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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…
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UK Digital Regulation: time to get into the detail
Continue reading: UK Digital Regulation: time to get into the detailThe UK government has published its White Paper on the new regulatory regime for firms with Strategic Market Status (SMS), which is very likely to capture firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The new legislation is therefore now officially government policy. At first glance, it will be a sigh of relief for the…
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The Autorité de la concurrence fines Google € 500 million for not complying with interim measures in neighboring rights case
Continue reading: The Autorité de la concurrence fines Google € 500 million for not complying with interim measures in neighboring rights caseToday the French Autorité de la concurrence (the “Autorité”) handed down a damning decision finding that Google has failed to comply with an earlier interim measures decision adopted in April 2020 with respect to press publisher’s neighboring rights. The Autorité fined Google € 500 million and ordered Google to comply with its interim measures on…
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The UK reform agenda
Continue reading: The UK reform agendaThe former Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Lord Andrew Tyrie, has written a report setting out some suggestions to reform the competition regime. This follows an FT opinion piece earlier this year, and his much-discussed letter to the Secretary of State in February 2019 advocating reforms to the competition regime. Lord Tyrie’s…
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EU probes Google’s ad tech business
Continue reading: EU probes Google’s ad tech businessAnother day, another antitrust investigation into Google’s ad tech business. This time the probe was launched by the European Commission (the “Commission”), which has already fined Google three times for engaging in anticompetitive conduct. As readers of this blog are probably aware, Google’s practices in ad tech have captured considerable regulatory attention: the French Autorité…
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Major new market study into mobile ecosystems
Continue reading: Major new market study into mobile ecosystemsFollowing on from the announcement of a new antitrust investigation into Facebook (and indeed a Financial Times report that an Amazon case is imminent), the CMA has launched an ambitious market study into mobile ecosystems. The CMA already has ongoing investigations into Google’s Privacy Sandbox and Apple’s approach to in-app purchasing; it has established the…
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CMA publishes commitments offered by Google with respect to its Privacy Sandbox proposals, seeks comments
Continue reading: CMA publishes commitments offered by Google with respect to its Privacy Sandbox proposals, seeks commentsLast Friday the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published a 93-page long notice of intention to accept commitments offered by Google in relation to its Privacy Sandbox proposals, inviting all interested parties to submit their observations. By way of reminder, the CMA launched an investigation back in January 2021 into Google’s removal of third-party…
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Google fined € 220 million by French Autorité de la concurrence for breaching competition law in ad tech; offers commitments
Continue reading: Google fined € 220 million by French Autorité de la concurrence for breaching competition law in ad tech; offers commitmentsYesterday, the French competition authority (“Autorité de la concurrence”) handed down a landmark decision finding that Google has breached Article 102 TFEU and the equivalent provision of French competition law through anticompetitive conduct in ad tech. The Autorité imposed on Google a fine of €220 million and rendered binding a series of commitments (“engagements”) proposed…