Determination Of Abuse Of Market Dominance By Internet Platform Enterprises ——Three Cases As A Perspective

Internet platform enterprise is a business model that connects demanders and suppliers,realizes resource integration,promotes the conclusion of transactions,and benefits all three parties.Internet platform enterprises have market bilaterality,cross-network externality and user lock-in.However,when the scale of users of the platform reaches a certain amount,the large-scale number of users and operating data make the Internet platform enterprises have a strong dominant market position,which is the "capital" to implement the compulsory incompatible behavior such as "two choices".In this context,other competitors of the same kind effectively participate in the competition because they do not have the advantages of massive data and user scale,which makes the competitors of the same kind suffer exclusion or even withdraw from the market.These advantages are precisely the important basis for operators to abuse their dominant market position,which is harmful to the competition order.Therefore,this issue is worthy of in-depth study and discussion.The traditional method of defining the relevant market has weakened its applicability to the development of Internet platform enterprises and is facing challenges,so it is necessary to study the definition method adapted to the development of digital economy.China’s special factors,such as the scale of users and the degree of control of data by operators,are lacking in identifying the dominant position in the market.However,these two special factors have a greater impact on the identification of market dominance.Once users are locked in a platform for a long time,operators can grab massive transaction data,user data and so on,and occupy a dominant position in the market.Although Internet platform enterprises can improve product quality or service level according to the objective facts reflected by the data after analyzing the data,if enterprises take advantage of the control of data and abuse their dominant position,it will lead to monopoly problems,affect the fair competition rights of similar competitors and damage the interests of consumers,so it is necessary to regulate them.At present,there is still ambiguity in the identification methods of abusive behaviors such as refusal to trade and restriction of trading,and there is no consensus on the application of "legitimate reasons" in the identification of abuse of market dominance,so it is necessary to explore its applicability.The main body of this paper is composed of three parts,including: The first part is the brief introduction of the case and the presentation of the focus issues.Through a brief analysis of the case,the author puts forward three questions that need to be studied in depth,namely: 1.How to define the relevant market of Internet platform enterprises;2.How to determine whether the operator has a dominant position in the market;3.How to identify the behavior of limiting transactions and refusing transactions.The second part is the legal analysis.First of all,the definition of the relevant market.It clarifies the significance and principles of defining the relevant market,as well as the methods of defining the relevant market,and puts forward personal views.The definition of the relevant product market of Internet platform enterprises should focus on the internal relationship between the functions of target products and alternative products,as well as the analysis of consumers’ demand for product quality.When applying the supply substitution analysis method to define the relevant market,the degree of openness of the market and the difficulty of entering the market should be taken into account,especially the consideration of technical barriers.When defining the geographical market,the starting point is the location of products or services that meet the needs of consumers and the location of suppliers.To analyze the regional market,we can not identify it as a global market or a domestic market only on the basis of the borderless and cross-regional nature of the Internet.Secondly,from the market share and market barriers and other factors,such as the technology needed to enter the market,the number and stability of the user base,the number and quality of data and other special factors,this paper analyzes their impact on the determination of market dominance.Then,the determination of refusal to trade and restriction of trading behavior.Clarify and analyze the basis for identifying the abuse of dominant market position,and explore the principle of "legitimate reason" in refusing to trade,limiting trading behavior and its applicability in the identification.The third part is the research conclusion and the enlightenment suggestion.Deeply consider the methods,basis and principles of identifying abuse of market dominance,and put forward suggestions that can be applied to practical operation.First of all,optimize the definition method of relevant market,that is,on the basis of the traditional analysis method,modify and improve the alternative analysis method and hypothetical monopolist test method.Secondly,we should improve the method of identifying market dominance.The number of users and the degree of control of platform enterprises over data provide a theoretical basis and practical basis for the acquisition of dominant position,on which the identification methods should be improved to provide ideas for the formulation of identification standards in legislation.Then,clarify the relationship and application between "legitimate reasons" and abuse of market dominance.