Thursday, February 09, 2023

ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned

 ArsTechnica, here

ChatGPT itself on the same topic:

As we live in a world where technology is rapidly advancing, artificial intelligence and machine learning models have become an integral part of our lives. One of the most popular and powerful language models developed by OpenAI is ChatGPT. It is a state-of-the-art model that has been trained on a vast amount of data and can generate human-like responses to various questions. However, while ChatGPT has many benefits, it also raises serious concerns about privacy.

First and foremost, ChatGPT is trained on a massive amount of data, including text from various sources such as books, articles, and even conversations. This data is not necessarily public or anonymous, which means that it can contain sensitive information about individuals and organizations. This sensitive information can be used for malicious purposes, such as identity theft, financial fraud, or even cyberbullying.

Furthermore, the nature of language models like ChatGPT means that it can store vast amounts of data in its memory. This data can be accessed and used by anyone who has access to the model, and there is no guarantee that it will not be misused. In fact, there have been instances where language models have been used for unethical purposes, such as generating fake news or creating biased content.

Moreover, the use of ChatGPT raises serious ethical concerns about the right to privacy. As individuals and organizations continue to share more and more personal information online, they are putting their privacy at risk. If this data falls into the hands of malicious actors, it can be used to target individuals and organizations with malicious campaigns. Furthermore, there is no way for individuals and organizations to know how their data is being used by these models, and there is no way for them to opt out of this process.

In conclusion, while ChatGPT is a powerful tool that has many benefits, it also raises serious concerns about privacy. As the use of AI and machine learning models continues to grow, it is imperative that we take the necessary steps to protect individuals' and organizations' sensitive information. This includes ensuring that these models are trained on anonymous and public data, as well as implementing strict privacy policies to prevent the misuse of sensitive information. We must also consider the ethical implications of using these models, and work towards finding a balance between their benefits and the risks they pose to privacy.

When asked about ChatGPT's compliance with the GDPR:

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is

a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The regulation sets out the rules for how companies and organizations must handle personal data and ensure that the privacy of individuals is protected.

It is difficult to say definitively whether ChatGPT is compliant with the GDPR without a thorough review of how the model is used and how personal data is collected, processed, and stored. However, here are some considerations:

  1. Purpose Limitation: The GDPR requires that personal data be collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. If ChatGPT is used for purposes that are not compliant with the GDPR, it may not be in compliance with the regulation.
  2. Data Minimization: The GDPR requires that personal data be limited to what is necessary for the intended purpose. If ChatGPT collects more data than is necessary, it may not be in compliance with the regulation.
  3. Transparency: The GDPR requires that individuals be informed about how their personal data is being used. If ChatGPT is not transparent about how personal data is collected, processed, and stored, it may not be in compliance with the regulation.
  4. Data Security: The GDPR requires that personal data be securely processed and stored. If ChatGPT does not have appropriate security measures in place, it may not be in compliance with the regulation.

Overall, it is the responsibility of the entity using ChatGPT to ensure that the model is used in a way that is compliant with the GDPR. This includes conducting a data protection impact assessment, implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures to secure personal data, and providing individuals with clear information about how their personal data is being used.

There was a sudden system error, and then I asked again (exactly the same prompt) - getting a different answer:

As an AI model developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is not subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).

However, OpenAI takes data privacy and security seriously and has implemented measures to ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with applicable privacy laws, including the GDPR. If you are using ChatGPT in the EU or the EEA, it is the responsibility of the entity that controls the use of ChatGPT to comply with the GDPR and other applicable privacy laws.

If you have concerns about the use of ChatGPT and data privacy, I would recommend contacting OpenAI directly for more information.

What happened?


Study on the provision of information to consumers about the processing of vehicle-generated data

 EC, here

Internet Centralization: What Can Standards Do?

 IETF, here

Banning Noncompetes Is Good for Innovation

 M. Lemley, O. Lobel, here

Market Study Report on Mobile OS and Mobile App Distribution

 Japan FTC, here

Wednesday, February 01, 2023

EU Chief Technologist Wanted

 Here.

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Digital Finance

 J. Soldatos, D. Kyriazis, here

Digital Services Act: Commission provides guidance for online platforms and search engines on publication of user numbers in the EU

 Here.

DOJ v. Google

Lost debate, with D. Dayen (from 3:23), here

Meta Wins Court Nod to Buy Virtual Reality Startup in Loss for Khan’s FTC

 Bloomberg, here

COMPETITION IN THE MOBILE APPLICATION ECOSYSTEM

 US Department of Commerce, here

EU studying whether Big Tech should pay network costs -EU document

 MarketScreener, here

Do DMA obligations for gatekeepers create entitlements for business users?

 O. Andriychuk, here

Is the DMA the real AI regulation?

 The Tech Brief, here

DOJ Suit to Break Up Google Was Years in the Making for Antitrust Chief

 WSJ, here (and here). 

A discussion with James Bessen about his book "The New Goliaths"

 YouTube, here

Cutting Through the Jargon - Independent Audits in the Digital Services Act

 Mozilla, here

Deploying Network Analysis in Antitrust Law (Publications)

 Adlc, here

Study on the impact of recent developments in digital advertising on privacy, publishers and advertisers

 Report for the EC, here

A Case for Openness – Book Publishing and the Role of Amazon

 A. Kreutzmann-Gallash, S. Schroff, here

Monday, January 30, 2023

BEREC Report on the Internet Ecosystem

 Here.

Manipulative online practices found on 148 out of 399 online shops screened

 EC, here.

SHIFTING FROM OPEN BANKING TO OPEN FINANCE Results from the 2022 OECD survey on data sharing frameworks

 OECD, here

Should AI Start-Ups Make Us Re-evaluate Our Emphasis on Big Tech?

 E. Ranieris, here

Decoding the Hype About AI

 The MarkUp, here

DATENRAUM GESUNDHEIT: DIE LÖSUNG ETHISCHER FRAGE STELLUNGEN ALS VORAUSSET ZUNG FÜR INNOVATION IM GESUNDHEITSWESEN

 Initiative D21, hier

$6.6 billion fintech Wise accused by rival of harming competition

 CNBC, here

Will the Metaverse Be Entertaining? Ask South Korea.

 NYTimes, here

AI governance and human rights: Resetting the relationship

 Chatman House, here

AI Watch: Artificial Intelligence Standardisation Landscape Update

 JRC Technical Report, here

"More" here

What ChatGPT and the likes tell us about AI

 Euractiv, Tech Brief here

US Department of Justice sues Google, seeks to break up its ad tech business

 Geradin Partners, here

The Public Stakes of Consumer Law: The Environment, the Economy, Health, Disinformation, and Beyond

 R. Van Loo, here

NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) Launch

 Here; Video here

πάντα ῥεῖ, alles stroomt

 ACM, hier

ANTITRUST INTEROPERABILITY REMEDIES

 H. Hovenkamp, here

Spamming the regulator: How Big Tech's 'economic consultants' undermine EU competition policy

 Corporate Europe, here

Merger control in the digital age – Challenges and development perspectives

 Bundeskartellamt, here

Stellungnahme der Bundesregierung: Sektorgutachten Nr. 12 der Monopolkommission „Telekommunikation 2021: Wettbewerb im Umbruch“

 Hier

Data-based business models explained while making toast for breakfast (maybe)

 



marketoonist.com/2023/01/evolut via

Darmstädter Forscher kritisieren Schwächen von ChatGPT

 Heise.de, hier

ICYMI: The first New Brandeisian decision in Europe? Insights from the Utah Statement

 S. Vezzoso (me), here (#3 most read Concurrences article in 2022, #9999999 most liked, I guess). 

Lasting Change in Competition Law and Policy

 S. Waller, here

From the lion's den: Incipient Merger Policy

 DoJ, here

A Pop Culture Guide to Antitrust

 S. Waller, here

Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI ask court to throw out AI copyright lawsuit

 The Verge, here

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Justice Department Sues Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies

 PR, here.

Complaint, here,

App stores, antitrust and their links to net neutrality: A review of the European policy and academic debate leading to the EU Digital Markets Act

 C. Marsden, I. Brown, here

Google Meet and Zoom achieve bilateral interoperability

 AndroidPolice, here

Bundeskartellamt initiates proceeding against PayPal

 Bundeskartellamt, here

Google to make changes to Android business terms in India after antitrust blow

 TechCrunch, here

On-platform Tying or Another Case of Leveraging- A Discussion on Facebook Marketplace

 D. Mandrescu, here

Can the world’s de facto tech regulator really rein in AI?

 Codastory, here

How to Implement the DMA?

 CERRE, Panel here

CERRE Report, here

The Problem with Easy Technology

 T. Wu, here

Souveräner Datenaustausch als Enabler Künstlicher Intelligenz

 Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK), hier.

Google zähmen

 Verfassungsblog, hier

That’s the Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment

 US Senate Hearing, here

Sustainability - Exploring the possible

 CMA, here

Data Governance: Value Orders and Jurisdictional Conflicts

A. Obendiek, here

URBAN DATA SHARING FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST

 The New Institute, here.

A Pitched Battle on Corporate Power

 D. Dayen, here

Wednesday, January 04, 2023

Meta’s New Year kicks off with over $410M in fresh EU privacy fines

 The Great Natasha (TechCrunch), here

Meta prohibited from using personal data for advertisement

 Noyb, here

Understanding Tech Platforms & Cloud Empires

V. Lehdonvirta, here

Remarks by Executive Vice-President Vestager on the decision to make binding commitments offered by Amazon

 Here

Warum Nutzer des Mixed-Reality-Headsets von Apple angeblich am Rad drehen

 Heise.de, hier

Read Microsoft’s response to the FTC’s Activision Blizzard lawsuit

 The Verge, here

Meta acquires Luxexcel, a smart eyewear company

 TechCrunch, here.

Who Should Guard the Gatekeepers: Does the DMA Replicate the Unworkable Test of Regulation 1/2003 to Settle Conflicts Between EU and National Laws?

 O. Brook, M. Eben, here

On-platform Tying or Another Case of Leveraging- A Discussion on Facebook Marketplace

 D. Mandrescu, here

Monday, January 02, 2023

The Economics of Amazon

 F. Etro, here


10 Punkte für nachhaltigen Wettbewerb als Grundpfeiler der sozialökologischen Marktwirtschaft

 BMWK, hier

Interoperability in digital markets

 I. Brown, Video here (from 2:21:19).

Apple's App Store and Competition: Opinion of a lobbying group

 Coalition for App fairness, here

Short-term accommodation rental services: data protection

 EDPS, here

Das sprachgewaltige Plappermaul

 E. Wolfangel, here

Dark Data: Produced by Students enrolled in David Carroll's course

 Here

AI Act: general Approach by the Council

 Here

"Artificial Intelligence co-regulation"

 C. Marsden, Video here

DMA & Self-Preferencing: Vanessa Turner (BEUC), Denis Sparas (DMA TaskForce), Gonçalo Machado Borges

Chez Oles Andriychuk,  Video, here

Amazon settles EU allegations regarding third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace: some progress made but much remains to be done

 T. Smith, here

Unpacking 'commercial surveillance': The state of tracking

 EP Briefing, here

The European Commission buys into Amazon’s flawed commitments

 Balanced Economy, here

The GAFAM Empire: AN EXPLORATION OF ACQUISITIONS

 The Glassroom, here

The Half-a-Billion Fortnite Fine Kicks Off a New Era of Regulating User Interfaces

 Gizmodo, here

Courtroom updates in the matter of FTC v Meta/Within

 L. Hepner, here

Greek Final Report on the Sector Inquiry into Financial Technologies under article 40 of L. 3959/2011 - Executive Summary

 Here

An Indian DMA?

 ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES BY BIG TECH COMPANIES, here

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Study for developing criteria for assessing reasonable compensation in the case of statutory data access right

 Study for the European Commission Directorate-General Justice and Consumers, here

Oral Argument Before the FTC: Illumina, Inc. and Grail, Inc.– December 13, 2022

 Video here

RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

 OECD, here

HOW WILL THE AI ACT DEAL WITH OPEN SOURCE AI SYSTEMS?

 Open Future, here

AI as Systemic Risk in a Polycrisis

 A. Küsters, here

DATA SHAPING FIRMS AND MARKETS

 OECD, here

DATA IN AN EVOLVING TECHNOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE - THE CASE OF CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED VEHICLES

OECD, here.  

Opinion piece: The DSA also works “in the metaverse” – if it is enforced well

 J. Jaursch, here

The whole European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade on one page

 Here.

Advocate General Rantos: The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law

 CJEU, here

Friday, December 09, 2022

Der Weg zu einem Dateninstitut für Deutschland

 Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK), hier

Ab ins Metaversum! Virtuelle Realitäten als Internet der Zukunft?

 Onlinekas, Video hier

IPEN Webinar on central bank digital currency

 Video, here

PRIVATE MESSAGING INTEROPERABILITY IN THE EU DIGITAL MARKETS ACT

 I. Brown, here

Menschenrechte im Digitalen

 FES, hier

Anhörung zum Web 3.0 und Metaverse

 Bundestag, hier

Sustainability and Competition Policy Enforcement

 Adlc, here

AG DSK „Microsoft-Onlinedienste“

Hier.  

FTC Seeks to Block Microsoft Corp.’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc.

 FTC, here

Complaint here

Reminder: Case M.10001 - MICROSOFT / ZENIMAX

Inquiry into international digital platforms operated by Big Tech companies

 Senate Economics References Committee, Issues Paper, here

Enforcing the Digital Markets Act: Institutional Choices, Compliance, and Antitrust

 J. Crémer et al., here

Monday, November 28, 2022

Sarah Cardell: Ensuring digital market outcomes that benefit people, businesses and the wider UK economy

 CMA, here

CONSUMER CREDIT DIRECTIVE: BEUC recommendations for trilogues

 Here

Andreas Schwab interviewed by Damien Geradin

 Video here

Apple's VR/AR plans

 Here

AI Act: Council Position

 Here

What's the future of data privacy? Engineering and invention in the world of data protection

 Video here

Online safety and data protection: A joint statement by Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office

 DRCF, here

The platformisation of digital payments: The fabrication of consumer interest in the EU FinTech agenda

V. Ferrari, here.  

Online Consumer Data Collection and Data Privacy

 CRS, here

Competition in the metaverse

 Euractiv, Audio here

Mind The (Institutional) Gap: Digital Economy, Competition Law and The Toolkit Approach

 I. Lianos, here

Microsoft erfüllt und übertrifft europäische Datenschutzgesetze

 Microsoft, hier

Eliciting Values for Technology Design with Moral Philosophy: An Empirical Exploration of Effects and Shortcomings

K. Bednar, S. Spiekermann, here.  

Using Terms and Conditions to Apply Fundamental Rights to Content Moderation

 J. Quintais et al., here

The regulation of cloud computing: Getting it right

 D. Geradin et al., here

Réformer le droit européen de la concurrence : le retour du politique

 R. Repasi, here

The Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi): Evolving Digital Principles

 Here

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Department of Justice Opens Investigation Into Real Estate Tech Company Accused of Collusion with Landlords

 ProPublica, here

The AI Act: help or hindrance for SMEs?

 Intellera Consulting, here

Move responsibly and amend things: VR headsets can now be used without a Facebook account

 Bundeskartellamt, here.  Case summary here

Meta and Art. 19 a GWB, here (in German).

Overconfident Regulators Caused the Ticketmaster Mess

 NYTimes, here

Responses to uncertainty

 DRCF, here.

Disrupting Data Abuse: Protecting Consumers from Commercial Surveillance in the Online Ecosystem

 EPIC, here

The technologies underpinning the metaverse

techUK miniseries, here

Overlaps - Services and Harms in Scope

 CERRE, Video here. Report here. (Metaverse at 42:18 and again at 57:30 ff.)

Monday, November 21, 2022

EDPS Comments on the Federal Trade Commission Trade Regulation Rule on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security

 EDPS, here

Digital Deep Dive -Data Act

DigitalEurope, video here

Euractiv, video here

BEUC Conference, video here

Can Big Tech Get Bigger? Microsoft Presses Governments to Say Yes.

 NYTimes, here

Protecting Consumers in Digital Environments

 


ACM, here

Fundamentals and Novelty

 Adlc, here.


"expect the new frontier of antitrust enforcement to be about data collection, hoarding and usage in traditional industries such as the healthcare or automobile sectors and in the internet of things (IoT). To address this new challenge, we will have to cooperate closely with industry regulators and data protection authorities"

Digital Markets Acts (DMA): Was geht uns das an?

 Piltz Legal, hier

Unfair & Deceitful Commercial Surveillance

 TACD, OM, ICCL, here

Justice Dept. Is Said to Investigate Ticketmaster’s Parent Company

 NYTimes, here

Digital Markets Act Workshop: Fabiana Di Porto, Henry Mostyn, Marco Botta, Oles Andriychuk

 Video here

Mapping the post-ATT future of mobile free-to-play gaming

 Mobile Dev Memo, here

Monday, November 14, 2022

EU Commission’s Executive Vice-President, on the Digital Services Act

 Reddit Talk, here (from roughly 8:00), here

GDPR AND THE AI ACT INTERPLAY: LESSONS FROM FPF’S ADM CASE-LAW REPORT

 FPF, here

Position on the European Health Data Space

 CPME, here

The Autorité hands out fines to Essilor International SAS and its parent company EssilorLuxottica SA for discriminatory trade practices

 Adlc, Press Release here. Decision in French ici; DeepL translation for my course, here

La CNMC multa al laboratorio Leadiant con 10,25 millones por vender a un precio excesivo su medicamento huérfano para el tratamiento de una enfermedad rara.

 CNMC, aquì.

Extension of ongoing proceedings against Amazon to also include an examination pursuant to Section 19a of the German Competition Act (GWB)

 Bundeskartellamt, here

25 State AGs supporting FTC’s opposition to Meta/Within acquisition

Here

Wednesday, April 06, 2022

Teaching Art. 102 TFEU: Judges


Looking forward to this new experience. I hope we will all have fun working on the self-preferencing case study (here the pdf of the presentation).

Post scriptum: great questions and very constructive atmosphere - I confessed at the beginning that I was very anxious about this class and they were very kind and understanding ❤. 

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Google enjoys paramount significance for competition across markets


The 173-page decision by the Bundeskartellamt determining Google's status of addressee of Section 19 (a) GWB has been published and even translated into English. The company's "paramount significance for competition across markets" has been confirmed (and accepted by Google itself). Much to read and ponder on (already not clear - at least to me -  how much Google in the end had to pay for the proceedings). 

Antitrust Olympus


Cristina Caffarra of CRA has single-handedly (as far as I "know" her) organized an impressive Conference with the Gods of our field  You can also join it virtually (as I'll be doing, thanks). 

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Habemus the Digital Markets Act

 


On 24 March 2004 the European Commission fined Microsoft for abuse of dominant position (H/T Lewis Crofts). 18 years (age of maturity) later  on the same day, the Digital Markets Act was conclusively negotiated within the Trialogue. Papers and books will be written. 

In parallel to the final negotiations, a DMA panel was taking place at the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI). With Inge Graef (Tilburg), Silke Hoffenfelder (Bundeskartellamt) and myself (Trento), moderated by Jens-Uwe Franck (Mannheim). The ones on the panel truly enjoyed it, unsure about the audience. A recording will be available soon.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

On the eve of the DMA’s 4th Trialogue: A Twitter 🧵(not for the faint-hearted)


 Here.

« Wouldn’t it be nice to solve all such problems in one go? »

 


famously said the former Competition  Commissioner Neelie Kroes in the long aftermath of the EU Microsoft case referring to interoperability issues caused by Big Tech. More than a decade after Kroes expressed that wish, the DMA moves exactly in this direction, with mandated interoperability for ancillary services *and* for so called horizontal interoperability of instant messaging (albeit limited to one-to-one communications with late openings with regard to group chats and calls), as it has been reported by the FT and Politico today.  More could be done, and the devil will likely be in the technical details of the obligations, of course, but it’d be a promising beginning. 

Monday, March 21, 2022

Competition law in war times


 Perhaps due to miopia, this is something we wouldn’t have expected to see in our so far rather peaceful European Union. The European Competition Network has just published a “ Joint statement by the European Competition Network (ECN) on the application of competition law in the context of the war in Ukraine”. 

Friday, March 18, 2022

A patron of digital competition


At the end of January, Google launched a "new dedicated Digital Assets Team". Today, Politico reported that "a group of progressive advocates are pushing Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the head of the House Financial Services Committee, to hold a hearing on Google’s" new blockchain plans. As reported by Politico, differently from Facebook's grand plan with Libra/Diem, Google "is...looking to create a broader blockchain infrastructure that could be used by a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and stressed that Google doesn’t “want to take sides in backing any specific currency.” Should we worry? Will the DMA protect us? Antitrust and financial minds in particular will likely need to come together to discuss this. If St. Isidore of Seville (painting: as imagined by Murillo) is the unofficial 
patron saint of the Internet, we could use a patron of digital competition too. Any candidate? 

One step ahead? The Italian Competition Authority sends detailed requests for information to major oil companies

 

After Germany and other countries, the Italian Autorità aims "to investigate the reasons for these increases and, if so, to assess whether there is scope for possible intervention limited only to the hypothesis of a possible infringement of the rules on abuse of a dominant position or agreements restricting competition"

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Quo vadis, DMA?

 

Are we fiddling while competition processes in the digital economy are "burning"? Not quite, according to the excellent Speakers at a conference which took place today (also online and for free, many thanks), organized by Concurrences. (BTW, this is not a conference debriefing à la  D'Kart, so don't expect to be informed while being entertained). The urgency we are in, however, was clearly expressed by Andreas Mundt by saying that "we don't have the time to wait for Court decisions". He also expanded on the many ways in which "his" 19a GWB was way better than the DMA. My conference-tweeting as stream of consciousness starts here

Among the many enriching statements and discussions, voilà some points that were particularly dear to me.  

1) The DMA is already part of a broader picture: this was directly recalled by Thibault Schrepel in the first panel and indirectly in the third panel while discussing the competition issues related to the Internet of Things (see the Data Act in particular).
 
2) In order to properly enforce the DMA, we need a lot of data scientists. A figure, you ask? Out of the 220 staff suggested by Andreas Schwab, at least 50, proposes Yann Guthmann of the French competition authority (#moretechnologicalapproach as advocated since a famous Munich Conference - not that one). 

3) Almost everybody still wondered what contestability and fairness actually meant. I would have preferred openness instead of contestability, which economically has a very precise and perhaps not very helpful meaning in this context. But, c'est la vie! At any rate, contestability/openness and fairness point to a process rather than to an outcome (e.g., low prices), which is excellent. 

4) Le diable se cache dans les détails of the DMA. Indeed, big date for final negotiations 24th March - lightning speed according to Margrethe Vestager, we'll see...

5) Avis cloud computing of the Adlc: beginning 2023. Competition enforcement only after that date, if necessary? (And: see again Data Act).

6) Lawyers (especially those in private practice) expect aspire to DMA litigations from Day One. This is new stuff, vehemently opposed by some the most powerful  companies in the world.  Along similar lines, Andreas Mundt is already quite concerned about the Court's (only *one* and not too unresponsive, generally) expectations regarding how Sec. 19a should be applied. Google settled, but what about the other gatekeepers potentially in scope? 

7) We need (also) to discuss public interest in the DMA, beyond contestability and fairness. 

8) There might even be court-sponsored spillovers from the DMA to competition law (see the Google Shopping ruling for inspiration). 

We will again be discussing the DMA next week in Mannheim, I am afraid (exactly on the 24th).




Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Teuer, expensive, chère, cara...


Robert Habeck, the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate, asked the German Competition Authority (per Tweet?) to assess weather mineral oil companies were behaving abusively ("Could be"). The Bundeskartellamt replied by press release (only in German at the time of writing). The Authority is not concerned with oil price swings per se, but "[I]f crude oil prices now fall again and petrol station prices do not follow suit or even rise further, we have to take a close look. This includes several market levels: from the crude oil market to the refineries and wholesalers to the petrol station operators." How national are these markets (still) today, actually? 

MGM's Bauchschmerzen

 

The European Commission approved Amazon's acquisition of MGM Holdings Inc. Personally, I felt some Bauchschmerzen

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Monday, March 14, 2022

Net Zero-relevant markets


The CMA has launched a Sustainability Taskforce, namely "a cross-organisational taskforce dedicated to sustainability issues". Among other things, it commits to "launching at least 1 new market study in a Net Zero-relevant market in the next financial year".

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Libra's Post-Mortem - Novi Resuscitati?




The CFPB's Director, Rohit Chopra, gave a TV interview yesterday. While Libra might be no more, he made clear that "cryptocurrencies + Big Tech" might still pose issues and that the Biden administration is getting ready to anticipate them. 

Friday, March 11, 2022

One of Biden Executive Order's Many Sprouts


President Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy never stops giving. The US Department of Agriculture has just announced that "[a]s part of its efforts to enhance fair and competitive markets, USDA is requesting comments and information from the public about the impacts of concentration and market power in fertilizer, seeds and other agricultural inputs, and retail" 

Byzantine splits


One of the strangest things about US antitrust policy to my European eyeballs has always been the byzantine split between the FTC and the DOJ on merger enforcement. Interagency collaboration as well as the very hot discussions on modernizing merger guidelines are on the agenda of an upcoming Spring Enforcers Summit (4 April). 

I need that source.


 At a panel organized during the Industrial Organization Meeting, Spring 2022, Carl Shapiro famously called himself a Modernist and others New Brandeisians (see here, fn. 7). While the recordings of the other panels are still available (one click away on the meeting's website), this is not (while it has been for a while: I caught up a few hours after the panel took place). This is a real pity for us interested in following the recent developments in antitrust policy thinking. Please NBER, put it up again. 

Stellar Wars in the Antitrust Sky?


The antitrust news of the day so far (10. 52 AM CET) is the parallel opening of investigations in the UK and the EU into the Jedi Blue allegation. Interestingly, the CMA is signalling again that the DMU politicians' time is up, this time by starting "scrutinising Google’s conduct in relation to header bidding services more widely to see if the firm abused a dominant position and gained an unfair advantage over competitors trying to provide a similar service".