Chillin'Competition

Which Regulation for Search Engines? – A Review of the Intellectual Property, Competition and Privacy Law Issues – Anastacia Chaidron

Search engines’ business practices, and in particular those of the leading search company Google, raise an increasing number of issues at the intersection of several bodies of law. In so far as IP issues are concerned, the use of terms that are also trademarks for meta tags, keywords suggestion tools, keyword selling and linked advertisements, Google Images’ thumbnails, Google News and Google Book Search, generate a spate of intricate legal questions which range from trademark protection to copyright laws. The same holds true of Google’s prominent market position and conduct, which are increasingly being scrutinized by competition authorities, in the US and in Europe. Finally, the collection (and commercial use) of personal data sparks a great deal of issues in respect of privacy law – and consumer protection regulation.

The present dissertation purports to review those issues and, in turn, pleads for a regulation of search engines, by means of a balance of interests. It examines the costs and benefits of various regulatory approaches, and considers whether a search-engine-specific “hard”, binding regulatory framework is the most appropriate approach.