Limits of Competition Policies in Digital Markets

Pranesh Prakash

Fellow
Centre for Internet and Society

Affiliated Fellow
Information Society Project, Yale Law School

Public Interest Technology Fellow

New America

 

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Are "Digital Markets" Really Different?

Yes and No.

Sometimes Competition Concerns are the Same

Steam

(Geo-blocking and "national boundaries" in the EU)

Sometimes Competition Concerns are the Same

Everything may be seen to be part of the "digital economy", even physical goods!

E.g., Malaysia's "Digital Free Trade Zone" is about physical goods.

Not Every Online Business is A Platform

Apple Inc.

(Mostly "products")
(but also platforms (apps, music, etc.))

Even "Big Tech" isn't a Single Model

Alibaba vs. Amazon

Facebook vs. Microsoft

Regulators Have Survivorship Bias

Myspace
Orkut
Google+

Focus of Competition Law

Consumers

(Short-term consumer prices and outputs - USA)

(Consumer Well-Being + Efficient allocation of resources - EU)

Other Regimes

Data Protection

Interoperability
Compliance costs
(Benefits or harms competition?)

Other Regimes

Consumer Protection
(Jurisdiction, DRM)

Other Regimes

Data Localization

Other Regimes

Open Standards/APIs
Free/Open Source Software
Open Data
Accessibility for PWD
Localization
(Government Procurement + Production)

Other Regimes

Sector-specific regulation

(Telecom regulation: Net neutrality)

pranesh@cis-india.org
twitter: @pranesh

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