â— The competition in the Internet market is becoming increasingly complex and fierce, and disputes and cases involving monopoly and unfair competition are increasing. Some people have pointed out that the Internet industry has already had a monopoly problem. If these monopolistic behaviors are not effectively regulated in time, it will bring serious harm to the development of the industry and the interests of consumers. On the contrary, the opinion is that the development of the Internet industry is characterized by monopolistic competition. Some even believe that the Internet industry does not need anti-monopoly at all.
â— In fact, the monopoly phenomenon in the Internet market has already begun to take shape. Some areas have emerged as a dominant, oligopolistic state, and some companies are abusing their market dominance. Some mergers and acquisitions have greatly increased market concentration and even monopolized the entire market. Some Internet industry giants are buying out potential competitors, and many potential SMEs have been eliminated before they emerged. In addition, in the Internet field, cottage plagiarism, cybersquatting, obstructing software installation and operation, inducing or malicious uninstalling software, search rankings, installing malicious plug-ins, false propaganda, stealing information, commercial slander and traffic hijacking, etc., vicious competition, unfair competition There are many tricks.
â— Competition is the soul of the market economy and the internal driving force of enterprise innovation. To play the role of competition supervision is to strengthen the anti-monopoly law enforcement by establishing the basic status of competition policy, create a fair competitive market environment, encourage the innovation and development of the Internet industry, and ensure that Internet companies achieve innovation through orderly competition.
In recent years, China's Internet industry has flourished. At the same time, competition in the Internet market has become increasingly complex and fierce, and disputes and cases involving monopoly and unfair competition have increased. Some people have pointed out that the Internet industry has already had a monopoly problem. If these monopolistic behaviors are not effectively regulated in time, it will bring serious harm to the development of the industry and the interests of consumers. The opposite view is that the development of the Internet industry is characterized by monopolistic competition. Some even believe that the Internet industry does not need anti-monopoly at all.
We should see that competition is the soul and internal requirement of the market economy. As an important part of the market economy, the Internet industry is no exception. It is not only necessary to regulate the competition in the Internet market, but also to promote the fairness of the Internet industry and the national economy. Development has important and far-reaching significance.
The law and characteristics of Internet market competition
With the rapid development of the Internet industry, the competition in the Internet market is becoming increasingly fierce. Compared with traditional industries, the competition in the Internet industry has its own rules and characteristics.
The first is innovative competition. Compared with the traditional industry, the life cycle of Internet products is short, and the products are new and fast. Some Internet products have a life cycle of only one or two years. This forces companies to compete through continuous innovation, keep self-renewing, and create new products that better meet consumer needs. The quality and speed of innovation are related to the survival of enterprises. The “disruptive†technologies, business models and new formats of the Internet industry are emerging one after another. IT is a rapidly developing industry, and it will perish without progress.
The second is cross-border competition. At present, the Internet is accelerating its penetration into traditional industries, industrial boundaries are increasingly blending, new business models and service economies are rapidly emerging, and new formats are constantly being derived. Enterprises in different segments of the Internet industry often compete fiercely for user resources. Whether it is a search engine, a social network, or an e-commerce, on the one hand, each has its own business, on the other hand, it is aimed at network users. It is in exchange for user attention by providing free or low-priced products, with obvious platform development and competitive characteristics. . For example, Baidu is involved in video, music, security and other fields while building a search empire. Tencent relies on 1 billion users to easily enter various fields such as games, emails, and group purchases. This kind of competition is different from the industry competition in the traditional sense, but a brand-new platform competition and cross-border competition.
The third is oligarchy. With the in-depth development of the Internet industry, competitors quickly entered the market and quickly withdrew from the market. Eventually, the phenomenon of “winners take all†is becoming more and more obvious. Internet companies rely on technological innovation and user scale to easily achieve high user stickiness and form a highly concentrated market competition. The Chinese Internet has entered the oligarchy of Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba. In the field of Chinese search, Baidu is the world's largest, accounting for more than 80% of the Chinese search market share; in the field of instant messaging, Tencent has more than 90% market share; Alibaba accounts for more than 80% of the Chinese e-commerce market. According to the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, it can be presumed that Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba have market dominance.
The fourth is dynamic competition. The Internet industry is extremely dynamic, with rapid innovation and rapid changes in market position. Even industry-leading companies may be replaced by “subversive innovations†by new competitors in a short period of time.
The fierce monopoly of Internet market competition has already begun to take shape
With the intensification of competition in the Internet market, the competitive situation has become increasingly complex, and monopoly issues have surfaced. The homogenization of products of Internet companies is serious. There are still many gaps in technological innovation, product innovation and business model innovation compared with developed countries such as the United States. Some enterprises lack the sense of fair competition and even intentionally or unconsciously ignore the anti-monopoly compliance capacity building, which further aggravates the monopoly problems that have already occurred.
First, abuse of market dominance has occurred from time to time.
In some areas of the Internet industry, there has been a state of tyranny and oligopoly. Although the anti-monopoly law does not oppose the bigger and stronger enterprises, it is worrying that some companies abuse their market dominance. For example, some companies use naked tying, refusal to trade or compatibility, price discrimination, etc. to obtain monopoly profits nakedly and harm consumers' interests; for example, some Internet industry giants directly copy by virtue of their control of Internet resources and capital advantages. "The products and business models of other small and medium-sized enterprises continue to expand into more fields, squeezing the living space of small and medium-sized enterprises, and damaging the enthusiasm for innovation in the industry.
Second, large-scale mergers and acquisitions may lead to the exclusion and restriction of competition.
In recent years, the acceleration of M&A integration in the Internet industry has attracted attention, and the trend of integration of horizontal and vertical integration of Internet business platform and business ecological structure is obvious. Some mergers and acquisitions have greatly increased market concentration and even monopolized the entire market. For example, after the merger of Didi dripping, the market share has increased significantly, subsidies have decreased, and taxi fares have increased during the peak period. For example, after Ctrip acquired eLong and went there, it almost monopolized the online hotel reservation market, and the contracted hotel was squeezed. Consumer choices are reduced. Some Internet industry giants are buying potential competitors in Daxie. Many potential SMEs have been eliminated before they emerged. The innovation power represented by SMEs has been killed in the cradle.
Third, vicious competition and unfair competition are frequent.
In the Internet field, cottage plagiarism, domain name cybersquatting, obstructing software installation and operation, inducing or malicious uninstalling software, search rankings, installing malicious plug-ins, false propaganda, stealing information, commercial slander and traffic hijacking, etc., vicious competition, unfair competition means . These behaviors are concealed, fast, difficult to investigate, low in illegal costs, and difficult to defend rights, seriously damaging the fair and orderly competition order of the Internet industry, damaging the industry's innovative enthusiasm, and endangering the legitimate rights and interests of users and consumers. .
Countries around the world have implemented necessary competition supervision on the Internet industry
Competition is the soul of the market economy and the internal driving force of enterprise innovation. Only in the market environment of fair competition, in the face of the competitive pressure of survival of the fittest, we can maximize the innovation vitality of enterprises. To play the role of competition supervision is to strengthen the anti-monopoly law enforcement by establishing the basic status of competition policy, create a fair competitive market environment, encourage the innovation and development of the Internet industry, and ensure that Internet companies achieve innovation through orderly competition.
The Internet industry also needs to follow the basic laws of the market economy and promote the healthy development of the Internet industry. It is inseparable from a fair and healthy market competition order.
In order to standardize the competition order of the Internet industry, all countries have adopted the necessary competition supervision measures for the Internet industry, and law enforcement has been continuously strengthened. In recent years, the United States and the European Union have initiated anti-monopoly investigations on companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, focusing on strengthening the cooperation between anti-monopoly departments and industry regulatory authorities, and adopting pre- and post-investigation measures.
China's competition for competition in the Internet industry is also deepening. Since 2014, the relevant departments have carried out special actions such as “Red Shield Net Swordâ€, severely cracked down on unfair competition in the Internet industry, and investigated and handled a number of anti-monopoly cases in the Internet field. A series of regulations such as "Regulations on Regulating the Market Order of Internet Information Services" and "Regulations on the Management of Internet Information Search Services" were formulated, and the management behavior of Internet companies was standardized, and remarkable results were achieved. In particular, the "Interim Measures for Internet Advertising Management", which will take effect on September 1 this year, clearly lists paid search advertisements (bidding rankings) in the scope of the "Advertising Law", which clears the obstacles for Internet advertising supervision and has a good social response.
The "Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Actively Promoting "Internet +" Actions" pointed out that establishing a scientific and effective market supervision mode, promoting orderly market development, ensuring fair competition, and preventing the formation of industry monopolies and market barriers, further strengthen competition in the Internet industry. Supervision has pointed out the direction.
Strengthening Internet Competition and Supervision to Promote Healthy Development of the Industry
We need to give full play to the role of the competition mechanism, continue to improve the policy environment of the Internet industry, improve the legal system of Internet supervision, foster a social environment of fair competition and innovative development, enhance the innovation momentum of the Internet industry, and jointly promote the healthy development of the Internet industry.
Encourage the innovation and development of Internet companies
It is necessary to encourage breakthroughs in core technologies and gradually form the core competitiveness of sustainable development of the industry. At the same time, it will increase the protection of intellectual property rights and guide enterprises to carry out high-level competition through continuous innovation and improved user experience. Accelerate the implementation of the network strong country strategy, "Internet +" action and big data strategy, encourage differentiated innovation and competition, encourage integration and innovation, and create a relaxed and inclusive development atmosphere for all kinds of new Internet formats and new models. Create a fair and competitive market environment, coordinate Internet companies to strengthen the interconnection and compatibility of their respective products, better achieve win-win cooperation, and promote technological and commercial innovation.
Improve Internet competition policy and regulatory legal system
It should play the role of the Anti-monopoly Committee of the State Council, evaluate the competition in the Internet industry, study and formulate competition policies for the Internet industry, and promote orderly competition in the Internet industry. Strengthen the coordination of competition policy and Internet industry regulatory policies, and implement the fair competition review system in depth to ensure that relevant policies and measures in the Internet industry meet the requirements of fair competition. In-depth study of the legal issues arising in the development of the Internet industry, reasonable reference to foreign mature experience and practices, and accelerate the improvement of the Internet industry competition rules in line with China's national conditions. Continue to improve the supporting legislation of the Anti-Monopoly Law, formulate supporting rules for adapting to the development of the Internet industry, speed up the revision of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and promptly formulate laws and regulations such as the Electronic Commerce Law and the Telecommunications Law, and consolidate the competition supervision of the Internet industry. The institutional basis.
Strengthening competition in the Internet industry
In combination with the characteristics of innovation competition and dynamic competition in the Internet industry, we should study the innovative analysis methods applicable to the anti-monopoly law, continuously improve the quality and efficiency of law enforcement, and effectively play an active role in promoting competition and innovation in the Internet industry. We will closely monitor and strictly enforce law enforcement against serious violations of innovation and fair competition, improve law enforcement efficiency, and ensure the healthy development of the Internet industry.
First, review the concentration of operators in the Internet field in accordance with the law, prevent excessive market concentration through mergers and acquisitions, and increase barriers to entry; protect small, medium and small enterprises and team innovations, and encourage large Internet companies with technological advantages and capacity integration capabilities. Intensify innovation, and at the institutional level, these enterprises are required to open up infrastructure to medium, small and micro enterprises, and prevent these enterprises from acquiring and merging small, medium and small enterprises for the purpose of stifling competition; And illegally implement the behavior of the concentration of business operators.
Second, severely investigate and abuse the abuse of market dominance and monopolistic agreements that affect fair competition and damage consumer rights. Abuse of market dominance and monopoly agreements directly harm consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and has always been the focus of investigation and punishment by anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies in various countries. Major cases of abuse of market dominance and monopoly agreements need to be severely investigated.
Third, combat unfair competition and vicious competition, encourage Internet companies to carry out innovative competition, and improve the level and quality of competition. Different from the monopolistic behavior, unfair competition behavior is its own illegal behavior, and it is not necessary to analyze it rationally. The national anti-unfair competition law does not stipulate exemption clauses. At present, the phenomenon of unfair competition and vicious competition is very prominent. The task of strengthening anti-unfair competition law enforcement and purifying the market competition environment is still arduous.
Adhere to the principle of anti-monopoly law enforcement
On the one hand, it is necessary to increase anti-monopoly law enforcement to create a level playing field for the innovation and development of the Internet industry; on the other hand, it is not possible to use the anti-monopoly law mechanically, improperly expand the scope of anti-monopoly law, and inhibit competition in the industry. No harm, overall benefits outweigh the disadvantages and benefit consumers' technology, products and business model innovation.
In this regard, the anti-monopoly law of each country stipulates an exemption system. In most cases, it is necessary to conduct a reasonable analysis of the suspected monopolistic behavior and evaluate the effect of competition before determining whether to stop and sanction. For example, Article 15 of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law stipulates that if the operator can prove that the agreement reached does not seriously restrict the competition in the relevant market and enables consumers to share the resulting benefits, the law will no longer apply. Articles 13 and 14 stipulate that Chapter 3 of the Anti-Monopoly Law stipulates that having market dominance is not illegal in itself. Only those who have market dominance and have no legitimate reasons for imposing prohibited acts constitute illegal.
The anti-monopoly law does not absolutely prohibit monopolistic behavior. Even if the formal requirements are met in the form of anti-monopoly law, it is not illegal. The reason why the anti-monopoly law is so stipulated is to improve economic efficiency and protect the interests of consumers. For the Internet industry, the exemption system in the anti-monopoly law and the reasonable analysis in the anti-monopoly application provide institutional space for the innovation and development of the Internet industry. In the process of applying the anti-monopoly law in the Internet industry, in the process of applying the anti-monopoly law, we should grasp the characteristics of rapid changes in the Internet industry technology and business model, short innovation cycle and dynamic competition to carry out the necessary competition. Effectiveness analysis. Only in this way can we better use the anti-monopoly law system and deal with the relationship between maintaining competition and innovation.
Promote industry self-discipline and foster competition awareness and culture
The role of industry associations should be encouraged to improve industry norms and self-discipline conventions. At present, the Internet Society of China has organized Internet companies to sign more than 20 industry self-discipline conventions such as the China Internet Industry Self-Regulation Convention, the Anti-Malware Self-Regulation Convention, and the Internet Terminal Software Service Self-Regulation Convention. The current task is to further improve the industry self-discipline convention according to the needs of practice; the second is to promote the Internet industry to comply with the industry self-discipline and implement the necessary disciplinary mechanism; the third is to guide Internet companies and practitioners to continuously improve their self-discipline and consciously regulate their business behavior.
(The author is the vice president of China University of Political Science and Law)
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