Information Technology as a Challenge for EU Law Google - Abuse of Dominant Position within the EU Abstract Google is primarily an ad-centric platform-based ecosystem and its services are daily used by millions of consumers, many without any monetary compensation. However, despite this undeniable benefit, due to its anti-competitive conduct (abuse of its dominant position) within the EEA, the European Commission had to intervene and impose fines and remedies on Google in order to restore competition on the merits and cease further consumer harm. The objective of this thesis is to establish, whether it was the conduct of Google which caused consumer harm, in qualitative terms of diminishing consumer choice and stifling innovation, or whether it was the allegedly interventionist approach of the European Commission, established through the remedies stipulated in the analysed decisions, which caused it. To reach this objective, firstly, the economic realities of multisided platforms are explained in Chapter 1. Afterwards, in Chapter 2, the specification of consumer harm in the digital markets coupled with the factors which influence consumer harm are discussed. Then, in Chapters 3 to 5 three separate analyses of three separate decisions on Google's abuse of dominant position are presented - namely - Google...

Résumé The presented work addresses the issue of the double-tracking nature of a dominant position in European competition law. The aim of the integration efforts during the establishment of the EU was the creation of an internal market, especially the customs union. In order to achieve this state, it was necessary to take a number of integration measures and create a legal framework, i.e. conditions, under which economic competition in the internal market could operate effectively. In this context a variety of legislation valid for the whole EU territory has been accepted. However, in the context of the economic competition this work analyzes the legislation on market dominance carried out first in Article 102 of TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) prohibiting restrictive business practices in the form of abuse of a dominant position and also in Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 and later in Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 regulating the control of concentrations between undertakings. In case of both the legislations the crucial question is the "dominant position" of an enterprise in the market, while Article 102 of TFEU represents the ex post control, i.e. applies only to the possible abuse of the dominant position, and in this sense the dominant position itself is not the...

Résumé The presented work addresses the issue of the double-tracking nature of a dominant position in European competition law. The aim of the integration efforts during the establishment of the EU was the creation of an internal market, especially the customs union. In order to achieve this state, it was necessary to take a number of integration measures and create a legal framework, i.e. conditions, under which economic competition in the internal market could operate effectively. In this context a variety of legislation valid for the whole EU territory has been accepted. However, in the context of the economic competition this work analyzes the legislation on market dominance carried out first in Article 102 of TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) prohibiting restrictive business practices in the form of abuse of a dominant position and also in Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 and later in Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 regulating the control of concentrations between undertakings. In case of both the legislations the crucial question is the "dominant position" of an enterprise in the market, while Article 102 of TFEU represents the ex post control, i.e. applies only to the possible abuse of the dominant position, and in this sense the dominant position itself is not the...

Šiame darbe analizuojamas Europos Bendrijos ir Lietuvos Respublikos konkurencijos teisės normų, reglamentuojančių piktnaudžiavimą dominuojančia padėtimi nustatant nesąžiningas kainas, taikymas. Analizuojama nesąžiningų kainų sąvoka, išskiriant pagrindines tokių kainų rūšis – nepagristai didelės kainos, „grobuoniškos” kainos, diskriminacinės kainos bei nesąžiningas nuolaidų taikymas. Darbe aptariama Europos Teisingumo teismo, Europos Komisijos bei Lietuvos Respublikos Konkurencijos Tarybos bei administracinių teismų praktika, nagrinėjant nesąžiningų kainų taikymo bylas ir pateikiamos pagrindinės taisyklės, pagal kurias nesąžiningas kainas galima atskirti nuo sąžiningų, taip pat trečiame šio darbo skyriuje įvardijamos pagrindinės šių taisyklių taikymo praktikoje problemos. Paskutiniame skyriuje apžvelgiama konkurencijos teisės normų, susijusių su nesąžiningomis kainomis, įgyvendinimas Lietuvoje po įstojimo į ES, analizuojama konkurencijos politikos įgyvendinimo efektyvumas, kokybė, pateikiami pagrindiniai sprendimai bei išaiškinimai, nustatant piktnaudžiavim�� dominuojančia padėtimi taikant nesąžiningas kainas. / This thesis was set out to analyse the application of competition law on unfair pricing related to the abuse of dominant positions in the European Community and the Republic of Lithuania. Firstly, the study gives a definition of unfair pricing and identifies four types of such pricing: excessive pricing, “predatory” pricing, discriminatory pricing and unfair discounts and rebates. Then, it overviews the practice of the European Court of Justice, the European Commission and the Competition Council and the administrative courts of the Republic of Lithuania in hearing cases on unfair pricing. The author then lists the fundamental rules that may help to distinguish between fair and unfair pricing. The third chapter indicates the main problems faced when applying these rules in practice. The last chapter gives an overview of the application of competition law on unfair pricing following Lithuania’s accession to the EU. The author also analyses the effectiveness and quality of the implementation of competition policy and presents the fundamental judgements on and interpretations of unfair pricing in relation to the abuse of dominant positions.

Indecopi has within its functions the defense of free competition and the protection of intellectual property. This institutional design has the advantage of being able to see more clearly what are the points of convergence between the two subject-matter, harmonize them and achieve the goals they have in common. Within this convergence, there are sensitive issues as the granting of compulsory licenses. In this work, we highlight that compulsory licenses are exceptional measures and, to consider its granting, the State must have a procedure that provides confidence and predictability to citizens and clear definitions of what is meant by public interest, emergency and national security. Finally, it is proposed that the granting of compulsory licenses should be justified by a cost benefit analysis showing that is the best choice. / El Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (IndecopI) tiene entre sus funciones tanto la defensa de la libre competencia como la protección de la propiedad intelectual. Este diseño institucional tiene la ventaja de permitir apreciar con mayor claridad cuáles son los puntos de convergencia entre ambas materias, armonizarlos y conseguir los objetivos que tienen en común. Dentro de esta convergencia, existen temas sensibles, como el otorgamiento de licencias obligatorias, por lo que en el presente trabajo se destaca su carácter de medida excepcional y se plantea que, para considerar su otorgamiento, el Estado debe contar con un procedimiento que brinde confianza y predictibilidad a la ciudadanía y con definiciones claras sobre qué debemos entender por interés público, emergencia y seguridad nacional. Finalmente, se propone que su otorgamiento tenga justificación en un análisis costo beneficio que arroje como resultado que, en efecto, era la opción más adecuada.

Title: Special responsibility of undertaking in dominant position Author: Iva Čechráková Department: Department of Business Law Supervisor: JUDr. Daniel Patěk, Ph.D Abstract: This thesis deals with the doctrine of special responsibility of the dominant undertaking and related issues. The special responsibility of the dominant undertaking is the obligation not to allow its conduct to impair genuine undistorted competition on the common market. The doctrine of the special responsibility is tied to the prohibition on abuse of such position. One concept could not be assessed without the other, because the concept of special responsibility of the dominant undertaking is a fundamental principle for the application of the prohibition on abuse of such position. Based on that it is necessary to describe in this thesis the prohibition on abuse of dominant position together with selected prohibited practices, in which the special responsibility of the dominant undertaking is reflected. This responsibility presupposes a higher standard of vigilance reflected in the conduct of such an undertaking, because an undertaking in dominant position on the relevant market could not take all actions that the other undertakings lacking such market power could do. The question of the superdominant undertakings and the scope of...

Access to big data under the "refusal to supply" case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU Abstract This thesis deals with the topic of access to the so-called big data from the perspective of EU competition law. The thesis deals with the question whether and if so, to what extent it is possible to use the so-called "refusal to supply" case-law created by the Court of Justice of the EU to gain access to big data held by a dominant undertaking. The thesis finds that, under certain conditions, it is possible for all necessary steps to be fulfilled to allow one undertaking to request access from a dominant undertaking to big data under the control of that undertaking. This thesis therefore firstly discusses what factors affect the so-called online platforms, which can often find themselves in the position of dominant undertakings in terms of access to big data. The thesis analyses the effects of the so-called network effects, the impact of data analysis on their efficiency and the issue of the so-called multi-sided markets in connection with the position of online platforms. Subsequently, an assessment of the individual steps which, in summary, lead to the classification of the behavior of a dominant undertaking as an abuse of its dominant position by refusing access to big data is conducted. From the point...

- Competitor's Dominant Position and Its Abuse in the Czech and European Law The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze issues of market dominance and its abuse as one of the most important areas of the competition law. An indispensable part of every analysis of such abuse is also a definition and assessment of the relevant market which we will deal with in a separate section of this thesis. The issue of abuse of a dominant position is analyzed with the help of the competition rules and the judicial practice of the competent authorities, both at the community and national level. First chapters are designed as an introduction to the issue of dominance, offering readers a better understanding of often ambiguous approach to competition law, its restrictions and distortions. We will also be dealing with related terms such as the competitor, the company and their mutual interchangeability. Special attention will be paid to the introduction and further analysis of the relevant market, where the correct definition is the basis for the assessment of any competition case. The issue of relevant market is demonstrated on particular examples, especially on the current case of Student Agency, where the mode of defining the relevant market also decides the final outcome of the case with respect to the...

Les biens immatériels que possèdent les entreprises, sont le plus souvent des droits de propriété industrielle ou un savoir-faire tenu secret. Leur exploitation indirecte, nationale ou internationale, s’effectue à travers la conclusion de différents contrats d’exploitation. Avec la mondialisation, ces contrats sont au cœur de l’économie moderne et constituent l’un des outils de transfert de technologie. Cette thèse propose une analyse globale des contrats d’exploitation des droits de propriété industrielle et de savoir-faire en droit marocain et en droit français. Dans la première partie, on expose leur régime général, en droit des contrats, droit de la propriété industrielle et droit de la concurrence. La deuxième partie propose une analyse unitaire de chaque type de ces contrats dans ces deux systèmes et traite leurs régimes spécifiques. / Intangible property owned by companies consists most often of the industrial property rights or a secret know-how. Their indirect exploitation, national or international, is made through the concluding of various contracts of exploitation. With the globalization, these contracts are at the heart of the modern economy and constitute one of the most important tools of technology transfer. This dissertation offers a global analysis of the various contracts of exploitation of the industrial property rights and know-how in Moroccan law and in French law. The first part of the thesis exposes their general regime under contract law, industrial property law and competition law. The second part proposes a unitary analysis, which views the problems raised by each type of these contracts in these two legal systems and treats their specific regimes.

Abstract Copyright is designed to not interfere with society's general and overriding interest of effective competition. An effective market competition benefits consumers by lowering prices, raising the quality and expands the range of goods and services. The purpose of the paper is to investigate if the collecting societies licensing violates competition laws. On the basis of the investigation regarding the bill for a new Swedish copyright law (URL), mainly the new wording that regulates the license agreement, corresponds to the EU competition rules and customs within the area. The collecting societies licensing violates the competition laws in the following cases • Discrimination of members because of nationality •           Authors transferring their sole rights to global exploitation •           The collecting society have the right to manage the rights after the author have left as a member •           Users that are established abroad do not get access to the repertoire of  the collecting societies, the same goes for concerted practice if this is the purpose or result •           Parallel behaviours that cannot be explained objectively •           Dividing the market •           Fixed Prices •           Refusal to sign multi-territorial licenses •           Apply different conditions for equivalent transactions resulting in competition disadvantages for a company that cannot be justified by reasonable causes Currently there are no indications that the new bill to a new URL violates EU law. The author of the paper thinks this may change if the collective management extends, so that other member states get the extended license agreements, then the single market is affected by the competition restriction that the new bill to the URL mean. The author of the paper thinks that the bill for a new URL should be changed so that a collective society will not get monopoly to sign licenses with extended license agreements. / Sammanfattning Upphovsrätten är utformad i syfte att inte inkräkta på samhällets generella och överordnade intresse av en effektiv konkurrens. En effektiv marknadskonkurrens gynnar konsumenterna genom att den pressar priserna, höjer kvaliteten och ökar utbudet av varor och tjänster. Syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda om upphovsrättsorganisationernas licensering strider mot konkurrenslagstiftningen. Utifrån den utredningen granskas om lagförslaget till en ny URL, framförallt den nya lydelsen som reglerar avtalslicenser, stämmer överens med EU:s konkurrensregler och praxis på området.  I följande fall strider upphovsrättsorganisations licensering mot konkurrensrätten •           Diskriminering av medlemmarna på grund av nationalitet •           Upphovsmännen överlåter sina rättigheter med ensamrätt för en global exploatering •           Upphovsrättsorganisationen har rätt att förvalta rättigheterna efter att upphovsmannen utträtt som medlem •           Användare som är etablerade utomlands får inte tillgång till upphovsrättsorganisationens repertoar, gäller även samordnade förfaranden om detta är syftet eller resultatet •           Parallella beteenden som inte kan förklaras objektivt •           Uppdelning av marknaden •           Prissamarbeten •           Vägra teckna multi-territoriella licenser •           Tillämpa olika villkor för likvärdiga transaktioner med följden att ena bolaget får en konkurrensnackdel som inte går att rättfärdiga genom sakliga skäl I nuläget finns inget som tyder på att det nya lagförslaget till en ny URL strider mot EU-rätten. Enligt uppsatsförfattarens åsikt kan detta ändras om den kollektiva förvaltningen utökas så att den får avtalslicensverkan även i andra medlemsländer varpå den inre marknaden påverkas av den konkurrensbegränsning som det nya lagförslaget till en ny URL innebär. Uppsatsförfattaren anser att lagförslaget till en ny URL bör ändras så att inte en upphovsrättsorganisation ges monopol att teckna licens med avtalslicensverkan.