Online Price Discrimination and EU Data Privacy Law

Online shops could offer each website customer a different price. Such personalized pricing can lead to advanced forms of price discrimination based on individual characteristics of consumers, which may be provided, obtained, or assumed. An online shop can recognize customers, for instance through cookies, and categorize them as price-sensitive or price-insensitive. Subsequently, it can charge (presumed) price-insensitive people higher prices. This paper explores personalized pricing from a legal and an economic perspective. From an economic perspective, there are valid arguments in favour of price discrimination, but its effect on total consumer welfare is ambiguous. Irrespectively, many people regard personalized pricing as unfair or manipulative. The paper analyses how this dislike of personalized pricing may be linked to economic analysis and to other norms or values. Next, the paper examines whether European data protection law applies to personalized pricing. Data protection law applies if personal data are processed, and this paper argues that that is generally the case when prices are personalized. Data protection law requires companies to be transparent about the purpose of personal data processing, which implies that they must inform customers if they personalize prices. Subsequently, consumers have to give consent. If enforced, data protection law could thereby play a significant role in mitigating any adverse effects of personalized pricing. It could help to unearth how prevalent personalized pricing is and how people respond to transparency about it.     

网络虚拟财产应受法律保护

网络虚拟财产是在智力劳动的基础上形成的,可以用金钱货币购买的主要存在于网络世界中的财产,具有财产属性和价值。网络虚拟财产虽然存在于无形的网络中,是虚拟的,但又是客观存在的事物,是现实生活中财产的另一种存在形式,它们应该被法律加以认可,并依靠法律来调整,以保护网民的合法权益。     

反垄断法与知识产权保护

<正>很高兴应邀参加这次"聚焦WTO:知识产权保护与企业自主创新"高层国际研讨会,并就反垄断法与知识产权保护这一具有挑战性的主题与各位共同交流、探讨。众所周知,创新是技术进步的源泉,是经济社会发展的重要驱动力。特别是在当今知识经济时代,世界各国无不更加注重保护和促进创新,并努力在制度层面探索保护和促进创新的有效途径。作为两种不同的制度安排,知识产权制度和反垄断法的区别不言而喻,但在保护和促     

Innovation and EU Consumer Law

Recent consumer policy initiatives, primarily at the domestic, but also at the European, level have emphasised the need to ensure that consumer law not only protects consumers, but also encourages competition and supports innovation. The purpose of this paper is to offer some preliminary thoughts on the relationship between consumer protection and innovation, and to consider the potential impact of the main consumer law directives adopted by the European Union on this relationship.     

欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的特点及对我国的启示

在我国与欧盟双边贸易摩擦中，知识产权保护冲突日趋凸现，纠纷日益增多，导致我国企业遭受巨额损失，如何应对欧盟的知识产权保护壁垒已经成为当前理论界争论的热点问题。本文将对欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的特点进行分析，在总结其特点的基础上，借鉴欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的经验，对我国知识产权保护制度的改进以及企业如何应对知识产权纠纷提出相应的建议。     

浅议《物权法》对商业银行信贷业务的影响

《物权法》的实施对于商业银行开展信贷业务既具有有利的一面,又存在不利的影响。商业银行应高度重视研究《物权法》出台带来的各种影响,要广泛开展《物权法》的宣传教育,以《物权法》为依据,有针对性地完善风险防控措施,加强相关业务的创新,及时出台并修订业务操作规章制度,防范和规避相关法律风险。     

浅议《物权法》对商业银行信贷业务的影响

《物权法》的实施对于商业银行开展信贷业务既具有有利的一面,又存在不利的影响。商业银行应高度重视研究《物权法》出台带来的各种影响,要广泛开展《物权法》的宣传教育,以《物权法》为依据,有针对性地完善风险防控措施,加强相关业务的创新,及时出台并修订业务操作规章制度,防范和规避相关法律风险。     

论物权法中"担保物权"与担保法的新旧增替

《中华人民共和国担保法》颁行以来的实践表明,现行的担保法存在着诸多缺陷。即将施行的《中华人民共和国物权法》在原有的担保法及其相关司法解释的基础上,根据实践中出现的新情况、新问题,对担保物权制度做了补充、修改和完善,其中增加了担保债权的实现情形、适用范围、第三人担保责任免除情形,增加了代为物的范围和提存代为物的规定,以及物保和人保的行使顺序;在抵押权方面扩大了抵押物的范围,新增"浮动抵押"的规定及不动产抵押权效力的规定。     

EU Treaty Revision and Consumer Protection

In its original version, this paper was delivered by the authors to the Bureau Europeen des Unions des Consommateurs in April 2004 in order to provide the basis for that bodys submissions to the intergovernmental conference then charged with the task agreeing a new constitutional Treaty for the European Union. The aim: to improve the attention paid to the consumer interest in the Treaty. Ultimately the text agreed by the Heads of State and government of the Member States of the EU in June 2004 largely adopted the existing consumer-related acquis communautaire – in fact in most areas of substantive EU policy-making, not merely consumer policy, textual continuity is the hallmark of the newly agreed text. This paper has been revised to provide a commentary on the consumer-related provisions that were agreed in June 2004, in order both to show chances that have been missed (but may be revived should the ratification process founder) and to reveal areas of current debate that remain topical and controversial because of the preference simply to absorb existing provisions, lightly amended or left wholly unamended, into the constitutional Treaty agreed by the Heads of State and government of the Member States of the EU in June 2004.     

《劳动合同法》下劳动者保护范围的思考

随着市场经济改革的不断推进，我国的劳动关系日益复杂化，劳动者的类型也日益多样化。2008年1月，备受各界瞩目的《劳动合同法》正式实施，标志着我国的劳动关系规范进入了一个新的发展阶段。通过《劳动法》的比较，同时提出《劳动合同法》适用范围的一些局限，并对未来劳动者权益得到更好的保护提出了建议和展望。     

论不动产税制改革与产权保护

从实质看,不动产税是对不动产产权的征税,产权保护是不动产税制良好运行的法律基础,上述结论在世界主要转轨国家的不动产税制改革过程中得到印证。而我国目前不动产产权格局是城乡二元结构、房地二元结构和城市多种产权性质的房产并立。如何在产权极其复杂的基础上开征不动产税,这是不动产税制改革要解决的首要难题。可以预见,不动产税的开征是产权保护工作中的推进器,而产权保护则为不动产税的开征奠定了良好的法律基础环境。     

禁止知识产权滥用：公法与私法的价值契合——以知识产权法与反垄断法为视角

近年来,由于企业避免沉没成本的现实要求与企业作为经济人本性的使然,知识产权滥用有愈演愈烈之势。滥用知识产权会妨碍竞争,扰乱自由、公平的竞争秩序,有损经济发展。反垄断法作为经济宪章有必要对知识产权滥用行为进行规制。反垄断法与知识产权法在效率和利益价值目标上具有趋同性,功能上具有互补性,具有禁止知识产权滥用的连接点功能。     

The Relation between EU Antidumping Law and China

China has become the main object of EU anti-dumping actionsince the late 80s of 20th century. After 90s, China has developed its exports to the EU more and more quickly, the scale of EU antidumping action on Chinese products has been bigger and bigger, thereby EU antidumping action has gradually become the main trade obstacle of Chinese exports to Europe.     

A Law and Economics Perspective on the EU Directive on Representative Actions

Journal of Consumer Policy - This article provides an analysis of the Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers of 25 November 2020. The...     

儒家文化、法律之于商业诚信

商业诚信是从解决社会基本问题的过程中形成的,它属于价值观的范畴。儒家文化又对商业诚信的形成与建设起到了重要作用。法律、商业诚信在市场经济的发展与建设中均起到重要作用并互相补充与促进。     

Reading a Duty to Provide Accessible Pre-Contractual Information for Consumers with Disabilities into EU Consumer Protection Law

Journal of Consumer Policy - This paper considers whether a duty to provide consumers with disabilities with pre-contractual information in an accessible format, or in an otherwise personalised...     

美国和欧盟对待中国市场经济地位问题要遵守国际法

在中国"入世"过渡期即将届满之际,欧盟、美国政治外交领域不断地挑战中国的市场经济地位。外国理论界提出"继续有效论"、"举证责任倒置论"和"客观事实不符论",国内也有学者或多或少赞同以上观点。本文试图针锋相对提出这样的观点:确认WTO早有非市场经济标准,美欧市场经济标准未经WTO的一般授权,不是国际法规则,中国加入WTO议定书从未确认中国非市场经济地位,2016年以后中国的市场经济地位毋须任何缔约国承认。     

论欧盟竞争法与成员国竞争法的关系

欧盟范围内存在着两套竞争法律体系。一套是欧盟自身的竞争法。另一套则是各成员国国内的竞争法。两套法律相互独立,但又有着密切的联系,共同构成广义的欧盟竞争法,发挥着维护欧盟统一市场公平竞争,增强整体国际竞争力的作用。二者的关系如下:一、二者有各自的适用范围欧盟竞争法适用的对象是共同市场大范围内扭曲竞争,影响成员国间贸易,破坏共同体利益的行为。单纯发生在一国范围内影响该国竞争而未涉及到成员国整体利益的行为,由成员国国内竞争法规范,欧盟竞争法对此不予干涉。从地域范围上看,欧盟竞争法的适用范围要广得多,适用…