Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

Effective Consumer Protection And Effective Judicial Protection For Entrepreneurs, Case Comment To The Judgment Of The Court Of Justice Of The European Union (Fifth Chamber) Of 21 December 2016 In Case C-119/15 Biuro Podróży ‘Partner’ Sp. Z O.O. Sp.K. W Dąbrowie Górniczej V. Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Konkurencji I Konsumentów, Bartosz Wyżykowski

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

Subject of the commentary is the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Fifth Chamber) of 21 December 2016 in Case C-119/15, Biuro podróży ‘Partner’ Sp. z o.o, Sp. komandytowa w Dąbrowie Górniczej v Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów. In essence, the court expressed therein its opinion on whether European law (Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, the Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers’ interests and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European …

New Regulations On Local Council Resolutions In The Fi Eld Of Upbringing In Sobriety And Counteracting Alcoholism - Selected Aspects, Adrian Misiejko

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The amendment to the Polish Act on the Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism of 26 October 1982 modifi ed the competences previously granted to local councils (in Polish: gminy) in regard to the regulation of alcoholic drinks. In particular, local councils became competent to issue new types of resolutions while, at the same time, involving their auxiliary units in the resolution process. The subject of this article is to present the results of the analysis of these changes together with a discussion of selected issues that raise interpretational doubts.

Undertaking A Business Activity In The Area Of Tourist Services Within The Economic Freedom Framework, Daniel Wojtczak

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The subject of this research paper is the analysis of economic activities in the area of tourist services in the context of the economic freedom. The paper mainly focuses on the legal aspect of a business activity as part of the provision of tourist services and regulatory restrictions applied in this economic sector. It should be pointed out that the author’s point of view is part of a heated discussion about expanding the scope of the freedom of economic activity by limiting its state regulation. It is advocated that restrictions of the economic freedom should be as infrequent and least …

On The Assessment Of The Admissibility Of Invoking By A Tour Operator Of Specifi C Provisions Limiting The Scope Or The Conditions Under Which Compensation Is Paid By The Travel Service Provider (I.E. The Need To Amend Article 50(5) Of The Polish Act On Package Travel And Linked Travel Arrangements), Piotr Cybula

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The purpose of this paper is to assess the conformity of Article 50(5) of the Polish Act on package travel and linked travel arrangements with Directive 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements. According to this provision, ‘Where specifi c provisions limit the extent to which, or the conditions under which, compensation is paid by a travel service provider which is part of a package, the tour organizer shall be subject to the same restrictions’. In the opinion of the author of this paper, current rules on the reviewed problem, as set out in Article 50(5) of the Act …

Right To Data Portability – Selected Issues In Connection With Exercising A New Right Granted By The Gdpr, Joanna Kaźmierczak

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The implementation of a new right derived from European regulation on personal data protection has given unknown possibilities to natural persons, imposing at the same time a number of obligations on data controllers. The aim of this article is to discuss the structure of the right to data portability from the data controllers’ point of view. The study focuses on selected elements that compose the right to data portability, which according to the author are likely to prove the most challenging for the data controllers. This publication includes also newest recommendations in terms of exercising the abovementioned right resulting from …

Online Tour Booking Software As A Mechanism Of Coordinated Anti-Competitive Activities, Case Comment To The Judgment Of The Court Of Justice Of The European Union Of 21 January 2016 In Case C-74/14 Eturas Uab V. Lithuanian Competition Authority, Aleksandra Dziurkowska

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The reviewed court judgment addresses the issue of algorithmic pricing, which is of major importance especially in the current digital age. In the investigated case, the liability for infringing competition law was also assigned to a third party (software provider) active on a different market than the travel agencies (original competitors). However, this issue is not further investigated by CJEU. In its judgment, the court emphasizes also the grounds for applying the principle of the presumption of innocence to anti-trust proceedings.

Piotr Piskozub, Odpowiedzialność Przedsiębiorcy Turystycznego Za Niewykonanie Lub Nienależyte Wykonanie Umowy O Świadczenie Usług Turystycznych [Liability Of Tour-Operator For Non-Fulfi Lment Of A Tourism Service Agreement], Wydawnictwo Umcs, Lublin 2017, Ss. 271, Dominik Wolski

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

No abstract provided.

Report From The Fifth International Academic Consumer Conference: The Infl Uence Of The Law And Ethic On The Practical Implementation Of Consumer Law (Law In Tourism Issues), Kraków, 1–2 March, 2018, Piotr Kukuryk

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

No abstract provided.

Report From The Third Nationwide Students Research Groups’ Seminar, Katowice, 15 March 2018, Katarzyna Płonka-Bielenin

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

No abstract provided.

The Obsolescence Of Advertising In The Information Age, Ramsi Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The vast amount of product information available to consumers through online search renders most advertising obsolete as a tool for conveying product information. Advertising remains useful to firms only as a tool for persuading consumers to purchase advertised products. In the mid-twentieth century, courts applying the antitrust laws held that such persuasive advertising is anticompetitive and harmful to consumers, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was unable to pursue an antitrust campaign against persuasive advertising for fear of depriving consumers of advertising’s information value. Now that the information function of most advertising is obsolete, the FTC should renew its campaign …

Confidentiality In Patent Dispute Resolution: Antitrust Implications, Mark R. Patterson

Washington Law Review

Information is crucial to the functioning of the patent system, as it is for other markets. Nevertheless, patent licensing terms are often subject to confidentiality agreements. On the one hand, this is not surprising: sellers and buyers do not normally publicize the details of their transactions. On the other hand, explicit confidentiality agreements are not common in other markets, and they may be particularly problematic for patents. Several United States Supreme Court cases have condemned agreements that suppress market information, and those cases could be applied to confidentiality agreements in the patent context. Of course, confidentiality may sometimes be pro-competitive, …

The Policy Challenge Of Artificial Intelligence, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

New "artificial intelligence" (AI) technology promises to bring dramatic social and economic changes, demanding major policy changes. In intellectual property and antitrust law, AI will exacerbate a damaging trend: across all major sectors of the economy, proprietary information technology is increasing the market dominance of large firms. This trend might not seem like bad news, but it is evidence of a slowdown in the spread of technical knowledge throughout the economy. The result is rising industry concentration, slower productivity growth and growing wage inequality. The key challenge to IP and antitrust policy will be counter this trend yet maintain innovation …

Talent Can't Be Allocated: A Labor Economics Justification For No-Poaching Agreement Criminality In Antitrust Regulation, Rochella T. Davis

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

As of late, labor markets have been a focus point in antitrust enforcement. In 2016 the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an unprecedented policy to pursue no-poaching agreements criminally. More recently, in January 2018, the DOJ’s Attorney General indicated that the agency is following through on the policy. This Article argues that the DOJ’s new policy is logical and prudent because the economic effects that no-poaching agreements have on labor markets mirror the anticompetitive effects of customer allocation agreements. It also shows that the policy is well-supported by labor economics and antitrust policies. In efforts to comply with the DOJ’s …

Trading Goods For Bad: Is Public Policy Undermined By Investor State Dispute Mechanisms?, Michelle C. Perez

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Meyer V. Uber Could Demonstrate That Uber And The Sharing Economy Fit Into Antitrust Law, Nicholas Andrew Passaro

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Recently, Uber driver (and former Uber CEO) Travis Kalanick has been sued under antitrust laws. The plaintiffs argue that Mr. Kalanick and the other Uber drivers have engaged in a price fixing arrangement that violates §1 of the Sherman Act. The case, Meyer v. Uber (originally Meyer v. Kalanick), is still being litigated. This Comment will analyze each side’s potential arguments and will ultimately conclude that the court should find Uber drivers not guilty of a Sherman Act violation. This determination will be based on: the merits of the various arguments, how such a holding would fit within the …

Keynote Address To The Atlas Conference: “International Business Disputes In An Era Of Receding Globalism”, Lord Peter H. Goldsmith Qc, Pc

Georgia State University Law Review

This is a transcript of the luncheon keynote address by Lord Peter Goldsmith at the Sixth Annual Conference of the Atlanta International Arbitration Society (AtlAS) on October 23, 2017.

Lord Peter Goldsmith QC, PC, is London Co-Managing Partner and Chair of European and Asian Litigation at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He joined the firm after serving as the UK’s Attorney General from 2001-2007, prior to which he was in private practice as one of the leading barristers in London.

Lord Goldsmith has a long practice in arbitration and in the interface between arbitration and litigation. He appears as counsel for …

The Antitrust Duty To Charge Low Prices, Ramsi Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Over the past forty years, antitrust has come to embrace a goal of consumer welfare maximization that cannot be achieved solely through condemnation of collusive or exclusionary conduct. To address cases in which firms achieve the power to raise prices and harm consumers without engaging in collusive or exclusionary conduct, antitrust should impose a general duty on businesses to charge a price no higher than economic cost. Courts would not need to set prices to enforce this duty, because violations would be punishable only by nominal damages, and shame, rather than by an injunction setting a reasonable price. Although the …

Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Human Rights And Regulatory Lessons From "Lilly V. Canada", Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The triangular interface between trade, intellectual property (IP) and human rights has yet to be fully formed, both doctrinally and normatively. Adding investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) to the mix increases the complexity of the equations to solve. Two resultant issues are explored in this Article. First, the Article considers ways in which broader public policy objectives—in particular the protection of human rights—can and should be factored into determinations of whether a state’s action is compatible with its trade obligations and commitments in the state-to-state dispute settlement context. Second, the Article examines whether doctrinal tools used in state-to-state, trade-dispute settlement to …

The Antitrust Duty To Charge Low Prices, Ramsi A. Woodcock

Cardozo Law Review

Over the past forty years, antitrust has come to embrace a goal of consumer welfare maximization that cannot be achieved solely through condemnation of collusive or exclusionary conduct. To address cases in which firms achieve the power to raise prices and harm consumers without engaging in collusive or exclusionary conduct, antitrust should impose a general duty on businesses to charge a price no higher than economic cost. Courts would not need to set prices to enforce this duty, because violations would be punishable only by nominal damages, and shame, rather than by an injunction setting a reasonable price. Although the …

China's Anti-Corruption Crackdown And The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Daniel C.K. Chow

Texas A&M Law Review

China’s highly publicized crackdown on corruption may affect the type and number of cases in China that arise under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), but it should not be assumed that the crackdown will necessarily lead to fewer FCPA prosecutions. Although there is some overlap of the goals of China’s corruption crackdown and the goals of the FCPA, China’s crackdown also serves important goals of the ruling Communist Party. The main goal of the current crackdown is to reinforce the Party’s power by targeting enemies and rivals of the current leadership. The crackdown is not aimed at prohibiting bribes …