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Big Tech and the Parable of the Broken Window
A boy throws a brick through a bakeshop window. He flees and is never identified. The townspeople gather around the broken glass. “Well,” one of them says to the furious baker, “at least this will generate some business for the windowmaker!” A reasonable statement? Not really. Although it is indeed a good day for the ... Big Tech and the Parable of the Broken Window
The Furman Report is a Flimsy Basis for a New UK Competition Policy
Earlier this year the UK government announced it was adopting the main recommendations of the Furman Report into competition in digital markets and setting up a “Digital Markets Taskforce” to oversee those recommendations being put into practice. The Competition and Markets Authority’s digital advertising market study largely came to similar conclusions (indeed, in places it ... The Furman Report is a Flimsy Basis for a New UK Competition Policy
On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
Hardly a day goes by without news of further competition-related intervention in the digital economy. The past couple of weeks alone have seen the European Commission announce various investigations into Apple’s App Store (here and here), as well as reaffirming its desire to regulate so-called “gatekeeper” platforms. Not to mention the CMA issuing its final ... On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
We Need to Talk About Privacy Absolutism
Privacy absolutism is the misguided belief that protecting citizens’ privacy supersedes all other policy goals, especially economic ones. This is a mistake. Privacy is one value among many, not an end in itself. Unfortunately, the absolutist worldview has filtered into policymaking and is beginning to have very real consequences. Readers need look no further than ... We Need to Talk About Privacy Absolutism
Rebuilding Trust in Coronaworld
Governments are beginning to lift the lockdowns they imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19. That is a good thing. But simply lifting the restrictions won’t immediately take us back to normality. For that to happen requires a massive investment in mechanisms that will rebuild trust. Prior to COVID-19, people implicitly trusted that travelling on ... Rebuilding Trust in Coronaworld
The Earn IT Act and the Institutional Limits of Congress
As the initial shock of the COVID quarantine wanes, the Techlash waxes again bringing with it a raft of renewed legislative proposals to take on Big Tech. Prominent among these is the EARN IT Act (the Act), a bipartisan proposal to create a new national commission responsible for proposing best practices designed to mitigate the ... The Earn IT Act and the Institutional Limits of Congress
First Amendment Conflict of Visions Redux: The Case of Facebook’s Oversight Board and the Threat of Antitrust Action
In the wake of the launch of Facebook’s content oversight board, Republican Senator Josh Hawley and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, among others, have taken to Twitter to levy criticisms at the firm and, in the process, demonstrate just how far the Right has strayed from its first principles around free speech and private property. For ... First Amendment Conflict of Visions Redux: The Case of Facebook’s Oversight Board and the Threat of Antitrust Action
The Negative Externalities of Protecting Privacy
The public policy community’s infatuation with digital privacy has grown by leaps and bounds since the enactment of GDPR and the CCPA, but COVID-19 may leave the most enduring mark on the actual direction that privacy policy takes. As the pandemic and associated lockdowns first began, there were interesting discussions cropping up about the inevitable ... The Negative Externalities of Protecting Privacy
Privacy in the Time of Covid-19
I type these words while subject to a stay-at-home order issued by West Virginia Governor James C. Justice II. “To preserve public health and safety, and to ensure the healthcare system in West Virginia is capable of serving all citizens in need,” I am permitted to leave my home only for a limited and precisely ... Privacy in the Time of Covid-19
IP Rights Are Important, Even in Pandemics
The ongoing pandemic has been an opportunity to explore different aspects of the human condition. For myself, I have learned that, despite a deep commitment to philosophical (neo- or classical-) liberalism, at heart I am pragmatic. I would prefer a society that optimizes for more individual liberty, but I am emphatically not someone who ... IP Rights Are Important, Even in Pandemics
What Has Big Tech Ever Done for Us? Part Two
[TOTM: The following is part of a blog series by TOTM guests and authors on the law, economics, and policy of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The entire series of posts is available here. This post is authored by Dirk Auer, (Senior Researcher, Liege Competition & Innovation Institute; Senior Fellow, ICLE).] Across the globe, millions of ... What Has Big Tech Ever Done for Us? Part Two
What Has Big Tech Ever Done for Us? Part I
[TOTM: The following is part of a blog series by TOTM guests and authors on the law, economics, and policy of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The entire series of posts is available here. This post is authored by Dirk Auer, (Senior Fellow of Law & Economics, International Center for Law & Economics).] Republican Senator Josh ... What Has Big Tech Ever Done for Us? Part I
