TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has not managed to suspend the effects of the European Commission’s designation decision (for comment on the designation decisions, see here). However, the appeal that ByteDance directed at the designation decision will be given the benefit of an expedited procedure. This is the first time that the General Court uttered a…

The D-day for the Digital Markets Act (DMA) compliance is fast approaching. Starting from March 2024, the regulatory framework’s substantive obligations will start to apply to the six designated gatekeepers concerning 22 of their core platform services (on the first designation decisions issued by the European Commission see here). In the meantime, the European Commission…

Foundation models are not new to society or technological development. The deep neural network and self-supervised learning they are based on have existed for decades. However, the explosion and ramping up in user adoption of apps based on Large Language Models (LLMs) working on natural language processing (NLP) has shaken the whole tech industry during…

As the deadline for compliance with the provisions of the Digital Markets Act is fast approaching, the designated gatekeepers are progressively proposing and implementing changes to their business models (for an extensive analysis of the designated CPSs see here and here). Apple’s recent announcement proposes to implement changes on its operating system (iOS), web browser…

Overshadowed by the outsize attention surrounding the AI Act Trilogue, the EU passed in late November another regulatory instrument with transformative potential for the digital economy: the Regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act). Admittedly, the Data Act is not as groundbreaking as the AI Act. Far from…

Prompted by concerns about the effectiveness of EU competition law in digital markets, the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) marks a significant milestone. This forward-looking regulation, focusing on overseeing major digital platforms termed gatekeepers, prioritizes fair competition by treating their services as core platform services. Despite the DMA’s primary reliance on the European…

Much ink has already been spilled on various aspects of the landmark Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill.[1] This post focuses only on parental liability, which appears not to have received much attention. Under the current draft of the DMCC Bill, both the digital markets and consumer protection proposals envisage lifting the corporate veil…

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is currently bluffing before the EU Courts in the face of its gatekeeper designation decision issued by the Commission last September (the Decision). On 15 November 2023, ByteDance confirmed that it was appealing the Decision before the General Court, and a couple of days after that, the Court of Justice acknowledged…

The Digital Markets Act has been analysed from a myriad of prisms, both from the public and private enforcement perspectives. However, less attention has been dedicated to analysing the actual content of private enforcement via collective actions, as set out explicitly in Articles 42 and 52 of the DMA. Article 42 DMA establishes that “Directive…

On 7 November 2023, a new amendment law to the German Competition Act (“Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen”, GWB) came into force. Because it is the 11th major amendment, it is commonly referred to as the 11th GWB Amendment (11. GWB-Novelle). In addition to numerous small alterations, it is particularly noteworthy for three important novelties:   New…