The Digital Ecosystem: Innovation and Competition
September 28, 2022 | Presidential Suite, Union Station, Washington, D.C.
While the European Union is preparing to enforce the Digital Markets Act, there is ongoing discussion in the United States regarding how to address regulatory concerns related to digital markets, with various legislative proposals on the table. What are the broader implications of the Digital Markets Act? What is the best path forward for the United States?
Registration and Breakfast
Digital Markets, Innovation, and Competition: What Are the Right Tools to Address Existing Concerns?
In response to reports about practices in digital markets that are perceived to be detrimental to innovation and competition, legislators across the global are evaluating the right tools to address these concerns. Whereas in the European Union, targeted regulation was considered the most effective tool, in the United States, proposals have ranged from targeted legislation to suggestions calling for a complete overhaul of generally applicable antitrust laws.
What are the advantages or drawbacks of targeted legislation versus antitrust overhaul, and how should either inform the ongoing debate in the United States?
Coffee Break
Fireside Chat: The EU Digital Markets Act and its Implications for the United States
While the right tools for addressing concerns with digital markets are still being discussed in the United States, the European Union will soon begin enforcing the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
What effects, if any, will the DMA have in the United States, and how should legislators account for them when considering their own course of action?
Big Tech and Mergers: How to Promote a Competitive and Innovative Digital Ecosystem?
The discussion around digital platforms often focuses on the inability of smaller companies to grow. Concurrently, resistance to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) undermines one of the essential tools that businesses have to enter new markets and achieve the necessary scale to compete with large incumbents.
What can be done to promote a competitive and innovative digital ecosystem? Does the U.S. need a more agile M&A review process to account for situations in which smaller firms are trying to compete against large platforms?