Digital competition

Abuse of dominance, Amazon, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Economics, Europe, United States of America

(Intui Attorneys)/ /Leave a comment

Lawmakers and Amazon.com are involved in a constant cat-and-mouse game. Amazon.com is the big winner when consumers and businesses extensively use its digital ecosystem. As a reaction, lawmakers regulate big tech companies to protect end users and business users. This blog post argues that these regulations are not always effective and that their application is…

Digital competition, Digital markets, European Commission, Market definition, Online platforms

(University of Glasgow)/ /2 Comments

In November 2022, the European Commission published its draft revision of the Market Definition Notice. This is the first time the Notice was revised since its adoption in 1997. The draft revised Notice on Market Definition is an impressive piece of work, which makes clear strides in updating the Market Definition Notice for the future….

Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Facebook, Germany, Google, Privacy, Regulation

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

Last 23 December 2022, the Bundeskartellamt, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), sent a statement of objections (SOO) to Google regarding its data processing terms. This SOO follows the Bundeskartellamt’s prior designation as an undertaking with paramount significance for competition across markets under the German DMA-like provision of Section 19a GWB. Looking at the SOO and…

Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Procedures

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The European Commission has begun the process of creating implementing provisions to ensure the effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Implementing provisions plague the DMA’s functioning, but the EC has started to fulfil the first of its tasks: to lay down the form, content and other details of notification and submissions pursuant to…

Abuse of dominance, Canada, Collusion, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Joint ventures, Merger control, Pricing

, , , (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada)/ /Leave a comment

On November 17, 2022, Canada’s federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry formally announced that the federal government is launching a comprehensive review of the Competition Act (Act) and Canadian competition policy. This announcement follows through on the Minister’s previous indications that significant reforms were in the works, and comes after the government enacted more…

Abuse of dominance, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Türkiye

, , , , , (ACTECON)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction This blog post will give an overview of the draft amendment (the “Draft Amendment”) to Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (the “Law No. 4054”). The key points of the Draft Amendment concern: Introducing definitions of core platform services into Law No. 4054 and allowing the possibility to introduce regulations on the…

Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Union

(Universität Würzburg)/ /Leave a comment

The rapid development of digital markets has been posing major challenges to competition authorities for some time. The ‘internet giants’ consisting of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft have as already known been able to gain and consolidate strong market positions faster than in analogue markets. The previous antitrust law was, according to the own…

Antitrust, Apple, Big data, Competition enforcement, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Dominance, Enforcement, Germany, Online platforms

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

In January 2021, the latest reform of the German competition law (“ARC”) entered into force, including significant new rules regarding digital platform markets.  These include new powers for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) under Section 19a ARC regarding digital gatekeepers with paramount cross-market significance for competition (for more details on the new norm, see here). A…

Abuse of dominance, Antitrust, Cartels, Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition Law 2020, Competition policy, Concentrations, COVID-19, Damages, Digital competition, Germany, Merger control

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

Despite the pandemic, 2020 has been a very busy year for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) and courts in the field of competition law in Germany.  The following is merely a selection of interesting developments.  It does not include the recently adopted reform of the Competition Act, which merits its own blog. Generally, the FCO…

Abuse of dominance, Competition enforcement, Competition law, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Germany, Legislation

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

The government’s draft for new competition rules, including on (digital) platforms, published in September 2020 (see here) includes a provision specifically aimed at powerful digital gatekeepers, draft Section 19a ARC.  The proposal was debated in parliament on November 25, 2020, is largely expected to be adopted more or less in its current form and to…