Zugang zu den Softwarekomponenten der Suchmaschine Google nach Art. 102 AEUV

The European Commission has been conducting antitrust proceedings against the search engine operator Google for a number of years already. The objective has been to determine the degree of market power of Google and, if warranted, to penalize its abuse of market power. No comprehensive study has been available to date to see whether the competition in the search engine sector could be furthered by giving competitors and new market entrants access to algorithms and data of the market leader.
The present author discusses these aspects of the internet economy against media competition law. Based on Article 102 TFEU he considers whether competitors in the search engine sector should be given access to algorithms and data owned by the market leader. Critical assessing the essential-facilities-doctrine and taking into account the European Court cases Magill, Bronner, IMS Health and Microsoft, the author develops his own original concept of the abuse of market power by “absolute refusal to deal”.