One of the most intriguing provisions of the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) is Article 6(12), which provides that the designated gatekeeper shall apply “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory general conditions of access for business users to its software application stores, online search engines and online social networking services ...” Thus, Article 6(12) only applies to three … Continue reading Article 6(12) of the Digital Markets Act: Implementing the FRAND requirement
Author: Damien Geradin
Founding Partner at Geradin Partners, Professor of Law at Tilburg University and Visiting Professor at University College London.
Why the Proposed Commitments offered by Google to the UK competition authority regarding in-app purchases are wrong and will make the situation of app developers worse
Introduction On 19 April 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) issued a consultation over the commitments proposed by Google (the “Proposed Commitments”) to bring the CMA’s investigation into its conduct in relation to Google’s distribution of apps on Android devices in the UK to an end. The consultation period ended on Friday 19 May … Continue reading Why the Proposed Commitments offered by Google to the UK competition authority regarding in-app purchases are wrong and will make the situation of app developers worse
Interview with Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA
On 17 November, the Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement that the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will be introduced into parliament in the 3rd session. That is of course welcome news for those who consider that ex ante regulation needs to complement competition law in digital markets. In this context, I am delighted that Sarah … Continue reading Interview with Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA
The European Commission’s investigation into music streaming: Why Spotify has good reasons to be impatient
Yesterday, a group of app developers and trade associations urged the Commission to take swift action to bring Apple’s anticompetitive conduct to an end. It is easy to sympathize with their impatience. Almost two years ago, i.e., in April 2021, the Commission sent a statement of objections to Apple on the ground that “it distorted … Continue reading The European Commission’s investigation into music streaming: Why Spotify has good reasons to be impatient
Platform antitrust/regulation in 2023: Our eleven predictions
Happy New Year to all! The authors of this blog wish you the best for what will be a thrilling year for those interested in platforms. It has never been more exciting to operate in the tech space. To start the new year, we have put our heads together to make eleven predictions about 2023. … Continue reading Platform antitrust/regulation in 2023: Our eleven predictions
The draft Implementing Regulation of the Digital Markets Act: Initial thoughts
On Friday 9 December 2022, the European Commission (“Commission”) published three documents relating to the implementation of the Digital Markets Act. The draft implementing regulation, which provides further practical details as to the implementation of the DMA; Annex 1, which is the Form GD (for gatekeeper designation); and Annex 2, which deals with the format … Continue reading The draft Implementing Regulation of the Digital Markets Act: Initial thoughts
The CMA’s investigation of competition restrictions regarding browsers
On 22 November 2022, the CMA launched a market investigation into cloud gaming and mobile browsers. In this post, I focus on this investigation as it relates to mobile browsers. This blog has already discussed cloud gaming in an earlier post, and we will return to the topic in the future. CMA market investigations must … Continue reading The CMA’s investigation of competition restrictions regarding browsers
Why it is now clear that the Australian ex ante regime will be much closer to the proposed UK regime than the EU Digital Markets Act
On 11 November 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) released the fifth interim report for the Digital Platform Services inquiry (the “Interim Report”). This report recommends a range of new measures to address harms from digital platforms to Australian consumers, small businesses and competition. The diagnostic of the ACCC is not different from … Continue reading Why it is now clear that the Australian ex ante regime will be much closer to the proposed UK regime than the EU Digital Markets Act
The DMA has been published: Now the real challenges start
The Digital Market Act (“DMA”) has been published today. It is a remarkable instrument in many ways. Since the publication of the Commission proposal in December 2020, it took less than 1.5 years for the Council and the Parliament to agree on the final text. The supersonic adoption of the DMA was due to several … Continue reading The DMA has been published: Now the real challenges start
Google’s latest attempts to squeeze app developers in the face of regulation: When principles and coherence no longer matter
As the readers of this blog know, app developers selling digital content have been unhappy for many years with Apple’s App Store policies, which force them to use its in-app payment solution (“IAP) and charges them a 30% commission, which is reduced to 15% in limited circumstances. These policies led Apple into trouble in the … Continue reading Google’s latest attempts to squeeze app developers in the face of regulation: When principles and coherence no longer matter