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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…
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Maintaining a level playing field when Big Tech disrupts the financial services sector
Continue reading: Maintaining a level playing field when Big Tech disrupts the financial services sectorHello from me to all Platform Law Blog subscribers! I joined Geradin Partners last week, based in London. I hope I can help the team shed light on some of the complex and fascinating issues that the blog covers. To kick off, Damien and I have written an article analysing the expansion of Google, Apple,…
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The DMA proposal : Where do things stand ?
Continue reading: The DMA proposal : Where do things stand ?The combination of a long week-end and rainy weather in Brussels has allowed me to catch up with my readings on the many papers and reports that have been written in the past few weeks on the DMA proposals by think tanks, academics, lobbyists, companies, and other entities or individuals interested in the topic. It…
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The CMA-ICO’s joint statement on competition and data protection law– A major step forward
Continue reading: The CMA-ICO’s joint statement on competition and data protection law– A major step forwardIt is often thought that data protection policymakers want your personal data to be held within big firms’ walled gardens and shared with no-one, while competition policymakers want big firms to be broken up and your personal data to be freely distributed among firms. Is that right, and if so, what are we going to do…