The German Antitrust Authority Bundeskartellamt initiated abuse proceedings against Facebook for the use of the new Oculus glasses that requires to have a Facebook account. The authority is afraid that linking virtual reality (VR) products and the group’s social network could constitute a prohibited abuse of dominance by Facebook, which is in a dominant position in Germany and has already an important role in the VR market. The Bundeskartellamt intend to examine whether and to what extent this tying arrangement will affect competition.
The aim of VR products is to create a virtual world for the user to experience while using digital content. Currently, VR applications are use in the gaming and video sector. However, their use is not limited to these areas. The number of users and turnover with such applications are constantly increasing.
Existing Oculus accounts can no longer be used for registration for the latest “Quest 2” VR glasses. These new VR glasses will require a Facebook account for registration.
In 2019, the Bundeskartellamt had already impose restriction on Facebook due to an abuse of dominance proceeding regarding the processing of user data. The company was prohibited from extensively collecting and merging user data from different sources. Facebook appealed the decision to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (which is the main proceeding and is postponed to 26th of March 2021), but in June 2020, the Bundeskartellamt’s decision was confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice. Thus, Facebook lodged another emergency appeal with the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court which, once again, ordered the suspensive effect of Facebook’s appeal until a final decision on the emergency appeal is reached. This is the second time that the Higher Regional Court has preliminarily granted an emergency appeal to Facebook.
(Bundeskartellamt - 10.12.2020)
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NAZALI TAX & LEGAL |