Thursday, May 31, 2018

Unternehmensberatung soll Renault und Peugeot bei Preisabsprachen geholfen haben

Spiegel.de, hier

An American Alternative to Europe’s Privacy Law

T. Wu, here.

Privacy by Design

EDPS, Opinion here.

Antitrust via Rulemaking: Competition Catalysts

T. Wu, here.

Consumer Costs of Anticompetitive Regulations

Open Markets Institute, Comments here.

Vestager: “Tiene sentido que las empresas paguen a los usuarios por sus datos”

ElPais, aquì.

A framework for the moderation of user-generated online content that puts human rights at the very centre

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, here

Susan Athey: Why Business Leaders Shouldn’t Have Blind Faith in AI

Gsb.stanford.edu, here

Europe’s bank bosses stress need for consolidation

FT, here

Los bancos europeos piden poner coto a las tecnológicas

Expansion, aquì.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

On First Day of GDPR, Ad Industry's Fears About Google Come True

Bloomberg, here

Cyber crooks claim to hit two big Canadian banks

Reuters, here

Justice department approves Bayer-Monsanto merger in landmark settlement

Washington Post, here. DoJ here

BancoEstado reabre cuenta a plataforma de criptomonedas

LaTercera, aquì. Background here.
TDCL: Demanda aquì; Resolución, aquí

Die Buchpreisbindung in einem sich ändernden Marktumfeld

Monopolkommission, hier. S. auch hier

From Open Banking to Open Everything

J. Fingleton, here

Microsoft is creating an oracle for catching biased AI algorithms

MIT Technology Review, here

DATENRECHTE – EINE RECHTS - UND SOZIALWISSENSCHA FTLICHE ANALYSE IM VERGLEICH DEUTSCHLAND - USA

L. Specht, W. Kerber, hier

ICANN goes to Court

Hier

Legal Engineering on the Blockchain: 'Smart Contracts' as Legal Conduct

J. Goldenfein, A. Leiter, here

Angela Merkel fordert Besteuerung von Daten

Zeit.de, hier

Why China’s Payment Apps Give U.S. Bankers Nightmares

Bloomberg, here

Friday, May 25, 2018

Google employees are being targeted with this ad urging them to consider their role in making search rankings more fair

Recode.net, here.

More effective than competition enforcement?

How Can Humans Keep the Upper Hand? The ethical matters raised by algorithms and artificial intelligence

CNIL, here

Antitrust Enforcement Against Platform MFNs

J. Baker, F. Scott Morton, here.

Multisided Platforms and Antitrust Enforcement

M. Katz and J. Sallet, here

Beyond Brooke Group: Bringing Reality to the Law of Predatory Pricing

C. Hemphill and P. Weiser, here

Invigorating Vertical Merger Enforcement

S. Salop, here

AI IN FINANCIAL SERVICES: NEXT STEPS TO REALISING THE POTENTIAL

FinExtra, here

#GDPRDay

HT to @GMamdani

Insurance 2030—The impact of AI on the future of insurance

McKinsey, here

DSGVO-Beschwerden gegen Android, Instagram, Whatsapp und Facebook: Max Schrems legt los

Heise.de, hier. See also here.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Amazon confirms that Echo device secretly shared user’s private audio

ArsTechnica, here.

Dutch lender ABN Amro’s website slowed by cyber attack

FT, here

Making Sense of the Intricacies of Online Advertising Market: The French Autorité de la concurrence ’s Take

I. de Silva, here

Amazon’s Finance Ambitions Are Drawing Attention From the Fed

Bloomberg, here

Zuckerberg set up fraudulent scheme to 'weaponise' data, court case alleges

The Guardian, here.

Cryptocurrencies: Commodity Dynamics and Cartelization

P. Heilberg, here.

U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation

Reuters, here.

Russia’s Gazprom dodges fine in EU antitrust settlement

FT, here.

Commission imposes binding obligations on Gazprom to enable free flow of gas at competitive prices in Central and Eastern European gas markets

EC, Press Release here

Are all these GDPR-consent emails even necessary?

iapp. here

Whatsapp gibt Nutzerdaten an Facebook weiter

SZ.de, hier. S. auch hier.

Privacy and Freedom of Expression In the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Article 19 and Privacy International, here

The International Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation

I. Rubinstein, B. Petkova, here

Legal and regulatory issues businesses should be thinking about now when it comes to AI.

Hogan Lovells, here

GOOGLE’S SELFISH LEDGER IS AN UNSETTLING VISION OF SILICON VALLEY SOCIAL ENGINEERING

The Verge, here

Big Brother Goes Digital

NYBooks, here

Sustainable Financial Services in the Digital Age

UK Finance, here

Online platforms and exclusionary abuses – Unlockd vs. Google- a seminal case in the making?

Coreblog, here

The need for a new personal data infrastructure

Mydex, here.

Google says India anti-trust ruling could cause 'irreparable" harm': document

Reuters, here

Antitrust nearly slew Microsoft. Can it adapt to tech giants like Facebook?

San Francisco Chronicle, here

Tech Platforms and the Knowledge Problem

F. Pasquale, here

Diskussionen zwischen KI-Systemen sollen Entscheidungen nachvollziehbar machen

Heise.de, hier

Brokers, dealers and the regulation of markets: Applying finreg to the giant tech platforms

Synthetic Assets, here

‘60 Minutes’ Report Targets on Google Antitrust Risks

Bloomberg, here

‘Crush Them’: An Oral History of the Lawsuit That Upended Silicon Valley

The Ringer, here.

BIG DATA IM BEREICH HEIM UND FREIZEIT

ABIDA, hier

Deutsche vertrauen Algorithmen nicht

Zeit.de, hier

Activists turn tables on companies as EU privacy law comes in

Reuters, here

All Roads Lead to Rome: Enforcing the Consumer Welfare Standard in Digital Media Markets

M. Delrahim, here

Is Blockchain Hype, Revolutionary, or Both? What We Need to Know

S. Oh, S. Wallsten. here

Platforms and Infrastructures in the Digital Age

P. Constantinides, O. Henfridsson, G. Parker, here

Monday, May 14, 2018

U.S. vs. Microsoft: 20 Years Later, Lessons Learned and the Path Ahead

Yelp Video, here.

Highest exposure to antitrust enforcement (Panel 1)?
G x x x x
Apple
F x
Amazon x x x

(Gary Reback getting more depressed after each panel).

BLUMENTHAL & MARKEY CALL FOR INVESTIGATION INTO GOOGLE’S COVERT LOCATION TRACKING

Markey.senate.gov, here

Corralling the Info-Monopolists

Project Syndicate, here

New Commissioner Says FTC Should Get Tough on Companies Like Facebook and Google

ProPublica, here.

Algorithmic Accountability

ABIDA, hier

The GDPR was never going to change behaviour overnight

G. Buttarelli, here

Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

The Guardian, here.
No Oracle's submission to be found here.
I think Gary Reback mentioned that "they" tried to bring data protection into the EU Android investigation but didn't succeed in convincing the EC (check here si jamais).

Google's plans to use AI to help the blind

CNN, here

Morgan Stanley to Follow Goldman in Bet on Brazilian Fintech

Bloomberg, here.
"Lively" competition enforcement factored in by investors, or competition authorities getting active because of the economic relevance of the sector?

GDPR will pop the adtech bubble

D. Searls, here.

Asus to pay 65m euro settlement for price manipulation

Asia Nikkei, here. Case here

Guidance on Transaction Value Thresholds for Mandatory Pre-merger Notification

Bundeskartellamt, here. Draft for public consultation.

Why so much debate about personal data misses the point

Mydex, here

Facebook Plans to Create Its Own Cryptocurrency

Cheddar, here

'Big Brother' AIB now spying on customers' social media accounts

Irish Independent, here

Quel menu pour nourrir l’intelligence artificielle? Pouvez-vous passer la carte?

A. Strowel, ici

Artificial Intelligence for the American People

The White House, here. See also here.


Saturday, May 12, 2018

Google now says controversial AI voice calling system will identify itself to humans

The Verge, here.

ICOs are Cancer

M. Flaxman, here.

Some Android features not coming to Samsung

Economic Times, here.

Unlockd wins first battle of Google legal war for survival

AFR, here.

Unfolding the New-Born Right to Data Portability: Four Gateways to Data Subject Control

H. Uršič, here.

I am a data factory (and so are you)

Rough Type, here.

Three Fintechs leading Open banking initiatives in the UK

DailyFintech, here.

White House Assures Google, Goldman AI Won't Get Heavy Hand

Bloomberg, here.

CCI brings algorithms used to price air tickets under the scanner

Business Standard, here.

EPIC Seeks Records from FTC Regarding Irish Audits of Facebook

EPIC, here..

DOJ’s Brief in Apple V. Robert Pepper

Tuesday, May 08, 2018

Europa lädt das Update hoch

Die Zeit, hier. 🐌

Ticketmaster could replace tickets with facial recognition

The Verge, here.

ETH-Professor zu umstrittenen Belohn-Apps von Krankenkassen: «Mir sind sie zu intransparent»

AZ, hier.

Uber/Grab merger: Appointment of monitoring trustee to monitor compliance with CCCS’s Interim Measures Directions

CCCS, here

Uber’s self-driving car saw the pedestrian but didn’t swerve – report

The Guardian here

What is edge computing?

TheVerge, here. 🐌

Jan Philipp Albrecht: "Ein großer Schritt voran"

BR.de, hier

Study on emerging issues of data ownership, interoperability, (re-)usability and access to data, and liability

Deloitte for DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology, here.
(rating: 🐌🐌 medium slow reading required).

AUSWIRKUNGEN VON BIG DATA AUF DEN MARKT DER ONLINEMEDIEN

ABIDA.de, hier

Algorithms as Illegal Agreements

M. Gal, here.
🐌🐌🐌

Amazon, the Elephant in the Antitrust Room

NYTimes, here

Amazon Offers Retailers Discounts to Adopt Payment System

Bloomberg, here

Radical Markets and...the Blockchain

E. Posner, G. Weyl, here (from 5:33:16).

Entwurf der ePrivacy Verordnung – Neue Fassung zum aktuellen Stand im Rat der Europäischen Union

De Lege Data, hier

La défense de la création passe par la régulation

F. Nissen, ici

Digitalisierung im Alltag: 4 von 5 Deutschen verwenden Online-Bezahldienste

WiWo, hier

GOOGLE AND GDPR HAND PUBLISHERS A HARD CHOICE

AdAge, here

Online platforms under fire as EU pushes for transparency on search results

EurActiv, here

Big tech, power and responsibility

FT, Big Picture, Audio here

Is Blockchain Hype, Revolutionary, or Both? What We Need to Know.

TPI, here

Why the net giants are worried about the Web 3.0

G. Zago, here

ACCC chair Rod Sims puts Google, Facebook on notice

Theaustralian.com.au, here

Canberra creates a brave new data world

The Mandarin, here

It’s not just monopoly and monopsony

EPI, here

Analyse: Warum an den Payment-Coup der Deutschen Bank ein paar Fragezeichen gehören

Finanz-Szene.de, hier

Microsoft Pay comes to Outlook, integrating Stripe, Braintree, Sage, Wave and more

TechCrunch, here

Friday, May 04, 2018

Ripple Sued for Securities Law Violations

CryptoLaw, here

Questions and Answers: Directive on Security of Network and Information systems, the first EU-wide legislation on cybersecurity

EC, here. 

JPMorgan files blockchain interbank payment patent

FinExtra, here

How Essential are Standard-Essential Patents?

M. Lemley, T. Simcoe, here

Instagram quietly launches payments for commerce

TechCrunch, here.
...and data quietly going to Facebook?

EU considers using algorithms to detect anti-competitive acts

Reuters, here

A Comparative Study of Competition Law Relating to the New Economy: A Case Law in the European Union

J. Sop Choi, here

Amazon and the Unwisdom of the Populist Crowd

Truth on the Market, here

Gegenentwürfe zum Datenkapitalismus sind nötig

Netzpolitik, hier

Conditions d'application du droit de la concurrence au secteur agricole

Autorité de la concurrence, ici

A fair deal for consumers in Belgium

M. Vestager, here. And, not mentioned in the text:


How Much Is It Worth to Use Facebook? It Depends

C. Sunstein, here

Jack Ma's Free Spending Ways Are Spooking Alibaba Investors

Bloomberg, here

I TRIED LEAVING FACEBOOK. I COULDN’T

S. Jeong, here. 

Karl Marx: Bewunderer und Verächter des Kapitalismus

FAZ, hier

Comcast’s bid to acquire Sky and its effects on competition in the EU

D. Geradin, here

The Fallacy of the Free Market

J. Kwak, here

Thursday, May 03, 2018

Facebook hired eHarmony's chief scientist for...God knows what

TechCrunch, here.
"But Facebook has confirmed to us that Carter is not working on the new dating service, and the company declined to say what he is doing."

IBM buys aggregation and analytics software provider Armanta

FinExtra, here

Data Analytics and The Death of The Modern Banking Industry

The Financial Brand, here

Inovação Tecnológica e Concorrência no Setor Financeiro em Portugal

Autoridade da Concorrência, aqui

Aadhaar doesn't pose any privacy issue: Bill Gates

The Times of India, here

Who should hold the keys to our data?

The Guardian, here

Durchsetzung nach Datenlage

FAZ, hier

Digital platforms inquiry submissions published

ACCC, here

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Tim Cook’s company is a rock of common sense in an industry that’s gone rogue.

Bloomberg, here

Blockchain insiders tell us why we don't need blockchain

FT, here

Australia's Largest Bank Lost The Personal Financial Histories Of 12 Million Customers

BuzzFeedNews, here

ARE GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK UNDERMINING EUROPE'S PRIVACY RULES?

Wired, here

The Rise and Development of FinTech

R. Teigland et al., here

Taxi, ride-sourcing and ride-sharing services

OECD Secretariat, Background Note, here

Competition Policy and the Tech Industry – What’s at stake?

B. Hoffman, here

Facebook is taking on Tinder with new dating features

The Verge, here

2018 Global Payments Insight Survey: Retail Banking

Ovum, here

Tuesday, May 01, 2018

PTO's Iancu: AI Algorithms Generally Patentable

Broadcastingcable, here.

The Australian Government’s response to the Productivity Commission Data Availability and Use Inquiry

Out of the DOJ Ashes Rises the FTC Phoenix: How to Enhance Antitrust Enforcement by Eliminating an Antitrust Enforcement Agency

D. Bush,  here.

WhatsApp founder plans to leave after broad clashes with parent Facebook

Washington Post, here.

"The founders also clashed with Facebook over building a mobile payments system on WhatsApp in India"

Consumer groups publish Open Banking Manifesto

Finextra, here. Manifesto here.

Sprint and T-Mobile Try Again, but Antitrust Hurdles Remain the Same

NYTimes, here.

First person convicted under Malaysia’s fake news law gets month in jail

The Verge, here.

The economics of artificial intelligence

A. Agrawal, here.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Google’s Sergey Brin warns of the threat from AI in today’s ‘technology renaissance’

The Verge, here. See also FT, here.

Market Concentration

OECD, Issues Paper by the Secretariat, here.

Blockchain Technology and Competition Policy

OECD, Issues Paper by the Secretariat, here.

Repräsentatives Dateneigentum

K.-H. Fezer, hier.

Rethinking regulation

FT, here.

Digital Trade Restrictiveness Index

ECIPE, here.

FDA chief moves to promote artificial intelligence in health care

The Hill, here.

Europe fires back at ICANN's delusional plan to overhaul Whois for GDPR by next, er, year

The Register, here.

Privacy and Freedom of Expression In the Age of Arti cial Intelligence

Article 19, here.

Bitcoin frenzy settles down as big players muscle into market

Reuters, here.

What has the EU ever done for us?

🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝Here.🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Thursday, April 26, 2018

EU Asks `Is the Net Essential?' The Answer Could Hurt Google

Bloomberg, here.

Or couldn't data be the infrastructure?

Dateneigentum: Ein trojanisches Pferd

NZZ, hier

Jürgen Klopp: "The EU is not perfect, but it's the best idea we've had so far.”

Here

Waze signs data-sharing deal with AI-based traffic management startup Waycare

TechCrunch, here

FTC Charges Lending Club with Deceiving Consumers

FTC, here.

"Defendant conducts a credit pull on applicants’ credit reports. Defendant then immediately rejects those consumers that it determines do not meet certain baseline criteria. Defendant refers to this step as “front-end” denial..."Although Defendant tells consumers that its loans contain “No hidden fees,” Defendant nevertheless charges consumers an up-front fee that is not clearly and conspicuously disclosed. This fee is calculated as a percentage—on average, approximately 5 percent—of the consumer’s requested loan amount, and often amounts to more than a thousand dollars...Defendant deducts the hidden up-front fee from the promised “Loan Amount” before disbursing the loan funds to the consumer. As a result, the amount of money that Defendant disburses to a consumer’s bank account is always substantially smaller than the promised “Loan Amount.” And because consumers must pay interest on the entire “Loan Amount,” including the fee, Defendant’s hidden fee leaves consumers paying interest on principal that they never received...Defendant has ignored these warnings. Rather than improving over time, Defendant’s violations have become more egregious over the years: when redesigning the application flow in the winter of 2014, Defendant increased the prominence of the “No hidden fees” representation and decreased the prominence of the tooltip...On desktops and mobile phones, after consumers agree to the loan terms and enter bank account information, they then click a “Done!” button and are taken to a screen that has stated, in large type: “Your [amount requested] loan is on the way. What’s next?” The amount that Defendant promises is “on the way” is the same “Loan Amount” that Defendant promised the consumer on the Loan Offer page. For example, a consumer who was promised a $10,000 loan amount will see on this screen a representation that “Your $10,000 loan is on the way...Although Defendant has told each consumer who completed a loan application that his or her “loan is on the way,” a consumer’s application in fact must undergo two additional processes after completion in order to receive final approval. First, an application must attract sufficient investor backing, and second, an application must pass Defendant’s stringent “back-end” credit review—so called to distinguish it from the lighter, “front-end” review that Defendant conducts while the consumer’s application is still in progress...If a consumer has garnered investor funding—but before Defendant has finished the “back-end” review of their applications—Defendant has sent such consumers various email messages communicating that the consumers will receive loans...In reality, however, many consumers who received such emails were subsequently rejected based on Defendant’s “back-end” credit review and never received a loan from Defendant. For example, of the at least approximately 196,000 consumers who received the above email, at least approximately 43,000 were subsequently rejected. The “back-end” credit review is searching and often involves, inter alia, an additional credit inquiry, a phone call to the consumer, requests for additional documentation, and detailed review of the consumer’s tax and bank records...Defendant’s default method of receiving consumers’ scheduled monthly payments is automatic electronic bank account withdrawal via ACH transfer. In numerous instances, Defendant has withdrawn money from consumers’ bank accounts without consumers’ authorization, or in amounts in excess of the amount consumers authorized Defendant to withdraw...As a result of Defendant’s unauthorized charges, many consumers are forced to pay overdraft fees, while other consumers are unable to pay other bills because they do not have access to the money that Defendant improperly withdrew...Defendant’s conduct is governed by the Privacy Rule prior to October 28, 2014, and by Reg. P after that date. The GLB Act authorizes both the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission to enforce Reg. P. 15 U.S.C. § 6805...Defendant failed to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Rule and Reg. P. Specifically, Defendant failed to deliver the initial privacy notice so that each customer can reasonably be expected to receive actual notice. 16 C.F.R. § 313.9; 12 C.F.R. § 1016.9. For example, until at least the end of 2016, Defendant did not require customers to acknowledge receipt of the notice as a necessary step to obtaining a particular financial product or service. 16 C.F.R. § 313.9, and Reg. P, 12 C.F.R. § 1016.9. Instead, Defendant required customers to agree only to Defendant’s Terms of Use, which itself included only a link to Defendant’s privacy policy. In order to reach the privacy notice that Defendant was required to provide to customers, a customer would need to click on a link that did not indicate it was related to privacy, and then further find a link to Defendant’s privacy policy within the lengthy document to which the link led. Customers were not provided a clear and conspicuous privacy notice before they submitted nonpublic personal information to Defendant...Customers were only provided a link leading directly to the notice after they had applied for a personal loan. Defendant’s own compliance group had recommended repeatedly that the company require customer acknowledgment in the years prior to the 2016 change...Consumers have suffered and will continue to suffer substantial injury as a result of Defendant’s violations of the FTC Act and the Privacy Rule. In addition, Defendant has been unjustly enriched as a result of their unlawful acts or practices. Absent injunctive relief by this Court, Defendant is likely to continue to injure consumers, reap unjust enrichment, and harm the public interest."

Why did it take so long for the FTC to act? And what about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau re privacy issues? See FTC FinTech Series: Marketplace Lending June 9, 2016 Transcript, here.  See also here, June 9 2016 ("8 of 15 mention “No Hidden Fees”).

Competition and a fair deal for consumers online

M. Vestager, here.
Platform fairness is today's hot topic but the Commissioner doesn't mention it. She refers to it in an interview, though.

IMG and Leeds United owner's agency raided in EU sport cartel inquiry

The Guardian, here.

Sopnendu Mohanty: «Singapore Will Be an Oasis for Fintechs»

Finews.asia, here

Scams, Lies, And Revenge Porn: In the Facebook Fallout, Will The U.S. Get New Privacy Laws?

Forbes, here

Distributed Ledger Technology

FCA, here. See also here.

Observatory on the Online Platform Economy

EC Decision, here

EU moves to regulate tech giants' business practices

Reuters. here

Kann die Demokratie im 21. Jahrhundert bestehen?

F.W.-Steinmeier, hier

Online platforms: Commission takes legislative steps to ensure transparency and fairness for platform users

EC, here. FAQs here.
Regulation here.
Impact Assessment, here. Annexes, here.

Why does the Commission propose a Communication on online disinformation

EC, here

Pour une régulation européenne des plates-formes numériques

LesEchos.fr, ici

Facebook and the GDPR

J. Carr, here

Vestager zoekt meer grip op snelle techwereld

FD, hier.

Norwegian Air had ‘several inquiries’ since IAG stake revealed

FT, here

Digital banking startup Revolut raises $250M at a valuation of $1.7B

TechCrunch, here

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Delete Your Account: On the Theory of Platform Capitalism

LAReviewofbooks, here.

"We are seeing just the tip of the iceberg"

G. Buttarelli, here

Warum Daten unter die Kontrolle der Bürger gehören

E. Hafen, hier.

eBay To Offer PayPal Through July Of 2023

Pymnts, here.

Altaba, Formerly Known as Yahoo!, Charged With Failing to Disclose Massive Cybersecurity Breach; Agrees To Pay $35 Million

SEC, here.

Study in Support of the Evaluation of the Database Directive

EC, here.

Guidance on sharing private sector data in the European data economy

Commission Staff Working Paper, here.

Future of Identity and getting there

Mydex, here

Liability for emerging digital technologies

Commissiion Staff Working Paper, here.

Artificial Intelligence for Europe

EC, Communication, here

Data in the EU: Commission steps up efforts to increase availability and boost healthcare data sharing

EC, here

Proposal for a revised Directive on the reuse of Public Sector Information

EC, here. Impact Assessment and related documents here.

Artificial intelligence: Commission outlines a European approach to boost investment and set ethical guidelines

EC, here

Towards a common European data space

EC, Communication, here.

"Cordoba-Fall"

C-161/17, Schlussanträge des Generalanwalts Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona, hier

COMPETITION IS AT THE HEART OF FACEBOOK’S PRIVACY PROBLEM

D. Cicilline, T. McSweeny, here

Monday, April 23, 2018

EU Code of conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement

Here.  Remarks by EU Commissioner Hogan here

Commission opens in-depth investigation into Apple's proposed acquisition of Shazam

EC, here.

Mercedes setzt KI von Alibaba ein

FAZ, hier.

Facebook's hidden data haul troubles German cartel regulator

Reuters, here

Global fintech funding hits record $5.4bn in Q1

FinExtra, here

Who’s Benefiting? Revisiting the Innovation and Start-Up Ecosystem

Digital Platforms and Concentration, Panel, Video here

Art imitates life in the digital age

FT, here

Privacy and Personal Data Collection with Information Externalities

J. Choi, D.-S. Jeon, B.-C. Kim, here

Protecting competition, Reinforcing Consumer Protection, Rethinking Regulation

J. Tirole, Video here.

Some Memorable Quotes:
"Potential competition...if you don't know...the wise thing to do is not to let the merger operate"
"mfn...one of the cleverest strategies I've ever encountered, and people don't get it somehow"
"the important thing is, you can tax people who don't use you"
"I don't have a personal assistant, I don't want a personal assistant"
"What is the right fee for Booking?...I don't know"
"Defaults matter"
"We need the help the consumer...help me...self-regulation is going nowhere"
"Competition policy is slow, and often too late"
"Back and forth process" of regulation "you need to have guidelines and supervision"
"Participative antitrust" (droit de la concurrence participatif, this is the idea, my bet), "regulation reactive to ideas...proposed by the industry"
"You should make regulation agile...and listen to the industry"
"I'm not against breaking up those firms...my gut feeling right now is that it's difficult...harder that it used to be in the past because the technology is moving faster"

Brief discussion of Choi, Jeon, Kim Paper from 29:01

(tbd)

The Amazon Phenomenon

Stigler Center, Digital Platforms and Concentration, Panel, Video here

US vs EU: Antitrust, Data, and Privacy Policy

Stigler Center, Digital Platforms and Concentration, Panel, Video here

A Google Breakup Would Fit the EU's Logic

Bloomberg, here

Regulating Facebook merely nips at the edge of a bigger problem

FT, here

Australian regulator flags scrutiny of Uber Eats

Reuters, here

Law and Autonomous Systems Series: Blockchains and the Right to be Forgotten

M. Finck, here

Blockchain Is About to Revolutionize the Shipping Industry

Bloomberg, here

Property is theft (and allocatively inefficient too)

D. Coyle, here

Facebook parries ad market 'dominance' claims

AFR, here

Australia needs tougher penalties for banks, financial institutions, ACCC says

ABC.net.au, here

Werbekunden verpflichten sich zu mehr Daten-Transparenz

WuW, hier

The challenges for present and future competition enforcement

Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, here

Friday, April 20, 2018

Lagarde urges greater scrutiny of big tech companies

FT, here
Transcript of the CNBC's interview here:

"EISEN: ALL RIGHT. YOU’VE CERTAINLY BEEN WARNING ABOUT THAT. I KNOW YOU LOOK AT BANK REGULATIONS. WHAT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS? DO YOU THINK WE’RE ABOUT TO SEE A WAVE OF INCREASED SCRUTINY— OBVIOUSLY WE’VE SEEN SCRUTINY, BUT REVELATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO TECH GLOBALLY AND REVELATIONS INTO THEIR COMPETITIVENESS, AND COMPANIES LIKE FACEBOOK, GOOGLE AND AMAZON.
LAGARDE: WELL, AS YOU SAID IN THE IMF, WE SUPPORT FREE MARKET. WE SUPPORT COMPETITION. WE SUPPORT IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY. WE SUPPORT INNOVATION. AND WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT WHEN THERE IS TOO MUCH MARKET CONCENTRATION IN THE HANDS OF TOO FEW, WE’RE NOT SEEING COMPETITION, WE’RE NOT SEEING INNOVATION. AND OVER TIME WE ARE SEEING, YOU KNOW, GRADUAL --
EISEN: IS THAT WHEN FACEBOOK IS?
LAGARDE: IT DEPENDS HOW YOU DEFINE THE MARKET. IT DEPENDS WHO SUBSTITUTES. I MEAN, IT’S A VERY COMPLICATED DEBATE.
EISEN: YOU’RE NOT GOING TO CALL ANYONE OUT.
LAGARDE: BUT WE SHOULD ACTUALLY DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS THAT LEVEL OF ACCESS TO MARKET, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE ACCUMULATION OF THAT DATA IN THE HANDS OF A FEW IS NOT GOING TO BE SUCH A BARRIER THAT OTHER ENTREPRENEURS SIMPLY CANNOT ACCESS. SO THE SITUATION IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WAS IN THE TELECOM AGE OR IN THE GILDED AGE. WE NEED TO REALLY RE-THINK THE WAY IN WHICH THAT SITUATION IS ADDRESSED. COMPETITION IS ENCOURAGED AND IF THAT REQUIRES A NEW SET OF RULES TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE Intangibility OF THOSE ASSETS, IT NEEDS TO BE DONE. LOOK AT TAX, FOR INSTANCE. IT’S ONE IN WHICH ALL POLICYMAKERS AROUND THE WORLD NEED TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT: WHERE IS VALUE LOCATED? WHERE IS VALUE GENERATED? HOW SHOULD IT BE TAXED AND WHAT REVENUE SHOULD BE CONTRIBUTED BY THOSE PLAYERS?"

Information Technology and Industry Concentration

J. Bessen, here

Data as Destiny? Palantir Knows Everything About You

Bloomberg, here

Don’t Stop Believin’: Antitrust Enforcement in the Digital Era

M. Delrahim, here.

The Digital Heroes That Fought Against Government Surveillance Are Quiet About Facebook. They’re Missing Their Moment

Slate, here.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

DOJ Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim: “American Antitrust Agencies Likely Have Made More Enforcement Mistakes Than Any of Their Foreign Counterparts”

Pro Market, here

EP’s Report on the Annual Report on Competition Policy

Here

Künstliche Intelligenz im Reality-Check

SAS, hier

Data experts on Facebook’s GDPR changes: Expect lawsuits

TechCrunch, here

Facebook to put 1.5bn users out of reach of new EU GDPR privacy law

"In Spirit"
Irish Times, here

Productivity and the Financial Sector – What’s Missing?

 C.D. Howe Institute, here

So ... you wanna talk about Facebook?

Make me smart, Interview with T. McSweeny, Audio here

Revolving doors at the EU commission's finance unit

EUObserver, here

Solutions to the Threats of Digital Monopolies

ProMarket, here

Data privacy, mergers key topics of discussion during ABA Antitrust Law spring meeting

ABA, here

5 questions sur l’action de la Quadrature du Net contre les géants du web

Numerama.com, ici

Uber exits Philippines despite antitrust review

AsiaNikkei, here

Apple Is Planning to Launch a News Subscription Service

Bloomberg Technology, here

High-Level Hearing: A European Union Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

Hearing, Video here

The European AI Landscape

EC, here.

Economía digital y competencia

A. Faya, aquì.

Net neutrality rules move past first hurdle in California

LATimes, here

The UAE Competition Committee is open for business

Hogan Lovells, here

Daten autonomer Autos sollten nicht gleich an den Hersteller gehen

SZ, hier

AT&T/Time Warner merger case

Interview with Brent Kendall, Audio here (from 05:30)

Monday, April 16, 2018

The Principle of Purpose Limitation in Data Protection Laws

M. von Grafenstein, here

Use our personal data for the common good

H. Shah, here.

The illiberal vision of neo-Brandeisian antitrust

G. Manne, here.

Behavioural Study on the Transparency of Online Platforms

EC, here.

Singapore’s competition watchdog sets interim measures for Grab-Uber merger

Channelnewsasia, here. CCCS’s press release here.

Why Europe, not Congress, will rein in big tech

Washington Post, here.

Reining in Big Data’s Robber Barons

NYBooks, here

Hackers stole a casino's high-roller database through a thermometer in the lobby fish tank

BusinessInsider.de, here

AI in the UK: ready, willing and able?

House of Lords, here.
CMA's written evidence here.
Interesting written evidence imho:
M. Lynch, here.
Article 19, here
CBI, here
Royal Academy of Engineering, here
The Alan Turing Institute, here
(tbd)


"O, there has been much throwing about of brains."

Saturday, April 14, 2018

The way global central banks work is about to fundamentally change — and technology is to blame

BusinessInsider, here.

Request for information regarding facial recognition on Facebook

WP29, here.

Cannibalisation effects, you said?

Picasso, La mujer que llora
#chillincompetitionfineart

Ernst Hafen: Our personal data should only be under our own control

CNN, here.

Facebook Uses Artificial Intelligence to Predict Your Future Actions for Advertisers, Says Confidential Document

The Intercept, here.

Why undertakers are worried

The Economist, here.

Is Tricking A Robot Hacking?

R. Calo, I. Evtimov, E. Fernandes, T. Kohno, D. O’Hair, here.

Privacy Under the Hood: Towards an International Data Privacy Framework for Autonomous Vehicles*

C. Colbert, here.

Remedies for Robots

M. Lemley, B. Casey, here.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Innovation in EU Merger Control

C. Esteva Mosso, here.

Google loses landmark 'right to be forgotten' case

The Guardian, here.

Death By a Thousand Papercuts: How Streaming Services Protect Themselves From Lawsuits by Burying the Copyright Office in Paperwork

Billboard, here.

No, end-to-end encryption does not prevent Facebook from accessing WhatsApp chats

G. Zanon, here

DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND CONCENTRATION

Stigler Center, 2018 Antitrust and Competition Conference, 19-20 April, here and livestreamed here.

The 2017 Conference has been great fun, highly recommended!

Starting at 3.30 pm TrentoTime.

La nueva economía

CNMC Blog, aquì

How CCI should look at M&A deals in digital economy

LiveMint, here

Should Privacy Law Regulate Technological Design? An Interview with Woodrow Hartzog

LinkedIn, here