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. 

Data as Property?

 S. Viljoen, here. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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

 

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

E. Judson, J. Smith, here.  

Barbed wire on the Internet prairie: against new enclosures, digital commons as drivers of sovereignty

 France Diplomacy, here. 

How to Stop Google Self-Preferencing? Europe May Not Be the Model

 The MarkUp, here 

Google Cloud promises it won’t pry into customer data

 VentureBeat, here. 

Zoom will start letting people host online events with paid admission

 CNBC, here. 

Considerations of France and the Netherlands regarding intervention on platforms with a gatekeeper position

 Here. 

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. 

Emerging models of data governance in the age of datafication

 M. Micheli et al., here. 

Competition policy and the Green Deal: Call for Contributions 💓

EC, here. 

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.

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. 

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.

Google v. Oracle America Oral Argument

Here. Transcript of the oral argument, here.

House Antitrust Subcommittee report

 Here.

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!