Advertising Filtering Behavior Regulation Under Competition Law

With the rapid development of science and technology,various new technologies and new business models of the Internet are emerging one after another,and the imagination of combining technology and business models to innovate is also increasing.In the “Internet+” environment,the number of new competition dispute cases has increased significantly,and the most prominent of these cases are those involving filtering video advertisements.The newly revised “Anti-Unfair Competition Law” was implemented on April 23,2019.The newly-added Article 12 specifically provides for the use of technology.However,the newly-added Internet clause does not provide for the filtering of video advertisements.To make clear provisions,only to carry out cover protection based on the fourth paragraph.Before the amendment of the new law,the judge determined that the main basis for the act was the general provisions of Article 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.At present,there are no laws and regulations that clearly stipulate the behavior of filtering video advertisements.The standards for determining the legitimacy of the browsers provided by the operators with filtering function are different,and the value judgments and judgment standards of the local courts are different.The issue of determining the nature of the behavior of filtered video advertisement providers under the background of the new law,as well as the criteria for determining the impropriety of the behavior,deserves the attention of the theoretical and practical circles.Based on a comprehensive analysis of filtering video advertising competition disputes,this article summarizes the judgments made by the court,explores the rules of judgment for such disputes,and puts forward its own opinions,so as to provide suggestions for judicial practice.This article will discuss separately from the following three chapters:The first chapter mainly starts from three unfair competition cases for filtering video advertisements concluded by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Court,and summarizes the common controversies in these cases based on the reasoning part of the judgment document.The second chapter mainly focuses on the common disputes of the three cases,and conducts legal analysis,namely,whether there is a competitive relationship between the filtering video advertisement provider and the video website,whether the filtering video advertisement is justified,and whether the filtering video advertisement behavior is justified.The question of applying the principle of technological neutrality.The third chapter mainly draws the following enlightenment suggestions: First,when determining the competition relationship,analyze the consequences caused by the competition behavior,and clarify the determination standard of the competition relationship.Secondly,with regard to the determination of improper conduct,the criteria for determining improper conduct of filtering video advertisements are refined in terms of filtering content and the way to achieve filtering effects,distinguishing undesirable advertisements and legally compliant advertisements,and clearly filtering video advertisement providers.The integrity of the service content of other operators must not be destroyed.Third,in detailing the provisions on the use of technology in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law,it is clear that the use of technology must not violate the statutory competition standards.