Abstract:

In order to solve the blocking behaviors implemented by internet platforms, China’s regulatory agencies put forward the requirements of“interconnection”. In the anti-monopoly law, the interconnection is reflected in the interoperability obligation of the platform, which is the basic path to solve the problem of blocking behaviors, and also helps to reduce the barriers to entry that network effects can create, so it will enhance the market competition in the digital economy. In the traditional anti-monopoly law system, the reject of interconnection may belong to a refusal-to-deal which in turn constitutes the abuse of market dominance. However, the interconnection of refusal-to-deal is premised on the relationship between the two sides, and is subject to a series of strict conditions in the anti-monopoly law. Based on this, the EU and the United States have also tried to introduce a new type of prior regulatory tool, that is, enacting new laws, and establishing interconnection as a statutory obligation of large internet platforms. The pre-prior regulatory tool has strong determinism, avoiding many difficulties of the application traditional antitrust law in digital economy, and also combines a full-term supervision of internet platforms with afterward punishment. The implementation of the pre-regulatory tools requires cooperation between anti-monopoly agencies and regulators, and it is also necessary to design the reasonable technical and procedures to ensure that the large platforms are truly fulfilled their obligations of interconnection under supervision.

Key words: blocking behavior implemented by internet platforms, interconnection, refusal-to-deal, prior regulatory tool, gatekeepers