The proceedings brought by the European Commission against Google are nearing a – provisional – end with the prospect of a decision making binding on Google a revised set of commitments (see here for the Commission statement and here for the full text of the proposed commitments). Independently of their merits in addressing the Commission’s…

On February 11, 2014, the Canadian government included in its federal budget a proposed amendment to the Competition Act to prohibit unjustified price discrimination to reduce the gap between consumer prices in Canada and the United States. The Minister of Finance made clear that the Commissioner of Competition, the head of Canada’s Competition Bureau, would…

1. Introduction The growing popularity of credit and other payment cards among consumers has been accompanied by an increase in the regulatory and legal scrutiny of the terms governing the availability and use of these cards. One focus of concern has been on whether “interchange fees” are set and administered by operators of card networks…

On 31 January 2013, the European Commission (DG Internal Market) published a Green Paper on unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food and non-food supply chain in Europe. One of the issues that the Green Paper deals with is the use by some suppliers of territorial supply constraints – described as impeding retailers’ ability to…

Introduction The smart phone wars have led to heated discussions over standard setting in technology markets. It seems only a question of time before the standard setting debate spills over into other areas. My personal candidate is the standard setting that underpins product quality, origin and safety certification. Certification – where invisible features matter An…

The Disputes Microsoft is sued for alleged excessive pricing in China by Guangzhou Kam Hing Textile Dyeing Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Kam Hing). In March 2012, Microsoft sued Guangzhou Kam Hing in the Nansha District People’s Court (Nansha Court) for using pirated Microsoft software. According to the news report, the Hong Kong parent company of Guangzhou…

The Goals of Antitrust in the Wake of Crisis Calls for a re-appreciation of competition policy have never ceased on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the current financial crisis has unsurprisingly provided a particular backdrop against which there has been increased willingness to discuss so-called “fundamental” issues both within as well as across different…