On December 9, the Internet Society of China held the 244th Blue Ocean Salon seminar on "Promoting Platform Interconnection and Building a New Order of Fair Competition in the Digital Economy Market". The meeting was presided over by Song Maoen, deputy secretary general of the Internet Society of China, Liu Jifeng, professor of the School of Civil and Commercial Economics and Law of China University of Political Science and Law and vice dean of the School of Civil and Commercial Economic Law, Li Yongjian, researcher of the Institute of Financial and Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Internet Economy Research Office, Zhi Zhenfeng, researcher of the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy editor of the Global Law Review, Liu Jinrui, researcher of the Rule of Law Research Institute of the China Law Society and deputy secretary general of the Network and Information Law Research Society of the China Law Society. Ning Hua, director of the Information Security Department of the Thiel Terminal Laboratory of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Zhang Jiangli, associate professor of the Law School of Beijing Normal University, Wang Junxiu, co-founder of the Internet Lab, Luo Luojia, engineer of the Institute of Policy and Economics of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and other experts attended the meeting and spoke at the meeting.
The 244th Blue Ocean Salon of the Internet Society of China was held
Song Mao'en first introduced the background of the meeting. He said that with the development of the Internet and its integration with thousands of industries, the influence of Internet platforms has penetrated into all aspects of production and life, and the mutual ban and blocking of Internet platforms will have a negative impact on the operation of the entire digital society. In July this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a six-month special rectification action for the Internet industry, and held an action guidance meeting on the problem of blocking url links, committed to solving the problem of Internet interconnection. In September, at a press conference held by the State Information And Information Office, Zhao Zhiguo, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that interconnection is an inevitable choice for the high-quality development of the Internet industry. At the end of October, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Guidelines for the Implementation of The Main Responsibilities of Internet Platforms (Draft for Solicitation of Comments), which also put forward relevant specific requirements. The Internet Society of China has been paying close attention to the promotion of "interconnection", and this seminar will analyze and discuss issues such as specific blockages in the promotion of "interconnection" between platforms, and the next step of breakthroughs.
Song Maoen, deputy secretary general of the Internet Society of China, delivered an opening speech
Luo Luojia said that from the recent actions of the regulatory authorities, some issues with strong industry consensus and sufficient basis have been selected as the entry point, and positive results have been achieved so far. For more and wider interconnection scenarios, on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the consensus of the industry, and we can give priority to exploring a feasible path from the perspective of industry self-discipline and technical standards. On the other hand, it is also necessary to further strengthen legislative and institutional innovation, especially the systematized top-level system of interconnection, etc. For issues such as the supervision of super-large platforms, the "gatekeeper" such as the EU can provide reference for the next step of supervision.
Wang Junxiu said that interconnection is an old and new word, which originally came from the telecommunications industry and is suitable for the underlying network, and this year it began to be used for the Internet, and the application layer Internet platform should begin to interconnect. This trend arose in the Internet industry itself, stemming from the current imbalance in the development of domestic Internet platform companies, and the resistance also comes from the industry and from the damage to the interests of enterprises. If we want to further promote interconnection, we need to build a normative system on the basis of clear legal theory, and actively promote industry autonomy with multi-party participation and supervision such as the Internet Society of China.
Zhang Jiangli said that from the perspective of maintaining the order of market competition to promote the interconnection between platforms, the Anti-Monopoly Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law can be used as effective regulatory tools. When the platform exceeds 50% of the market share and is determined to have a dominant market position, it can use the relevant provisions of "abuse of market dominance" (such as "refusal to trade") to restrict the platform's blocking behavior. From this perspective, the platform is required to interconnect, which is lower and easier to promote than the perspective of identifying the platform as "public infrastructure" or "essential facility", but the relevant market definition and market force judgment are difficult points, and a more accurate identification method needs to be explored. From the perspective of industrial control, if the regulatory policy for large platforms is reconstructed, it is necessary to further clarify the purpose and regulatory requirements of supervision, such as what is interconnection, the level of interconnection, breadth, depth, and specific shielding behavior.
Liu Jinrui said that it is necessary to promote "interconnection" between platforms on the track of rule of law. Judging from the current laws and regulations, "interconnection" is not a universal legal obligation of network platforms, and should leave room for enterprises to operate independently and compete in the market. "Non-connectivity" behaviors that affect the order of competition and the public interest may be regulated in accordance with the rules of competition law, and consideration may also be given to drawing on extraterritorial experience and introducing certain behavioral regulations through legislation.
Zhi Zhenfeng said that information technology makes the Internet head enterprises more unbalanced than other small and medium-sized enterprises, Internet companies relative to non-Internet enterprises, and head Internet enterprises relative to citizens and society in terms of power balance, and more asymmetrical information transparency. This requires greater supervision and regulatory measures for some Internet companies with high integration and strong control over individuals and society. However, due to the short rise of the information technology industry, insufficient theoretical preparation and insufficient legal supply, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has forward-looking significance in restricting the "blocking links" of head Internet enterprises in the form of administrative guidance. At the same time, theoretical research should also be accelerated, gradually upgrading practical experience into legislation, and finally building a new type of corporate governance rule of law system that meets the laws of economic operation in the information age, enterprise management autonomy, citizens' rights and interests protection, and national security requirements.
Li Yongjian said that interconnection essentially requires platform enterprises to return to the original intention of the Internet, promote the barrier-free flow of information in cyberspace, reduce transaction costs, promote cooperation and sharing, stimulate the spirit of innovation, and "make the Internet better benefit the country and the people". The obstacles to interconnection mainly come from the platform based on its monopoly position or bottleneck position in the transaction, maximizing the benefits within the industrial ecosystem. The theoretical basis of interconnection is the self-preferential behavior of the platform, the platform uses the dominant position of the gatekeeper platform or core facilities to self-preferentialize or favor its own business in adjacent markets, and use its core capabilities (data, customer base, technical assets, etc.) to enter new markets, and can obtain market power in new markets. In order to promote connectivity, data portability can be promoted on a pilot basis between different platforms, laying the foundation for eventual interoperability by exploring technical issues, privacy protection, security and other issues of interoperability between platforms.
Liu Jifeng said that platform interconnection is a gradual process, the content of initial interconnection is platform linking, and further platform interconnection is based on the classification of subjects and objects. Platform interconnection has the right to operate the mode and the mode of obligation operation, and the latter needs to have certain conditions. At the same time, industry associations have the responsibility and ability to establish bilateral or multilateral or fully open interconnection mechanisms between organizational platforms.
Through the full discussion of experts from all walks of life, it can be found that the promotion of "interconnection" is the government's forward-looking guidance for building a new order of fair competition in the digital economy market, but in the future, it is necessary to further clarify the legal basis behind it, do a good job in connecting policy control and legal regulation, and finally build a legal system that is compatible with the digital economy market. At the same time, industry autonomy should be actively encouraged, and industry organizations such as industry associations should take the lead in advocating and promoting "interconnection" industry standards and norms with industry consensus, so as to contribute to the improvement of the digital economy market governance system and jointly promote the healthy and sustainable development of the Internet industry.