Disruptive Competition Project (DisCo)

Two years have passed since the European Commission published its initial proposal to prevent and combat CSA. Nevertheless, negotiations on Europe’s long-term regulatory framework to fight CSA still struggle to make progress. https://lnkd.in/egzjPeem

According to recent Korean pressarticles, Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) officials have been promoting Korean policy proposals modeled on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) by making a particular claim: the U.S. is poised to pass a DMA-style law in the next year, so Korea should follow suit. There’s just one problem: the claim is false https://lnkd.in/eMZEqSQZ

A recent motion by booksellers in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) quixotic monopolization case against Amazon highlighted the contradictions in the agency's case against the popular retailer. The FTC responded by asking the court to keep booksellers out of the case. Though both the FTC and American Booksellers Association (ABA) take issue with Amazon, their arguments only serve to highlight how both are wrong for their own reasons. https://lnkd.in/ezhBzZKK

New post by Aleksandra Żuchowska and Boniface de Champris discussing the emerging trend of #EU policymakers trying to hijack the #DMA ‘gatekeeper’ designations in order to impose additional prohibitions. This risks creating unintended consequences for consumers and industry alike. The idea of recycling the DMA’s ‘gatekeeper’ concept to define the scope of other EU legislation should be rejected https://buff.ly/4dEoBV8

New post by Jordan Rodell explaining how recent legislative efforts could upend our understanding of free speech protections in the online space. "In a time when state legislatures and the U.S. Congress are considering a myriad of bills requiring the verification or authentication of online users, including for children, it is important to remember that anonymous speech is a fundamental component of Americans' right to free speech." https://lnkd.in/eJaEds2H

California legislators recently unveiled the state’s latest misguided attempt to rebuild the local news industry — SB 1327. The bill proposes what the legislator calls a “Data Extraction Mitigation Fee”, which imposes fines on online platforms meeting certain monetary and service thresholds. Taxing the basic foundations of the internet stands to harm the most important tenets of information sharing online. CCIA's Tricia McCleary notes that this bill and others like it are not the solution to the ongoing local journalism disruption many communities are facing. https://buff.ly/44Erlhk  

Earlier this year, the Investigative Authority of Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission released a Preliminary Report following a market investigation into potential barriers to competition in the Mexican retail e-commerce market. In a new DisCo post, CCIA Vice President of Global Competition and Regulatory Policy Krisztian Katona reviews the report and the state of competition in the Mexican retail e-commerce market https://lnkd.in/e75TGjD8

It is always a sensitive question which companies are “in” and “out” for major regulations. It is particularly sensitive when being “in” can mean material additional costs, unwelcome constraints on the service provided to consumers and complex compliance processes. With major new laws being passed, regulators should be aiming for the most pro-competitive and proportionate implementation possible. https://lnkd.in/dbNwbw-M

The recently released files of the late Associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor reveal interesting details concerning three of the Court’s significant copyright decisions between 1984 and 1991. (See here for a post about Justice O’Connor’s copyright legacy.) Justice O’Connor (1930-2023) left her papers to the Library of Congress, which opened them to the public in March 2024. The papers provide additional insight into her thinking as she exercised her pivotal role in the shaping of Sony v. Universal (Betamax). They also increase our knowledge concerning the development of Justice O’Connor’s opinions for the Court in Harper & Row v. The Nation and Feist v. Rural Telephone. Because Justice O’Connor decided to restrict access to any files relating to a case heard by a Justice who was still serving on the Court, none of her files currently are available for any cases after October 1991, when Justice Clarence Thomas joined the Court.  https://lnkd.in/eU8rmRDG

Earlier this month, the Cyber Safety Review Board released its “scathing” report on the Summer 2023 Microsoft Exchange Online Intrusion. The Board, an independent body composed of public and private experts, is tasked with investigating incidents that affect U.S. government systems. Although organizations do have a responsibility to protect the legacy products they sell and support, the Administration can already take actions without additional legislation that would improve its security and address these concerns. Namely, the government can use its existing procurement power to hold a vendor accountable and impose systemic change. Security can no longer be an afterthought and needs to be a priority for any vendor to the federal government. https://buff.ly/3w8u8lS