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What we learned from the unredacted US States complaint against Google
Continue reading: What we learned from the unredacted US States complaint against GoogleLast Friday, October 22, a coalition of US States led by Texas released an unredacted version of the amended complaint filed against Google over its ad tech business, after a federal judge in New York held that much of the antitrust suit could be unsealed. The original complaint filed in December 2020, echoes the findings…
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The DMA and default positions in search
Continue reading: The DMA and default positions in searchPicking up on our latest post on the direction of the Council with respect to the DMA, we would like to touch on an important issue that seems to have been overlooked by EU lawmakers: the role of default positions in search. Rather surprisingly, both the original DMA proposal of the European Commission and subsequent…
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Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to?
Continue reading: Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to?Any public official you speak to will tell you that the negotiations over the DMA are moving fast. This is certainly good news as the declared objectives of the DMA, i.e., to ensure contestability and fairness for digital markets, are more desirable than ever. While multiple texts are circulating containing amendments of European Parliament committees…
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The UK’s regulatory regime for Big Tech: will the Government dare to make it more effective?
Continue reading: The UK’s regulatory regime for Big Tech: will the Government dare to make it more effective?The British Government’s consultation on the design of the new regulatory regime for Big Tech (the “Consultation”) closed on Friday. We gave our initial thoughts on this legislation back in July. This blog post picks out some of the other important issues. For the most part, the Government has followed the advice of the CMA’s…
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Some thoughts on the Google Android hearing before the General Court
Continue reading: Some thoughts on the Google Android hearing before the General CourtAs readers of this blog probably know, last week saw Google present before the General Court its case for annulling the Google Android decision of the European Commission (famous for the staggering amount of the fine imposed – EUR 4.3 billion). The case number is T-604/18 – Google and Alphabet v Commission. I had the…
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Private damages in the new digital regulations – A fine balance to tread
Continue reading: Private damages in the new digital regulations – A fine balance to treadA picture of “astonishing diversity and total underdevelopment”. Thus spoke a 2004 Report that surveyed competition damages actions across the EU at the time. It took ten years from there to adopt the Damages Directive, which finally ensured that anyone who suffered harm caused by a competition infringement can effectively claim full compensation and gave…
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The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughts
Continue reading: The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughtsAs most readers are likely aware of, on 10 September 2021 Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (“YGR”) issued her Rule 52 Order after trial on the merits in Epic Games, Inc. v Apple Inc. Based on the trial record, Judge YGR could not ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under federal or state antitrust laws,…
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Some thoughts on the joint NL-DE-FR paper on Strengthening the DMA and its Enforcement
Continue reading: Some thoughts on the joint NL-DE-FR paper on Strengthening the DMA and its EnforcementOn 7 September 2021, the Dutch, French, and German governments (the so-called “Friends of an Effective DMA”) published a joint paper focusing on two important aspects of the DMA proposal: (i) future-proofness and tailor-made remediation and (ii) the role of the national authorities. Like the first paper these governments published in May 2021, this is…
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Korean bill banning Apple and Google from mandating their in-app payment solutions moves forward
Continue reading: Korean bill banning Apple and Google from mandating their in-app payment solutions moves forwardYesterday, the Korean National Assembly passed a bill that amends the country’s Telecommunications Business Act to prevent app market business operators (i.e., Apple and Google with respect to their app stores) from requiring app developers to exclusively use their in-app purchasing systems (IAP in the case of Apple and GPB in the case of Google).…
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Apple and Google’s app store dominance suffers another blow – the Open App Markets Act
Continue reading: Apple and Google’s app store dominance suffers another blow – the Open App Markets ActU.S. Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn and Klobuchar introduced last week the Open App Markets Act bill, a bill aiming to “promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the app economy, increase choice, improve quality and reduce costs for consumers.” Targeting Apple and Google, the two companies that have gatekeeper control over the two dominant mobile operating…