CONFERENCES: SOCIETY - DEMOCRACY - ONLINE MARKETS - OFFLINE WELFARE EFFECTS - DIGITAL CONSOLIDATION

Digital consolidation, citizen and community (Online markets and offline welfare effects: The Internet, competition, society and democracy - Oxford, 22 May 2017)

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We are enjoying the benefits of the IT revolution over the last few decades—free online searches, free social media, free smartphone software, and constant innovation. At the same time, the online environment is more and more dominated by a handful of IT giants. Digital consolidation is supposedly causing markets to separate out into distinct online islands, each dominated by one individual firm. As some companies are unable to generate revenues through their current business model, there is and there will be more digital consolidation. Consolidation, though, is not the same as loss of competition or monopolization. The link between digital consolidation and the citizen might be made with the concept of the ownership of data: If data are always owned by online users, any operator could offer quality services to those who voluntarily grant it access to their own data.

Digital consolidation, citizen and community Liza Lovdahl Gormsen Director, Competition Law Forum, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London I. Digital consolidation 1. The Economist has emphasised how “the most striking business trend today is not competition but consolidation,” with technology high on the list of the industries that are concentrating. [1] Starting with Google/DoubleClick [2] ten years ago, the number of mergers and acquisitions have rapidly increased, with transactions such as Google/Waze, [3] Microsoft/LinkedIn, [4] Facebook/Instagram, [5] Facebook/ WhatsApp. [6] Twitter may even be next to be acquired [7] and suggestions of a takeover of Netflix. [8] Deals between Amazon and eBay have also been predicted. [9] Apple has also been said to be

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Authors

  • European Commission - DG CNECT (Brussels)
    Belgium 4 contributions 19655 visits
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (London)
    United Kingdom 37 contributions 37360 visits
  • British Institute of International and Comparative Law (London)
    United Kingdom 14 contributions 26221 visits
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (London)
    United Kingdom 1 contribution 630 visits
  • UK Competition & Markets Authority - CMA (London)
    United Kingdom 1 contribution 630 visits

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Christian D’Cunha, Maurits J. F. M.  Dolmans, Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, Jacob Turner, Ricardo Zimbron, Digital consolidation, citizen and community (Online markets and offline welfare effects: The Internet, competition, society and democracy - Oxford, 22 May 2017), September 2017, Concurrences N° 3-2017, Art. N° 84704, www.concurrences.com

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