Friday, May 20, 2016

How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist

T. Harris, Here.

Google answered some of our questions about its fancy new AI chip

Recode, Here.

Istruttoria nei confronti di Net Service per ipotesi di abuso della posizione dominante

Provvedimento qui.

La CNMC impugna el Decreto sobre viviendas vacacionales en Canarias

CNMC, here.

Oracle-Google Dispute Goes to Heart of Open-Source Software

NYTimes, here

Kartellrechtliche Beschränkung von Online-Verkäufen über Amazon und eBay

Cmshs-bloggt.de, hier.
Vorlagebeschluss hier.

Goodreads is finally cashing in on its devoted community

Wired, here

UK High Court on Plain Packaging

"The" Expert
Here.
Worthwhile read for your week-end.

Read also here.



"I earn a living fronting an organization that kills one thousand two hundred human beings a day; twelve hundred people. We're talking two jumbo jet plane loads of men, women, and children. I mean there's Attila, Genghis, and me, Nick Naylor the face of cigarettes, the colonel Sanders of nicotine. This is where I work, the Academy of Tobacco Studies. It was established by seven gentlemen you may recognize from C-Span. These guys realized quick if they were gonna claim cigarettes were not addictive they better have proof. This is the man they rely on, Erhardt Von Grupten Mundt. They found him in Germany. I won't go into the details. He's been testing the link between nicotine and lung cancer for thirty years, and hasn't found any conclusive results. The man's a genius, he could disprove gravity."
Thank you for smoking

Third Circuit Provides Guidance on Loyalty Discounts

Schiff Hardin, Here.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Google's Data Dominance

M. Kearns, here.

Big Data Enters the Agenda of EU Antitrust Authorities

Skadden, here.

Technology‑led Innovation and Emerging Services in the Canadian Financial Services Sector

Competition Bureau, here.

Google’s chatbot strategy is missing something important

VentureBeat, here

Data Mobility at the Intersection of Data, Trade Secret Protection and the Mobility of Employees in the Digital Economy

G. Surblyte, here.

Google Appeals French Right-To-Be-Forgotten Ruling

NYTimes, here.

The Dutch parliament bans zero rating

EDRi, here.

Shared, Collaborative and On Demand: The New Digital Economy

Pew, Study here

TTIP on Competition

Wikileaks, here

The CMA is right to place its faith in tech, not gimmicks

Cityam.com, here

Majority of accommodation providers in the EU offer online booking

Eurostat, here

Online tracking: A 1-million-site measurement and analysis

S. Englehardt, A. Narayanan, here

It’s the Data, Stupid: What Elsevier’s purchase of SSRN also means

SavageMinds, here

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

The Smoking Gun in Android Antitrust Case

TheInformation, here

Staples/Office Depot: Memorandum Opinion

E. Sullivan, here

TripAdvisor chief on Instant Book, hotel direct campaigns and tours and activities

Travolution.com, here

Guide to big data and the Australian Privacy Principles

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Consultation Draft, here

Oracle CEO claims it discounted Java by 97.5% to beat out Android on Amazon’s Paperwhite

TechCrunch, here

Less Logic, More Health: How Behavioral Economics Can Improve Incentives

Knowledge@Wharton, here

Training Computer Programs

Wired, here

Colleges Shouldn’t Have to Deal With Copyright Monitoring

P. Samuelson, here

An Introduction to Intellectual Property

M. Lemley P. Menell, R. Merges, here.

Google To Enter The Chat Bot Market With New Developer Tools, Integrations

AndroidPolice, here

EU-wide cybersecurity rules adopted by the Council

Council of the EU, here

Sharing Research Data

S. Summers, Presentation here

Runkeeper: A Message to Our Users

Here. And reply by the Forbrukerådet here.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Polish competition authority declares that Uber does not pose a threat to competition and protection of consumer interests.

A. Stawicki, here.
Statement of UOKiK's position here

Tripadvisor chief Stephen Kaufer sees no threat from direct hotel booking

IrishTimes, here

Waze va concurrencer BlaBlaCar avec un service de covoiturage

Numerama, ici

Pratiques Unilatérales

F. Marty, A. Wachsmann, Chroniques ici

CMA warns UK estate agents against colluding in online portal selection

EU-competitionlaw.com, here.

Elsevier acquires online community SSRN

TheBookseller, here.
See also here.
See Elsevier's post here.
There is somewhere a lesson to be learned about how communities are formed and monetized in the platform society. Moreover, would authors respond/react by increasingly disintermediating (own blog, other more "private" repositories, etc.), possibly? Or what about a broader ArXiv?

Oracle v. Google - Day 5

S. Jeong, Storify here

Die Hotel-Branche soll die Zimmerpreise von Buchungsplattformen wieder unterbieten dürfen, kündigt Wirtschaftsminister

Tiroler Tageszeitung, hier

Retail banking market investigation: Provisional decision on remedies

CMA, here.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Waze brings its carpooling service to the Bay Area

TechCrunch, here.

A brief history of disobedience

Seriously..., Podcast here.

How much of an optimistic disobedient person are you?


Vermieter zeigen Berliner Ferienwohnungs-Verbot bei EU an

Morgenpost, hier.

Made in Roma - Marchi di produzione e di possesso nella società antica

Museo dei Fori Imperiali, Mostra, info qui.
V. anche S. Pastor, Dal “Domo Roma” al “Made in Roma”, qui.

Blockchain startups make up 20% of largest crowdfunding projects

VentureBeat, here.

Tacit Agreement Under Section 1 of the Sherman Act

W. Page, here.

Online Platforms, Competition Rules and Consumer Protection in Travel Industry

M. Colangelo, V. Zeno-Zencovich, here.

European Union Competition Law, Intellectual Property Law and Standardization

D. Geradin, here.

The Problem of Intra-Personal Cost

B. Galle, here.

Hail and Farewell to The Google Books Case

J. Grimmelmann, here.

Forbes Tests New Tactics to Combat Ad Blocking

Forbes, Here.

The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback

TheGuardian, Here.

Some hope for software patents in the US after the CAFC's Enfish decision, but this is no game-changer

Iam-Media, Here.

How expiring patents are ushering in the next generation of 3D printing

TechCrunch, Here.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Competition Policy in a World of Big Data (again)

S. Vezzoso (this blog's author), here.

Slightly revised and updated version (and yes, this week's FR and D Data Report is also considered).

EU’s Vestager Considers Third Antitrust Case Against Google

A. White, here

Matchmakers: The Future of Online Dating Platforms?

Arstechnica, here

What Platforms Do Differently than Traditional Businesses

D. Evans, R. Schmalensee, here

Draft Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Educational Activities

D. Seng, here.

Runkeeper tracks users when the app is not in use

Forbrukerradet, here
Ready for the week-end?

Spanish sherry maker fined by for cartel conduct aimed at raising export prices, here (Spanish)

Dispersion of Power as an Economic Goal of Antitrust and Competition Policy

S. Martin, here

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Uber’s Antitrust Problem

Prospect.org, here.

In a $9 Billion Trial, Google's Secret Weapon Is a Filing Cabinet

MotherBoard, here

With help from Alexa, Kayak debuts voice-enabled travel search on Amazon Echo

SearchEngineLand, here

Fair use’ test at heart of $9 billion Google-Oracle copyright trial

MLex, here

GDPR and privacy are smokin’ hot for innovation right now

S. Carroll, here

Google to ban payday loan advertisements

WashingtonPost, here.
See also Led Astray, here

An EU exception for Text and Data Mining in the pipeline

Kluwer Copyright Blog, here

Targeted online ads: Do customers benefit from giving out personal information to advertisers?

Stanford Business, here

Patent Trolls: Moral Panics, Motions in Limine, and Patent Reform

E. Lee, here

Android Share Growth is Highest in EU5 (Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) in Over Two Years

Kantarworldpanel, here

3D, yes. But do it yourself not so much.

InsideStory, here

Wal-Mart Takes Another Swipe at Fees for Payment Cards

Bloomberg, here

Innovative uses of consumer data by financial institutions

EBA, Discussion Paper, here

Où est passé le bien commun ?

J. Tirole, ici

Keeping Pace in the Digital Age

T. McSweeney, Video here. Written comments here.

The next AI is no AI

TechCrunch, here

The Information Age is over; welcome to the Experience Age

TechCrunch, here

Monday, May 09, 2016

The creators of Siri just showed off their next AI assistant, Viv, and it's incredible

TheVerge, here.
Demo here.

Personal digital assistants are on the rise (and they want to talk)

USAToday.com, here

OLG Düsseldorf lässt einstweilig abblitzen

Hotellerie.de, hier

The digital age of data art

TechCrunch, here

How blockchains could change the world

McKinsey, here

Millionenbuße wegen vertikaler Preisabsprachen beim Vertrieb von Bier

FAZ.net, hier.
Fallbericht hier.

Disruptive innovations in legal services

OECD Secretariat, Background Note here

New app gives Uber a little disruption of its own

BostonGlobe, here

Vehicle Dealers Allege Car Carrier Price Fixing

Maritime-executive, here.
Complaints here and here

Chasing the Uber model is killing a lot of on-demand companies

VentureBeat, here

Friday, May 06, 2016

Challenging Anticompetitive Acquisitions and Enforcement of Patents

AAI, here

How Android gets to 100% market share

TechCrunch, here.

Facebook is building AI that builds AI

Wired, here

Italian Film Industry Condemns Paramount’s EU Antitrust Deal

HollywoodReporter, here

CMA publishes one stop guide to obtaining redress for competition law breaches

Out-law.com, here

New regulations for the grocery sector now in force in Ireland

CCPC, here

eBay acquires AI-powered big data processor Expertmaker

TechCrunch, here

An analytical review of text and data mining practices and approaches in Europe

OFE, here

Regulating Patent Hold-Up

LCII Policy Brief, here

3D printing companies request Supreme Court clarification over cheerleader uniform copyright case

3ders.org, here.
Petition here.
Amicus Brief here

Open Data, Privacy, and Fair Information Principles: Towards a Balancing Framework

F. Borgesius, J. Gray & M. van Eechoud, here

Sensay, a chatbot for getting help with any task, passes 1 million users

VentureBeat, here

Merger Remedies Guide

ICN Merger Working Group, here

Government Advocacy and Disruptive Innovations

ICN Special Project Report, here.

Thursday, May 05, 2016

Google AI has access to huge haul of NHS patient data

NewScientist, here.

Liability for robots/AI generated harm

N. Petit, presentations here and here.

Disruptive innovation: Competition enforcement challenges and advocacy opportunities

OECD Forum, contributions here.

Anticipating Disruptive Strategies

Deloitte, here.

Australia should follow Europe against US digital giants

TheAustralian, here.

Los grandes fabricantes alertan: la marca blanca es 'invisible' para Competencia

ElEspanol, aquí

Google y el abuso de posición de dominio: una cronología

CNMC, here.

Online platforms: Commission wants to make the internet more like traditional media

Communia, here.

Google Is Feeding Romance Novels To Its Artificial Intelligence Engine To Make Its Products More Conversational

BuzzFeed, here.

Ever-Litigious Apple Loses Copyright Battle With China Over iPhone

Sputniknews, here.

Accountable Algorithms


J. Kroll, J. Huey, S. Barocas, E. Felten, J. Reidenberg, D. Robinson, and H. Yu, here.

Big Data: A Report on Algorithmic Systems, Opportunity, and Civil Rights

The White House, here.

Friday, April 29, 2016

The boundaries of the “premium sports rights” category and its competition law implications

M. Montejo, here

Online Platforms and the EU Digital Single Market

O. Batura, N. van Gorp, P. Larouche (and L.Filistrucchi), here.
TNO/Ecorys/IViR Report here

Musicians: canaries in the coalmine

J. Lanier, here.
WIPO Magazine, Interview here

Who's downloading pirated papers?

ScienceMag.org, here.

What is the European Commission’s problem with Google and Android?

M. Martyniszyn, here

Will blockchains remove the need for an intermediary?

iDate, here

Airbnb dumps Berlin holiday flats before city crackdown

IrishTimes, here

Bathroom supplier fined £826,000 for restricting online prices

CMA, here.

"The CMA will issue its formal infringement decision shortly."

Google Shuts Out Competitors on Android? Hardly

NYTimes, here

Exploring the Boundaries of Big Data

WRR, here

Google Tests Feature That Lets Media Companies, Marketers Publish Directly to Search Results

WSJ, here

Competition Tribunal rules against TREB in dispute over home sales data

CBC.ca, here.
CB's press release, here

PayPal Says Federal Trade Commission Investigating Venmo

Bloomberg, here

Whoa, Amazon isn't just making money. It's making more money than ever.

Wired, here

TripAdvisor acquires HouseTrip as home-rental market consolidates

VentureBeat, here

Waze downplays exploit that let researchers track users

TechCrunch, here

Le Sénat adopte une disposition contre les abus de Google

Numerama.com, ici

Buchungsportal darf nicht mit eigenen Hotel-Sternen werben

FAZ, hier

Consumers not breaching copyright by circumventing with VPN, AU Government agency says

ABC.net.au, here.

Draft Report here

Colgate fined over price fixing

CPI, here.
ACCC's press release, here

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

How GDPR changes the rules for research

The Privacy Advisor, here

Data protection regulations and international data flows: Implications for trade and development

UNCTAD, here

Facebook considering a number of ways to let users earn money from posts

DigitalTrends, here

ICOMP on Statement of Objections against Google Android

7 Top Takeaways from EU’s Google-Android-Tying Charges

S. Cleland, here

Appropriability and the European Commission's Android Investigation

D. Auer, here

Google, Online Search and Consumer Confusion in Australia

A. Scardamaglia, A. Daly, here

EC Statement of Objections on Google's Tactics in Mobile

B. Edelman, here

Paranoid About Android

Bloomberg, here

Android’s Model of Open Innovation

Google, here

Commission sends Statement of Objections to Google on Android operating system and applications

EC, Press Release here.
Commissioner Vestager's Statement here.
Factsheet, here.
Press conference, recordings here (Statement) and here (Q&A)

Negative externality: my paper's massively outdated now.

Hankook Tire fined in China for resale price maintenance

Yonhapnews, here

Competencia y economía colaborativa

ElPeriodico, aquì.

Europe is targeting Google under antitrust laws but missing the bigger picture

J. Powles, here

Advancing the Internet of Things in Europe

EC, here

Fair Use and its politics, at home and abroad

J. Hughes, Presentation here

Statement Regarding Investigation into Alleged Anti-Competitive Conduct by Google

Competition Bureau (Canada), here

Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market

UK House of Lords, here.

Nice, informative read. The irony is, though, that given the actual pace of technological and other developments, some parts of it already feel a bit old.