COMMENTARY: Disruption caused by the internet necessitates an overhaul of the Competition Act

By Konrad von Finckenstein and Philip Palmer THE INTERNET HAS become the dominant facilitator of communications, social exchange and economic activity. Its success has led to an unprecedented concentration of data-driven economic power in the hands of a few giant firms such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon. That concentration has raised concerns about real or potential economic abuses that may harm competitors, consumers and the broader economy. In response, governments in peer economies are re-examining and updating competition law to combat abusive economic behaviour in the digital economy. Canada, in turn, has begun to respond to the challenges of...