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

Embracing rather than fighting digital regulation: Microsoft’s vision for the future

Yesterday, I attended a presentation by Brad Smith, Microsoft’s President and Vice-Chair, at an event organised by Brussels think tank Bruegel. I have listened to Brad Smith a few times in the past, but yesterday he was really at his best. He is a truly impressive public speaker and I liked the message he was … Continue reading Embracing rather than fighting digital regulation: Microsoft’s vision for the future

When Brexit means falling behind: The probable death of the DMU regime

Everything had started well with the excellent Furman report, which emphasized the need to adopt an ex ante regulatory regime that would apply to Big Tech firms in the UK. That report had indeed found that competition rules would not be sufficient to control these firms’ market power.  The UK had the lead and was … Continue reading When Brexit means falling behind: The probable death of the DMU regime