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ARTICLE · 30 SEPTEMBER 2016

European Commission Gives Preliminary Views On Competition Issues In E-Commerce

Reed Smith (Worldwide)
Explore more from Reed Smith (Worldwide)

On 15 September the European Commission published its Preliminary Report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry.

European UnionMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Edward Miller
Edward Miller
Marjorie C. Holmes
Marjorie C. Holmes
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On 15 September the European Commission published its Preliminary Report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry. The Commission has conducted a wide ranging survey of manufacturers, distributors and retailers, price comparison sites, online marketplaces, providers of digital content and rights owners. The Report summarises the results of the Commission's survey regarding e-commerce in goods and e-commerce in digital content.

The Report is published for comment and does not contain any firm conclusions regarding particular practices or restrictions in e-commerce. However, it is possible to identify in the Report areas where the Commission indicates its discomfort regarding practices its survey has revealed. This alert attempts to identify those areas which seem likely (and less likely) to be the focus for eventual enforcement action by the Commission in individual cases.

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