Month: March 2021

The CJEU’s ruling on Slovak Telekom, and what it means for cases involving dominant digital platforms

Last week the CJEU delivered its judgment in case C-165/19 P dismissing the appeal brought by Slovak Telekom ("ST") against the judgment of the General Court of 13 December 2018 (T‑851/14). Damien was representing ST alongside Robert O'Donoghue from Brick Court Chambers. The case concerns a 2014 infringement decision of the Commission, whereby the latter found … Continue reading The CJEU’s ruling on Slovak Telekom, and what it means for cases involving dominant digital platforms →

Apple and Google’s lowering of app store fees to “help” developers : Separating the wheat from the chaff

App developers that sell “digital goods or services” on the App Store or Google Play must use these app stores’ in-app payment solutions (respectively called In-App Purchase or “IAP” in the case of the App Store and Google Play Billing or “GPB” in the case of Google Play). The mandatory use of IAP or GPB … Continue reading Apple and Google’s lowering of app store fees to “help” developers : Separating the wheat from the chaff →

The latest around Google and the Privacy Sandbox

On Monday the US State AGs filed an amended complaint against Google with respect to ad tech, joined by five additional States. (Reminder: the State AGs sued Google in December 2020, arguing that the tech company has engaged in anticompetitive conduct and even entered into an unlawful agreement with Facebook to restrict competition in the … Continue reading The latest around Google and the Privacy Sandbox →

Competition law and digital markets : Do we need a DG COMP 2.0 ?

In an earlier blog post, I discussed what could, or perhaps should, be the role of EU competition law in a post-DMA environment. That is an important question considering that if the DMA proposal is adopted, a range of issues that are traditionally addressed under EU competition rules will (also or instead) be addressed under … Continue reading Competition law and digital markets : Do we need a DG COMP 2.0 ? →

Unpacking Google’s latest blog post on web tracking

Yesterday Google published a blog post regarding its approach to web tracking once third-party cookies are phased out in Chrome. The post was the talk of the day all over Twitter and the mainstream press, and certain commentators even suggested that Google has pledged to stop selling ads based on individual web browsing (a monumental … Continue reading Unpacking Google’s latest blog post on web tracking →

Should all digital gatekeepers be subject to the same obligations under the DMA proposal?

While many companies active in digital markets support the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) proposal, a recurrent concern comes from the fact that the obligations contained in Articles 5 and 6 of the proposal will in principle apply to all gatekeepers independently of the core platform service ("CPS") they deliver and their business model. While Article … Continue reading Should all digital gatekeepers be subject to the same obligations under the DMA proposal? →