Competition, Privacy, and Big Data

This article analyzes the competition policy and privacy issues that are raised by large disparities in the amounts of consumer data that are held by different firms. First, it explains how competition authorities could take data acquisition into account in evaluating the effects of mergers and examines conditions under which those authorities might mandate data sharing among competitors. Next, it considers how privacy issues might be treated in analyzing whether data sharing should be permitted or mandated. Finally, it examines possible conflicts between policies that address competition and those that deal with privacy

Why Royalties for Standard Essential Patents Should Not Be Set by the Courts

Although Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) generally require patent holders to agree to license their technologies on Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND), or Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND), terms as a condition of including their technologies in a standard, SSOs have generally declined to accept responsibility for clarifying the meaning of these commitments. Despite this, a consensus has emerged among most commentators as to how F/RAND royalties should be determined for Standard Essential Patents. According to the consensus view, a F/RAND royalty should be the cost of obtaining a license just before the patented invention is declared essential to compliance with an industry standard, which should, in turn, reflect the value of the invention over its best alternative. However, based upon the way in which F/RAND royalties were determined in a number of recent cases, this article argues that courts generally will not have the information needed to implement the consensus view and that, as a result, greater effort should be taken to have these royalties determined before standards are adopted

Section 230 and the Problem of Social Cost

This Article employs, with certain modifications, the framework developed in Ronald Coase’s classic article, “The Problem of Social Cost,” to analyze the current debate over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This provision absolves interactive computer services, also known as platforms, from liability when they disseminate materials that cause “harm” to third parties, “harm” that can take the form of compensable damage of a sort found in ordinary tort cases but also can include broader injuries to social order and cohesion in the form of such things as hate speech and misinformation. The Article begins by pointing out that, as Coase observes, the ability of private markets to deal with such externalities is limited when the harmful effects are widely distributed, so that many of the entities that are harmed do not have incentives to bring private actions against their sources. It also notes that this problem is compounded in the case of information that is distributed over the internet because of the difficulties involved in identifying, and obtaining jurisdiction over, the ultimate sources of such information. For that reason, it concludes that private actions to limit the dissemination of harmful materials are likely to be more effective if interactive computer services, in addition to information sources, can be held liable by their victims both because the services will often be easier to identify and because they have greater ability to engage in content moderation. However, it also observes that this is likely to be of limited effectiveness, in part because of the difficulties of bringing private actions against these services both because of the cost, delay, and uncertainty of litigation and because some services may obtain substantial economic benefits when they disseminate harmful information. For these reasons, the Article concludes that policy makers should consider expanding the range of carve outs, provisions that eliminate the immunity from liability that interactive computer services currently enjoy when they are involved in the dissemination of certain types of harmful materials, and that empowering the government to bring civil actions against interactive computer services for disseminating specific types of harmful information should also be considered

Albian to Turonian agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous sub-basins – implications for sequence stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental interpretation

Albian to Turonian carbonate deposits at three different locations of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous and thereby of the European mid-Cretaceous epeiric shelf sea were investigated for their fossil agglutinated foraminiferal fauna. In this study, 71 samples from two quarries and three drill cores were treated with formic acid, which enabled the study of agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages even in highly lithified limestones. In total, 114 species were determined and classified as belonging to nine morphogroups. In general, four agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages are distinguished: (1) an uppermost Albian–lowermost Cenomanian assemblage from the Wunstorf drill cores, with the dominant taxa Bathysiphon spp., Nothia spp., Psammosphaera fusca, Reophax subfusiformis, Bulbobaculites problematicus, Tritaxia tricarinata, Flourensina intermedia, Vialovella frankei, Arenobulimina truncata, and Voloshinoides advenus; (2) a Cenomanian assemblage from the Baddeckenstedt quarry and Wunstorf drill cores, with Ammolagena clavata, Tritaxia tricarinata, Vialovella frankei, Arenobulimina truncata, and Voloshinoides advenus; (3) an assemblage related to the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event in Wunstorf and Söhlde dominated by Bulbobaculites problematicus; and (4) a Turonian assemblage in the Wunstorf and Söhlde sections with high numbers of Ammolagena contorta, Repmanina charoides, Bulbobaculites problematicus, Gerochammina stanislawi, and Spiroplectammina navarroana. The latest Albian–earliest Cenomanian assemblage consists of tubular, globular, and elongate foraminiferal morphogroups which are typical for the low- to mid-latitude slope biofacies. All other assemblages are composed of elongate foraminiferal morphogroups with additionally globular forms in the proximal settings of Baddeckenstedt and Söhlde or flattened planispiral and streptospiral forms in more distal settings of Wunstorf. For these assemblages, a new agglutinated foraminiferal biofacies named “mid-latitude shelf biofacies” is proposed herein. Changes in the relative abundance of different morphogroups can often be referred to single features of depositional sequences. Furthermore, classical macro-bioevents, which are often depositional-related, of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous seem to have a micro-bioevent or acme equivalent of the agglutinated foraminiferal fauna

The hidden agglutinated foraminifera of the mid-Cretaceous hemipelagic carbonate deposits: A method–derived bias?

Five different micropaleontological methods (H2O2, Glauber's salt, liquid nitrogen, acetic acid + Copper(ll) sulfate, and formic acid) were applied to study the differences of obtained agglutinated foraminiferal faunas of typical hemipelagic carbonate deposits of the mid-Cretaceous of Europe, and to prove whether there is a method–derived bias of knowledge about agglutinated foraminiferal faunas in these sedimentological settings. Split samples of the same weight were treated with each method to compare overall (calcareous + agglutinated) numbers of foraminifers per gram, numbers of agglutinated foraminifers per gram, and numbers of agglutinated foraminiferal genera per sample. The results show that the number of agglutinated foraminifers per gram strongly vary between 0.1 and 7.8 with use of standard micropaleontological methods. With application of formic acid, more agglutinated foraminifers per gram are obtained than with any other tested method. The number of agglutinated foraminifers per gram is 1.5 to 211.0 times higher in formic acid treated residues. Furthermore, with use of standard micropaleontological methods at least 2/3 of agglutinated foraminiferal genera and species are completely missing in these sedimentological settings. Consequently, standard micropaleontological methods are not applicable to study the whole agglutinated foraminiferal fauna, and a bias of knowledge and utility of agglutinated foraminifers in these sedimentological settings is obvious. A separate application of both acetic acid + Copper(II) sulfate and formic acid on samples is suggested for studies on the whole foraminiferal fauna, and a precise description of the applied method in studies is suggested

Agglutinated foraminifera from the Turonian–Coniacian boundary interval in Europe – paleoenvironmental remarks and stratigraphy

Agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages of the Turonian–Coniacian from the GSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) of Salzgitter–Salder (Subhercynian Cretaceous Basin, Germany) and other sections, including Bielefeld–Ostwestfalendamm (Münsterland Cretaceous Basin, Germany) and the Dover–Langdon Stairs (Anglo-Paris Basin, England), from the temperate European shelf realm were studied in order to collect additional stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental information. Stable carbon isotopes were measured for the Bielefeld–Ostwestfalendamm section to establish a reliable stratigraphic correlation with other sections. Highly diverse agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages were obtained from sections in the German basins, whereas the fauna from Dover is less rich in taxa and less abundant. In the German basinal sections, a morphogroup analysis of agglutinated foraminifera and the calculated diversities imply normal marine settings and oligotrophic to mesotrophic bottom-water conditions. Furthermore, acmes of agglutinated foraminifera correlate between different sections and can be used for paleoenvironmental analysis. Three acmes of the species Ammolagena contorta are recorded for the Turonian–Coniacian (perplexus to lower striatoconcentricus zones, lower scupini Zone, and hannovrensis Zone) and likely imply a shift to more oligotrophic bottom-water conditions. In the upper scupini Zone below the Turonian–Coniacian boundary, an acme of Bulbobaculites problematicus likely indicates enhanced nutrient availability. In general, agglutinated foraminiferal morphogroups display a gradual shift from Turonian oligotrophic environments towards more mesotrophic conditions in the latest Turonian and Coniacian