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Andrea Renda critiques European antitrust investigation into Google

Andrea-400The program in Rethinking Regulation at the Kenan Institute for Ethics held its second seminar of the year with Andrea Renda, the 2015-2016 George C. Lamb, Jr. Visiting Fellow in Regulatory Governance. The ongoing seminar series brings members of the program’s interdisciplinary faculty and student network together to examine a diverse array of issues. On October 6, Renda presented on his recently published report for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), “Searching for harm or harming search? A look at the European Commission’s antitrust investigation against Google.”

Renda’s analysis pulled from his experience as a senior research fellow at CEPS and as a consultant for institutions including the European Commission, the European Parliament, the OECD and the World Bank. Renda also serves as adjunct professor at Luiss Guido Carli University, in Rome. His presentation compared the similar antitrust cases against Google in the United States and in Europe, as well as looking to past comparative examples, such as the antitrust case against Microsoft addressed by American and European authorities in the 1990s. The group examined what exactly “search neutrality” means, as well as impact that Google’s actions have had on consumers versus other service businesses.

Past seminar topics have included issues in international competition law, corruption in Brazil, trustworthiness of the pharmaceutical industry, and regulation and democratic theory, among many others. While drawing from expertise across many disciplines, the seminar is united in viewing national and international regulatory problems through an ethical lens.