| In recent years,Internet technology has developed rapidly,various business models,commercial competition behaviors have emerged one after another,and there have been more and more disputes related to them.However,due to the lagging nature of the law,there are no clear regulations on whether certain acts constitute unfair competition.Although the AntiUnfair Competition Law implemented in 2018 added an "Internet Special Article" and listed some unfair competition behaviors in the context of the Internet,it is still unclear whether the blocking of video advertising constitutes unfair competition.In this regard,theoretically,there are diametrically opposed views.One view is that blocking video advertising constitutes unfair competition.Because blocking video ads violates business ethics,damages business models,and harms the public interest of society.Another view is that blocking video ads does not constitute unfair competition.Because blocking video advertising does not violate business ethics,and the competitive market is naturally confrontational,it is inevitable that one party will be harmed in the confrontation.However,blocking video advertising can promote market competition and is more conducive to market development.In addition,blocking video ads is not aimed at specific targets,and there is a lack of consensus among market participants in the field of Internet competition,so it is difficult to determine that it violates the principle of good faith and business ethics,and fierce competition will promote the improvement of business models.In current judicial judgments in my country,almost all of this behavior constitutes unfair competition.Even if a small number of courts(first instance)believed that this behavior did not constitute unfair competition,they were all overturned by the higher courts in the second instance.From the perspective of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law,through searching relevant judicial cases,and comparing and referring to extraterritorial legislation,precedents,and related research documents,we can find that the current regulation of Internet advertising blocking behavior in my country mainly has two aspects in theory and practice.The problem: First,the legislation is not perfect,and there are many ambiguities,especially the unclear boundary between the general provisions of the current legislation and the Internet special provisions;second,the judge’s judgment model in judicial practice is obviously flawed.When dealing with such cases,the courts of our country often cut from the perspective of damage to the legitimate rights and interests of operators,intervene too much in market competition and ignore the market mechanism of survival of the fittest.Looking to the future,my country’s courts should establish market awareness and attach importance to market regulation.During the trial of specific cases,attention should be paid to comprehensively weighing multiple interests.Generally speaking,one is to further improve the Internet special provisions;the other is to appropriately restrict the judicial application of general terms;the third is to clearly evaluate consumer standards for competitive behavior;It is the use of interest measurement to regulate Internet advertising blocking behavior. |
