Tag: Google

Fashionably late:  The UK digital markets legislation starts its passage through Parliament

More than four years after the Furman Report, the British Government has laid its Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill before Parliament.  However, what is perhaps more remarkable than the delays is how closely the Bill sticks to the CMA’s original recommendations. One can always quibble over some of the drafting, but overall this is … Continue reading Fashionably late:  The UK digital markets legislation starts its passage through Parliament →

The DMA is coming. Here’s what it will mean for mobile gaming

The App Store and Play Store are huge profit generators for Apple and Google. As explained by Judge Gonzalez Rogers in her Epic v Apple judgment of September 2021, gaming apps account for approximately 70% of all App Store revenues. According to some, this means that Apple makes more money from games than Microsoft, Sony, … Continue reading The DMA is coming. Here’s what it will mean for mobile gaming →

US Department of Justice sues Google, seeks to break up its ad tech business

On 24 January 2023, in what Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter described as a “historic moment”, the US Department of Justice (“DoJ”) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia over Google’s ad tech business (the text of the complaint is available here). The lawsuit, joined … Continue reading US Department of Justice sues Google, seeks to break up its ad tech business →

Some additional thoughts on the General Court’s judgment in Google Android

This is the second post on the General Court’s judgment in Google Android (T-604/18) delivered earlier this year (which Google has in the meantime appealed to the Court of Justice). As in the first post (available here), I would like to discuss some issues that caught my attention while reading the judgment, rather than summarize … Continue reading Some additional thoughts on the General Court’s judgment in Google Android →

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 →

Full steam ahead for the UK Digital Markets Unit

UK politics has been in a parlous state. Today the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer attempted to stabilize the country’s finances by announcing some eye-watering tax rises and spending cuts in the Autumn Statement. However, of more relevance to readers of this blog, he also made a significant announcement about the legislation required to implement … Continue reading Full steam ahead for the UK Digital Markets Unit →

General Court largely upholds the Commission’s decision in Google Android (Case T-604/18)

Earlier this month the General Court of the EU (the “Court”) delivered its much-anticipated judgment on Google’s action for annulment of the Commission’s decision in Case AT.40099 (Google Android) – the decision currently holding the record for the highest antitrust fine ever imposed, namely EUR 4.3 billion. By way of reminder, the Commission found that … Continue reading General Court largely upholds the Commission’s decision in Google Android (Case T-604/18) →

Antitrust is turning its eye to gaming

Last week, I spoke at the Video Games Bar Association’s annual summit which took place at devcom in Cologne, Germany. The event confirmed to me that gaming is where the innovative technologies of the future are in many ways already a reality today. It was my contention at the conference that competition law is turning … Continue reading Antitrust is turning its eye to gaming →

The CMA Final Report on the Mobile Ecosystems market study: a repudiation of Apple’s narrative over privacy and safety as justifications for the status quo

On 10 June 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its Final Report on its year-long market study into mobile ecosystems – namely mobile operating systems, app stores, and web browsers. The CMA found that Apple and Google have a tight grip over these increasingly crucial ecosystems, which in turn places them in … Continue reading The CMA Final Report on the Mobile Ecosystems market study: a repudiation of Apple’s narrative over privacy and safety as justifications for the status quo →

The fast growing concentration of the connected TV OS market: Getting Ahead of Another Big Tech Duopoly, Before It’s Too Late

The European Commission recently published its final report into the Internet of Things, with Executive Vice-President Vestager stating: “The consumer Internet of Things sector is increasingly becoming part of our everyday life …  This is a market with high barriers to entry, few vertically integrated players and concerns about access to data, interoperability or exclusivity … Continue reading The fast growing concentration of the connected TV OS market: Getting Ahead of Another Big Tech Duopoly, Before It’s Too Late →