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Gold ain’t money – the recent CJEU ruling in Žaidimų valiuta (C-472/24) on in-game virtual currency (IGVC).
Continue reading: Gold ain’t money – the recent CJEU ruling in Žaidimų valiuta (C-472/24) on in-game virtual currency (IGVC).On 5 March 2026, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled in Žaidimų valiuta (C-472/24)[1] on the VAT treatment of (grey market) transactions concerning an in-game virtual currency (Gold) in Runescape, a game developed by Jagex. The Court held, in substance, that in-game Gold is not a virtual currency or a voucher. Rather, it is “an electronic service…
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When Courts Meet Code: Judicial review of competition and DMA decisions
Continue reading: When Courts Meet Code: Judicial review of competition and DMA decisionsBy Dr. Konstantina Bania By the time a digital‑markets case reaches a court room, a paradoxical situation has arisen: the business model in the file is obsolete, the market definition section reads like historical fiction, and the junior in chambers is already using the platform that judges were told “doesn’t really exist”. That mismatch between…
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Why deep tech cannot adequately tap into European public sector support (and what to do about it)
Continue reading: Why deep tech cannot adequately tap into European public sector support (and what to do about it)Europe is stuck in a static industrial structure with few new companies rising up to disrupt existing industries or develop new growth engines. This is not because we lack ambition, ideas, or talent, but because we fail to translate innovation into commercialisation. Europe’s lack of industrial dynamism owes in large part to weaknesses along the…
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A jury is rewriting the platform accountability playbook in the US
Continue reading: A jury is rewriting the platform accountability playbook in the USBy Dr. Konstantina Bania A California jury has done something US courts have long refused to do: hold Meta and YouTube legally responsible not for what users post, but for how their platforms are designed to keep children hooked. By finding defective design and negligence and bypassing the traditional safe harbour of Section 230, the…
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CHECK24: another warning shot on parity clauses for platform businesses
Continue reading: CHECK24: another warning shot on parity clauses for platform businessesParity clauses remain firmly on the German competition authority’s radar, as the recent CHECK24 case illustrates. More importantly, the authority’s concerns are not limited to classic contractual clauses. They also extend to ranking, visibility and other commercial tools capable of producing similar effects. What happened The German Federal Cartel Office closed its investigation into CHECK24…
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Digital Omnibus: What Would it Mean for Competition and Privacy in Advertising?
Continue reading: Digital Omnibus: What Would it Mean for Competition and Privacy in Advertising?In November 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) proposed a “Digital Omnibus” regulation to amend several EU legislations.[1] Although presented as a simplification exercise to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, the proposal revisits key provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the e-Privacy-Directive concerning the use of personal data, including for advertising purposes. The changes could…
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The French Competition Authority’s Public Consultation regarding Conversational Agents: An Opportunity for All the Stakeholders to Explain the Market to the Regulator
Continue reading: The French Competition Authority’s Public Consultation regarding Conversational Agents: An Opportunity for All the Stakeholders to Explain the Market to the Regulator1. After opening on 9 January 2026 an ex officio investigation in the conversational agents sector, the French Autorité de la concurrence (the “Authority”) has launched on 29 January 2026 a public consultation in this regard (the “Consultation”), marking another step in the Authority’s scrutiny of the generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) value chain.[1] 2. Stakeholders still have a bit…
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APP STORE CLAIMS: ANOTHER IMPORTANT LINK TO THE CJEU’S CHAIN IN PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT CASES
Continue reading: APP STORE CLAIMS: ANOTHER IMPORTANT LINK TO THE CJEU’S CHAIN IN PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT CASESAs private antitrust litigation against tech companies becomes increasingly common, courts are increasingly called upon to determine international and territorial jurisdiction for antitrust infringements that are committed in the EU without any physical location. The EU jurisdictional rule in Article 7(2) of the Brussels I-bis Regulation (Brussels I-bis) for tort cases uses the place where…
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The Amazon DSA Designation Appeal: the General Court Rejects Amazon’s Broad Fundamental-Rights Challenge
Continue reading: The Amazon DSA Designation Appeal: the General Court Rejects Amazon’s Broad Fundamental-Rights ChallengeThe last few months have seen a series of Digital Services Act (DSA) judgments by the General Court (GC) of the European Union, the first three of which were examined in an earlier blog post. The latest in this series of judgments, handed down on 19 November 2025, is Amazon EU v Commission (Case T-367/23),…
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The Bits of Freedom ruling: the first step in private DSA enforcement
Continue reading: The Bits of Freedom ruling: the first step in private DSA enforcementWith the Digital Services Act (DSA) entering into force on 17 February 2024, it was only a matter of time before private parties began to exercise their rights in civil courts. On 2 October 2025, the Amsterdam District Court delivered the first judgment in a private claim brought under the DSA.[1] In this case BoF,…