Antitrust and Competition - European Commission Launches Evaluation of the Geo-Blocking Regulation - On 11 February 2025, the European Commission launched a call for evidence to seek stakeholders’ views on the Geo-Blocking...more
On September 27, 2023, the EU General Court (GC) rejected an appeal by Valve Corporation (Valve) of a January 2021 decision by the European Commission (Commission), which found that Valve and five PC video game publishers had...more
The increasing importance of the internet has caused EU and US antitrust regulators to look closely at a range of trading policies including restrictions on internet sales, geo-blocking, use of on line platforms, MFN clauses...more
The European Commission has been closely following the developments in e-commerce. As more and more goods and services are sold online, the Commission finds itself inevitably drawn into regulating the competition rules in...more
Introduction - Our “trends for 2018” are only a selection of interesting developments to watch for in 2018. Within the political and legislative cycle of the European Union, 2018 promises to be an eventful year, given...more
On 10 May 2017, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its final report (“Report”) concluding a wide-ranging two-year long inquiry into e-commerce (“Inquiry”). During the Inquiry – which was conceived as part of the...more
On October 21, 2016, Skadden presented a seminar titled “Antitrust Law and Policies From Brussels to Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Divide?” in Brussels. Former DG Competition Director General Sir Philip Lowe gave the keynote...more
On 28 November, the Council of the EU (‘Council’) reached an agreement (‘Common Position’) on the draft Regulation intended to ban “unjustified” geo-blocking and other discriminatory practices that prevent end user customers...more
In September, the European Commission published its much-awaited Preliminary Report in the e-Commerce Sector Inquiry, launched last May 2015. Although the primary focus of the Commission’s Inquiry is on restrictions limiting...more
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition has issued a lengthy preliminary report of its ongoing sector inquiry into the e-commerce of goods and digital content. The sector-wide inquiry was launched on May...more
In May 2015, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a sector inquiry in the field of e-commerce in the context of its Digital Single Market strategy. Its aim was to obtain an overview of prevailing market trends,...more
In May 2015, the European Commission announced its Digital Single Market Strategy to accelerate the creation of a digital single market (DSM) across the EU. The EU’s aim is to broaden access to e-commerce, media and...more
The Commission’s proposals aim to drive cross-border e-commerce in the EU and level the regulatory field across audiovisual media services and online platforms. On 25 May 2016 the European Commission (Commission)...more
An appeal court in Frankfurt has asked the European Court of Justice to clarify the application of the competition rules to online sales. The Frankfurt court made its request in the context of a dispute between a leader in...more
On 22 April 2016, the European Commission (“EC”) invited industry comment on the commitments proposed by Paramount Pictures International Limited (“Paramount”) in response to concerns raised by the EC. The EC’s concerns were...more
On 18 March, the European Commission (Commission) published an issues paper presenting its initial findings on "geo-blocking", as part of its wide-ranging inquiry into competition in the EU e-commerce sector. This sector...more
On the 18th of March 2016, the EU Commission published initial findings from its e-commerce sector inquiry. The initial findings show a widespread use of geo-blocking throughout retailers in the EU. The findings reaffirm the...more
European Union: EU Commission maintains close scrutiny of retail geo-blocking - On the 18th of March 2016, the EU Commission published initial findings from its e-commerce sector inquiry. The initial findings show a...more