ANDRÉS RUIZ DE ZÁRATE JARAIZ Magister Lvcentinvs 23th MAY 2012 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Transcription

1 VS ANDRÉS RUIZ DE ZÁRATE JARAIZ Magister Lvcentinvs 23th MAY 2012 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

2 ART. 102 TFEU Any abuse ( ) within the internal market ( ) shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market in so far as it may affect trade between Member States. Such abuse may, in particular, consist in: (a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions; (b) limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers; ART. 102 TFEU C) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; D) making the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

3 Art Council Regulation 1/2003 The initiation of proceedings shall relieve the competition authorities of the member state of their competence to apply the competition rules laid down in art. 101 and 102 of the treaty. CONSEQUENCE: DIRECT COMPETITION FOR THE EUROPEAN COMMISION TO TAKE ACTIONS RELATED WITH ART ART. 2 Commission Regulation 773/2004 INITIATION OF PROCEEDINGS 1. The Commission may decide to initiate proceedings with a view to adopting a decision pursuant to Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 at any point in time, but no later than the date on which it issues a preliminary assessment as referred to in Article 9(1) of that Regulation or a statement of objections or the date on which a notice pursuant to Article 27(4) of that Regulation is published, whichever is the earlier. 2. The Commission may make public the initiation of proceedings, in any appropriate way. Before doing so, it shall inform the parties concerned. 3. The Commission may exercise its powers of investigation pursuant to Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 before initiating proceedings. 4. The Commission may reject a complaint pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 without initiating proceedings.

4 MAIN PROBLEM GOOGLE = SEARCH ENGINE PROVIDER TYPES OF RESULTS: UNPAID SEARCH RESULT NATURAL ORGANIC ALGORITHMIC THIRD PARTY ADVERTISEMENT PAID SEARCH RESULTS SPONSORED LINKS

5 COMPLAINTS AGAINST GOOGLE VERTICAL SEARCH SERVICES: Specialised search engines which focus on specific topics. FOUNDEM: UK price comparison website. CIAO: German price comparison website ejustice: search engine (legal search request). SEARCH SERVICE PROVIDERS COMPLAINTS - Unfavorable treatment in google s unpaid and sponsored search report. - Alleged preferencial placement of google s own services.

6 ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION

7 DOMINANT POSITION

8 VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? INVESTIGATION UPDATE 21th of May concerns where google business practice may be considered as abuses of dominance

9 FIRST: Lowering the ranking + Preferencial placement In its general search result, Google displays links to its own vertical search services differently than it does for links to competitors. Problem: PREFERENCIAL TREATMENT SECOND: Copy from competitors Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as users reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorisation. In this way they are appropiating the benefits of the investments of competitors. Problem: REDUCE COMPETITOR s INCENTIVES TO INVEST

10 THIRD: Agreements with partners. Agreements between google and partners on the websites of which google delivers search advertisement. Problem: - De facto exclusivity. - Shutting out competing providers. FOURTH: Restrictions to the portability Google imposes contractual restrictions on software developers which prevent them from offering tools that allow the seamless transfer of search advertising campaigns across Adwords and other platforms for search advertising.

11 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION