Research On Legal Issues Of Concentration Relief For Platform Operators

Platform operator merger remedy is the application of the operator merger remedy system in platform operator merger cases,which has completely different considerations from the traditional field operator merger remedy.In the traditional field,the establishment of operator merger remedy methods,the elements of review,and the definition of relevant markets are all based on price factors.However,in the digital information age,the platform,as a key development model for the internet industry,has brought significant changes on the market’s production methods and people’s lifestyle.With the continuous development of the platform model,new production factors such as data and attention have opened up a new path for the development of enterprises.At the same time,with the increase of new production factors,the platform’s zero-price competition business model has played down the price factor,leading to the failure of price elements which were relied on operator merger remedy in the traditional field among platform operator merger cases.It makes the existing operator merger remedy system inadequate for the regulation of platform operator merger remedy.The platform is a business model that has the characteristics of network effect,lock-in effect,cross-industry competition,and dynamic competition.Merger and remedy of business operators is one of the important links in the anti-monopoly law and has its own value goals.Because the current merger of operators in the platform field has brought about the problems of increasing market entry barriers,damaging market innovation,and increasing defensive concentration,it is necessary to set up remedial measures for the merger of operators in the platform field to prevent these problems from jeopardizing market competition.The factors that need to be considered when setting up platform operator merger remedy methods are different from those in traditional fields.For platform operator merger remedy,the factors that need to be considered are more like data elements,attention factors,innovation factors,and consumer rights protection factors,etc.The improved SSNIP test method should be applied to the relevant market definition and the cases analysis should be strengthened in platform operator merger remedy cases so as to enhance the pertinence of the setting of remedies.After setting up the relief methods,different implementation methods should be adopted for different relief methods.Structural relief requires the qualification confirmation of the purchaser of the divested assets,the formulation of the backup plan,and the supervision in the subsequent implementation process.There are many types of behavioral relief and the specific implementation process which is not clearly specified.In such situation,the supervision on implementation of behavioral relief must be strengthened and the quick resolution mechanism after disputes arising must be established.At the same time,in the process of implementing relief measures,we must do a good job of changing and dismissing different relief methods to ensure that relief measures can meet the current market situation,will not cause harm to any party,and achieve the purpose of safeguarding social public interests.At present,the status quo of centralized relief of business operators in the field of platforms is not ideal,and there are still some problems in legislation and implementation supervision.In the future,the development of centralized relief for platform operators in our country is to truly combine the characteristics of the platform itself and the consideration of special factors,and set up targeted relief methods to prevent the market competition damage that may be caused by the platform operator merger.