The Application Of "Essential Facilities Doctrine" In Antitrust Of Internet Industry

Essential facility doctrine is one of the antitrust rules that control the business operators’ restriction of competition.It originates from the case of U.S.v.Terminal Railroad Association of St.Louis,and have a profound theoretical and practical foundation in the United States and the European Union.Essential facility doctrine was initially applied to the traditional industries in the United States and later extended to other areas.With the rapid development of Internet economy,the competition among Internet firms is becoming more and more fierce,and there are more and more refusals to deal.Refusal to deal performance include: unilateral refusal to deal with transactions;refusal to deal with the transaction;exclusive trading practices;refused to enter the necessary facilities.Refusing to use the essential facility is one of the most important forms of refusing transactions,and regulation of them is very important.Whether it is the debate on the doctrine of essential facility,the result of refereeing of typical cases,the formation of necessary facilities or the stage of Internet development,all require that China establish the basic idea of applying the essential facility doctrine cautiously.However,there is very little research on the application of essential facility doctrine in the Internet industry,both in foreign countries and in China.The characteristics of Internet industry restrict the application of essential facility doctrine.As a newly emerging industry,there are huge differences from traditional industries.How to define the necessary facility in the Internet industry,how to apply the standards,and the Specific ways used in our country are worth studying.This article introduces the essential facilities theory from three parts,which are respectively an overview of the needs of facilities theory,the background of the introduction of the necessary facilities theory into the Internet industry,the concrete application of the necessary facilities theory in Internet industry.The purpose of discussing the application of the essential facility doctrine in the Internet industry is to perfect the system of China’s "Anti-monopoly Law" and provide new ideas for regulating Internet monopoly.Apply the essential facility doctrine to handle some special cases in the internet industry and improve essential facility doctrine through legislation and judicial practice.So that the competitors can enter the market competition equally,increasing the fair and free competition in the market,protecting competition,and encouraging innovation and improve consumer welfare so as to safeguard public interests.This article is divided into three chapters:In the first chapter we talked about overview of essential facility doctrine.First of all,it briefly analyzes the basic connotation of the essential facility doctrine,including the relationship between the essential facility doctrine and the refusal to deal,and its value meaning in the antitrust law.We know that the antitrust law in our country do not directly stipulate the essential facility doctrine,and the essential facility doctrine is a sub-item under the refusal to deal.So,clarifying the relationship between the essential facility doctrine and the refusal of trading paves the way for the following cases and theories of the refusal to deal with.Secondly,due to the fact that the essential facility doctrine originated in the United States and was well developed in the EU,the author briefly analyzed the development and application of the essentialfacility doctrine in both places.By reading typical cases,we can understand the trend of the development of essential facility doctrine.The second chapter is the background analysis part,have analyzing the application of the essential facility doctrine in the Internet context.First of all,it analyzes the current situation of competition in the internet industry in our country,and lists the specific cases related to the essential facility doctrine.This chapter analyzes the necessity and rationality of the essential facility doctrine for the Internet industry.It analyzes the necessity of the emergence of many new features in the competition of the Internet industry and new characteristics of the market structure.It also analyzes the rationality of the doctrine itself and the legal basis of its dependence rationality.This part aims to point out that our Internet industry has a profound background in introducing this doctrine and is in conformity with the requirements of the development of the times.It is of great significance to emphasize the research on this topic.The third chapter is the concrete application of essential facility doctrine in internet industry.The first part of this chapter analyzes the basic constitutional requirements of essential facility doctrine and the necessary conditions for identifying the essential facility,which are the basis for the application of the essential facility doctrine and have important guiding significance for the Internet industry to apply the essential facility doctrine.Then,in the second part,the author analyzes the difficulties of applying this doctrine in the Internet industry in our country,including the cognizance of the relevant market,the determination of market dominance,the conflict and coordination with intellectual property and the countermeasures.In general,the applied of essential facility doctrine in the Internet industry should implement the principles and objectives of prudent application and balance the interests of different subjects and improve the relevant legislation.Only then can we give full play to the meaning of the essential facility doctrine and contribute to the development of China’s Internet industry.Finally,in the conclusion part I have puts forward the expectation of introducing the essential facility doctrine in our country.The original intention of this article is to explore the feasibility of applying the essential facility doctrine to China’s Internet industry through the combination of the research on essential facilities theory and Internet industry.Guided by the principle of prudent application and balancing the interests of all parties,we should make use of the benefits of the essential facility doctrine to promote the healthy development of the Internet industry in our country.