Competition Surfing: Part 3

In this edition of “Competition Surfing”, I found the pdf. document of China’s Anti – Monopoly Law, 2008. To be honest, have never really bothered to focus on China before this post. May research more on this area in the future.

In the meantime, in case you wish to read more on the above, I recommend the two articles below:

1. Dan Wei, China’s Anti-Monopoly Law and its Merger Enforcement: Convergence and Flexibility, 14 J. Int’l Econ. L. 807 (unfortunately, you may not be able to access this one since its a paid access, but if you have access to Westlaw then no problem.)

2. Dina Kallay, China’s New Anti – Monopoly Law: An International Antitrust Convergence Perspective

India Finally Starts to Open its Eyes !! :)

India has finally started opening its eyes towards the principle of Network Neutrality and its potential violation !! The Economic Times yesterday carried an excellent article on the subject. We strictly feel its about time the issue started gaining prominence in our Country !!

For previous posts o network neutrality on this Blog, see here, here and here.

Press Statement by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs

The ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, released a press statement yesterday stating that “the Competition Commission of India has started facilitating competition assessment of rules, regulations and government policies, contents of which may inadvertently impact the competitive atmosphere adversely.” It also stated that the process was for “evaluating government policies, regulations, rules and laws for identification of those which unnecessarily impede competition and suggest measures to redesign the identified ones so that competition is not unduly inhibited.”

The task has been assigned to the CCI with the intention to begin implementation of the National Competition Policy (Apologies. Unfortunately, the latest draft seems to have disappeared off the internet. Will update this post as soon as it is found.)

The press statement can be found here

CCI Annual Report 2010 – 2011

The CCI recently released its Annual Report for the year 2010 – 2011.

It is notable that the total number of matters pending before the Commission at the end of the year seems to have risen to 99 from 78 in the previous year. This is deduced as the total number of matters pending before the Commission were 155 out of which 47 should have been disposed off as no prima – facie violations of law were noticed. Furthermore, another 8 matters were disposed of under section 26(6), i.e., under the recommendation of the Director – General. Finally, 1 order was passed under section 27 where the offence was proved.

Granted, it isn’t a large backlog and there isn’t much of a reason to complain considering the reputation of the Indian judicial and tribunal system. However, the disposal rate of the Commission where the offence stands proved is worrying. Especially since the Director – General’s office seems to be extremely efficient, having submitted 66 reports to the Commission, with a disposal rate of an impressive 80.5 percent.

CCI gets “Linked”

The Competition Commission of India now has a group on Linkedin. While it may not be an official group, and has not been started a member of the CCI, the presence of such a group is important in order to help the Commission to better interact with all stakeholders in the Commissions work. More importantly, it helps to develop a common portal to discuss the work of the CCI, which should help grow the understanding of competition law in India.

Heres hoping the Commission realises the potential of such online interactive portals.

Wikileaks + Competition

The Wikileaks crusade for transparency has even managed to envelop the competition sector. Check out the article on the Wikileaks Release of a U. S. Diplomatic Cable About the Oracle-Sun Merger Deal.

The diplomatic cable claims that U. S. government pressured the European Union to approve the Oracle-Sun merger deal.

Articles

Following a previous post, I have provided links to certain articles below by various authors who have written on network neutrality and its relationship with competition and Anti – Trust. For all readers who are interested in learning more about network neutrality and its effect on competition, do read the following articles. These articles have been written by authors who are both for and against network neutrality.

Christopher S. Yoo, Beyond Network Neutrality

Christopher S. Yoo, Network Neutrality and the Economics of Congestion

Christopher S. Yoo, Would Mandating Broadband Network Neutrality Help or Hurt Competition ? A Comment on the End – to – End Debate

Barbara Van Schewick, Towards an Economic Framework for Network Neutrality Regulation

Viktoria Kocsis and Paul De Bijl, Network Neutrality and the Nature of Competition between Network Operators

Jon M. Peha, The Benefits and Risks of Mandating Network Neutrality, and the Quest for a Balanced Policy

Trevor R. Roycroft, Economic Analysis and Network Neutrality: Separating Empirical Facts from Theoretical Fiction

Book Review: The Master Switch by Tim Wu

I recently wrote a Book review on THE MASTER SWITCH: THE RISE AND FALL OF INFORMATION EMPIRES by TIM WU for the Indian Law and Technology Blog. The reason I liked the book so much is not only for the reasons mentioned in that post but also as Wu extensively cites Anti – trust law as the means by which the medium of communication is kept “free”. It really makes one realize just how important a comprehensive and effective Anti – Trust Statute is in our “corporate” times.