Thursday, October 16, 2014

Google defends flight search – it’s hard to do it well and industry doesn’t appreciate us

Tnooz.com, here

Resolution on enforcement cooperation among data protection authorities

Jean Tirole's (provisional) legacy

Bruegel.org, here

Are Google’s search results deceptive, or can consumers identify ads on their own?

Gigaom, here.

Business Benefit from Public Data

Blog.opengroup.org, here

Cartel members may argue that damage caused by cartel was passed on to customers

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, here

YouTube has paid $1 billion to rights holders via Content ID since 2007

ArsTechnica, here.

Q. and A. With Jean Tirole, Economics Nobel Winner

NYTimes, here

Whois-Daten werden schleichend zentralisiert

Heise.de, hier.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Right to Be Forgotten: Google Sentenced to Pay Damages in Spain

M. Peguera, here.

Patents and Standards - A modern framework for IPR-based standardization

ECSIP Consortium for the European Commission, here.

J. Tirole cited once, at p. 30.

Google’s Schmidt Heads to Berlin Talks to Soothe Rattled Germans

Bloomberg.com, here.

The EU Commission’s “contempt” of national courts? - C-170/13 Huawei Technologies

Verfassungsblog.de, here.

Linux Foundation Does Open Source Drones

G. Moody, here.

Trends and milestones in competition policy since 2010

J. Almunia, here.

Challenges of international co-operation in competition law enforcement

OECD, Report here; Statistical Highlights here

Adobe’s Latest E-Book Misstep: This Time, It’s Not the DRM

Copyrightandtechnology.com, here

Monday, October 13, 2014

Wie Nobelpreisträger Jean Tirole auch Deutschland prägte

WSJ, hier.

Google's Chairman Says Amazon — Not Bing — Is Its Biggest Search Competitor

BusinessInsider.com, here. See also E. Schmidt, The New Gründergeist, here

Is There a Vatican School for Competition Policy?

T. T'óth, here.

EU Commission congratulates Economics Nobel winner

Press Release, here.

Mr Tirole's research has direct relevance to current policy issues.

TheEconomist, here.

Bozza di Dichiarazione dei Diritti in Internet

Camera dei deputati, Commissione per i diritti e doveri in Internet, qui.

Jean Tirole: Market Power and Regulation


Scientific Background on the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2014,  here.

Popular science background here.

Tirole's 2013 lecture on two-sided markets, part 1 here, and part 2 here.

In essence, a nobel prize to the "more economic approach"...

Google rivals get help with antitrust campaign -- from Google

CNEt, here.

Looking ahead: preparing for the digital economy – view from the new competition regulator

A. Chrisholm, here.

La machine Booking face à la gronde des hôteliers

Lesechos.fr, ici.

Friday, October 03, 2014

L'impression 3D, nouveau défi du droit de la propriété intellectuelle ?

M. Berguig, ici.

Understanding and Maximizing America's Evolutionary Economy

R. Atkinson, here.

Commission approves acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook

Press Release, here.
"Although WhatsApp is not active in online advertising, the Commission examined whether the transaction could strengthen Facebook's position in that market and hamper competition. In particular, the Commission examined the possibility that Facebook could (i) introduce advertising on WhatsApp, and/or (ii) use WhatsApp as a potential source of user data for improving the targeting of Facebook's advertisements. The Commission concluded that, regardless of whether Facebook would introduce advertising on WhatsApp and/or start collecting WhatsApp user data, the transaction would not raise competition concerns. This is because after the merger, there will continue to be a sufficient number of alternative providers to Facebook for the supply of targeted advertising, and a large amount of internet user data that are valuable for advertising purposes are not within Facebook's exclusive control."

The Right to be Forgotten: Not an Easy Question

F. Pasquale, here.

Kartellamt greift vorerst nicht in Streit Google/Verlage ein

Reuters.com, hier

Antitrust Nominee in Europe Promises Eye on Big Tech Companies

Bits.blogs.nytimes.com, here

Regolamento Agcom a tutela del diritto d'autore online: il TAR Lazio conferma la legittimità dell'impianto regolamentare del provvedimento, ma rinvia alla Corte Costituzionale

Dirittodautore.it, qui.

Ordinanza qui.

Las demandas colectivas chocan con el sistema judicial español

Expansiòn, aquì.

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Finally, a Big 5 publisher raises digital royalties (but there’s a catch)

GigaOm, here.

Exercising choice: some reflections on competition enforcement in online markets

P. Marsden, here.

How big data could help stop the Ebola outbreak

CNBC, here.

German publishers accuse Google of “blackmail” as search firm axes News snippets

GigaOm, here

Big US tech companies face major patent losses in the post-Alice world

Iam-magazine.com, here

The Devil is in the Retail

A. Italiener, here.

{Of course, with less concentration on both the supplier and retailer sides of the market we could've had, possibly, higher levels of innovation and better choice for consumers. How do you measure that?}

Russian Retailers Bet on E-Books Before Amazon Entry

Bloomberg.com, here

The ballad of Google Spain

Paul Bernal's Blog, here

The Horizon Report Europe: 2014 Schools Edition

The economic impact of modern retail on choice and innovation in the EU food sector

European Commission, Final Report, here. Press Release, here

How The Proposed Payments Legislation Will Restrain Competition Among Payment Card Schemes And Harm Consumers In The European Union

D. Evans, here

UK Treasury Plans to Criminalise All Benchmark Fixing LIBOR-Led by Example

ForexMagnates.com, here.

What an Economist Brings to a Business Strategy

Blogs.hbr.org, here

WIPO General Assembly Fails to Draw any Conclusions on Exceptions and Limitations

IFLA.org, here.



(For transparency's sake: this blog's author was part of the team representing IFLA at WIPO GA). 

Google : comment mettre en œuvre le droit à l’oubli ?

Méta-Media, ici.

Authors Guild Met With DoJ to Seek Investigation Into Amazon's Practices Guild Says Retailer Is Abusing Its Market Power in Hachette Dispute

WSJ, here.

To Avoid Liability, Google Limits German News Content To Headlines

SearchEngineLand, here.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Tratamiento jurisprudencial de los sitios web que proporcionan enlaces a obras y prestaciones protegidas

M. Peguera Poch, aquì.

EU Antitrust Endgame Looking More Murky, Risky For Google

SearchEngineLand, here.

It Takes Two to Tango: Two-Sided Markets and the Appeals in Cartes Bancaires and MasterCard

EuropeanLawBlog.eu, here.


Müssen wir Google zerschlagen?

Heise.de, hier.

FOSS Governance And Collaboration: From A Good Idea To Coherent Market Approach

S. Coughlan,  here.

Opinion 8/2014 on the on Recent Developments on the Internet of Things

WP29, here.

CMA finalises changes for car insurance

Press Release, here.

288-page Final Report here.

Et voilà: "The measures include a ban on agreements between price comparison websites and insurers which stop insurers from making their products available more cheaply on other online platforms"

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Rigged Markets?

BBC Radio 4, File on 4, here.

Intel and the fight for the soul of EU competition law

Chillingcompetition.com, here.

Translation and intellectual property rights

Bird&Bird for the European Commission (DG Translation), here.

Patent Litigation Settlement Agreements: A Canadian Perspective

Competition Bureau, here.

See also J. Pecman, Remarks here.

EU's Almunia says readying antitrust charges against Gazprom

Reuters.com, here.

Champion European innovation to challenge Google

E. Morozov, here.

Gli affitti brevi (ai turisti) che fanno litigare

Corriere.it, qui.

Market for commercial use of public information: CMA seeks views

Here.

Internet der Dinge: Die Zahnbürste als Gefahr

Heise.de, hier.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Google, Kayak, Hipmunk, Skyscanner, Travelzoo, and TripAdvisor attack DOT’s proposed rule

Tnooz.com, here.

The impact of the development of big data on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data in the EU

WP29, here.

Bill Introduced in Congress to Let You Actually Own Things, Even if They Contain Software

EFF.org,  here.

The judgment of the EU General Court in Intel and the so-called 'more economic approach' to abuse of dominance

W. Wils, here.

Embracing a new digital era in Europe

E. Schmidt, here.

{"Everything needs to change, so everything can stay the same"}

WIPO Director General Outlines Second Mandate Priorities

WIPO, here.

Innenminister will Persönlichkeitsprofile im Internet verbieten

Heise.de, hier.

[Kommt es auf die Definition von Nutzerprofilen an?]


Amazon kommt Buchverlagen entgegen

DerSpiegel, hier.

S. auch hier

Sharing Economy Faces Patchwork of Guidelines in European Countries

NYTimes, here.

EU's Gazprom antitrust probe suspended, but case not closed

Reuters.com, here.

New smartphone app gives sight to the blind

Reuters.com, here.

Harper Competition Review Draft Report

Here.

A few selected topics:

Taxi industry and disruptive innovation

P.30: "States and Territories should remove regulations that restrict competition in the taxi industry, including from services that compete with taxis, except where it would not be in the public interest.

If restrictions on numbers of taxi licences are to be retained, the number to be issued should be determined by independent regulators focused on the interests of consumers."

P.  139: "Mobile technologies are emerging that compete with traditional taxi booking services and support the emergence of innovative passenger transport services. Any regulation of such services should be consumer-focused and not inhibit innovation or protect existing business models."

IP and competition policy

P.31: "The Panel recommends that an overarching review of intellectual property be undertaken by an independent body, such as the Productivity Commission. The review should focus on competition policy issues in intellectual property arising from new developments in technology and markets.

The review should also assess the principles and processes followed by the Australian Government when establishing negotiating mandates to incorporate intellectual property provisions in international trade agreements.

Trade negotiations should be informed by an independent and transparent analysis of the costs and benefits to Australia of any proposed IP provisions. Such an analysis should be undertaken and published before negotiations are concluded."

{P. 80-87 are already on my students' mandatory reading list.}

RPM and Retail MFN

P. 46 f.: "The Panel considers that there is not a sufficient case at this time for changing the prohibition of  RPM from a per se prohibition to a competition based test. It would be appropriate, though, to allow business to seek exemption from the prohibition more easily. This could be achieved through allowing RPM to be assessed through the notification process, which is quicker and less expensive for businesses than  authorisation. This change would also have the advantage of allowing the ACCC to assess RPM trading strategies more frequently, and thereby provide better evidence as to the competitive effects of RPM in Australia."

P. 234 f.: "Historically, RPM has been considered in the context of ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers. RPM is now emerging as an issue for new models of digital-based retailing. eBay states, based on annual surveys of its sellers, that around a quarter of sellers are instructed by their suppliers to sell at recommended retail prices (...)
RPM in digital markets also recently received significant international legal attention when Apple was found to have breached EU and US competition laws
by fixing the prices of e-books in collaboration with five publishers."

Big Data, Personal Data Protection and Competition Policy

P.129: "Markets work best when consumers are engaged, empowering them to make informed decisions. There is capacity to enhance Australian consumers’access to data on their own usage of utility services in a usable format to assist consumers to make better informed decisions.
e
-
books
in collaboration with fivepublishers."


Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Right to be Forgotten, or the Right Not to Be Gossiped About

Report, BBC Radio 4, Podcast here.

« La calunnia è un venticello , N.Ghiurov, here.

Right to be de-listed : European DPAs agreed on a common tool box to handle complaints

WP 29, here.

Apparently,  the rules won’t be finalized until November. 

Le secteur des autoroutes après la privatisation des sociétés concessionnaires

Autorité de la concurrence, ici.

Patent right exploitation under antitrust law scrutiny

K. Nejezchleb, T. Kubeša, here.

European Draft Directive on Damages Actions - How to protect leniency incentives without jeopardising the victim's right of compensation

P. Kirst, R. Van den Bergh, here.

The Hidden Costs of Free Goods: Implications for Antitrust Enforcement

M. Gal, D. Rubinfeld, here.

The Internet: Just Another Distribution Channel? EU and U.S. Competition Policy Approaches to E- Commerce


J. Wahl, S. Troost and C. Buts,  here.

Which Patent Systems are Better for Inventors?

J. Bessen, G. Thoma, here.

Analysis of consequences of different VAT scenarios for books

Oslo Economics, Study here. Summary and Conclusions in English here.

Alice is killing the trolls -- but expect patent lawyers to strike back

S. Phipps, here.

El Tribunal Supremo deja en el aire la tramitación de la Ley de Propriedad Intelectual

ABC. es, aquì.

Que faut-il retenir du 80ème congrès de l’IFLA à Lyon ?

Gazette.fr, ici

Bei Axel Springer liest man jetzt Karl Marx

Tagesspiegel.de, hier.

NewsCorp: Google is a 'platform for piracy'

BBC, here. Letter here.

"Google is commodifying the audience of specialist publishers and limiting their ability to generate advertising revenue. Data aggregators attempt to sell audiences at a steep discount to the original source, for example, access to 75 per cent of The Wall Street Journal demographic at 25 per cent of the price, thus undermining the business model of the content creator. This process is at a relatively early stage and needs constant monitoring to ensure that abuses are halted and that there is a fair return for newspapers, publishers and other investors in original content."

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

10 Comments on the ECJ’s Judgment in Case C-67/13 P, Groupement des Cartes Bancaire

ChillingCompetition, here.

Top EU Court Checks Expansive Approach to Prohibition on Anti - Competitive Agreements But Uncertainties Remain

Sidley.com, here.

Regulation and the sharing economy

Freakonomics, podcast here, transcript here.

South African Competition Commission non - refers Doctors Without Borders complaint

Press Release, here.

The Court of Justice of the EU Judgment on Data Protection and Internet Search Engines: Current Issues and Future Challenges

C. Kuner, here.

Le Conseil d’état veut encadrer l’usage des algorithmes prédictifs

Larevuedudigital.com, ici.

The "right to be forgotten"

UK Commons Library standard note, here.

Müssen wir Angst vor Google haben?

J. Haucap, here.

Smartwatches and Weak Privacy Rules

NYTimes, here.

German Official: Google Should Reveal Its Ranking Algorithm

SearchEngineLand, here.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Judge overturns Uber ride-sharing ban in Germany

BBC, here.

"By Object” Restrictions of Competition Revisited: European Court of Justice Endorses Narrow Interpretation

LW.com, here.

The Commission Investigation into Pay TV Services: Open Questions

P. Ibáñez Colomo, here.

Groupement des Cartes Bancaires and the resilience of the case law on restrictions by object

Chillingcompetition.com, here.

IP Markets and Enabling Information Ecosystems

UK IPO, here.

'Mr. Confession' and his boss drive China's antitrust crusade

Reuters.com, here.

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating: Net Neutrality in Practice, the Dutch Example

N. Van Eijk, here.

Meet Datacoup - the company that wants to help you sell your data

TheGuardian.com, here.

Taking TV and film into the digital age

N. Kroes, here.

Dutch court refers questions to CJEU on e-lending and digital exhaustion, and another Dutch reference on digital resale may be just about to follow

The IPKat, here.

Defining Section 5 of the Ftc Act: The Failure of the Common Law Method and the Need for Formal Agency Guidelines

J. Rybnicek, J. Wright, here.

Apple Watch under scrutiny for privacy by Connecticut attorney general

Pcworld.com, here.

Fünf Theorien, warum Minecraft 2,5 Milliarden wert sein könnte

Blogs.wsj.de, hier.

Friday, September 05, 2014

L’Autorité de la concurrence s’inquiète de l’intégration verticale des géants du Web

Larevuedudigital.com, ici.

«...dans le cas de l’enquête sur Booking.com et Expedia qui imposent aux hôteliers de ne pas vendre moins cher que sur leurs plateformes, nous nous associons aux autres autorités, car c’est un frein à la concurrence»

Microsoft wades into the Google antitrust fray

Zdnet.com, here

Wettbewerb: Amazon ist kein Monopolist

J. Haucap, hier.

Wettbewerb im Internet: "Rechtlich muss etwas geschehen"

Interview mit D. Zimmer, hier.

Alice v. CLS Bank: United States Supreme Court Establishes General Patentability Test

J. Powles, here

Googlephobia

TheEconomist, here

Is There a George Mason School of Law and Economics?

T. Zywicki, here

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Auditing Algorithms: Research Methods for Detecting Discrimination on Internet Platforms

C. Sandvig, K. Hamilton, K. Karahalios, C. Langbort, here

Value of a Platform to a Seller: Case of American Airlines and Online Travel Agencies

V. Bilotkach, N. Rupp, V. Pai, here

Hoteliers react to sharing-economy competition

HotelNewsNow.com, here

The Folklore of Informationalism: The Case of Search Engine Speech

O. Bracha, here

El cártel de los extintores (I): La CNMC apaga el fuego de la disuasión anti-cartel en España

F. Marcos, aquì

The Role of 'Big Data' in Online Platform Competition

A. Lerner, here

'Piracy sites don't love music - they love money'

MusicWeek.com, here

Taxi-Konkurrenz: Gericht verbietet Uber deutschlandweit

FAZ, hier.

Update: "Uber wird seine Tätigkeit in ganz Deutschland fortführen und wird weiterhin seine Dienste über die Uber App anbieten."

Zuletzt hatte sich auch die Monopolkommission zu den Wettbewerbsverhältnissen auf den Taximärkten  geäussert.