This is a rundown of last week’s news updates on Antitrust:
South Korea fines Google $177 million for abuse of dominance
South Korea’s new Telecommunications Business Act, colloquially referred to as the ‘anti-Google’ law looks to empower South Korea’s antitrust regulator in trying to control Google’s abuse of its dominant market position, and has resulted in the company facing a $177 million fine for allegedly blocking customized versions of its Android operating system. The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a representative body of more than 350 digital startups, has also urged the Indian government to enact a similar legislation to curtail the market dominance of big tech companies.
U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee approves $1 billion fund for FTC privacy probes
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on 7th September, 2021 to give the Federal Trade Commission, the US antitrust watchdog, $1 billion to set up a bureau dedicated to improving data security and privacy and fighting identity theft. The US Federal Trade Commission has started forcing corporations to better protect consumer data and privacy as it enforces rules against deceptive practices.
Facebook criticizes UK’s Competition and Markets Authority over order to sell Giphy
Facebook has criticized the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) provisional decision ordering Facebook to sell Giphy as being grossly unreasonable and disproportionate. The CMA opened an investigation over the acquisition shortly after Facebook announced its $400 million acquisition of Giphy as it believed that that would stifle competition for animated images. The CMA’s final report is due on 6th October, 2021.
Authored by Rohan Joshua Jacob (Associate) and Sonal Lalwani (Intern).
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