The French Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), known for its strict interpretation and zealous enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (who can forget the €50 million fine it imposed on Google?), must now partially change its draft guidelines on cookies and other trackers after a ruling of the Conseil d’État.   The…

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) published today a Statement of Issues outlining its preliminary views on competition concerns arising from the proposed acquisition of Fitbit (a company that develops, manufactures and distributes wrist-worn wearable devices) by Google.  The Australian watchdog raises two main concerns regarding the proposed acquisition. First, that it is likely…

Digital technologies have considerably changed the way commerce and distribution work. Internet sales are growing exponentially. Numerous offline retailers are now marketing their products and services online, and “pure play” retailers, almost exclusively active in internet sales, have emerged.  At the same time, digital technologies (e.g. smartphones, tablets, augmented technologies) are increasingly forming part of the…

Yesterday marked the beginning of a busy summer on the regulatory front, as the European Commission fired the starting gun for the regulation of digital platforms.  The Commission launched a public consultation on the Digital Services Act (“DSA”), a much-awaited package announced in the political guidelines of the new Commission and in the Commission’s Communication “Shaping…

Today, I am delighted to interview my friend Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer. Just as the Commission launched its public consultation on the DSA package, it is a great time to discuss with Horacio the future of innovation, competition and regulation in digital markets. Horacio, could you tell us…

The Platform Law Blog has interviewed Jorge Padilla, one of the world’s leading antitrust economists, on the “platform envelopment” theory through privacy policy tying, which he developed together with Daniele Condorelli. Jorge’s work is always insightful (and I can vouch to that having worked with Jorge on multiple occasions) and his recent co-authored papers on…

As discussed in a prior post, the European Commission is currently working on an ex ante regulation to control the market power of so-called “digital gatekeepers” or “systemic platforms”. An idea floated by some would be to base this ex ante regulation on the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications. The main features of this…