Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Swedish songwriters seek fair compensation from Spotify and others

VentureBeat, here.

Apple tested (and cut) more advanced fitness sensors from the Apple Watch

ArsTechnica, here

Beginnings of the "more technological approach"

1998: "To meet Microsoft’s arguments about the integration of the operating system and the browser, Justice Department lawyers needed to understand how software programs were written...They needed to appreciate the technical characteristics of software code and design, something that Microsoft and its software engineers already understood", in  A. Gavil, H. First, The Microsoft Antitrust Cases: Competition Policy for the Twenty-first Century, MIT Press, 2014. A terrific read, see here for a book review - with which I only partially agree, though. Contrary to the reviewer's opinion, I didn't miss the "drama" at all (read the footnotes!). Moreover, there are plenty of references to the economic underpinnings of the Microsoft cases (basically, network economics and the then nascent theory of two-sided markets). However, what I'd have liked to find in the book is also an in-depth discussion of the suitability of the economic theories that played a decisive role in the Microsoft cases for competition policy going forward (legal theories are already depicted by the authors as sufficiently flexible to cope with new challenges). For instance, how solid is the application barrier to entry argument  likely to be in other high-tech markets such as mobile?

Why Xiaomi Worries Google

TheInformant, here (only partially accessible without subscription, but already very interesting).

Capturing the Transplant: U.S. Antitrust Law in the EU

S. Beltrametti, here

Copyright and the Value of the Public Domain

K. Erickson, P. Heald, F. Homberg, M. Kretschmer and D. Mendis, here.

Die Welt braucht ein sicheres Betriebssystem

FAZ, hier.

John Oliver on plain-packaging

Video here

Competition Policy and Regulation in Credit Card Markets: Insights from Single-Sided Market Analysis

D. Carlton, R. Winter, here

Council of the European Union agrees draft on financial benchmark controls

Out-Law.com, here

Le statut d'hébergeur de YouTube encore conforté en justice

Nextinpact.com, ici.

Jugement TGI Paris, Kare et Delante / YouTube, 29 janvier 2015, ici

Cloud Computing: Microsoft integriert Standards zum Datenschutz für Unternehmen

Heise.de, hier

Fostering Freedom Online: the Role of Internet Intermediaries

UNESCO, here

Price-match guarantees prevent rather than provoke price wars

The Economist, here

Négociations fournisseurs-distributeurs : sans accord, les amendes vont pleuvoir

LaTribune.fr, ici

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Expedia Will Pay Orbitz $115 Million if Antitrust Complications Scuttle Acquisition

Skift, here.

Stiftung Warentest: Reiseportale tricksen immer noch bei Onlinebuchungen

Spiegel.de, hier.

Fall Viagra und Co.: Bei Potenzmitteln spielt der Wettbewerb

NZZ, hier.

Google following Facebook down the zero-rate rabbit hole

GigaOm, here.

Konkurrenz für Tesla: Apple entwickelt offenbar eigenes Auto

FAZ.net, hier.

Google boss warns of 'forgotten century' with email and photos at risk

The Guardian, here.

Les bibliothécaires européens 'soutiennent le rapport Reda'

Actualitte.com, ici.

Why the high street is overdosing on caffeine

Tim Harford, here.

Data reveals a surge in the success rate of motions to dismiss after Alice

Iam-magazine.com/blog, here.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Competition, Consumer Protection, and The Right [Approach] to Privacy

M. Ohlhausen, A. Okuliar, here.

CMA appoints researchers to explore the commercial use of consumer data in three sectors

CMA, here.

Authorpreneurship

The Economist, here.

How 21 big tech companies got their names

TheNextWeb, here.

Droit d'auteur : rien n'empêche une loi d'être "inadaptée au contexte"

ActuaLitté, ici

La CNMC debate con expertos internacionales el diseño institucional de las autoridades de competencia y regulación

CNMC, Nota de Prensa, aquì

Antitrust, Privacy & Big Data: Setting the Scene

A. Burnside, here

La indemnización de los daños por el cártel de los rodamientos ferroviarios: ¿algunos millones de euros más para el Plan +Renfe?

F. Marcos, aquì

Regulation, antitrust and promotion of innovation? Challenges and experiences from communications to payment systems

Thursday 12 March 2015, 18:00 - 19:30 (registration from 17:30)
UCL Laws Graduate Wing, 1-2 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0EG


Speakers:
David Evans (Global Economics Group / UCL)
Steve Unger (Ofcom)
Andrea Coscelli (CMA)
Hannah Nixon (Payment Systems Regulator)
John Fingleton (Fingleton Associates)

Chair:
Antonio Bavasso (UCL / Allen & Overy LLP)

Website here.

EU Council backs European Commission proposal to fight against the manipulation of financial benchmarks

EC Press Release, here

New agency to sniff out threats in cyberspace

WashingtonPost, here.

Expedia's $1.6 Billion Purchase Of Orbitz Not Likely An Antitrust Concern

Forbes, here.

Sometimes one wonders...Is this still journalism or should we better find another name for it? Competition  policy propaganda campaign (CPPC) perhaps? It is worth $115 million, apparently, here.

Most Big Data is Social Data

Blogs.lse.ac.uk, here.

Friday, February 06, 2015

The first Tizen smartphone isn't an "Android killer"—it's a bad Android clone

ArsTechnica, here

Copyright and the Music Marketplace

US Copyright Office, here

As Apple-Google Deal Expires, Who Will Win The Safari Default Search Business?

Searchengineland.com, here

Bilan 2014 du marché de la musique enregistrée

Syndicat National de l'édition Phonographique (SNEP), ici.

The Valuation of Unprotected Works: A Case Study of Public Domain Photographs on Wikipedia

P. Heald, M. Kretschmer, K. Erickson, here

Weiteres Bußgeld wegen vertikaler Preisbindung im Matratzenfall verhängt

Bundeskartellamt, hier

Learning from each other's experiences' - a review of the ICN Merger Workshop on cross-border cooperation

A.Baker, here.

The Advisory Council to Google on the Right To Be Forgotten

Thursday, February 05, 2015

Google’s slippery slope: If search giant pays Twitter for content, should it pay all publishers?

VentureBeat, here.

Apple développe sa première application Android

Numerama, ici

EU taskforce to fight new Facebook privacy policy

ITpro.co.uk, here

Open Government Licenses Interoperability

LAPSI Report, here

Big Data and Differential Pricing

US White House, here.

(FTC "under pressure"?).

Dept. of Justice Blesses IEEE Rules on Injunctions and Reasonability

Consortiuminfo.org, here

Obama finds bipartisan support for first 'Big Data' privacy plan

Reuters, here.

How White House Thwarted FCC Chief on Internet Rules

WSJ, here.

Monday, February 02, 2015

Patents Become A Literal 'Get Out Of Jail Early' Card For Chinese Prisoners

TechDirt, here.


Let the Right 'One' Win: Policy Lessons from the New Economics of Platforms

E. Weyl, A. White, here

Competition Policy and Intellectual Property: Insights from Developed Country Experience

F. M. Scherer, J. Watal, here

Evaluating Appropriability Defenses for the Exclusionary Conduct of Dominant Firms in Innovative Industries

J. Baker, here

Copyright policy and the right to science and culture

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, here (Word File).

UK IPO Copyright Notice: knitting and sewing patterns (seriously!)

Here

PSI Charging Policy: A Conceptual Framework For EU Guidance to the Member States

M. Ricolfi, here

Friedrich Hayek's Contribution to Antitrust Law and Its Modern Application

T. Schrepel, here

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Off-topic: la légèreté c'est très dur à faire

Cabu interviewé par Charles Sigel,  Podcast ici.

Digital vs. Print: Reading Comprehension and the Future of the Book

J. Tanner, here.

(missing from the analysis, though: tablets powered by great apps like GoodReader, used indoor and positioned at a convenient angle - moreover, not clearly stated that reading and taking notes with whatever medium are two distinct processes)

Thursday, January 08, 2015

The Sharing Economy and Consumer Protection Regulation: The Case for Policy Change

Mercatus Research, here

End of the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust Saga

ARL Policy Notes, here

Marrakesh Treaty: Mali takes the plunge for Africa

Afro-ip.blogspot, here

Switzerland: The library’s document delivery service (scanning and sending journal articles by email to users) complies with copyright law

Kluwer Copyright Blog, here

PMI: Draft final order published for formal public consultation

CMA, draft order here; Draft Explanatory Note here.

(a whole two pages required to explain the prohibition on equivalent behaviour, 14-16)

Googles Dominanz in Amerika bröckelt

FAZ, hier

EU negotiating texts in TTIP

EC, here.

Troll fatigue: Earnest debate on patent abuse at CES

ArsTechnica, here.

Monday, January 05, 2015

Apple Watch Will Deliver ‘Hyper-Local’ Ads On Your Wrist

BusinessInsider, here

Building the Entrepreneurial State: A New Framework for Envisioning and Evaluating a Mission-oriented Public Sector

M. Mazzucato, here

The Enormous Implications Of Facebook Indexing 1 Trillion Of Our Posts

TechCrunch, here

Injunctive Relief in Disputes Related to Standard-Essential Patents: Time for the CJEU to Set Fair and Reasonable Presumptions

P. Larouche, N. Zingales, here

Abuso del diritto al brevetto e abuso di posizione dominante: il caso Pfizer

G. Ghidini, G. Cavani, P. F. Piserà, qui

Big Data, Machine Learning, and the Social Sciences: Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency

Medium.com, here

Les prix personnalisés, un défi pour l'autorité de la concurrence

LesEchos, ici