Showing archive for: “Platforms”
The Rivals Antitrust Can’t See
The next serious competitor may be waiting for a license, or working on a product nobody has seen yet. Neither shows up in today’s market-share figures. And much of the current antitrust debate ignores both of those figures completely, even as it ponders how aggressively the government should reshape markets. By contrast, a dynamic approach ... The Rivals Antitrust Can’t See
Brussels Writes the Answer Key
Ask Brussels what ChatGPT is, and you get two answers. Under the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the European Union regulates it as artificial intelligence. On Aug. 31, the European Commission supplied another answer when it designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Each classification comes with ... Brussels Writes the Answer Key
The DMA’s Magic Words and Missing Off Switch
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) depends on two terms that lawmakers never defined. “Fairness” and “contestability” determine how the European Commission measures gatekeeper compliance, imposes new obligations, and grades its own performance every three years. The law uses both terms liberally but explains neither. Recital 79 even promises that the Commission will apply ... The DMA’s Magic Words and Missing Off Switch
All-Inclusive Antitrust: Europe’s New Route to Merger Prohibition
Booking.com wanted to become a one-stop shop for a traveler’s entire journey. European regulators saw a different itinerary: a one-way trip to deeper dominance. In a closely watched Sept. 9 judgment, the European Union’s General Court upheld the European Commission’s 2023 decision blocking Booking’s acquisition of Etraveli. The court agreed that adding Etraveli’s flight-booking business ... All-Inclusive Antitrust: Europe’s New Route to Merger Prohibition
Rate Expectations: Apple and the New Price Regulators
Competition policy is supposed to protect the competitive process, not do double-duty as price regulation. Yet the line between the two appears to be blurring in both a U.S. antitrust case and the European Union’s enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). On Aug. 14, after years of litigation with Epic Games, Apple submitted a ... Rate Expectations: Apple and the New Price Regulators
One AI, Two Rulebooks: Brussels’ ChatGPT Conundrum
ChatGPT can draft a memo, plan a trip, and search the web. As of Aug. 31, it can add another line to its regulatory résumé: The European Commission has designated it a “very large online search engine” under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The label may sound technical, but it captures a central problem for ... One AI, Two Rulebooks: Brussels’ ChatGPT Conundrum
No Free Ride: Uber’s African Retreat
First, “Uber” became a verb. Now, in parts of Africa, it is becoming past tense. The company’s withdrawal from Nigeria and Uganda complicates one of competition policy’s favorite storylines: U.S. technology platforms enter, conquer, and never leave. That assumption has helped fuel a rush to import rules modeled on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act ... No Free Ride: Uber’s African Retreat
Reserve Judgment: The FTC Takes on Amazon’s Ad Auctions
The price to beat in Amazon’s advertising auctions may not have come from another advertiser at all, according to a lawsuit filed Aug. 31 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In the complaint, the FTC alleges that Amazon quietly set the price itself, promising one pricing rule and using another. That allegation could support a ... Reserve Judgment: The FTC Takes on Amazon’s Ad Auctions
Competing Too Well: Europe’s New Guide to Dominance
Brussels has finally given Article 102 an instruction manual. Issued Sept. 3, the European Commission’s first comprehensive Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) replace a legal scavenger hunt with a single framework. The catch is that the manual still gives the Commission considerable room ... Competing Too Well: Europe’s New Guide to Dominance
Location, Location, Litigation: The Antitrust Fight Over Private Listings
In the late 1800s, real estate agents gathered at local associations to exchange information about the homes they were trying to sell. The intuitive logic was that the best way to make a sale was to spread the word. The real estate market has evolved considerably since then, but buyers and sellers, typically through their ... Location, Location, Litigation: The Antitrust Fight Over Private Listings
Google, the Unruh Act, and the Legal Risk of Knowing Your Audience
Advertising’s oldest rule is simple: Know your audience. In California, following it may get an online platform sued. Show retirement-home ads to seniors and student discounts to college students, and sensible targeting can suddenly look like unlawful discrimination. That question is now before California’s Sixth Appellate District. The dispute arises from a trial court ruling in ... Google, the Unruh Act, and the Legal Risk of Knowing Your Audience
Copy, Paste, Compensate: Nigeria’s Misguided Bid to Make Big Tech Pay for News
Nigeria has looked south and seen a $40 million payday for the press. The trouble is that it misread both the price tag and the fine print—and its attempt to collect may leave Nigerian publishers with fewer readers and no comparable payday. On July 6, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced investigations ... Copy, Paste, Compensate: Nigeria’s Misguided Bid to Make Big Tech Pay for News
