The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

Spotify criticizes new Apple services bundle on antitrust grounds.  Streaming music firm Spotify Technology SA SPOT.N on Tuesday criticized rival Apple Inc AAPL.O, saying that a new subscription bundle offer from the iPhone maker abuses its dominant market position by favoring its own Apple Music service. Spotify said the Apple One bundle announced Tuesday disadvantages streaming music rivals. Spotify and Apple charge $10 a month for their streaming music service, but the Apple One package bundles it with other services such as television or video games that start at $15 per month.

Upgrade for EU antitrust rules, more funds for digital projects.  The European Commission will revise its antitrust rules early next year to keep up with global changes, and invest a fifth of its 750-billion-euro ($890 billion) COVID-19 recovery fund in digital projects, its head said on Wednesday. Rules for billion-euro mergers and state aid to companies will be updated to ensure global companies play fairly, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, in remarks that underscore pressure from Germany and France to adopt a more defensive policy. The bloc unveiled a new industrial strategy in March aimed at promoting green and digital industries.

Factbox: Where do Trump and Biden stand on tech policy issues?  The regulation of big technology companies including Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google has been a hot button issue ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3. Here is a look at the stances of Republican President Trump and his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, on some key tech policy issues.