Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

On The Effectiveness Of Antitrust Enforcement In Relation To Vertical Infringements. A Comment On The 15 February 2019 Judgement Of The Polish Supreme Court, Case I Nsk 10/18 (Anyro), Jan Polański

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

The article constitutes a comment on a judgement delivered by the Polish Supreme Court. In the judgement the Supreme Court took a negative stance in relation to a Court of Appeals ruling which had set aside an infringement decision issued by the Polish Competition Authority concerning price collusion in the market for watches. In the judgement, the Supreme Court presented its position in relation to three important issues: the determination of the parties to anticompetitive agreements and the addressees of infringement decisions, the defi nition of relevant market, and establishing ‘by object’ infringements. In relation to each of the aforementioned …

Report On The International Conference ‘Judicial Deference In Competition Law’, University Of Warsaw, 11 October 2018, Laura Zoboli, Magdalena Gniadzik

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

Judicial Deference in Competition law’, University of Warsaw, 11 October 2018

‘Service’ On Infrastructural Markets Of Fuel And Energy In The Light Of The Freedom Of Establishment And The Freedom To Provide Services, Zdzisław Muras

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

The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into doubts arising in the practice of applying the law related to the scope of the concept of ‘service’ in energy infrastructure markets with regard to European and national regulations. The concept of services in the context of the general economic interest was also considered. The author, having conducted a broad query on the subject literature and case law, attempted to develop the most explicit approach to the outlined study subject. Proper classifi cation of a given activity as a service or business activity is not only of a theoretical …

Gdpr And The Process Of Changing The Electricity Seller And Irregularities Associated With It, Paweł K. Domagała

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

The subject of the study presents the procedure of changing the electricity seller in Poland. Since 2007, permanent increases in the number of changes of electricity sellers have been observed. The abovementioned is both an opportunity and a threat for consumers. Therefore, this study will describe the practices of electricity sellers, which breach collective interests of consumers. The second part of the study presents solutions contained in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the context of the conclusion and performance of the contract for the sale of electricity. The way in which EU regulation can contribute to the increase …

Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Ushering In The Klackaba Era, Cheyenne Vankirk

Seattle University Law Review

The growth in the U.S. economy has allowed Americans to increase their savings--but how? A novel approach has emerged in seventeen states: domestic asset product trusts (DAPTs). DAPTs are self-settled spindthrift trusts that allow the settlor to retain a beneficial interest in the trust while removing it from the reach of future creditors. Through the lens of the favorable ruling in Klackaba v. Nelson, this Note addresses why DAPTs should be regarded as an effective method of protecting a settlor’s money and argue for more states to follow suit.

Accommodating Capital And Policing Labor: Antitrust In The Two Gilded Ages, Sandeep Vaheesan

Maryland Law Review

In enacting the antitrust laws, Congress sought to prevent big businesses from maintaining and augmenting their power through collusion, mergers, and exclusionary and predatory practices and also aimed to preserve the ability of workers to act in concert. At times, the antitrust laws have benefited ordinary Americans. Antitrust achievements include the restructuring of the oil industry in 1911, the creation of competitive market structures in the mid-twentieth century, and the termination of AT&T’s telecommunications monopoly in 1984.

Yet, the history of antitrust in the United States is not one of uninterrupted successes. Over two forty-year periods, the executive branch and …

Fascism And Monopoly, Daniel A. Crane

Law & Economics Working Papers

The recent revival of political interest in antitrust has resurfaced a longstanding debate about the role of industrial concentration and monopoly in enabling Hitler’s rise to power and the Third Reich’s wars of aggression. Proponents of stronger antitrust enforcement argue that monopolies and cartels brought the Nazis to power and warn that rising concentration in the American economy could similarly threaten democracy. Skeptics demur, observing that German big business largely opposed Hitler during the crucial years of his ascent. Drawing on business histories and archival material from the U.S. Office of Military Government’s Decartelization Unit, this Article assesses the historical …

Nonprofit Governance: The Basics, Lawrence J. Trautman, Janet Ford

Akron Law Review

Nonprofit organizations are prevalent in today’s economy, and many are governed by individuals who have been chosen on the basis of their advocacy of or contributions to various nonprofit causes rather than on the basis of business experience or acumen. Yet effective nonprofit governance, while presenting concerns unique to nonprofits, also presents many of the same concerns as does governance of for-profit entities. This article seeks to provide a primer for nonprofit organizations that need to recruit effective governance talent. First, we discuss the nature of nonprofits, their impact on the business landscape, and their similarities to and differences from …

Gulf Airline Subsidization: Should The European Union And The United States Collaborate To Combat This Alleged Threat?, Savannah H. Moon

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Case For Doing Nothing About Institutional Investors' Common Ownership Of Small Stakes In Competing Firms, Thomas A. Lambert, Michael E. Sykuta

Faculty Publications

Recent empirical research purports to demonstrate that institutional investors' "common ownership " of small stakes in competing firms causes those firms to compete less aggressively, injuring consumers. A number of prominent antitrust scholars have cited this research as grounds for limiting the degree to which institutional investors may hold stakes in multiple firms that compete in any concentrated market. This Article contends that the purported competitive problem is overblown and that the proposed solutions would reduce overall social welfare. With respect to the purported problem, we show that the theory of anti-competitive harm from institutional investors' common ownership is implausible …

Taming Sherman's Wilderness, Derrian Smith

Indiana Law Journal

This Note proceeds in four Parts. Part I outlines the interpretive difficulties spawned by the vagueness of the Sherman Act—particularly, the judiciary’s necessary but undeniable departures from the text of the statute and the resulting doctrinal confusion. Part II considers ways in which the judiciary’s decision-making in Sherman Act cases approximates agency rulemaking and whether it makes sense to delegate interpretive authority to an antitrust agency. Yet, while the agency solution has upside, it would not easily escape criticisms that the Act does not provide sufficient notice of the conduct it proscribes and that the Act is an impermissible delegation …

Uncitral Working Group Iii On Isds Reform: How Cross-Cutting Issues Reshape Reform Options, Lorenzo Cotula, Thierry Berger, Lise Johnson, Brooke Güven, Jesse Coleman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently working on how to reform international investment treaties, focusing in particular on those treaties’ provisions enabling investors to sue governments in international arbitration. As an observer organization in this process, CCSI has emphasized that in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, it is important to first consider what it is that investment treaties aim to achieve, and only then to consider what form(s) of dispute settlement will best advance those objectives. This means not only looking at reform of the existing ISDS mechanism, but also alternatives to …

Draft Text Providing For Transparency And Prohibiting Certain Forms Of Third-Party Funding In Investor–State Dispute Settlement, Brooke Güven, Lise Johnson, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Lorenzo Cotula, Jane Kelsey

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently working on how to reform international investment treaties, focusing in particular on those treaties’ provisions enabling investors to sue governments in international arbitration. As an observer organization in this process, CCSI has emphasized that in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, it is important to first consider what it is that investment treaties aim to achieve, and only then to consider what form(s) of dispute settlement will best advance those objectives. This means not only looking at reform of the existing ISDS mechanism, but also alternatives to …

Third-Party Rights In Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Options For Reform, Jesse Coleman, Lise Johnson, Brooke Güven, Lorenzo Cotula, Thierry Berger

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently working on how to reform international investment treaties, focusing in particular on those treaties’ provisions enabling investors to sue governments in international arbitration. As an observer organization in this process, CCSI has emphasized that in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, it is important to first consider what it is that investment treaties aim to achieve, and only then to consider what form(s) of dispute settlement will best advance those objectives. This means not only looking at reform of the existing ISDS mechanism, but also alternatives to …

Draft Treaty Language: Withdrawal Of Consent To Arbitrate And Termination Of International Investment Agreements, Brooke Güven, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently working on how to reform international investment treaties, focusing in particular on those treaties’ provisions enabling investors to sue governments in international arbitration. As an observer organization in this process, CCSI has emphasized that in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, it is important to first consider what it is that investment treaties aim to achieve, and only then to consider what form(s) of dispute settlement will best advance those objectives. This means not only looking at reform of the existing ISDS mechanism, but also alternatives to …

Five Principles For Vertical Merger Enforcement Policy, Jonathan B. Baker, Nancy L. Rose, Steven C. Salop, Fiona Scott Morton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There seems to be consensus that the Department of Justice’s 1984 Vertical Merger Guidelines do not reflect either modern theoretical and empirical economic analysis or current agency enforcement policy. Yet widely divergent views of preferred enforcement policies have been expressed among agency enforcers and commentators. Based on our review of the relevant economic literature and our experience analyzing vertical mergers, we recommend that the enforcement agencies adopt five principles: (i) The agencies should consider and investigate the full range of potential anticompetitive harms when evaluating vertical mergers; (ii) The agencies should decline to presume that vertical mergers benefit competition on …

Frank Wijckmans, Filip Tuytschaever, Agata Jurkowska-Gomułka, Małgorzata Modzelewska De Raad, Olga Sztejnert-Roszak, Porozumienia Dystrybucyjne W Prawie Konkurencji. Unia Europejska-Polska [Distribution Agreements In Competition Law. European Union-Poland], Warszawa 2018, Agata Jurkowska-Gomułka

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

No abstract provided.

Distribution Models Of Electronic Contents On The Example Of E-Books, Wojciech Łyszczarz

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

E-books can be distributed via Internet platforms according to two principal models. On one hand, a wholesale model can be applied, where e-books are sold to retailers at a wholesale price for further re-sale, the retail prices of which are freely set by the retailers. On the other hand, an agency model can be used, where the retailer acts as an intermediary in e-book sales and charges a commission from the publisher. Experiences of the US and European competition authorities show that application or change of the distribution model can have negative consequences in the area of competition law. This …

Distribution Agreements In The Eu: Restrictions Of Competition In Ipr Clauses, Joanna Kruk-Kubarska

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

The paper discusses typical contractual clauses related to IPR that appear in distribution contracts in the European Union, and which might amount to a restriction of competition. The paper covers, among others, the accepted method of analysis of, applicable in parallel, national regulations concerning IPR and EU competition law, as well as the conditions for the exemption from the prohibition of competition restricting agreements. The aim of the paper is to present these issues in the light of the decisional practice of the European Commission and the jurisprudence of EU courts.

On The Analytical Framework Of ‘By Object’ Infringements. A Comment On The 30 August 2018 Ruling Of The Court Of Appeals In Warsaw, Case Vii Aga 1114/18 (Ski Team), Jan Polański

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

The article constitutes a critical comment on a ruling delivered by the Court of Appeals in Warsaw. In the ruling, the court disagreed with the position presented by the Polish Competition Authority according to which setting resale prices (RPM) in the case investigated by the Polish NCA amounted to an infringement ‘by object’ under Polish law. In its judgement, the Court of Appeals referred to EU case law and attempted to re-create the analytical framework used by EU courts to establish ‘by object’ infringements. The analysis conducted by the Court of Appeals may, however, raise doubts in the context of …