Thursday, October 30, 2014

Research in the digital age

R. Dijkgraaf, here

El Congreso aprueba la 'tasa Google': los buscadores tendrán que pagar a los editores

Ecoteuve.es, aquì

The Remunerated Statutory Limitation for News Aggregation and Search Engines Proposed by the Spanish Government - Its Compliance with International and EU Law

R. Xalabarder, here

OFT issues decision in mobility scooters sector

CMA's website (?), here.

Original OFT's press release, here

Competition Bureau sets out preliminary views on patent agreement settlement enforcement

Thecompetitor.ca, here.

If at first you don’t succeed – Booking.com and Expedia investigation re-opens

EU-Competitionlaw.com, here.


Dutch copyright law succumbs to aging as exhaustion extends to e-books

M. Olvedo Cuevas, here.

Der Streit ums E-Book und seine Erschöpfung

BuchReport.de, hier.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Mission sur l’exploration de données

J. Martin, ici.

Millions of 'orphan' artworks and historic documents to be seen under new copyright laws

Independent.co.uk, here

FCC moves to treat online video like cable, a boon for Aereo

ArsTechnica, here

YouTube Considering An Ad-Free, Subscription-Based Version

TechCrunch, here

Enjoining Injunctions: The Case Against Antitrust Liability for Standard Essential Patent Holders Who Seek Injunctions

D. Ginsburg, T. Owings, and J. Wright, here

US regulator drops BP, Statoil oil price-fixing probe

Reuters.com, here

Die Wut der Chinesen auf VW

FAZ.net, hier.

When is a Flavor/Taste Trademark Possible?

Jdsupra.com, here

Text mining : vers un nouvel accord avec Elsevier

Scoms.hypotheses.org, ici.. 

Cheaper oil: Winners and losers

TheEconomist, here

Friday, October 24, 2014

The Importance of Economic Analysis When Assessing Vertical Agreements

J. Davies, Presentation here

Competition Enforcement in the Internet-Based Trade – Current Practice of the BKartA

G. Kallfass, presentation here

El ejemplo de otros países muestra que la tasa Google será un fracaso

Adslzone.net, aquì.

Texto de la LPI aprobado por el Senado aquí

EuGH C 348/13 BestWater - "Framing": Framende Links keine Urheberrechtsverletzung

B. Knies, Video hier.

Beschluss hier.
Vorabentscheidungsersuchen hier

Digitisation and Democracy: The challenges of shaping the Digital Society

J. Hofmann, here

Amazon is doing the world a favor by crushing book publishers

Vox.com, here.

On the link between "dynamic pricing" and competition by innovation

www.dilbert.com/

Google's New Search Downranking Hits Torrent Sites Hard

TorrentFreak.com, here

¿Hay que desmantelar Amazon o Google?

J. Alfaro, aquì.

Antitrust Litigation- The Way Ahead

J. Almunia, here.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The War Against Airbnb

R. Epstein, here.

Opinion: The criterion “new public” as developed in the Svensson case

ALAI, here.

Etude des perceptions et usages du livre numérique

Hadopi/IFOP, ici

Eight years on from the OFT's CUPI study: Lessons learned and remaining hurdles

dot.econ, here

Intellectual property enforcement

L. Neville-Rolfe, here

Retail Energy Competition and Consumer Empowerment

CERRE, Discussion Paper, here

Alliances entre distributeurs: le gouvernement saisit l'Autorité de la concurrence

Boursorama, ici

Georgia State Academic Fair Use Decision Vacated by 11th Circuit: A (Relatively) Quick Read for the Busy Practitioner

Trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com, here

Comcast - Time Warner Cable, MB Docket No. 14-57

Professors' Letter to the FCC, here

The Sky is Rising - 2014 Edition

Two Europes or One Europe?

N. Kroes, here

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Verlage knicken beim Leistungsschutzrecht ein

Golem.de, hier.

From the antitrust mailbag: manufacturer-imposed requirements

FTC, here.

Q1: Are the wondering retailers generally satisfied with this type of explanation?
Q2: Does it apply to platforms as well?

The Fondue Conspiracy

Sepp Barmettler, the Cheese Rebel
NPR: Planet Money, Podcast here.

More about the Cheese Union (Käseunion) in A. Thier, Schweizerische Kartellrechtstradition und „more economic approach,“  621, at 640 ff., here.




Update: I tasted the Sbrinz cheese for the first time after listening to the NPR Podcast. Delicious indeed, and already a competition policy scholar's favourite.


BGH decision "Yellow dictionary" colour trade mark dispute

IPKat, here.

Big Data and the Future for Privacy

N. Richards, J. King, here

Oeuvres transformatives : faut-il faire de YouTube le « Seigneur des Mashups » ?

Scinfolex.com, ici

The Technology Transfer Block Exemption

Out-law.com, here

Case C-470/14, EGEDA – will a state-financed ‘private copy’ scheme deliver fair compensation?

Eulawradar, here

Inter Partes Review: An Early Look at the Numbers

B. Love, S. Ambwani, here

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Agency 2.0: Competition Authorities Will Need to Think - Again

Agreements between Amazon and publishers are starting rolling out, see here and here. It is not very hard to predict that these agreements will come to be scrutinized quite closely by competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. While, it seems, conspiracy theories this time round could be safely ruled out, it would be high time to develop comprehensive assessment criteria with regard to vertical restraints triggered by, or in the context of, electronic platforms.  

Google Penguin 3.0: Worldwide Rollout Still In Process, Impacting 1% Of English Queries

SearchEngineLand, here.

Honeywell Gets EU Complaint With DuPont Over Car Coolant

Bloomberg.com, here.

E-Book-Preise: Amazon einigt sich mit Bonnier

Heise.de, hier

Big, bad Amazon

TheEconomist, here

"Why are you searching here for your lost keys? Because there is light here": Reflections on Competition Policy in Europe

J. Fingleton, Video here. Speech notes here

European Commission settles cartel on bid-ask spreads charged on Swiss Franc interest rate derivatives; fines four major banks € 32.3 million

Press Release, here

Competition Enforcement: A Practical Perspective

A. Mundt, Video here.

"The ECN is a unique success, and a model for other areas of law."

The role of competition authorities in fostering growth and consumer welfare

P. Roth, Presentation here; Video here

Banks: Too Big to Manage Ethically?

Dealbook.nytimes.com, here.

Amazon: it’s not the power, it’s the lost focus

J. Gans, here

European Commission proposes ratification of Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to books for visually impaired persons

Press Release, here

Uber Economics: There is no such thing as bad publicity

Bruegel.org, here

82 Things Publishers Do (2014 Edition)

The scholarly kitchen, here

Brussels Antitrust Seminar Demonstrates Shifting European Landscape For Competition Enforcement In Wake Of ECJ MasterCard Judgment

Antitrusttoday.com, here

Public libraries: the right to digitise and the right of reproduction

S. Yakovleva, here.

Amazon closes a contract with one major book publisher (not that one, though)

Mhpbooks.com, here.  For more speculations see here and here.

More on Android

Chillingcompetition.com, here

European Pharmaceutical Antitrust after Groupment des Cartes Bancaires – Time to Rethink the Approach to Pay For Delay Settlements?

S. Gallasch, here

Antitrust Analysis of Reverse Payment Settlements After Actavis: Three Questions and Proposed Answers

J. Wright, here

In Georgia State University E-Reserves Case, Eleventh Circuit Endorses Flexible Approach to Fair Use

ARL Policy Notes, here.

Why The Justice Department Won't Go After Amazon Even Though Paul Krugman Thinks It's Hurting America

BusinessInsider, here.

Simon & Schuster Strikes Amazon Deal Reviving Agency Ebook Pricing

DigitalBookWorld, here.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Uber wrangling regulations (and setting some hope on the FTC)

Interview with Brian Worth,  Uber Public Policy Lead, Harvard Kennedy School Policycast, here.

Report says illegal Airbnb apartments made up over a third of the company's NYC revenue

TheVerge, here.

Report from the NY State Attorney General's office here.

New WikiLeaks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Intellectual Property Chapter — Analysis of Copyright Provision

Policynotes.arl.org, here

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.

Monday, September 08, 2014

What Is Big Data? 42 Attempts at a Definition

Datascience.berkeley.edu/what-is-big-data, here.

US Chamber of Commerce Says China Could Be Violating WTO Accords

NYtimes, here.

US Chamber of Commerce,
Competing Interests in China’s Competition Law Enforcement: China’s Anti-Monopoly Law Application and the Role of Industrial Policy, here.