ANDREAS MUNDT
German cartel office investigating Temu over merchant price influencing
Germany’s cartel office has launched an investigation into Temu over concerns that the Chinese discount ecommerce platform may be influencing merchants’ pricing on its German marketplace. Office president Andreas Mundt said the probe will examine whether Temu imposes unfair pricing requirements that could restrict competition and lead to higher prices elsewhere.
Amazon price rules anti-competitive: German regulator
Amazon's pricing rules are an abuse of its market power, Germany's competition watchdog said Monday, paving the way for possible demands for changes to its business practices in Europe's biggest economy. Germany's cartel office began investigating Amazon's pricing rules in November 2022.
German regulator ends probe into Google's in-car services after agreed remedies
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office has closed its investigation into Google’s automotive services after the company proposed remedies addressing competition concerns. The regulator had raised issues over Google’s bundled in-car maps and infotainment systems, which could hinder competitors. Google’s commitment to allowing third-party apps resolved these concerns.
Apple loses German antitrust appeal, opening door for greater controls
Federal judges backed the German cartel office's 2023 designation of Apple as a "company of paramount cross-market significance for competition".
German regulator charges Apple with abuse of power over app tracking tool
The move follows a three-year investigation by the Federal Cartel Office into Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature, which allows users to block advertisers from tracking them across different applications.
Germany closes Meta case after data measures agreed
Germany's antitrust watchdog said on Thursday that Meta had taken measures that give users greater control over how their data get used on its platforms, ending a long-running dispute. "Users now have much greater control over how their data are combined," cartel office president Andreas Mundt said in a statement.
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German competition watchdog vows closer eye on Microsoft
"Microsoft's many products are ubiquitous and indispensable in companies, public authorities and private households," said Andreas Mundt, head of the Bundeskartellamt. "The Microsoft ecosystem is now more interwoven and stronger than ever before."
Germany approves stake purchase by Bosch, Infineon and NXP in TSMC chip plant
The companies would each acquire 10% of shares in the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), founded by TSMC, said the German cartel office.
German antitrust head warns AI may boost Big Tech's dominance
Alphabet's Google and Microsoft have recently become rivals in AI, with the latter investing heavily in OpenAI and the former building the Bard AI chatbot among other investments.
Google changes user data practices to end German antitrust probe
The German antitrust watchdog in January issued a charge sheet known as a statement of objections to Google over its data processing terms, saying that users were not given sufficient choice as to whether and to what extent they agree to the far-reaching processing of their data across the company's services.
Meta loses as top EU court backs antitrust regulators over privacy breach checks
Antitrust authorities overseeing firms such as Facebook owner Meta Platforms are entitled to also assess privacy breaches, Europe's top court ruled on Tuesday, potentially handing them more leeway in Big Tech probes.
German cartel office: some Google Automotive Services practices anti-competitive
Germany's cartel office said on Wednesday that a number of Google's practices in connection with Google Automotive Services are anti-competitive and that it intends to prohibit them.
German competition watchdog steps up monitoring of Apple
Apple joins Amazon, Google parent Alphabet and Meta, the group behind Facebook, in falling under reinforced monitoring made possible by the German Competition Act.
Germany mulls placing Microsoft under close watch
The Federal Cartel Office said it was taking a first step to see if Microsoft is of "paramount significance across markets".
German cartel office initiates proceedings against PayPal
Subject of the proceedings were PayPal's rules for extra charges and the presentation of PayPal in the terms of use for Germany, the watchdog said.
Antitrust probe into Google's news product dropped
The decision comes after Google earlier this year made a major concession by offering to exclude "Google News Showcase" content from its general search results. "Google has responded to our concerns and implemented important adjustments to the benefit of publishers," said Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office.
German regulator stays vigilant as Meta changes VR headset rules
Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms has responded to the German cartel office's concerns by allowing the use of its virtual reality headset without a Facebook account, the office said on Wednesday.
Germany opens anti-cartel probe into Google Maps
Andreas Mundt, president of the watchdog, said it had reason to believe that Google "may be restricting the combination of its own map services with third-party map services, for example when it comes to embedding Google Maps location data, the search function or Google Street View into maps not provided by Google".
German antitrust watchdog launches proceedings against Google
Germany's antitrust watchdog launched a probe into whether Google Germany, Google Ireland and its parent company Alphabet are exploiting their market dominance
Internet giants remain on watchlist, German regulator warns
The German authority has been tackling the importance of big internet platforms, Mundt said as he presented the regulator’s 2017 report.
Facebook's new nemesis is a German antitrust watchdog named Andreas Mundt
In a case that caused much surprise outside Germany, Mundt unveiled preliminary findings, saying Facebook may take advantage of its popularity to bully users into agreeing to terms and conditions they often don’t understand.
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