Author: Tom Smith

CMA blocks the Facebook/Giphy merger: you can’t say they didn’t warn us

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) investigation into the acquisition of Giphy by Facebook (now Meta) has been watched by merger control practitioners with morbid fascination. It has included everything one could wish for in a merger case – a Big Tech killer acquisition (arguably), novel theories of harm (arguably), satellite litigation, the highest … Continue reading CMA blocks the Facebook/Giphy merger: you can’t say they didn’t warn us →

Harnessing digital disruption in the radio industry – an interview with Bauer Media Audio

Today’s blog post is an interview with our friend Philip Pilcher, Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Bauer Media Audio.  Philip has some interesting insights into the future of radio at a time when listening habits are changing and the digital platforms are playing an increasingly central role.  He will describe in particular how … Continue reading Harnessing digital disruption in the radio industry – an interview with Bauer Media Audio →

The UK’s regulatory regime for Big Tech: will the Government dare to make it more effective?

The British Government’s consultation on the design of the new regulatory regime for Big Tech (the “Consultation”) closed on Friday.  We gave our initial thoughts on this legislation back in July.  This blog post picks out some of the other important issues. For the most part, the Government has followed the advice of the CMA’s … Continue reading The UK’s regulatory regime for Big Tech: will the Government dare to make it more effective? →

UK Digital Regulation: time to get into the detail

The UK government has published its White Paper on the new regulatory regime for firms with Strategic Market Status (SMS), which is very likely to capture firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The new legislation is therefore now officially government policy. At first glance, it will be a sigh of relief for the … Continue reading UK Digital Regulation: time to get into the detail →

The UK reform agenda

The former Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Lord Andrew Tyrie, has written a report setting out some suggestions to reform the competition regime.  This follows an FT opinion piece earlier this year, and his much-discussed letter to the Secretary of State in February 2019 advocating reforms to the competition regime. Lord Tyrie’s … Continue reading The UK reform agenda →

Major new market study into mobile ecosystems

Following on from the announcement of a new antitrust investigation into Facebook (and indeed a Financial Times report that an Amazon case is imminent), the CMA has launched an ambitious market study into mobile ecosystems.  The CMA already has ongoing investigations into Google’s Privacy Sandbox and Apple’s approach to in-app purchasing; it has established the … Continue reading Major new market study into mobile ecosystems →

Maintaining a level playing field when Big Tech disrupts the financial services sector

Hello from me to all Platform Law Blog subscribers!  I joined Geradin Partners last week, based in London.  I hope I can help the team shed light on some of the complex and fascinating issues that the blog covers. To kick off, Damien and I have written an article analysing the expansion of Google, Apple, … Continue reading Maintaining a level playing field when Big Tech disrupts the financial services sector →