A Study On The Legal Issues Related To The Abuse Of Dominant Market Position By Internet Platform Enterprises

With the development of the Internet economy,some Internet platform enterprises leverage on the Internet wave and seize the development opportunities to gradually occupy a dominant position in the relevant market.In the process of the continuous expansion and development of these large Internet platform enterprises,there are also many legal red lines of abuse of dominant market position that need to be regulated by the Antitrust Law.As the Internet platform economy has many new features,the traditional antitrust regulation theory is facing many challenges.Therefore,this paper will sort out the new features of the Internet platform enterprises and summarize the challenges encountered by the traditional antitrust analysis method in determining the dominant market position of the Internet platform enterprises and propose corresponding solutions.Finally,we will analyze several new types of abuses of dominant position common to Internet platform enterprises in order to systematically and comprehensively analyze the abuses of dominant position by Internet platform enterprises.This paper will systematically summarize the antitrust analysis methods of the abuse of market dominance by Internet platform enterprises in conjunction with the Antitrust Guidelines of the Antitrust Commission of the State Council on the Platform Economy and the new Antitrust Law,with a view to maintaining the healthy operation of the Internet platform economy,promoting healthy competition among Internet platform enterprises,and enhancing the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.The whole paper is divided into three parts,except for the introduction and conclusion:In the first part,the concept,characteristics and transaction mode of Internet platform enterprises are introduced.First,the concept of "platform" in Internet platform enterprises is clarified,and it is considered that Internet platform enterprises are profitable organizations with network effects and asymmetric pricing strategies through network information technology,which enable interdependent bilateral or multilateral subjects to interact with each other under the rules provided by specific carriers.Second,the basic characteristics of Internet platform enterprises are pointed out,emphasizing that bilateral market is the most prominent feature of Internet platform enterprises with cross-network effect and asymmetric pricing structure.It is also because of these characteristics that it poses a challenge to identify the market dominance of Internet platform enterprises.Finally,in order to clearly explore the needs of the parties involved in Internet platform enterprises,this paper divides the transaction modes of Internet platform enterprises into advertising-based transaction mode,shopping mall-based transaction mode and intermediary-based transaction mode,in order to summarize the needs of the parties involved in each mode and lay the foundation for solving the difficulties in the process of determining market dominance in the bilateral market.In the second part,we introduce the two major steps in the process of determining market dominance for Internet platform enterprises,namely,"defining the relevant market" and "determining that the platform enterprise has a dominant market position".In the analysis of these two steps,firstly,we introduce the analysis methods in traditional theories;secondly,we point out the challenges and dilemmas encountered by traditional theories in the field of Internet platform economy;finally,we propose new methods or theories in the field of Internet platform economy,and evaluate these methods and make suggestions.For the definition of "relevant market",it is suggested that the fundamental definition of demand substitution should be grasped and some adjustments should be made in the light of the characteristics of Internet platform enterprises;for the determination of "market dominance",it is suggested that attention should be paid to the shift to cost in the new economy.The third part systematically analyzes the role of Internet platform enterprises in the new economy.In the third part,we systematically analyze four new types of market dominance abuses by Internet platform companies,namely,second-choice,self-preference,blocking and community group purchasing.First,the novel behaviors introduced are characterized,and the characteristics of the characterized behaviors are introduced.Second,the types of transaction patterns involved in the novel behaviors are analyzed and categorized and illustrated with relevant cases.This step is mainly to locate the demand under the transaction mode of the act,so as to define the relevant market according to the demand substitution analysis method,and to lay the foundation for the subsequent determination of dominant position and the deconstruction of specific acts,and this link is also the main point of difference between the new act and the traditional abuse of dominant market position in terms of basic antitrust analysis methods.Finally,in analyzing the basic antitrust analysis methods of the new behavior,the analysis steps of market dominance determination,behavior structure analysis,whether it constitutes an intention to exclude competition and whether it constitutes a justifiable reason are followed,so as to systematically organize the new behavior regulation methods of the Internet platform enterprises’ abuse of market dominance.