Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/248876 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers No. 161
Publisher: 
Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Ilmenau
Abstract: 
In December 2020, new regulation of digital markets was proposed by European Commission. It specifically addresses main concerns raised by business behavior of operators of core services in their gatekeeping positions. However, voice assistants (or digital personal assistants, DPAs, e.g. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant) are not included into this regulation. In contrast, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee of European Parliament suggested to include them. This paper argues that (i) voice assistants as gatekeepers for consumption should be listed among core services, (ii) some Digital Market Act's obligations need to be adopted to fit specifics of voice assistants, (iii) two relevant dimensions of power should be included into rebuttable presumptions used for competition policy and regulation: market power on voice assistants' market and ecosystem of related markets (cross-market integration criterion), (iv) growth of new gatekeepers should be prevented, among other means by stricter merger control.
Subjects: 
Voice Assistants
Gatekeepers
Digital Market Act
Digital Personal Assistants
Virtual Assistants
Competition in Digital Markets
Competitive Bottleneck
Information Intermediaries
Platform Competition
Smart Speakers
Siri
Alexa
Google Assistant
JEL: 
K21
L1
L4
L86
O33
D4
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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