On the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Digital Platform Services Inquiry's Discussion Paper for Interim Report No. 5: Updating Competition and Consumer Law for Digital Platform Services, Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

24 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2022

See all articles by Alexander Raskovich

Alexander Raskovich

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Douglas H. Ginsburg

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

Bruce H. Kobayashi

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

Abbott B. Lipsky

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

Joshua D. Wright

Lodestar Law and Economics

John M. Yun

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

Date Written: April 14, 2022

Abstract

The Discussion Paper, intended to guide the ACCC toward the recommendations in the ongoing Digital Platform Services Inquiry, suggests consideration of a wide variety of sweeping changes in Australian competition-law enforcement and the enactment of additional regulations in regard to social media services, online private messaging services, app stores, electronic marketplaces, and other “digital platform services.” These include requirements for data portability, interoperability, sharing and access, and limitations on data use. Other requirements may affect customer dispute-resolution procedures and require increased transparency regarding algorithms, as well as price and terms of service. Finally, the Discussion Paper suggests profound changes in Australian law and procedure involving merger control, including institution of compulsory notification above specified thresholds, reversal of the burden of proof in acquisition matters, lowering the current standard of proof of anticompetitive effect by construing “likely” to mean “a possibility that is not remote,” adoption of structural presumptions in acquisition matters, among other similar changes. The GAI Comment asks the ACCC to follow Australian Government policy in applying cost-benefit analysis to these proposed changes and argues that for the most part the evidence and analysis presented thus far in the Inquiry do not meet the applicable standard required to suggest a need for reform.

Keywords: Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, ACCC, Australian Competition Tribunal, digital platform services, competition law, competition policy, antitrust, social media, app stores

JEL Classification: K2, K20, K21

Suggested Citation

Raskovich, Alexander and Ginsburg, Douglas H. and Kobayashi, Bruce H. and Lipsky, Abbott B. and Wright, Joshua D. and Yun, John M., On the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Digital Platform Services Inquiry's Discussion Paper for Interim Report No. 5: Updating Competition and Consumer Law for Digital Platform Services, Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University (April 14, 2022). George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 22-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4084885 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4084885

Alexander Raskovich

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Douglas H. Ginsburg

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ( email )

333 Constitution Ave NW
Room 5523
Washington, DC 20001
United States

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Bruce H. Kobayashi

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
703-993-8034 (Phone)
703-993-8088 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://mason.gmu.edu/~bkobayas

Abbott B. Lipsky

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Joshua D. Wright

Lodestar Law and Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 751
Mclean, VA 22101
United States

John M. Yun (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

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