Dear Readers,
In this issue, we deal with the emergent issue of the competition concerns that arise in connection with Big Data. The contributors in this special issue on Big Data discuss several relevant questions – what role should Big Data play in assessment of mergers, i.e. should having and controlling consumer data be viewed as a form of market power. Then there is the related question on whether it is correct to deem “privacy” to be a non-price consideration in antitrust analysis, and whether it is fair to assume that entities owning big data have the power to foreclose markets, and which theories of harm may be applicable in context of big data. These questions reflect the thought process on big data underlying the Google/DoubleClick case in the EU and the Facebook/Watsapp decision in the U.S. The contributing authors in this issue help us look at Big Data and seek to encourage a more nuanced look at the competition concerns it may raise.
As always, thank you to our great panel of authors.
Sincerely,
CPI Team
