Acing the Labyrinth - A Paper On Implementing Competition Law In Today’s Digital Economy.

Abstract

The time has come to think again. Ushered into an era of innovation, with massive implications and complications, we are forced to re-evaluate all we once knew. With particular focus on emerging business models, competition authorities are faced with a new paradigm where applying the erstwhile economic principles and legal rationalisations are like hunting down an invisible target through a complex labyrinth with paper darts.

In this digital age such concepts as “what is a market?”, “which type of behavior is considered anti-competitive?” have had to be re-examined vis-à-vis new concepts such as data partnerships, personalised pricing, tying and bundling strategies, hybridized platform and pipeline business models and structuralist approaches like the Blue Ocean Strategy.

It is against the backdrop of this labyrinthine new reality that the following discussion sheds a nuanced light on how competition authorities have tried to balance the interconnected web of competing interests.