30 July 2024
ByteDance v. Commission
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a revolutionary tool to regulate EU digital markets, it complements competition law by imposing ex ante obligations on the largest digital undertakings. The General Court judgement in the ByteDance case was the first test of the limits of this expediated enforcement and resulted in a remarkable win for the Commission. The Court dismissed ByteDance’s appeal against the European Commission’s decision to designate ByteDance with its social network TikTok as gatekeeper under the DMA. Continue reading >>
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10 April 2024
Enforcement of the Digital Markets Act
Since March 2024, the undertakings Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Byte-Dance/TikTok, Meta, and Microsoft must comply with the obligations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Within the first month after the 6-months implementation period has ended, the European Commission opened investigations against Alphabet/Google, Apple, and Meta for non-compliance with the obligations in the DMA. All proceedings can be traced back to related competition law cases. However, only two proceedings follow the same reasoning as their competition law role models, while the case against Meta reveals that the approaches under the DMA can and will deviate significantly to those under competition law and data protection law. Continue reading >>
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23 January 2023
Google zähmen
Das Bundeskartellamt versucht sich an der Zähmung des Datenkraken Google und zeigt, dass es trotz europäischer Regulierung weiterhin eine Vorreiterrolle im Kampf gegen die großen Digitalunternehmen einnehmen wird. Auf Grundlage des bisher kaum erprobten § 19a Abs. 2 GWB sollen Alphabet und Google Verbraucher*innen mehr Wahlmöglichkeiten bei der Einwilligung in das „Superprofiling“ geben. Damit zielt das Bundeskartellamt in das Herz des Geschäftsmodells der digitalen Giganten. Ob das gelingt, hängt maßgeblich davon ab, ob der für diesen Zweck geschaffene § 19a GWB in der Anwendung schlagkräftiger ist als das „alte“ Kartellrecht. Continue reading >>
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06 September 2021
How to Challenge Big Tech
The European Commission's proposal for a Digital Markets Act is meant to complement EU competition law, in order to guarantee contestable digital markets. However, from a policy point of view, the current self-restriction to behavioural remedies in competition law and merger control, as well as the focus on behavioural ex ante regulation via the DMA, is at best a half-hearted and at worst a misguided way to effectively address the Big Tech challenge. We argue in favour of a competition law toolkit with extended options to use structural measures to tackle entrenched market dysfunctionalities. Continue reading >>
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03 September 2021
Enforcement of the DSA and the DMA
In trying to overcome the cross-border enforcement’s pitfalls of the GDPR, the Commission’s proposals for a Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act are largely expanding the Commission’s enforcement powers. Unfortunately, what is touted as a solution for cross-border enforcement issues, might lead to new difficulties and challenges due to the risks of the centralization of power with the Commission. Continue reading >>
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03 September 2021
Private Enforcement for the DSA/DGA/DMA Package
The package consisting of the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Data Governance Act is about empowering authorities vis-à -vis powerful private market players. Private enforcement is absent in this package, despite its great potential: By engaging in rule enforcement, individuals and companies help to confine key market players’ (unlawful use of) economic power, while also counterbalancing a tendency for state agencies to become the sole decision makers on when and how to sanction what they consider undue conduct. Continue reading >>
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02 September 2021
Why End-User Consent Cannot Keep Markets Contestable
A central source of Big Tech gatekeepers’ power is their encompassing access to individuals’ personal data. The prohibition of Article 5(a) of the proposed Digital Markets Act, therefore, is a welcome attempt to limit the private power over data held by gatekeeping platforms. However, end-user consent cannot be regarded as an adequate safeguard for keeping data-driven markets competitive. Continue reading >>
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01 September 2021
Private enforcement and the Digital Markets Act
For the Digital Markets Act to function properly – that is, to dismantle overwhelming private power – enforcement capacities of private actors should be strengthened at the outset: Competitors and customers should be integrated into the enforcement system as complainants, informants and litigants. The digital giants will not tumble because of government intervention but because of innovative competitors and stronger customers that can rely on the framework set by governments. Private power needs to be cured with private empowerment. Continue reading >>
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30 August 2021
The Scope of the DMA
The combination of the features characterising gatekeepers in the Digital Markets Act's is likely to create significant power imbalances in the market and lead to unfair practices that the proposal aims to prevent and repair. A service-based approach, over a provider-based one, as well as a functional description of core platform services would remedy this unintended consequence. Continue reading >>
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