U.S. Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn and Klobuchar introduced last week the Open App Markets Act bill, a bill aiming to “promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the app economy, increase choice, improve quality and reduce costs for consumers.” Targeting Apple and Google, the two companies that have gatekeeper control over the two dominant mobile operating … Continue reading Apple and Google’s app store dominance suffers another blow – the Open App Markets Act →

Calls on Competition Authorities to give proper consideration to privacy and data protection concerns in their antitrust and merger investigations are not a new thing. Large digital platforms have long raised privacy and competition concerns due to their ability to collect troves of data from their business and consumer-facing products and use them internally as they deem … Continue reading Competition Authorities must – really – deal with privacy. →

Members of the European Parliament are eager to follow in Australia’s footsteps and force Google and Facebook to pay for news, the Financial Times reported. MEPs working on the Digital Services Act (“DSA”) and the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) could consider amending these instruments to reflect aspects of the proposed Australian News Media and Digital … Continue reading Following in Australia’s footsteps: EU to make Google and Facebook pay for news? →

The French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) published yesterday its amended Guidelines and its final Recommendation on the use of cookies and other trackers, marking a “turning point both for the online advertising sector and for internet users, who will now be able to exercise better control over online trackers”.  The Amended Guidelines   Following the … Continue reading CNIL adopts final Guidelines and Recommendation on the use of cookies and other trackers →

The French Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), known for its strict interpretation and zealous enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (who can forget the €50 million fine it imposed on Google?), must now partially change its draft guidelines on cookies and other trackers after a ruling of the Conseil d’État.   The … Continue reading CNIL, Europe’s strictest Data Protection Authority, is not invincible after all →

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) published today a Statement of Issues outlining its preliminary views on competition concerns arising from the proposed acquisition of Fitbit (a company that develops, manufactures and distributes wrist-worn wearable devices) by Google.  The Australian watchdog raises two main concerns regarding the proposed acquisition. First, that it is likely … Continue reading The ACCC publishes Statement of Issues on the Google/Fitbit merger →

Digital technologies have considerably changed the way commerce and distribution work. Internet sales are growing exponentially. Numerous offline retailers are now marketing their products and services online, and “pure play” retailers, almost exclusively active in internet sales, have emerged.  At the same time, digital technologies (e.g. smartphones, tablets, augmented technologies) are increasingly forming part of the … Continue reading The Autorité de la concurrence publishes study on competition and e-commerce →

Yesterday marked the beginning of a busy summer on the regulatory front, as the European Commission fired the starting gun for the regulation of digital platforms.  The Commission launched a public consultation on the Digital Services Act (“DSA”), a much-awaited package announced in the political guidelines of the new Commission and in the Commission’s Communication “Shaping … Continue reading Countdown to the ex ante regulation of online platforms: the Commission launches public consultation and publishes inception impact assessment →

Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit “has the potential to be a game-changer”, the European Consumer Organisation (“BEUC”) warns in a report published recently outlining the merger's competition concerns and harms to consumers. The effects of the combination of Google’s unparalleled market power across several digital markets and Fitbit’s exceptional dataset could be felt, according to … Continue reading BEUC raises concerns over the Google/Fitbit merger →