Competition law in digital markets, which is the hype theme of
the recent years, was discussed at the İstanbul Competition
Forum organized by the Turkish Competition Authority (the
"TCA"), with participation of UNCTAD, on 25-26 November.
The main consideration of the first panel titled
"Digitilization and Competition Law and Policy" was
competition law implications of new business models introduced by
digital platforms, and the TCA's approach to competition law
aspects of e-commerce was also discussed.
As the scale of e-commerce is growing rapidly, it is a must to
adapt to e-commerce, especially for companies which have a business
model based on physical retailing. On the other hand, it is an
undeniable truth that e-commerce poses a threat to the established
business model of physical retailing. The source of the threat is
the "free riding problem" which arises when consumers
benefit from physical retailing's advantages (such as examining
and trying the physical
