Posted by written by Simonetta Vezzoso, Trento University, First Draft, 6 May 2019
Abstract
Competition policy is under considerable pressure to evolve. The traditional enforcement apparatus will need to adapt in order to meet the challenges posed by the digitised world. One important question is whether a more pro-active competition framework for issues of data access should be adopted in order to protect competition on the merits. The paper offers a first assessment of the recent proposal advanced by a panel of competition policy experts appointed by the UK government (the “Furman Review”) to unlock digital competition by way of “data openness”, namely an instrument of mandated data access that, if necessary and proportionate, might go beyond what traditional competition policy enforcement can currently achieve. More generally, the paper discusses the idea of a pro-competition data sandbox for a digital world in which products and services fuelled by algorithms are poised to become pervasive.
Vezzoso, Simonetta, A pro-competition data sandbox for the digital world (May 6, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=
CONCLUSION
“Competition policy is under considerable pressure to evolve. The traditional enforcement apparatus will need to adapt in order to meet the challenges posed by the digitised world. Technological developments have radically increased the quantity of data produced and large data holdings are often at the heart of positions of entrenched market dominance in digital markets. One important question is whether a more pro-active competition framework for issues of data access should be adopted in order to protect competition on the merits. The paper offers a first assessment of the recent proposal advanced by the Furman Review to unlock digital competition by way of data openness, that is an instrument of mandated data access that, if necessary and proportionate, might go beyond what traditional enforcement can currently achieve. More generally, the paper discusses the idea of a pro-competition data sandbox for a digital world in which products and services fuelled by algorithms are bound to become pervasive. “
Keywords: data sandbox, data openness, Furman Review, big data, competition law