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UK and Germany double up on Amazon
Continue reading: UK and Germany double up on AmazonSome days you just can’t get a break. Amazon was the recipient of not one but two pieces of bad news yesterday, with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announcing that it has launched an investigation under the Competition Act 1998 into possible abuses of dominance by Amazon, and the German Federal Cartel Office…
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Five key issues about the regulation of AI
Continue reading: Five key issues about the regulation of AIThe first thing to be mindful of when thinking about artificial intelligence (“AI”) is the need to see through the hype that surrounds it. In the past few weeks alone there have been claims that an AI system has become sentient (it hasn’t), while narratives of AI either saving or destroying humanity are commonplace. The…
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Meta/Giphy court judgment: The CMA’s controversial merger analysis survives, but its procedures don’t
Continue reading: Meta/Giphy court judgment: The CMA’s controversial merger analysis survives, but its procedures don’tAs readers of this blog know, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) blocked its first Big Tech merger in the Meta/Giphy case. Meta duly appealed to the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) and the CAT’s judgment was issued last week. The most discussed element of the case has been the CMA’s controversial theories of…
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The CMA Final Report on the Mobile Ecosystems market study: a repudiation of Apple’s narrative over privacy and safety as justifications for the status quo
Continue reading: The CMA Final Report on the Mobile Ecosystems market study: a repudiation of Apple’s narrative over privacy and safety as justifications for the status quoOn 10 June 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its Final Report on its year-long market study into mobile ecosystems – namely mobile operating systems, app stores, and web browsers. The CMA found that Apple and Google have a tight grip over these increasingly crucial ecosystems, which in turn places them in…
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The CMA takes matters into its own hands with browsers and cloud gaming market investigation references
Continue reading: The CMA takes matters into its own hands with browsers and cloud gaming market investigation referencesThe UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has published its report into mobile ecosystems a few days before its statutory deadline. This market study has focused on mobile browsers, mobile operating systems and app stores. Following the UK Government’s disappointing decision to delay the necessary legislation that will give the Digital Markets Unit (“DMU”) its…
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Servizio, competition on the merits, and Google Shopping
Continue reading: Servizio, competition on the merits, and Google ShoppingThis is the second post on the CJEU’s judgment in Servizio, a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU (see here for the first post discussing the relevance of consumer welfare and actual effects in establishing an abuse under Article 102 TFEU). In this post I would like to discuss the concept of…
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The judgment of the Court of Justice in Servizio (C-377/20) – Part I
Continue reading: The judgment of the Court of Justice in Servizio (C-377/20) – Part IOn 12 May, the Court of Justice delivered its eagerly anticipated judgment in Servizio (C-377/20), a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU. This is a very interesting ruling for a variety of reasons: First, the conduct in question involved the (allegedly) abusive use of a database, and in particular the discriminatory use…
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Embracing rather than fighting digital regulation: Microsoft’s vision for the future
Continue reading: Embracing rather than fighting digital regulation: Microsoft’s vision for the futureYesterday, I attended a presentation by Brad Smith, Microsoft’s President and Vice-Chair, at an event organised by Brussels think tank Bruegel. I have listened to Brad Smith a few times in the past, but yesterday he was really at his best. He is a truly impressive public speaker and I liked the message he was…
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The UK’s Digital Markets Unit: we’re not making any progress, but we promise we will “in due course”
Continue reading: The UK’s Digital Markets Unit: we’re not making any progress, but we promise we will “in due course”In the UK’s slow journey towards its Digital Markets Unit (“DMU”) regime, the Government has published its formal response to last summer’s consultation document (the “Response Document”). We now know that the necessary legislation will not be included in the next session of Parliament, and therefore will not be enacted within the next year, but…
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When Brexit means falling behind: The probable death of the DMU regime
Continue reading: When Brexit means falling behind: The probable death of the DMU regimeEverything had started well with the excellent Furman report, which emphasized the need to adopt an ex ante regulatory regime that would apply to Big Tech firms in the UK. That report had indeed found that competition rules would not be sufficient to control these firms’ market power. The UK had the lead and was…