, Conferences here

Platforms or Aggregators: Implications for Digital Antitrust Law

 T. Schrepel, here.

ByteDance Sues Arch-Rival Tencent Over Alleged Monopolies

 Bloomberg, here. 

Court Orders Tim Cook to Sit for 7-Hour Deposition in Epic Case

 Gizmodo, here. 

The Twin Transition to a Digital and Green Economy: Doctrinal Challenges for EU Competition Law

 K. Majcher, V. Robertson, here. 

Microsoft says it would willingly participate in Australia's media code with Bing search engine

 The Guardian, here. 

DSA Package

 

 (Credits Damien Geradin)

Obligations for Online Gatekeepers

 

Credits Prof. Amelia Fletcher @ameliafletecon

CCP Conversation, Video here. 

Spid ai minorenni per l’accesso ai social network

 IlSole24Ore qui.

From Research Data Ethics Principles to Practice: Data Trusts as a Governance Tool

 S. Delacroix, J. Montgomery, here. 

Daten richtig teilen: Warum Unternehmen mehr Anreize brauchen

 WiWo, hier. 

Die Datenstrategie der Bundesregierung hier. 

GameStop: what is going on with prices in the US stock market?

 Economics Observatory, here. 

Bundeskartellamt also assesses new Section 19a GWB in its Facebook/Oculus case

Bundeskartellamt, here (as correctly guessed by Rupprecht hier 👏).

Launch of the European Parliament tracking-free ads coalition

 Panel here.

The Government Didn’t Foresee How Facebook Would Behave

 R. Haw Allensworth, J. Newman, here. 

Tanner Lecture 2020 – Between Suffocation and Abdication: Three Eras of Governing Digital Platforms

 J. Zittrain, here. 

The Internet Country

 Tigerfeathers, here. 

MARKET STUDY ON THE TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA

Competition Commission of India, here. 

The Coup We Are Not Talking About

 S. Zuboff, here. 

Lego prend des engagements devant l’Autorité de la concurrence afin de modifier son dispositif de remise tarifaire

 Autorité de la concurrence, ici. 

Commission opens formal investigation into possible trade restrictions by Mondelēz

 EC, here. 

PLATFORM MERGERS AND ANTITRUST

 G. Parker et al., here. 

Understanding the Data Governance Act: in conversation with Sylvie Delacroix, Ben McFarlane and Paul Nemitz

 Data Trusts Initiative, here

Environmental sustainability agreements and competition law

 CMA, here. 

Completed acquisition by Facebook, Inc of Giphy, Inc.: Launch of formal Phase 1 investigation

 CMA, here. 

Analysing algorithms: How they can reduce competition and harm consumers - a panel discussion

 CMA, Video here. 

Abolishing price secrecy to help make medicines affordable

 BEUC, here.

The algorithm audit: Scoring the algorithms that score us

 S. Brown et al., here. 

Clearview AI’s biometric photo database deemed illegal in the EU, but only partial deletion ordered

 noyb, here. 

Ecosystems and competition law in theory and practice

 M. Jacobides, I. Lianos, here. 

Robinhood's Gamification of Investing Combines Surveillance Capitalism With Finance Capitalism

 Vice, here. 

Digital advertising services inquiry

 

ACCC, Interim Report here. 

Facial recognition: strict regulation is needed to prevent human rights violations

 Council of Europe, here. 

Data sovereignty: A review

 P. Hummel et al., here. 

Bracing for Another E-book Price-Fixing Case

 PublishersWeekly, here. 

Technical Report on Sustainability and Competition

Jointly commissioned by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), here. 

AI REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND TRADE LAW

 K. Irion, here. 

Onlinewerbung: Google testet Cookie-Nachfolger

 Heise.de, hier. 

Emotional Entanglement

Article19, here. 

Computational Antitrust: An Introduction and Research Agenda

 T. Schrepel, here. 

Data Protection by Design and by Default

 L. Jasmontaite et al., here. 

Uber has a wild new plan for global ride-hailing domination

 Wired, here. 

New digital payment rules likely to hit Ant Group, Tencent

TechNode, here.  

Everalbum, Inc: In first facial recognition misuse settlement, FTC requires destruction of algorithms trained on deceptively obtained photos

Z. Sorenson, here.  

Developer complains to EU over Apple, Google app rules after COVID game rejected

 Reuters, here. 

Deutscher Bibliotheksverband fordert verbesserte Bedingungen zur Ausleihe von E-Books

 iRights, hier. 

AI and Security

 NSCAI, Draft Final Report here

Justizministerium weist Scheuers Gesetzentwurf zum autonomen Fahren zurück wegen offener Fragen zum Datenschutz

 Heise, hier. 

Antitrust watchdogs around the world are going back to school to study blockchain and AI

 CoinTelegraph, here. 

Reviving Purpose Limitation and Data Minimisation in Personalisation, Profiling and Decision-Making Systems

 M. Finck, A. Barga, here. 

Stellungnahme zum Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Änderung des E-GovernmentGesetzes und zur Einführung des Gesetzes für die Nutzung von Daten des öffentlichen Sektors vom 17.12.2020

 MPI, hier. 

THE EFFECTS OF ONLINE DISCLOSURE ABOUT PERSONALISED PRICING ON CONSUMERS

 OECD, here. 

Getting under your skin(s): A legal-ethical exploration of Fortnite’s transformation into a content delivery platform and its manipulative potential

 M. Sax, J. Ausloos, here. 

New lawsuit accuses Amazon of e-book price fixing

 The Verge, here. 

Computational Antitrust

 Stanford, here. 

“An Offer We Can’t Refuse”: How We Gave Away Our Data and Made Big Tech What It Is Today

 T. Valletti, here. 

Behind a Secret Deal Between Google and Facebook

 NYTimes, here. 

Individual, collective and intermediated: three roads to data empowerment

 Data empowerment, here. 

New Draft Paper: The Dawn of Pro-Competition Data Regulation for Gatekeepers in the EU

 Here.

[Me waiting for your comments 

]

Google Play is unsportsmanlike, U.S. states likely to argue in potential lawsuit

 Reuters, here. 

This Was WhatsApp's Plan All Along

 GizModo, here. 

Google cracks down on personal loan apps in India following abuse and outcry

 TechCrunch, here. 

GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz im Bundestag

 Hier. 

Grab raises $300 million to grow fintech business

 FinExtra, here. 

How to Make Google and Facebook Care About Privacy

 C. O'Neil, here. 

Why the CMA is digging into the Privacy Sandbox, Google’s cookie-killer

 The Drum, here. 

Data trusts in Germany and under the GDPR

 Algorithm Watch, here. 

Die Vereinbarkeit von Data Trusts mit der Datenschutzgrundverordnung (DSGVO)

 Algorithm Watch, hier. 

Epic Games going to the UK

 Here. 

Digitaler Euro: Bürger sorgen sich vor allem um Privatheit von Zahlungen

 Heise.de, here. 

Google’s Fitbit acquisition is official...but

 TechCrunch, here. 

TikTok makes under-16s' profiles private by default, blocks comments from strangers on their videos and prevents 'stitching' and 'duetting' in new privacy crackdown

 Mail Online, here. 

Delivery Platform Algorithms Don’t Work Without Drivers’ Deep Local Knowledge

 Slate, here. 

YOU CAN LOG OUT, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE

 Norwegian Consumer Council, here. 

THE COURAGE TO LEARN

 American Economic Liberties Project, here. 

Platform Mergers and Antitrust

 G. Parker et al., here. 

Artificial Intelligence and Unfair Competition – Unveiling an Underestimated Building Block of the AI Regulation Landscape

 S. Scheuerer, here.  Paper here. 

Le Digital Markets Act, un nouveau chapitre dans l’histoire du droit de la concurrence

 C.O, ici. 

FTC settles with photo storage app that pivoted to facial recognition

 The Verge, here. 

WhatsApp Has Shared Your Data With Facebook for Years, Actually

 Wired, here. 

Google’s plan to replace tracking cookies goes under UK antitrust probe

 TechCrunch, here. 

La société des boîtes noires s’étend

 InternetActu, ici. 

U.K. competition regulator to probe Nvidia’s $40 billion Arm takeover

 VentureBeat, here. 

The European Commission Digital Markets Act: A translation

 C. Caffarra, F. Scott Morton, here. 

IIA: Collective bargaining agreements for self-employed – scope of application of EU competition rules

 EC, here. 

Ex-ante regulation for digital markets in India

 V. Kathuria, here. 

Im Dschungel der Datenteilungsmodelle: Worüber wir jetzt reden müssen

 Algorithmenethik, hier. 

'European Digital Sovereignty': Successfully Navigating Between the 'Brussels Effect' and Europe’s Quest for Strategic Autonomy

 T. Christakis, here. 

The EU Digital Markets Act in 10 points

 D. Geradin, here. 

Europe clears Google-Fitbit with a ten-year ban on using health data for ads

 TechCrunch, here. 

Texas et al. v. Google

 Here. 

Business-to-Business data sharing: An economic and legal analysis

 JRS Technical Report, here. 

Google just quietly set the stage for a Chrome OS explosion

 ComputerWorld, here. 

Concentrated Control: Talking to Lina Khan

 BLARB, here. 

A Novel, European Act of Data Governance

 CIGI, here. 

Platforms & Digital Markets Regulation: In Search of New Principles

Digital Markets Competition Forum initiative at CBS, Video here. 

Competition Commission conditionally approves the Google/Fitbit merger

 Competition Commission, here. 

Platforms, bundling and kill zones

 B. Evans, here. 

Amazon’s advertising business booms in pandemic

 FT, here.

The Butt Pajamas Will Follow You Forever

 Gizmodo, here. 

DMA and Dec. 15 meme.

 DMA Proposal, here.

FTC Issues Orders to Nine Social Media and Video Streaming Services Seeking Data About How They Collect, Use, and Present Information (and Dec. 14 Meme)

 FTC, here. 

Dec. 13

 

Dec. 12

 

Artists speak out at the UK Economics of Music Streaming Inquiry

 IPKat, here. 

Antitrust & Regulation in a Multishock World

 CRA Conference, Video here. 

Facebook’s US Antitrust Front (so far) - Dec. 11 Advent Meme 🎅

 FTC, here; AGs, here. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Bundeskartellamt examines linkage between Oculus and the Facebook network

 Bundeskartellamt, here.

Google Health App: Gesundheitsdaten für die Forschung

Heise.de, hier. 

Cookies : sanction de 60 millions d’euros à l’encontre de GOOGLE LLC et de 40 millions d’euros à l’encontre de GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED

 CNIL, ici. 

Data flows, artificial intelligence and international trade: impacts and prospects for the value chains of the future

 For the EP, here. 

The Smoking Gun in the Facebook Antitrust Case

Wired, here.  

Bridging the Governance Gap: Interoperability for blockchain and legacy systems

 WEF, here. 

Toezicht op algoritmes

 ACM, hier.

Privacy Group Asks for Investigation Into Software That Spies on Students

 Vice, here. 

The Court of Justice annuls a Commission decision making binding the commitments offered by a company in order to preserve competition on the markets (and Dec. 10 Advent Meme 🎅)

 CJEU, here.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

And need to reboot this. 

WhatsApp goes after Apple over privacy label requirements

 Axios, here. 

A new pro-competition regime for digital markets (and Dec. 9 Advent Meme)

 UK Digital Markets Taskforce, Advice here. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Essential Platform Monopolies: Open Up, Then Undo

 ProMarket, here. 

Time to Reboot Competition Policy (and Dec. 8 Meme)🎅

M. Vestager, here. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation

 BIS, here. 

Commission publishes its short-term review of the Geo-blocking Regulation

 EC, here. 

The keys to the kingdom. Overcoming GDPR-concerns to unlock access to platform data for independent researchers

M. Vermeulen, here.  

The Power of Data

 Melloddy, here. 

Fragmentation and the Future: Investigating Architectures for International AI Governance

P. Cihon et al., here.  

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 7 December 🎅

 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 6 December 🎅

 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Visa's plan to fight its DOJ antitrust lawsuit

 Axios, here. 

Halbierte Apple-Provision: App-Store-Programm für Kleinunternehmen startet

 Heise.de, hier. 

We Need More Than Antitrust Law to Tackle Big Tech

 New Republic, here. 

A Common Platform

 Common Wealth, here. 

Facebook Accused of Squeezing Rival Startups in Virtual Reality

 Bloomberg, here. 

The Key to Understand the Digital Markets Act: It’s the Legal Basis

 Chillin' Competition, here. 

Alternative zu Google und Facebook: Merkel macht digitale Identität zur Chefsache

 Handelsblatt, hier. 

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 5 December 🎅 AEDT

 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

After e-commerce, CCI looks at pharma sector to unlock competition

 Business Standard, here. 

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 4 December 🎅

 🎄🎄🎄🎄

EU Encourages Auto Industry Data-Sharing for Connected Cars

 WSJ, here. 

On the European democracy action plan

 EC Communication, here. 

Privacy Icons

 Hier. 

MYDATA OPERATORS

 MyData, hier. 

Datenaltruismus: Wie die EU-Kommission eine gute Idee versemmelt

 CROnline, hier. 

GDPR Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) for Digital Advertising under GDPR

 IAB Europe, here. 

Amazon to roll out tools to monitor factory workers and machines

 ArsTechnica, here. 

Australia’s new tech code is a road worth exploring

 FT, here. 

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 3 December 🎅

 🎄🎄🎄

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 2 December 🎅

 🎄🎄

Credits:

@why0hy [Are you saying that Google’s promise is otter nonsense?]
@BeterOpDeFiets [Either that or they plan to weasel out of their commitments]
@1Br0w [Dam!]

@WAVESBLOG ADVENT MEME CALENDAR! 1 December 🎅

🎄

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the DGA Proposal - But Never Dared to Ask

Virtual Conversation on Data Governance Act Proposal with Malte Beyer-Katzenberger, DG Connect, here. 

Oliver Dowden's opinion piece for The Telegraph on the Digital Markets Unit

 UK Gov, here. 

Microsoft patents tech to score meetings using body language, facial expressions, other data

 GeekWire, here. 

Enhancing the UK’s Geospatial Ecosystem

UK Gov, here.  

Report from Frontier Economics, here. 

WEF, Markets of Tomorrow, here. 

Google LLC proposed acquisition of Fitbit Inc: Commitments Proposed to the ACCC

 Here. 

How to Save Democracy From Technology

 F. Fukuyama et al., here. 

No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU

 TechCrunch, here. 

UK digital watchdog planned to check Big Tech

 FT, here. 

New UK tech regulator to limit power of Google and Facebook

 The Guardian, here. 

CMA welcomes government response to digital advertising study

 CMA, here. 

New competition regime for tech giants to give consumers more choice and control over their data, and ensure businesses are fairly treated

 UK Gov, here. 

Les moteurs de recherche alternatifs à Google dénoncent ses «entorses à la concurrence»

 Le Figaro, ici. 

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.  

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. 

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. 

Fintech and big tech credit markets around the world

 Vox, here. 

Gastro-Registrierungspflicht verstößt gegen Datenschutz

 Kurier.at, hier. 

Press Release: Marketers for an Open Web calls on UK Competition and Market Authority to block Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’

 Here. 

ProBeat: Google will eventually sell ads against your financial data

 VentureBeat, here. 

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. 

EU zieht in die Datenschlacht

 FAZ, hier. 

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 here, here 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. 

A regulatory framework for interoperability in the time of digital gatekeepers –or wouldn't it be nice to solve all such problems in one go?

 S. Vezzoso (self-preferencing and meme warning), here.

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. 

Keen On with Frank Pasquale

Podcast, here. 

China draws up first antitrust rules to curb power of tech companies

 FT, here. 

They Really Do That? The Use of Advanced Analytics by Antitrust and Consumer Regulators (aka as the UK Data Unit)

 Our Curious Amalgam, Podcast here

Commission sends Statement of Objections to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opens second investigation into its e-commerce business practices

 EC, here. 

EU hits Amazon with antitrust charges over merchant data

 FT, here. 

Students Alert! Watch the announcement of the formal EU antitrust charges against Amazon at 12.30 CET, if you can

 Here. 

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. 

Personal Sovereignty: Digital Trust in the Algorithmic Age

IGF 2020 OF #42, here. 

Proctorio used DMCA to take down a student’s critical tweets

 TechCrunch, here. 

Apple will require apps to add privacy ‘nutrition labels’ starting December 8th

 The Verge, here. 

Human rights and the use of AI in the field of health

 IGF 2020, Video here. 

OFA: Virtual Debate - Interoperability and the EU Digital Markets Act

 Video, here (it was fun: seriously).

Ben Thompson’s “Stratechery”

 T. Wu, here. 

Killed by Google

 Here. 

Google’s Italian antitrust probe will test European approach to data

 mlex, here. 

Big Tech Continues Its Surge Ahead of the Rest of the Economy

 The New York Times, here. 

Automating Society Report 2020

 

AlgorithmWatch, here. 

Algorithms and democracy

 M. Vestager, here. 

noyb as a qualified entity under the collective action scheme of the Belgian Code of Economic Law

 Here. 

EU-Kommissar Hahn: Open-Source-Strategie ist ein Zeichen für Digitalen Wandel

 Heise.de, hier. 

Breaking up Google ain’t so hard to do

 I. Brown, here. 

Apple hit with antitrust complaint in France over privacy controls

 FT, here. 

IPEN 2020 Contact Tracing Apps webinar

 EDPS, here. 

Wettbewerbsverfahren gegen Amazon (und Apple)

 FAZ, hier. 

Building trust in technology

 M. Vestager, here. 

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). 

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.