Tag: DMU
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The UK’s digital markets regime is now law: 10 talking points
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (“DMCC”) Act is finally now law in the UK. The King signed his assent today (although his views on conflicts of interest in the ad tech stack are still unknown). The legislation was passed in the “wash-up” process on the final day of this Parliament and the country is…
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UK digital markets regime: The Lords have their say
For those of you that have been monitoring the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill’s journey through Parliament, fear not. The end is in sight. Last November, my colleague Tom Smith wrote about the changes to the Bill as it was leaving the House of Commons. Since then, the Bill has received its first…
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UK digital markets regime under attack, but still on course
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is now in the Report Stage in Parliament before it heads to the second chamber, the House of Lords. Trawling through the 87 pages of proposed amendments this week, I was tempted to reach for a hackneyed Winston Churchill quote: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and…
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YouTube should be designated under the UK’s forthcoming DMCC regime
YouTube has over 47 million UK monthly users, equating to 92% of the British online population. It is the country’s most visited website (sometimes second to Google.com), one of the most downloaded apps from Apple’s App Store, comes pre-installed on Android devices, and boasts over 700 million hours of its content watched daily on connected…
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Platform divergence and geographic divergence after Microsoft/Activision and Apple v CMA
In January 2022, we first reported on the CMA’s concerns that Apple had been blocking cloud gaming apps on the App Store (Google does allow those apps on Play Store but does not allow in-app purchases to be completed within cloud gaming apps). The CMA referred this issue to a full market investigation on 22…
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In defence of judicial review: The established UK appeal standard is the best approach for a dynamic digital economy
As readers of this blog will know, the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (“DMCC”) Bill seeks to create a brand-new ex ante regulatory framework for firms with ‘strategic market status’ (“SMS”), defined as firms that hold substantial and entrenched market power in a digital activity, that provides them with a position of strategic significance.…
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Fashionably late: The UK digital markets legislation starts its passage through Parliament
More than four years after the Furman Report, the British Government has laid its Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill before Parliament. However, what is perhaps more remarkable than the delays is how closely the Bill sticks to the CMA’s original recommendations. One can always quibble over some of the drafting, but overall this is…
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Into Uncharted Waters – Making sense of the CAT’s Apple/CMA judgment
In November last year, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) started a market investigation into the supply of web browsers and browser engines on mobile devices, and the distribution of cloud gaming services through app stores on mobile devices. However, Apple appealed the CMA’s decision to make a market investigation reference (MIR) in the…
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Interview with Tom Fish, Head of public policy and research at Gener8, and formerly Assistant Director at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority
Tom Smith, Geradin Partners: November 2022 was an important month for the UK’s efforts to curb the power of big tech. The Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement that the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will be introduced into parliament in the 3rd parliamentary session (it is currently rumoured to be scheduled for April…
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The Responsible Online Commerce Coalition (ROCC): Businesses team up to ensure a level playing field in e-commerce
Amazon’s revenues reached half a trillion dollars in 2022, having increased tenfold in a decade. There are few companies as fascinating and impressive as Amazon and arguably no other company occupies such a central position in the modern retail economy in the US and Europe. Its famous e-commerce platform represents more than half of e-commerce…