Complying with Europe…

A very interesting article in WSJ on the convergence of the two major antitrust system. I remember the huge outcry at the time when the CFI judgment in Microsoft was delivered. See for example.

Empirical highlights on cartels

If one would like to persuade someone why cartels are bad, one could use either the common textbook arguments. More persuasive are nevertheless the slides by Connor here.

Three weeks left

Competition Enforcement in the Recently Acceded Member States

Location: Budapest - Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences

Date: 08 May 2009

See more here.

 

Why?

Countries that recently acceded to the European Union have long history with competition law. Most of these countries also represent smaller, open market economies, which have faced a rapid and recent privatisation process. These countries have also endured several common historical events that make them face similar market situations and problems including inter alia excessive pricing, bid rigging, refusal to access as well as issues related to the current financial crisis.

Topics include…

The aim of this conference is to address issues that arise in competition enforcement in these rapidly developing economies with ever increasing competition expertise. This one day conference will address topics in the application of competition legislation on anticompetitive agreements, unilateral conduct, as well as issues related to the application of competition legislation in the wake of the financial crisis.

Speakers

Our speakers include the President of the Hungarian NCA (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal), the Head of Competition Outreach at OECD, the VIce-President of the Polish NCA (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), Vice-Chairman of the Czech NCA (Office for the Protection of Competition), Members of the Hungarian Competition Council, Chief-Economist of the Hungarian NCA, senior OECD experts, highly acknowledged academics, officials and lawyers from leading regional law firms.

Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following sponsors:

 

Our media partner is

Call for Nominations for the Jerry S. Cohen Award for the Best Antitrust Scholarship of 2008

The Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Charitable Trust is again seeking nominations for its annual award for best antitrust scholarship. Legal, economic, and business articles, monographs, and books published during 2008 are eligible for this award of approximately $8,000-9,000. The Award will be presented during the American Antitrust Institute Annual Conference on June 18, 2009 at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Although the Cohen Award’s judges search the literature for worthy scholarship, your nominations, including self-nominations, will help make sure they do not inadvertently overlook any important candidates. The award is made through a trust set up in the memory of antitrust attorney and author Jerry S. Cohen, brought about by efforts and donations of friends, colleagues and his former law firm. This year’s award will be selected by a committee consisting of Professors John Flynn, Eleanor Fox, Warren Grimes; antitrust practitioners Daniel Small and Charles Goodwin; and Judge Ann Yahner. Last year’s co-winners were Professor Maurice E. Stucke for “Behavioral Economists at the Gate: Antitrust in the Twenty-First Century” and Professor Robert H. Lande and Neil W. Averitt for “Using the ‘Consumer Choice’ Approach to Antitrust Law.” Previous winners include Professors Lawrence Sullivan and Warren Grimes for “The Law of Antitrust: An Integrated Handbook” (2nd Ed. 2006), Barry Nalebuff for “Exclusionary Bundling,” Professor Andrew Gavil for “Exclusionary Distribution Strategies by Dominant Firms: Striking a Better Balance,” Professor John Connor, for “Global Price Fixing,” and Professors Joseph F. Brodley, Patrick Bolton, and Michael H. Riordan for “Predatory Pricing: Strategic Theory and Legal Policy.” To be considered eligible and selected for the award, submissions should reflect a concern for principles of economic justice, the dispersal of economic power, the maintenance of effective limitations upon economic power or the federal statutes designed to protect society from various forms of anticompetitive activity. Submissions should reflect an awareness of the human and social impacts of economic institutions upon individuals, small businesses and other institutions necessary to the maintenance of a just and humane society–values and concerns Jerry S. Cohen dedicated his life and work to fostering. Submissions may address substantive, procedural or evidentiary matters that reflect these values and concerns. Please send a copy of your nomination before April 17, 2009 to Daniel A. Small, at dsmall@cohenmilstein.com, or at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, 1100 New York Avenue, N.W., West Tower, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20005. For a detailed statement of the Award’s eligibility and selection criteria, or if you have any questions about the Cohen Award, please contact Daniel A. Small, at 202-408-4600 or the above e-mail address.

Competition Enforcement in the Recently Acceded Member States

Location: Budapest - Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences

Date: 08 May 2009

See more here.

 

Why?

Countries that recently acceded to the European Union have long history with competition law. Most of these countries also represent smaller, open market economies, which have faced a rapid and recent privatisation process. These countries have also endured several common historical events that make them face similar market situations and problems including inter alia excessive pricing, bid rigging, refusal to access as well as issues related to the current financial crisis.

Topics include…

The aim of this conference is to address issues that arise in competition enforcement in these rapidly developing economies with ever increasing competition expertise. This one day conference will address topics in the application of competition legislation on anticompetitive agreements, unilateral conduct, as well as issues related to the application of competition legislation in the wake of the financial crisis.

Speakers

Our speakers include the President of the Hungarian NCA (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal), the Head of Competition Outreach at OECD, the VIce-President of the Polish NCA (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), Vice-Chairman of the Czech NCA (Office for the Protection of Competition), Members of the Hungarian Competition Council, Chief-Economist of the Hungarian NCA, senior OECD experts, highly acknowledged academics, officials and lawyers from leading regional law firms.

Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following sponsors:

 

Our media partner is

Call for Papers: WORKSHOP ON COMPETITION POLICY AND REGULATION IN MEDIA MARKETS

WORKSHOP ON COMPETITION POLICY AND REGULATION IN MEDIA MARKETS:
Bridging Law and Economics

Thursday 4 June and Friday 5 June 2009
TILEC, Tilburg University, The Netherlands

The Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) will organise a workshop on 
Competition Policy and Regulation in Media Markets at Tilburg University (The
Netherlands) on Thursday 4 June and Friday 5 June 2009.

Call for Papers 
The goal of the conference is to bring together academics working on media-
related issues and to foster interdisciplinary interaction between economists 
and lawyers. A growing number of lawyers and economists work on media-
related topics, but often independently from each other. We believe there is still
much to be gained by bringing the two groups together. Scholars of the two disci-
plines have different approaches and often move in different policy circles. 
However, economic reasoning and analysis are taking an increasingly important 
position within the application of law in the broad field of media, both in the area 
of sector-specific regulation and in competition law. Moreover, the electronic 
communications sector (telecom, broadcasting, Internet) is of utmost importance 
to the economic development and to social cohesion. 
Hence, it is essential that media scientists from the two disciplines share their 
expert knowledge in order to propose high quality regulation to policy makers.

The objective of the ‘Competition Policy and Regulation in Media Markets’ work-
shop is to have economic and legal contributions of the highest quality, but effort 
in presenting it to a mixed audience is expected. Economists are expected to
bring in reasons to regulate/not regulate/how to regulate according to economic 
theory, lawyers to bring in knowledge of the current regulation, of court decisions 
and of the legal feasibility of regulation proposals. Each presenter will be 
assigned a discussant. Theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented articles are 
welcome.

A non-exclusive list of topics of interest is:
- The goal of public intervention: efficiency vs. pluralism
- The impact of convergence and digitalization 
- Network neutrality
- The New Audiovisual Media Services Directive in the EU
- The EU Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications
- Market structure and political outcomes
- Media mergers and pluralism
- Media bias: measurement and determinants 
- Scope for public ownership and public intervention
- Financing of public service broadcasting
- Regulation of advertising and media content
- Media as two-sided markets
- Piracy, peer-to-peer, copyright 
- Exclusive contracts
- Vertical integration between distribution and content provision
- Price discrimination, dynamic pricing, versioning, and bundling
- Privacy, anonymity, security, digital rights management, trust

Invited speakers
Economics: Simon Anderson (University of Virginia), Joel Waldfogel (University of 
Pennsylvania)
Law: Nico van Eijk (University of Amsterdam), Rachael Craufurd Smith (Edinburg 
Law School)

Scientific committee
Elena Argentesi (University of Bologna)
Eric van Damme (Tilburg University)
Nico van Eijk (University of Amsterdam)
Lapo Filistrucchi (Tilburg University)
Thomas Gibbons (University of Manchester)
Ilse van der Haar (Tilburg University)
Pierre Larouche (Tilburg University)
Massimo Motta (University of Bologna)

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Submissions
The deadline for submission is March 29, 2009. Articles should be submitted in 
PDF to TILEC-Media@uvt.nl. Long abstract are accepted but full papers are 
preferred. In case you have any question(s), please contact the local organisation 
committee (see below).

Registration
Authors of selected papers will be notified by April 6, 2009. TILEC will cover the 
accommodation and travel expenses of conference participants who present 
or discuss an accepted paper. Presenters might be asked to discuss a paper.

Local organising committee/contacts persons

Lapo Filistrucchi (Tilburg University), L.Filistrucchi@uvt.nl
Ilse van der Haar (Tilburg University), ilse.vanderhaar@uvt.nl.

COMPETITION POLICY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: An On-Line Case Book

See an interesting project here. I was always a big fan of open source-free projects. This is going into the right direction. 

COMPETITION POLICY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

An On-Line Case Book

Spencer Weber Waller

Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

25 E. Pearson Suite 1341

Chicago, IL 60611

312-915-8598

www.luc.edu/antitrust

antitrust@luc.edu

 

This on-line casebook examines the fields of international antitrust and international trade law. In general, it examines how the United States and other jurisdictions regulate competition among firms which do business abroad. This will include how competition policy regulates individuals and firms located outside the United States in their competition with United States firms as well as the rules governing United States firms.

These materials are intended for use in a U.S. style law school class or seminar and designed to provide the base knowledge necessary to engage in sophisticated research in the field and to produce a research based paper of 20-25 pages in length. By necessity, these materials are in English and have primarily a United States focus. The value of an on-line casebook in this field goes beyond the merely the cost savings and convenience. It is also an opportunity for a collaborative exercise that will allow for the creation of a more in-depth and creative set of materials that can be done in traditional hard cover format. Use of the casebook for educational purposes with attribution is available on a royalty-free basis under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/. For all other uses please contact Professor Waller at the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies at Loyola University Chicago School of Law or swalle1@luc.edu.

I therefore invite any competition law teacher or scholar to submit additional chapters on other competition law topics or jurisdictions not covered in these materials for inclusion in future iterations of these materials. Materials must be original or accompanied with proof of permission/license to use for this purpose and be in English and in either Word or Word Perfect. Submission of materials constitutes your permission to include the material in future editions of the on-line casebook for educational purposes with attribution available on a royalty-free basis under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/.

Submission of materials also constitutes permission to edit the submitted material for style, content, and compatibility with the existing text, although every reasonable effort will be made to allow you to review edited material before posting on-line. I look forward to working with the global competition law and policy community to make this the most effective and interesting teaching tool possible.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One – Extraterritoriality: The U.S. Perspective

Chapter Two – Extraterritoriality: Foreign Perspectives and Commentary

Chapter Three - Jurisdiction Over Export Conduct

Chapter Four - International Litigation Issues

Chapter Five – Unsolvable Conflicts

Chapter Six – The Role of Foreign Governments

Chapter Seven - Antitrust and Trade Issues

Chapter Eight - International Mergers and Joint Ventures

Chapter Nine - International Antitrust I: Enforcement Cooperation

Chapter Ten - International Antitrust II: Harmonization and Convergence

Call for papers: World Competition

I received the following call recently for forwarding.

World Competition Law and Economics Review is a highly regarded journal dedicated to competition and antitrust. It examines all aspects of competition policy, primarily  from a legal perspective, but also from an economic point of view. Membership of the Advisory and Editorial Boards includes highly regarded academics, practitioners and members of the judiciary, as well as top ranking competition law officials.  

In order to obtain more information about World Competition, please visit:

http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/productinfo.php?pubcode=WOCO&PHPSESSID=300dbfc3b8cdc6f393d01f9aa1161b3c 

 World Competition is inviting authors to submit their manuscripts for publishing. The articles must include legal analysis of competition issues. Further requirements for the manuscripts are laid down in the attached Guide to Authors. Please note, that articles submitted to World Competition must undergo a peer review procedure by the Editorial Board in order to ensure the contributions published are of the highest  quality. 

 

Moreover, the competition for the Young Writer’s Award is running throughout 2009, providing an opportunity for young authors to be published and rewarded for their contribution. The participation of candidates from new EU Member States and particularly from developing countries is encouraged. The prize is a free annual subscription of World Competition and a 1 000 Euro voucher for Kluwer’s publications. Please see the attached notice for more details regarding the award.

 Contributions   should be sent by post to José Rivas, Editor, at Bird & Bird, Avenue d’Auderghem 22-28 box 9, 1040 Brussels, Belgium or alternatively via e-mail to the Editor Jose.Rivas@twobirds.com or to the Editorial Board world.competition@twobirds.com

Conference flyer – Competition Enforcement in the Recently Acceded Member States

 

The Competition Law Research Centre and the Hungarian Competition Law Association organises a conference on the ‘Competition Enforcement in the Recently Acceded Member States’.

For more information see the website of the conference: www.eccompetitionlaw.eu 

Why?

Countries that recently acceded to the European Union have long history with competition law. Most of these countries also represent smaller, open market economies, which have faced a rapid and recent privatisation process. These countries have also endured several common historical events that make them face similar market situations and problems including inter alia excessive pricing, bid rigging, refusal to access as well as issues related to the current financial crisis.

Topics include…

The aim of this conference is to address issues that arise in competition enforcement in these rapidly developing economies with ever increasing competition expertise. This one day conference will address topics in the application of competition legislation on anticompetitive agreements, unilateral conduct, as well as issues related to the application of competition legislation in the wake of the financial crisis.

Speakers

Our speakers include the President of the Hungarian NCA (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal), the Head of Competition Outreach at OECD, the VIce-President of the Polish NCA (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), Vice-Chairman of the Czech NCA (Office for the Protection of Competition), Members of the Hungarian Competition Council, Chief-Economist of the Hungarian NCA, senior OECD experts, highly acknowledged academics, officials and lawyers from leading regional law firms.

 

 

 

 

Call for papers in Competition Law

I want to start a new category of entry, namely ‘call for papers in competition law’. Any submissions duly welcomed.

Lets start with the first one.

Researching Current Issues in Global Competition Law and Policy 2009

Where: Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), London, United Kingdom

When: Friday, 6 March 2009

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Competition Law and Policy (ICC) is pleased to announce that its high-level Annual International PhD Conference 2009 will be hosted at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London on Friday 6 March 2009.

This conference will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and fruitful debate between doctoral research students who are engaged in researching current issues in the field of competition law and policy. The conference offers an excellent opportunity for interaction between researchers from around the world under the guidance of some of the most senior members of the competition law community globally.

The Conference is a unique opportunity for research students to engage in a productive debate, meet fellow research students from around the world and receive fruitful feedback on their thoughts and ideas.

Expressions of interest to present a paper at the conference are welcomed from doctoral candidates currently conducting research in the field of competition law and policy. The Conference has been named after the ICC’s late affiliated member, Ms Marion Simmons QC. The 2009 Annual Conference will be devoted to discussing topics that Marion had particular interests in. This includes EC and UK competition law and international arbitration. We are therefore looking to receive applications from PhD students who are researching topics in EC competition law, UK competition law and the relationship between competition law and international arbitration.

Those interested in presenting are asked to email a summary of up to 1000 words of their paper (icc@qmul.ac.uk) along with a copy of their curriculum vitae, clearly showing the title and topic of their thesis.

Only papers demonstrating research and original thinking of the highest quality will be selected. Please note that under no circumstances would previously presented or published papers be considered or selected. We discourage submission of papers giving a general ‘overview’ of a thesis but would strongly welcome those dealing with specific set of issues or topic.

Applicants must be PhD students. Only 5 applicants will be selected to present.

Please send all the relevant documents by 1 January 2009. Final decisions will be made on 12 January 2009. Decisions will be communicated via email on that date with an announcement made on the ICC’s website listing the names of successful candidates.

Papers selected and presented at the event will – if they are of high quality and meet the relevant requirements – be considered for publication in the ICC’s Global Antitrust Review.

Confidential discussions with the ICC’s director are possible either via email (m.dabbah@qmul.ac.uk) or by telephone (+ 44 (0) 207 882 8122).

About the Interdisciplinary Centre for Competition Law and Policy (ICC)

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Competition Law and Policy (ICC) is a unique centre that delivers world-class work in the field of competition law and policy. The ICC conducts research and delivers training in the field of competition law and policy, drawing on the multi-disciplinary strengths of Queen Mary, University of London, one of the UK’s leading research-focused higher education institutions. The ICC brings together the research strengths and expertise of the Queen Mary School of Law, and the Departments of Economics, Politics and Geography.

The ICC’s mission is to:

• Build a strong, broad-based and well-informed competition law community

• Engage in competition advocacy and internationally recognised scholarship

• Deliver innovative training and consultancy to meet the needs and expectations of lawyers, economists, policy-makers, competition enforcement bodies, judges and business people

The ICC offers internationally-recognised PhD and (taught and distance learning) LLM programmes in competition law and policy (in addition to a strong undergraduate option in EC and UK competition law) as well as an impressive programme of shorter courses including training courses and a highly successful annual summer school in competition law. Since its inauguration in 2006, the ICC has welcomed hundreds of participants to these courses in London; hundreds more (mainly judges, lawyers, economists and policy-makers from over 35 countries) have benefited from training given in different parts of the world.

The ICC also publishes a high quality, refereed student journal, the ICC Global Antitrust Review (GAR).

For further information on the ICC and its activities, visit: www.icc.qmul.ac.uk.