Thursday, June 12, 2014

Why online tracking is getting creepier

ArsTechnica, here

HathiTrust: A win, oddly

K. Smith, here

Search Engines and Data Retention: Implications for Privacy and Antitrust

L. Chou, C. Tucker, here

Mozambique in the Process of Implementing a New Competition Regime

L. Domingos, S. Morais, here

CJEU Provides Guidance Regarding Potential Liability Of Cartel Members In EU Member States For Sales By Non-Cartel Participants

Wilmerhale.com, here

The Effect of Patent Litigation and Patent Assertion Entities on Entrepreneurial Activity

C. Tucker, here

The General Court upholds the Commission's Intel decision

Press release here. Judgment T‑286/09 here

CMA proposes ban on "wide" retail price MFN between price comparison websites and insurers in the private motor insurance market (and ban on "narrow" MFN if "equivalent behaviour")

Provisional decision on remedies here.

See also Appendices 4.1 (Single-homing and the threat of delisting), 4.2 (Extending the remedy to narrow MFNs), and 4.3 (Effectiveness of advertising expenditure on PCWs), here.

Remedy proposed (para 4.71):

(a) A prohibition on PCWs and PMI providers entering into or performing agreements that include an MFN relating to the sale of PMI, except narrow MFNs, where ‘narrow MFNs’ are defined as covering the insurance provider website but excluding possible aggregator platforms.
(b) A prohibition on behaviours which have as their effect the elimination or reduction of competition between PCWs in a similar way to the harm identified by wide MFNs (namely, restricting entry to the PCW market, reducing innovation by PCWs and increasing premiums for motor insurance to the retail customer). This measure will apply to those PCWs which generate more than 300,000 PMI sales per year [this would mean that narrow MFNs which have the same anticompetitive effects as wide MFNs are also prohibited, SV ]
(c) PMI providers and PCWs will be required to comply with immediate effect following the making of the order.
(d) In order to monitor equivalent behaviours, those PCWs above the 300,000 PMI sales per year threshold will be required to submit compliance statements to the CMA every quarter for the first two years following the order and then once a year. These compliance statements would need to list all delisting actions during the relevant period, setting out the reasons for the delisting.



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Finding the Balance on Digital Privacy

S. Singleton, here

The demise of the rate parity clause: opportunities and risks for hoteliers

Tnooz.com, here

The Internet and Big Data - Incompatible with Data Protection?

P. Schaar, here

Neelie's view on taxi protests and what it means for the sharing economy

Here

US Proposal Seeks To Allow Non-Violation Cases Under TRIPS Agreement

Ip-watch.org, here

Rolling Up Video Distribution in the U.S.: Why the Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Should Be Blocked

AAI, White Paper, here

2nd Circuit Decision In Lotes Clarifies FTAIA’s Effect On The Extraterritorial Reach Of The Sherman Act, But Leaves Unresolved The Status Of Claims Based On Importation Of Products Containing Price-Fixed Components

Orrick.com, here

Het misbruikverbod op het internet: onlineplatforms als poortwachters van persoonsgegevens

I. Graef, hier

Putting the right to data portability into a competition law perspective

I. Graef, J. Verschakelen, P. Valcke, here

On the antitrust economics of the electronic books industry

G. Gaudin, A. White, here

Justice Council: EU data protection reform on track?

Legalmemory, here.

Payday lending market investigation: Summary of provisional findings

CMA, here

Uber (u)ber alles?

Bbc.com, here

Hathitrust Wins Big Victory For Authors In Authors Guild Case

P. Samuelson, here

Friday, June 06, 2014

Governing, Exchanging, Securing: Big Data and the Production of Digital Knowledge

B. Harcourt, here

Italy's contribution to the June 2014 OECD discussions on generic pharmaceuticals and competition

Here. Other documentation on the same topic here

OECD Guide for helping competition authorities assess the expected impact of their activities

Here (in French here). 

Key points in the Open Internet Project's legal action (Google Search)

OIP, here.

Refusal to provide referrer data evoking privacy reasons, as easily anticipated (page 27).

A New Era In Cartel Enforcement Against Foreign Nationals

Steptoe.com, here

Pratiques d’éviction : Quoi de neuf ?

Séminaire, présentations ici; synthèse des débats ici

Colorado becomes first state to pass law embracing Uber, Lyft et al.

BizJournals.com, here.

Transportation Network Company Act here

Thursday, June 05, 2014

No Market Power Needed In 2nd Circuit Vertical Restraint Cases

United States v. American Express Co, No. 10-CV-4496, May 7, 2014 order, here

EU competition chief to examine Amazon, Hachette e-book spat

Reuters.com, here.

Price Coherence and Adverse Intermediation

B. Edelman, J. Wright, here

Supermarket Power: Serving Consumers or Harming Competition

J. Berasategi, here

CMA consults on improved commitments relating to platform services for the automotive sector

CJEU: The ‘temporary copies’ exception applies to on-screen and cached copies

C‑360/13 Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd v Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd and Others, here

AG: A Member State can authorise libraries to digitise books and make them available at electronic reading posts

C-117/13 Technische Universität Darmstadt v Eugen Ulmer KG Press Release here.

"...se contenter d’une simple offre du titulaire du droit d’auteur permettrait de subordonner l’application de ladite exception à des décisions unilatérales, ce qui, en conséquence, priverait l’exception d’effet utile pour les établissements concernés. L’interprétation téléologique, quant à elle, exige également, compte tenu de l’objectif d’intérêt général poursuivi par le législateur de l’Union, à savoir promouvoir la diffusion du savoir et de la culture, que l’utilisateur puisse invoquer cette exception (24).
...
De la même façon qu’il est loisible à un utilisateur d’une bibliothèque, dans les limites posées par la législation nationale, de photocopier les pages des ouvrages physiques présents dans le fonds et à une bibliothèque de le permettre, l’utilisateur peut imprimer des pages d’une copie numérique et la bibliothèque peut le permettre (57)"

CJEU: Cartel members may be sued for damage caused by umbrella pricing

C-557/12 Kone AG and Others v ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, Press Release here, Judgment here.

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Drafting Competition Law for Developing Jurisdictions: Learning from Experience

E. Fox, M. Gal, here

Desenvolvimiento competitivo impedido por medio de bloqueos marcarios: acuerdo conciliatorio

Fne.gob.cl, aquì

First Sale Hearing in the Big Apple

J. Band, here

Competition Policy and the Technologies of Information

H. Hovenkamp, here.


Google Deletion Complaints to Be Policed by EU Privacy Panel

Bloomberg.com, here

Competition issues at the forefront in aviation

ACCC.gov.au, here

YouTube's new streaming service: Independent music community on the barricades and seeking Almunia's intervention

Impala, here

Net Neutrality Explained by John Oliver

Video, here

HRS Decision in English (retail MFN)

Bundeskartellamt, here. For "general" information purposes only.

British Recording Industry Thinks 'Right To Be Forgotten' Proves Google Can Stop Piracy

TechDirt.com, here

On Privacy, Big Data and Competition Law

ChillingCompetition, Post 1 here, 2 here.

Weaving a Tapestry to Protect Privacy and Competition in the Age of Big Data

J. Brill, here

All the Amazon-Hachette coverage doesn’t seem to cover some important causes and implications

Idealog.com, here

Monday, June 02, 2014

Platform Strategy (Literature Survey)

G. Parker, M. Van Alstyne, here

Hearing: First Sale Under Title 17

U.S. House Judiciary Committee, testimonies here

Payback time: First patent troll ordered to pay “extraordinary case” fees (Judge Denise Cote)

ArsTechnica, here

Changes to UK Copyright: Education Exceptions

Copyright4education, here.

Interview: Booking.com confident it is on trend and set for further growth

Travolution.co.uk, here

Why Competition Matters and How to  Foster It in the Dynamic ICT Sector

ITU Global Symposium for Regulators discussion paper, here.

Consumer protection in the online world

ITU Global Symposium for Regulators discussion paper, here.

Lessons from the 'right to be forgotten'

TheHill.com, here

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

UN Special Rapporteur's concerns regarding Italy's online copyright enforcement

F. La Rue, here (Word file), p.13 f.

"The issue of intellectual property (...) was discussed during the visit and a number of concerns were raised regarding the adoption of additional measures for the protection of copyright at the expense of freedom of expression. For the Special Rapporteur, the establishment of norms protecting intellectual property should remain exclusively within the purview of the Parliament.

The Special Rapporteur also underlines that, although AGCOM may by law apply some limitations on online content, the removal of online content should be decided by the Court on a case-by-case basis."

Amazon on Hachette's Business Interruption

Here

Learned Society attitudes towards Open Access

EDP Sciences, prepared by TBI Communications, here

Old friends in new frocks? MFN clauses in the online hotel booking sector/19

(Previous installments here)

From a more evolutionary perspective, it is also noteworthy that in an era of big data firms at the different levels of the value chain have the potential to constantly gain better market insights. Based on the results of data analysis, both producers and intermediaries may experiment by way of fine tuning their marketing practices. In some respect, the uninterrupted and abundant flow of real-time, potentially insightful data makes it imperative for every market participant to continually experiment and adapt.


Facebook Asks Europe To Review Its $19B WhatsApp Buy In Bid To Head Off Local Opposition

TechCrunch, here.

Montebourg vole au secours des hôtels en assignant Booking en justice

Numerama.com, ici

Why Germany Dominates the U.S. in Innovation

Bloomberg.com, here

A Cable Merger Too Far

NYTimes.com, here

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Are Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon "data brokers" according to the FTC?

Not very clear, see here.

Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability

FTC Report, here. Statement of Commissioner J. Brill, here

Amazon Strategy Raises Hackles in Germany

NYTimes, here

The right to be forgotten and open data

OKF blog, here.

Old friends in new frocks? MFN clauses in the online hotel booking sector/18

(Previous installments here)

Finally, and more generally, it would be unreasonable to turn a blind eye to the fact that the economic value extracted from consumers’ personal data is essential to many Internet entrepreneurs. Safeguarding competition in an era of big data requires a detailed understanding of how exactly user information fits into these firms’ business models.