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With the rapid development of e-commerce, both gray products and counterfeit products are particularly serious in the luxury industry. This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the interaction among the gray market, the counterfeit market and the authorised market, and examines how luxury manufacturers should manage unfair competition from gray products and/or counterfeit products. First, regardless of the existence of counterfeit products, the manufacturer can benefit from gray products when the status utility is moderate. Second, counterfeit products may benefit the manufacturer, depending on the availability of gray products and the physical resemblance of counterfeit products. Third, gray product may benefit the counterfeiter while counterfeit product always harms the gray marketer. Finally, we reveal that gray products can help luxury manufacturers fight against counterfeit products. In particular, gray products can reduce the demand for counterfeit products and even drive counterfeit products out of the market when the physical resemblance of counterfeit products is sufficiently low. Our findings provide several new managerial insights for luxury manufacturers and gray marketers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurofeedback is a brain-training technique that continues to develop via ongoing innovations, and that has broadening potential impact. Once confined primarily to clinical and research settings, it is increasingly being used in the general population. Such development raises concerns about the current regulatory mechanisms and their adequacy in protecting patterns of economic and political decision-making from the novel technology. As studies have found neurofeedback to change subjects' preferences and mental associations covertly, there is a possibility it will be abused for political and commercial gains. Current regulatory practices (including disclaimer requirements, unfair and deceptive trade practice statutes and undue influence law) may be avenues from which to regulate neurofeedback influence. They are, however, limited. Regulating neurofeedback will face the line-drawing problem of determining when it induces an unacceptable level of influence. We suggest experiments that will clarify how the parameters of neurofeedback training affect its level of influence. In addition, we assert that the reactive nature of the traditional models of regulation will be inadequate against this and other rapidly transforming technologies. An integrated and proactive regulatory system designed for flexibility must be adopted to protect society in this era of modern technological advancement. This article is part of the theme issue 'Neurofeedback: new territories and neurocognitive mechanisms of endogenous neuromodulation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The revised Horizontal Guidelines provide a new framework to assess sustainability agreements. This article explores two pivotal aspects in the Horizontal Guidelines: individual non-use value benefits and collective benefits. By portraying sustainability as an economic rather than a moral benefit, the analysis delves into the foundations and methodologies used in these benefits and their fit into the existing caselaw, exposing shortfalls and controversies in their application. Building on this discussion, the article further explores the legitimacy of competition authorities to exercise distributional functions and decide on consumer preferences. The article overcomes the notion of sustainability as a non-economic goal in competition law, reveals key challenges in the future application of the Guidelines and aligns the economic discussion with the legal reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While its relationship with competition law remains under debate, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) concerns fundamental rights, public values, and the control of power in digital markets. In limiting the scope of the freedom to conduct a business, the DMA seeks to safeguard conflicting and colliding fundamental rights and public interests. For the DMA to gain recognition as a legitimate and future-proof governance framework for digital markets, it must be based on participatory democracy. Meaningful participation in procedures that could impact one's position is a fundamental element of a democratic legal system governed by the rule of law. Although the DMA permits some form of dialogue, participatory democracy is constrained in scope, a bilateral logic rather than a multi-stakeholder approach is employed, and much is left to the discretion of the enforcer. Using a law-oriented and constitutional approach, we elaborate on how participatory democracy, engagement, and deliberation can be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a landmark judgment at the intersection of competition law and data privacy law. This article delves into two pivotal aspects: firstly, the recognition of privacy-related harms as factors within the realm of competition law considerations; and secondly, an examination of the role of competition law authorities in addressing infringements related to data protection. The analysis emphasizes the practical significance of the CJEU decision, asserting its importance rather than controversy. The judgment provides clarity on how regulatory rules can influence competition assessments and highlights the potential for competition authorities to consider the broader market and regulatory landscape without exceeding their mandate.The Facebook case, while not exhaustive, marks a crucial step in elucidating how regulatory rules influence competition assessments and how competition authorities can navigate broader market and regulatory considerations within their mandate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citing corporate concentration and lax enforcement since the Reagan era, the Biden administration has declared a new era of aggressive antitrust prosecution, bringing antimonopoly actions against tech giants such as Meta, Google, and Amazon. But what's so bad about monopoly or corporate concentration? The standard answer appeals to economic consequences, such as higher prices or deadweight losses. This paper offers a different framework. It argues monopolizing can be a form of cheating, which is a wrong that attaches to means, not just ends; an athlete who cheats but loses still does wrong. In particular, this paper argues that certain market-controlling strategies constitute a form of cheating I call 'structural cheating,' best illustrated by the metaphor of creating an unlevel playing field: rather than compete fairly on merits such as product quality and price, a firm that acquires rivals biases the market in its favor, thereby entrenching a dominant position that effectively forces would-be competitors to compete uphill. By framing (alleged) antitrust violations as cheating, while using the FTC's lawsuit against Facebook (now Meta) as a test case, this paper provides a needed corrective to those citing market success as evidence of merit or skill. A further upshot is the structural cheating account better explains the distinctively problematic features of social media market concentration than Heath's Market Failures Approach. More generally, this paper provides a normative lens for analyzing fair market competition and shows why it's not only winning or losing that counts in capitalism, but how one plays the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of a competitor's trademark as a keyword in digital advertising, specifically in the context of sponsored links on search engines like Google. It argues that this practice constitutes unfair competition, leading to confusion among consumers and parasitic competition. The text also delves into the legal implications, including civil liability for search engine providers and the need for compensation for damages caused by such actions. The article emphasizes the importance of protecting trademarks and preventing consumer confusion in the digital advertising landscape. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the ramification of the platform's dual role on its featuring strategy, sellers' pricing strategies, and consumer welfare. A digital platform operates the marketplace that connects third-party merchants to consumers and simultaneously participates in its marketplace by selling its own product directly to consumers. This dual role raises the concern that the platform may be self-preferencing, leading to unfair competition and harming both merchants and consumers. We develop a game-theoretical model to investigate the implication of dual role on the platform's product featuring strategy, the seller's pricing strategy, and the consumer's welfare. We show that the platform presents an "intermediary bias" such that it may not feature the best possible product to consumers, regardless of whether the platform is under dual role or sole marketplace mode. Surprisingly, dual role, in some scenarios, may mitigate the intermediary bias and intensify price competition in its marketplace. Consequently, prohibiting the platform from selling directly to consumers may not always be welfare-improving to consumers. Furthermore, banning the platform's perfect product imitation can harm consumers when dual role is still allowed. History: Anthony Dukes served as the senior editor for this article. Funding: This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72202160, 72342026, and 71902142] and the Pujiang Scholar [Grant 22PJC115]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.0338. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors have written of antitrust law's demise in the face of blockchain, which, seemingly, achieves the pro-competitive ends of the law through technology and private ordering. Permissionless blockchains in particular are said to offer a vision of radical disintermediation and a break with the platform economy troubling the regulators today. At the same time, blockchain supposedly presents challenges to antitrust doctrine, from the most basic of concepts to the viability of enforcement and remedies. Finally, blockchain community governance is said to allow for private ordering of antitrust, i.e., enforcement of rules attempting to protect competition, which are at the same time illegal; not coming from the courts or agencies, they constitute competition wrongs themselves. This Article argues that all three claims are overstated and proposes a synthesis of law and code. The legal doctrine can be modified to tackle the novel technological landscape quite easily, with adoption of novel legal fictions. This is necessary since blockchains-both public and even more so private ones--while ingenious, do not remove a need for the law to protect the market from anticompetitive conduct. Indeed, even public ledgers have power structures allowing for abuse, while private blockchains may, in fact, allow for its proliferation. The law needs to find a regulatory access point to the ledgers. This is not an easy task; however, cooperation of blockchains with the law, and encoding of antitrust rules on the ledgers themselves, offers a possibility of a reconciliation between the law and the code. At the same time, this lends legitimacy to pro-competitive actions of those cyberspace communities and ensures a preservation of the rule of law. This is the blockchain antitrust synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of freedom of competition is considered one of the basic pillars that guarantee merchants the right to compete with each other. However, in many cases the matter may amount to a competitor exceeding the limits of freedom of trade, by resorting to fraud and using methods and means that are harmful to the competitor, which results in unfair competition. Which prompted the Algerian legislator to regulate practices restricting competition through Ordinance No. 03-03 relating to competition, amended and supplemented, and also Law No. 04-02 specifying the rules applied to commercial practices, amended and supplemented, where the economic aid was granted the right to resort to the judiciary under a lawsuit, which is a means to which it resorts. A request for compensation for the damage suffered as a result of acts of unfair competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese courts follow a dual-track approach in cases about nonliteral copying of game mechanics. The courts grant market exclusivity to game developers either under copyright law or under unfair competition law. In recent years, the fact that copyright law and unfair competition law differ in their cognitive efficiency has become clear. Copyright law is cognitively highly efficient. It is able to provide high-quality background information to navigate decision-makers through the complex issues. Unfair competition law, on the other hand, is cognitively inefficient, providing hardly any structural guidance to strike the delicate balance between creators and users of disputed game mechanics. Abundant cases in China help us understand the importance of cognitive efficiency in choosing the proper modularity of law. When it comes to game mechanics, copyright law is the better modularity in comparison to unfair competition law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nodaways, diverse artificial intelligence techniques have been applied to analyse datasets in the legal domain. Precisely, several studies aim at predicting the decision to help the competent authority resolve a specific legal process. However, AI-based prediction algorithms are usually black-box, and explaining why the algorithm predicted a label remains challenging. Therefore, this paper proposes a 5-step methodology for analysing legal documents from the agency responsible for resolving administrative sanction procedures related to consumer protection. Our methodology starts with corpus collection, pre-processing, and TF vectorisation. Later, fifteen machine and deep learning algorithms were tested, and the best-performing one was selected based on quality metrics. Interpretability is emphasised, with the SHAP scores used to explain predictions. The results show that our methodology contributes to the understanding the decisive influence of legal terms and their connection to the decision made by the competent authority. By providing tools for legal professionals to make more informed decisions, develop effective legal strategies, and ensure fairness and transparency in the legal decision-making process, this methodology has broad implications for various legal areas beyond disputes, including administrative procedures like bankruptcies and unfair competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses New Zealand's evolving foreign policy focus on the Pacific region, driven by rising geopolitical competition and concerns over China's growing influence, while highlighting the complexities of regional engagements that often overlook local priorities like climate change. Topics include security and defense arrangements, development assistance, and the diverse actors influencing Pacific geopolitics.

Ensuring food safety and protecting consumers are major aspects for commercialized products. Honey, the most prominent in the class of bee products, requires special regulations due to its origin as a natural product. Mislabeling, imitation, and adulteration represent a source of risks for human health. Specific determinations and analyses are essential for controlling the sector and preventing unfair competition. To compare and establish the correct labeling of several different honeys, melissopalynological, physicochemical, mineral content, and microbiological analyses were carried out on 18 samples commercially available in different countries, namely Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria, and Northern Cyprus. The honey labels were in accordance with the determined pollen content. The physiochemical parameters showed high variability: 4.07–5.25 (pH), 79.95–83.45 (°Brix), 0.262–1.452 µS/cm (electrical conductivity), and 14.6–18.4% (moisture). The samples were quantitatively high in K, P, Na, and Ca, with the highest cumulative mineral content being found for honeys containing Fagaceae pollen. Additionally, the antimicrobial potential of the various honey samples was evaluated against selected bacteria, employing the disk diffusion and serial dilution methods. Results revealed that the honey samples exhibited increased antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, with notable activity against S. typhimurium, and moderate activity against Gram-positive S. aureus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with competition law disputes between doctors and presents three cases in which the Supreme Court has made clarifications. The first case concerns permissible competition among elective doctors, where no pricing regulation can be derived. The second case concerns improper advertising of dental treatments abroad. The third case deals with unfair competition in connection with a dental clinic and the tourism representative. It is emphasized that unfair competition law also provides effective legal protection in cross-border medical matters. [Extracted from the article]

In view of the complexity and diversity of hyperspectral images (HSIs), the classification task has been a major challenge in the field of remote sensing image processing. Hyperspectral classification (HSIC) methods based on neural architecture search (NAS) is a current attractive frontier that not only automatically searches for neural network architectures best suited to the characteristics of HSI data, but also avoids the possible limitations of manual design of neural networks when dealing with new classification tasks. However, the existing NAS-based HSIC methods have the following limitations: (1) the search space lacks efficient convolution operators that can fully extract discriminative spatial–spectral features, and (2) NAS based on traditional differentiable architecture search (DARTS) has performance collapse caused by unfair competition. To overcome these limitations, we proposed a neural architecture search method with receptive field spatial–spectral attention (RFSS-NAS), which is specifically designed to automatically search the optimal architecture for HSIC. Considering the core needs of the model in extracting more discriminative spatial–spectral features, we designed a novel and efficient attention search space. The core component of this innovative space is the receptive field spatial–spectral attention convolution operator, which is capable of precisely focusing on the critical information in the image, thus greatly enhancing the quality of feature extraction. Meanwhile, for the purpose of solving the unfair competition issue in the traditional differentiable architecture search (DARTS) strategy, we skillfully introduce the Noisy-DARTS strategy. The strategy ensures the fairness and efficiency of the search process and effectively avoids the risk of performance crash. In addition, to further improve the robustness of the model and ability to recognize difficult-to-classify samples, we proposed a fusion loss function by combining the advantages of the label smoothing loss and the polynomial expansion perspective loss function, which not only smooths the label distribution and reduces the risk of overfitting, but also effectively handles those difficult-to-classify samples, thus improving the overall classification accuracy. Experiments on three public datasets fully validate the superior performance of RFSS-NAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Privacy and antitrust are on a collision course. Large firms with monopoly power or near-monopoly power can build products that ostensibly enhance user privacy while raising rivals' costs and allowing monopolist firms to gain footholds in secondary markets. In this Note, I use the example of Apple's privacy changes, the impact these changes had on digital advertising, and Apple's subsequent expansion of its own digital marketing offerings as a motivating example of how current antitrust doctrine is ill-equipped to handle this new form of monopolist behavior. Privacy is the latest example of an "incommensurability" problem in the final stage of the standard rule of reason analysis. Even if a plaintiff can demonstrate competitive harm from privacy-preserving conduct, courts are constrained in what type of relief they can order. Fortunately, one of the main federal antitrust enforcers--the Federal Trade Commission--is also the source of much of federal privacy law. It has the authority and expertise to promulgate rules pursuant to section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to address anticompetitive privacy and strike the appropriate balance between competition and consumer protection. Much of the Commission's privacy enforcement has reflected the heavily criticized "notice-and-choice" privacy framework. However, the Commission's recent initiation of the Magnusson-Moss rulemaking process signals an opening to not only move beyond this framework, but also to consider both competition and privacy in the formation of any rule regulating technology firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the legislative model of criminal prohibition of smuggling. It is stated that the emergence of new and modernization of existing methods of smuggling is due to the correlation of the State's customs policy in connection with the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and the introduction of the legal regime of martial law. The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic analysis of the amendments and additions made to Section VII of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in terms of criminalization of smuggling, to determine their effectiveness and expediency, and to formulate scientifically sound recommendations for improving criminal law regulation of social relations related to smuggling. The author establishes that the main factors which influenced the process of recriminalization of commodity smuggling are: an increase in the number of manifestations of smuggling of goods and their unreliable declaration; a decrease in revenues to the State Budget of Ukraine; stimulation of unfair competition; entry of products of inadequate quality into the domestic market; an increase in the shadow economy in the public sector; criminalization of smuggling of goods in certain EU countries; ineffective application of administrative liability measures. The author analyzes the need to strengthen criminal liability for commodity smuggling at the level of the European Union as a whole. The author elucidates the approaches available in the criminal law doctrine to solving the problems associated with the introduction of criminal liability for commodity smuggling. It is substantiated that in case of any change in the system of current criminal legislation, it is necessary to justify this type of rulemaking, i.e. to assess the admissibility and appropriateness of a criminal law novelty. The author emphasizes that it is inexpedient to distinguish criminal law provisions on smuggling by the type of subject matter. The author concludes that the model of criminal legal prohibition of smuggling chosen by the legislator determines the differentiation of criminal liability, and at the same time is a manifestation of the shortcomings of legislative technique, since it gives rise to the emergence of legislative models of smuggling with different objects of criminal legal protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the platform owner entering complementors' product space, the cooperative nature of the platform ecosystem shifts into coopetition, a mixed strategy of cooperation and competition. Since a disproportionately large number of complementors are small in size and suffer from insufficient resources, their platform owner's unfair competition can pose existential threats to them. Although the literature acknowledges the significance of the research domain, there still exist the challenges of inadequate conceptualization, inefficient measures, and insufficient studies of coopetition. This study attempts to fill the research gap by elucidating the relationship among coopetition balance, capability, and intensity from the complementors' perspective and by operationalizing the coopetition via latent congruence modeling. The survey data collected from 365 complementors at Amazon suggest that coopetition balance and coopetition capability impact on relationship performance, and that coopetition capability and coopetition intensity moderate the relationship between coopetition balance and relationship performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that the test for excessive pricing set out in United Brands is vague in a number of aspects and subsequent judgments of the EU courts have not provided much clarity on the matter. This article examines the evolution of the EU case law on excessive pricing for the last four decades including the most recent excessive pricing case investigated by the European Commission in the Aspen case. In particular, the article discusses the important question of what constitutes an excessive price that is "unfair in itself" and the question of how economic value is to be assessed. The article concludes that, although the abuse of unfair excessive pricing is likely to remain a difficult area for regulators to handle, the Commission's commitment decision in Aspen, despite the fact that it cannot change or replace judicial decisions, provides very important clarification of the legal test for excessive pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alauddin Law Development Journal is the property of Alauddin Law Development Journal (ALDEV) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Consumer is the starting point of all economic activity and plays a pivotal role in the world of commerce. Business activities are carried out to satisfy the wants of consumers and it makes the consumer as king to commercial world. There is a wide spread exploitation of consumers and unfair trade practices like charging higher prices, supplying poor quality or even by adulterated goods, cheating in the weight and misleading advertisements make them even more vulnerable and more susceptible to exploitation. Customers are most often are ignorant of their basic rights of safety, right to choose, right to be heard and right to information. There are psychological factors also at play. A purchase decision basically involves what, how and where but not every purchase decision is planned. A consumer's perception also plays a role in decision-making. This post-purchase dissonance occurs immediately following a purchase. Consumers start having second thoughts as to the wisdom of their purchase. This naturally affects how a consumer evaluates a product which in turn, leads to her level of satisfaction. In other words, it can be safely presumed that post-purchase dissonance and consumer litigations are directly related to customer satisfaction (Longenecke, 2014) A consumer who is unhappy with the purchase processor the product during and after use may force a consumer to file complaints against the company, post a negative review on online forums or ultimately take it up with redressal forums. Unfortunately, not many resort to the final step and often they are not aware of their rights; they are not aware of the right to be protected against the marketing tricks of the sellers; they are not aware of their right to be protected from abuse. In fact, many of them are not even aware that there are mechanisms and forums through which they can demand and get redressal for litigations An attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the consumer dispute redressal forums based on the level of consumer awareness about such forums, consumer perception both about their right to complaint and their faith in these forums and finally the level their satisfaction. The study comprises an introduction to the subject matter of study, scope. its significance and also the overall perspective. The research problem, objectives and hypotheses are explained and given at the end. Significance of the Study is that the customer satisfaction has been considered a vital factor for the success of business organizations. The main objectives of the business firms are to derive maximum profit with minimum cost. Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty and subsequently it leads to repeated purchase (Wilson, 2008). The consumption era in marketing focuses more on customers/consumers leading to the development of post - consumption where the organizations are compelled to provide better services in addition to what they provide as additional offer to their customer (Armano, 2009). The question related to the quality of goods and services and the satisfaction related to the available services, paved the way for the development of problems related to consumption of goods and services. Which led to the consumers to think about remedial measures and it finally led to the development of various laws to protect the consumer grievances Consumer protection movements were initiated to protect the consumers all over the world against the exploitation by the producers/business firms. The first consumer's organizations were born in Denmark in 1947 and in Great Britain in 1955 where the Government created the Consumer Council in order to enable consumers to express themselves on issues reserved to producers and traders. Real normative breakthrough of consumer protection movements came with the Single European Act; it modified the Treaty of Rome by strengthening the role of the Economic and Social Committee, to whom were attributed powers to protect the consumers. Some important changes were made to the above mentioned legislation that paved the way for a wider consumer policy.(http://www.nyulawglobal.org). The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which dedicated a specific title to the consumer protection, gave specific expertise to the new structure and ensured a remarkably high degree of protection, both for the protection of health and for the consumer's economic interests. In the early „90s consumer protection gained a prominent position with the creation of the National Consumers and Users Association which was attended by nine associations. The advocates of consumer protection have always been for harmonize the rules on fair commercial practices between businesses and consumers. In fact, The Consumer Code in Italy which came into force in 2005 went a step further and improved the rules on the fairness of competitive practices as well as those on the information. (http://www.nyulawglobal.org). Similarly, U.S. consumer laws are also vast and growing, and with them, the protection and substantiation of fair business practices. In India the government has come out with a number of measures to redress the grievances of the consumers, the major step is the development of Consumer Protection Act enacted and cane in to force in the year 1986. India has an ancient history of consumer protection. It was part of its ancient culture and formed the core of its administration (Ardhasathra). But the emergence of boundless commercial activities eclipsed the rich heritage. Along with this, gradual exploitation of the consumers also emerged, leaving them helpless. The Consumer Protection Act 1986 in India would encourage consumers to stand up for their rights and lead to an overwhelming number of litigations in consumer courts. The Act, divided such organizations as the National Consumer Redressal Forum and the National Dispute Redressal Commission, at the national level, the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission at the state level and the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum at the district levels. The other state-run machineries are about 500 consumer organizations working in the field of consumer protection, the most popular among them being the Consumer Guidance Society of India (Mumbai), Citizen Action Group (Mumbai), Consumer Education & Research Centre (CERC, Ahmadabad)and Common Causes (New Delhi). Kerala, the highly literate state in the country, reveals that it is predominantly a consumer state The population in Kerala is estimated at 3.40 crore (India Guide, 2015). Unfortunately, under the capitalistic system, especially in the present form of business, on-line trading and e-commerce, exploitation is common. There are 14 districts in Kerala and in every head quarter of the districts, there are Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums (CDRFs). But proper consumer awareness is still remains as a myth not only in all districts of state of Kerala but also in all other states of India. Post - purchase litigation is a problem because of the loss and also the difficulties suffered by the consumer. In other words, it is also a problem for the governments? intentions and policies to protect the consumer against exploitation and disappointment. This is the significant social problem which, if not resolved, may result in adversity to a lion share of the population. The aim of the present study is to explore this problem further and find out how far the government-run redressal forums are able to help out the consumers in litigations. The present study focuses on post-purchase litigations and trying to find out whether the consumers are aware about Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the functions of Consumer Protection Forums and to know whether dissonant consumers are approaching the forums for litigations. It is an innovative study which may throw much light on the problems faced by consumers and the possibilities of Litigations and the results of the study will be an eye opener to the consumers and government authorities. The investigator is a member of the Kerala Legal Service Authority and as such he regularly engages classes for the common people of the villages on the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act to motivate them to approach the forums if they have any complaints about the goods purchased or the services availed of. In his role as a counselor in consumer protection, the investigator had always been curious to find out the effectiveness and efficacy of such redressal forums. This has prompted the researcher to take up a pilot study, looking into the working of consumer redressal forums in Kerala. During the pilot study the investigator studied the functions of the District Redressal Forum of Trivandrum and Thrissur. It was found that they were functioning regularly and complaints were being registered by aggrieved consumers. But it was understood from some of the advocates and from complainants that the disposal of litigations were very slow and that the litigation process become very expensive too. The investigator also understood that the number of cases registered from the distant villagers in the district were very few, either due to the ignorance about the Consumer Protection Act 2019 or the functioning of the forums or the difficulty of travelling long distance. In general, consumers of rural areas were found to be reluctant to resort to litigation for getting redressal. According to the Census Survey (2011) and as per current position Kerala has a population of more than 3.40 crores. Obviously, all of them are consumers in one way or in other way because of the purchase of goods or services. The enforcement of Consumer Protection Act by the Parliament is a sure indication that the common people are exploited by the business agents, traders, manufacturers and service providers The number of grievances filed by the customers for the past 10 years is given below (23,766 / 3. 45). All these facts and figures indicate the need for and significance of the present study. During the review of literature on the subject the investigator came across more than hundred odd studies on the subject which again emphasized the relevance of the present study. Title of the Study has been designed as "The Post purchase litigation and Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums an Analytical Study in Kerala" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the impact of the U.S. trade war and environmental policies on the timber trade between the U.S. and Vietnam. Due to the trade war, U.S. timber exports to China decreased, leading U.S. timber companies to look to Vietnam as an alternative market. However, concerns have been raised about Vietnam importing illegally harvested timber. The U.S. initiated a Section 301 investigation into Vietnam's timber imports, which resulted in an agreement for Vietnam to improve its timber legality assurance system. The article also discusses the implications of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on illegal timber trade. [Extracted from the article]

After a fire breaks out, pedestrians simultaneously move towards the exit and quickly form a crowded area near the exit. With the intensification of pedestrians' tendencies towards unfair competition, there is an increase in pushing and collisions within the crowd. The possibility of stampedes within the crowd also gradually increases. Analyzing the causes and psychological tendencies behind pedestrian pushing and collisions has a positive effect on reducing crowd instability and improving evacuation efficiency. This research proposes a modified social force model considering the unfair competition tendency of pedestrians. The model considers factors such as the gap between pedestrians' actual and maximum achievable speed, effective radius, and their distance from the exit. In order to overcome the shortage of "deadlock" in the classical social force model in a high-density environment, this research introduces the feature of variable pedestrian effective radius. The effective radius of pedestrians dynamically changes according to the density of the surrounding crowd and queuing time. Through validation, the evacuation efficiency of this model aligns well with the actual situation and effectively reflects pedestrians' pushing and squeezing behaviors in high-density environments. This research also analyzes how to strategically arrange obstacles to mitigate the exacerbating effect of unfair pedestrian competition on exit congestion. Five experiments were conducted to analyze how the relative position of obstacles and exits, the number of evacuation paths, and the size of the obstacle-free area before the exit affect evacuation efficiency in the presence of unfair pedestrian competition. The results show that evacuation efficiency can be improved when obstacles play a role in guiding or reducing the interaction of pedestrians in different queues. However, when obstacles hinder pedestrians, the evacuation efficiency is reduced to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of toxic business competition, this research investigates the legal protection of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia, particularly in partnerships with large corporations. The primary emphasis is on the implementation of Law Number 5 of 1999, which prohibits monopolistic practices and unfair business competition, and Law Number 20 of 2008, which pertains to small and medium-sized enterprises. Data was collected from literature studies, pertinent regulations, and in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders using a qualitative approach and a case study design. The research results show that although the legal framework already exists, effective implementation still requires improvement. MSMEs face various challenges in partnerships with large companies, including access to resources and greater risks in business transactions. Recommendations are prepared to strengthen legal protection through regulatory revisions, strengthening legal institutions, legal education, developing partnerships, and stricter law enforcement. The main aim is to increase fairness in business relations between MSMEs and large companies, as well as support inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Indonesia. It is hoped that the implications of this research can provide a positive contribution in renewing policies that support the development of MSMEs as the backbone of the national economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enacted by the European Union (EU) and its implications. The author questions the effectiveness of the DMA in shaping future markets and fostering innovation in Europe. They argue that the DMA lacks a clear vision for European digital markets and overlooks the benefits of the more economic approach in antitrust enforcement. The article also highlights concerns about overregulation and the denial of efficiency defenses under the DMA. Overall, the author suggests a need for skepticism and further analysis of the DMA's impact. The author, Thomas Lübbig, suggests that the EU impact assessment process should include more consideration of the potential market outcomes that can be achieved through regulation. He proposes that instead of relying solely on evaluation, the legislator should consider implementing binding sunset clauses, which would set a specific time limit for the regulation. The author acknowledges that predicting the future is difficult, but believes that this approach would provide a more balanced and effective approach to market regulation. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the potential implications of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union (EU) on fairness and competition in digital markets. The DMA aims to ensure contestability and fairness for business users and end users of core platform services provided by gatekeepers. However, the article argues that the DMA may unintentionally limit fairness and create problems for Member States in protecting consumers and non-gatekeeper businesses. The article also highlights the potential conflicts between EU and Member States' competences and the potential future impact on competition law. [Extracted from the article]

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Copyright of Computer und Recht is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The problem of quantifying the reputational damage resulting from unfair competition actions derives mainly from the lack of contextually established criteria. In the same sense, the lack of relevant judicial precedents amplifies the precarious state of the system of indicative benchmarks in order to assess the damage to reputation as a result of affecting the rights and legitimate interests of the victims of unfair competition actions. Foreign methodological systems for quantifying damages caused by unfair competition actions could represent points of reference for the domestic legislator in the idea of solving practical difficulties in the process of assessing damages caused by unfair competition actions. An eloquent example could be considered the French model for evaluating the economic damage resulting from actions of unfair competition, developed by notorious practitioners in the field in question. The methodological sheets are generically called „La réparation du préjudice économique. Fiches méthodologiques et glossaire - 3e édition (2024)”.

The study aims to highlight the conditions that a product must meet in order to be protected by an indicative sign as well as the advantages conferred by means of protection through the prism of Community legislation and the CJEU jurisprudence. Indicative signs are marketing tools that contribute to the effective promotion of the product protected by a European and national quality system, intended to protect consumers against misleading practices aimed at misleading them about the geographical origin or production methods of the product, as well as producers against acts of unfair competition. Geographical indications, designations of origin and names of guaranteed traditional specialties allow consumers to trust and distinguish quality products, also helping producers in their marketing, in the case of the former, the connection between the specific geographical region and the name of the product being highlighted, in case a certain quality, reputation or other characteristic can be attributed essentially or exclusively to its geographical origin, as regards traditional specialties guaranteed, the link referring to the production method used over time in the determined geographical region with the quality and characteristics of the product protected by indicative sign. The protection of indicative signs is an effective tool to prevent the use of a name on the market, but this protection does not aim to limit the range of products available on the market, but to reserve a specific name for products that comply with the requirements of the specifications and that have a link clear geographical connection with a certain place, region or, as we have seen, in some cases, with the territory of a country, which does not prevent other producers from marketing the same type of product under a different name. It is unanimously accepted that the added value conferred by the indicative signs is based on the trust of consumers and only an effective protection system can guarantee them that a certain quality, characteristic or reputation of the products protected by the indicative sign are maintained for the entire duration of the protection period.

Automatic pricing algorithms with artificial intelligence (AI) technology in e-commerce have a significant impact on the running of the industry. This creates benefits as well as reaps polemics. Discrimination against consumers is one of them. For this reason, comprehensive treatment is needed to prevent negative impressions from occurring and can lead to the creation of justice and fairness. This research is normative qualitative research with the support of case and comparison approaches. The research results show that the algorithm uses AI to set prices based on market factors, production costs, and competition, providing price flexibility, price relevance, and increased business efficiency. Positive impacts include increased efficiency, price relevance, and consumer reach, while negative impacts involve the risk of discrimination and supervisory difficulties. Regulation and supervision are needed to maintain justice and legal balance. Unfair competitive practices, such as sudden price fluctuations, need to be monitored. Explicit regulations are needed to address the gap between AI developments and the existing legal framework. The implementation of automatic pricing algorithms must pay attention to aspects of justice and legal balance.

This study aims to find out the development of business competition law in Indonesia as stipulated in Law Number 5 of 1999 on the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition and its impact on the dynamics of business competition in Indonesia after the enactment of Law Number 6 of 2023 on Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Government Regulation in Lieu of Law) Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law. This study uses a normative method with a statute approach and a library research approach. The formulation of the problem in this study is the development of business competition law in Indonesia after the enactment of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law on Job Creation into Law and the impact of the enactment of Law Number 6 of 2023 on the dynamics of business competition in Indonesia. The results showed that the Business Competition Law in Indonesia experienced the first change in terms of substance after the enactment of Law Number 6 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law. These changes then led to a shift in the dynamics of the Competition Procedure Law, which was considered regressed.

The increasingly prominent issue of unfair competition on Internet platforms (IPUC) severely restricts the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy. Based on the IPUC "multi-agent co-governance" scenario, this paper introduces stochastic disturbances and continuous strategy set to improve the classical binary deterministic evolutionary game system. The results show that after considering stochastic disturbances, the positive state corresponding to the equilibrium point (1,1) is no longer stable, and the required parameter conditions are more stringent. The IPUC "multi-agent co-governance" system under stochastic disturbances exhibits specific vulnerability. In the continuous strategy set evolutionary game system, government departments and Internet platforms can flexibly make optimal decisions based on maximizing expected returns, and strategy selection has better elasticity. Regardless of the evolutionary game scenario, maintaining the participation level of NGOs and the public above a certain threshold while increasing the penalty intensity is conducive to the evolution of the game system toward the positive state. The analysis process and conclusions provide insights and guidance for the governments to design the IPUC regulatory system and frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Doctor in competition law I: Relevant legal foundations for medical competition" deals with the legal foundations of medical competition. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are subject to the provisions of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). The article provides an overview of the UWG and its significance for medical competition. The Training Reservation Act prohibits individuals who are not legally authorized from working in the field of health and healing professions. Violations of this law can be punished with administrative fines. The UWG aims to ensure fair and correct competition and includes unfair business practices and actions that can influence competition. It provides for both civil and criminal consequences for violations. Doctors can file injunction and damages lawsuits if health regulations are disregarded. [Extracted from the article]