On April 21, 2021, the EU Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation (the AI Regulation) on “artificial intelligence systems” (AI systems), which it describes as “the first-ever legal framework on AI.” The AI Regulation will impose significant obligations impacting businesses across many, if not all, sectors of the economy. The AI Regulation will prove…
On 10 April 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s competition authority responsible for the enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), announced the imposition of CNY 18 billion fine on Alibaba for abusing its dominant position on the e-commerce platform services market. The decision concludes the investigation launched at the end of 2020…
At a recent post, I discussed how the European Commission’s change of approach with the publication of its new Guidance on Article 22 of the Merger Regulation, in reality, should be seen as an accompanying measure to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). I called this a “DMA bis”. Let me share my thoughts in a slightly…
Recently, Google and Apple have changed their policy for targeted online advertising. Privacy-conscious users have been switching to alternatives for years, however, completely avoiding being tracked by online tech giants is virtually impossible. Nevertheless, the online ad industry has grown tremendously in the last decade, and targeted behavioural advertising has become ubiquitous in the online…
On 24 March 2021 the Higher Regional Court (‘Oberlandesgericht’) of Düsseldorf put yet another twist to the ‘Facebook Saga’. Although the formal written submission is not yet available, the Düsseldorf closed the hearing by staying the proceedings and announcing the referral to the CJEU of questions on data protection law. Pricing Guns To be…
The recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (“the CJEU”) in Slovak Telekom[1] is a judgment with significant implications. This article, first, summarises the main lessons from Slovak Telecom as regards the indispensability criterion in cases of refusal to supply competitors by dominant companies and, second, speculates on some likely consequences for…
Much noise has been made over the US FTC’s 2013 decision not to pursue charges against Google. A recent release of the full file has fueled this further, feeding into a general frustration over Big Tech and perceived enforcement deficits. However, most of the FTC file has been available since 2015, and but for a…
On 24 March 2021, the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) passed an order initiating investigation against WhatsApp Inc. (‘WhatsApp’) and Facebook Inc. (‘FB’) to determine if WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy terms allowing it to share user data with FB and its subsidiaries constituted an abuse of dominance (‘Initiation Order’).[1] The Initiation Order shoves India’s competition…
With the adoption of the 10th amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC, ‘Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen’) on 14.01.2021 by the German Parliament (’Bundestag’), the curtain will lower on an antitrust opera [previously reported by Silke Heinz here]: ‘The Abduction from (not the Seraglio) the Düsseldorf Court of Appeals’. Overture For the following,…
The Kluwer Competition Law Blog is very happy to announce the first competition law issue of the International Law Talk Podcast. Just before Christmas, I talked to Gabriella Muscolo, Commissioner of the Italian Competition Authority, a specialist for big data, IP and competition law. We covered the whole bandwidth of big data and competition law,…
