Author: Damien Geradin

Founding Partner at Geradin Partners, Professor of Law at Tilburg University and Visiting Professor at University College London.

Apple’s constructive refusal to comply with the law: A harbinger of things to come?

In August 2021, the Autoriteit Consument & Markt (“ACM”), the Dutch competition authority, adopted following a two-year investigation, a decision finding that Apple’s App Store payment policies as they applied to dating app providers amounted to an abuse of a dominant position in breach of Article 102 TFEU. As explained in an earlier blog post, … Continue reading Apple’s constructive refusal to comply with the law: A harbinger of things to come? →

The Microsoft Open App Store Principles in Eight Points

It is no secret that Microsoft has charted a rather different course compared to Apple and Google when it comes to ex ante regulation – a course aiming to embrace, rather than fight, regulation (see for example, this May 2021 blog post where Microsoft in principle voiced its support for the EU Digital Markets Act). … Continue reading The Microsoft Open App Store Principles in Eight Points →

An interview with Liza Gormsen regarding her class-action lawsuit against Meta at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal

I am very pleased that Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, who is Senior Research Fellow in Competition Law and Co-Director of the  Competition Law Forum at BIICL, has accepted to be interviewed by this blog. Liza made the news last month when she brought a class-action lawsuit against Facebook's parent firm Meta at the UK's Competition … Continue reading An interview with Liza Gormsen regarding her class-action lawsuit against Meta at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal →

Is Apple a threat to the rule of law?

Over the past couple of years, app developers have engaged on multiple fronts to force Apple to open its App Store monopoly. They have supported legislative initiatives, such as the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) in the EU, the Open App Markets Act (“OAMA”) in the United States, and legislation in South Korea designed to bring … Continue reading Is Apple a threat to the rule of law? →

One needed area of improvement for the Digital Markets Act: The designation of gatekeepers

The Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) is one of the core priorities of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union (“Council”), which commenced on 1 January 2022. According to several reports, the French presidency would like to pursue an aggressive agenda, with trilogue discussions being wrapped up by the end of March and … Continue reading One needed area of improvement for the Digital Markets Act: The designation of gatekeepers →

2021 was a busy year for the Platform Law Blog, but things will be even more intense in 2022

Many thanks to our loyal readers for following us throughout the year. We had a great run in 2021 with a vast increase in our audience. Many thanks also to the legislators, competition officials and policy-makers for giving us great materials to draw from. 2021 has been a year of intense developments on the Platform … Continue reading 2021 was a busy year for the Platform Law Blog, but things will be even more intense in 2022 →

The Interim Report of the CMA’s Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems :  A Great Piece of Work

On 14 December 2021, the CMA published the Interim Report of its Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems. This is a massive (445 pages + annexes) piece of work, which is – as always with the CMA – extremely well done. The purpose of this Interim Report is for the CMA to share the content of … Continue reading The Interim Report of the CMA’s Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems :  A Great Piece of Work →

The DMA should stay true to its principles, or it could fail

As readers of this blog know, the core idea behind (and the principle underpinning) the DMA proposal is that a small number of large digital platforms have become “gatekeepers” in that they operate one or more important “gateways” for business users to reach end users. In this context, the DMA rightly proposes to impose on … Continue reading The DMA should stay true to its principles, or it could fail →

Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to?

Any public official you speak to will tell you that the negotiations over the DMA are moving fast. This is certainly good news as the declared objectives of the DMA, i.e., to ensure contestability and fairness for digital markets, are more desirable than ever. While multiple texts are circulating containing amendments of European Parliament committees … Continue reading Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to? →

The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughts

As most readers are likely aware of, on 10 September 2021 Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (“YGR”) issued her Rule 52 Order after trial on the merits in Epic Games, Inc. v Apple Inc. Based on the trial record, Judge YGR could not ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under federal or state antitrust laws, … Continue reading The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughts →