Application Of Essential Facility Doctrine In The Field Of Big Data Antitrust

In recent years big data has been integrated into all aspects of economic life.Although big data itself has non-competitive attributes,this attribute cannot prevent operators from exclusively occupying big data in market competition.Data-driven industries are very easy to form monopolies.Big data monopoly has caused damage to the order of competition and consumer welfare.However,anti-monopoly law enforcement has encountered difficulties in the field of big data.In this context,the emergence of the hi Q v.Linked In case has aroused the academic discussion on the application of essential facility doctrine in the field of big data.The essential facility doctrine is a highly controversial theory.Its core idea is that if operators control essential facility,they must reach reasonable opening conditions with other competitors and allow other competitors to access essential facility.Combing the cases of the United States and the European Union,we can see that the two jurisdictions have different tendencies for the establishment of essential facility.The scope of application of the essential facility doctrine in practice has expanded from the traditional field to the intellectual property field.Although the essential facility doctrine has been questioned during its development,it has its own rationality.The essential facility doctrine conforms to the legislative purpose of the anti-monopoly law,safeguarding market competition,ensuring the healthy development of the market economy,and increasing the cost of competitors can also prove the rationality of the essential facility doctrine.The digital economy has formed a certain scale and is showing a trend of cluster development.Most of the data is concentrated in the hands of a few companies,which has led to frequent data disputes among Internet giants in recent years.The essential facility doctrine can break data barriers,promote competition,and provide a new perspective for antitrust.Introducing the essential facility doctrine into the antitrust law is one of the antitrust approaches to solve the monopoly problem of the big data industry.In the field of big data anti-monopoly,essential facility doctrine are composed of four elements: whether the monopolist refuses to open data,including unacceptable open conditions;whether data is indispensable in competition,and whether the lack of this data will rule out effective competition or damage to consumer welfare;lack of effective substitutes for data,including objective conditions,legal restrictions,or uneconomic reconstruction;whether it is reasonable to refuse to open up.In response to the development of the big data industry,country’s anti-monopoly agencies are actively reforming.To apply the essential facility doctrine in the field of big data,legislation should speed up the improvement of data rights legislation,and integrate the essential facility doctrine with anti-monopoly law.In terms of identification,the principle of case analysis should be strictly followed,and the incentive effect of open measures and the damage to investment willingness should be comprehensively examined.In terms of enforcement,competition law enforcement agencies should deal with the data based on whether there are transaction records and set reasonable opening conditions.Apply the essential facility doctrine to break the monopoly of Internet giants on key data,maintain competition in the data market,and promote the development of anti-monopoly laws in the era of big data.