What competition, professor Varian? »

3 October 2016 | Per Strömbäck

Google chief economist Hal Varian writes an opinion in the Financial Times explaining why the tech giants of Silicon Valley compete so intensely. It’s hard not to see this as a response to the Economi... »

The Economist Warns of Power Concentration »

25 September 2016 | Per Strömbäck

Global companies are becoming a problem for the economy. This was the surprising message from The Economist in this week’s issue. Rather than disruption, today’s economy is dominated by entrenchment. ... »

How Many Times Can the Internet Be Broken? #copyrightreform »

14 September 2016 | Per Strömbäck

Today the European Commission presented its copyright reform. (One week ahead of schedule! Who are they trying to impress?) Expectations were high after President Juncker’s big words in the State of t... »

The Beginning of the End of Roaming »

9 September 2016 | Per Strömbäck

So I was trolling vice-president Ansip on Twitter… no, really – when the news of 30/90 days of free roaming broke earlier this week, I could not resist to ask the vice-president if the same would appl... »

CJEU Ruling: More Questions than Answers »

9 September 2016 | Per Strömbäck

On Thursday, the European Court of Justice gave its ruling on the GS Media v Sanoma-case regarding hyperlinking to infringing content. The digital world has held its breath in anticipation – would the... »

Vestager’s EuroBillions »

1 September 2016 | Per Strömbäck

The most impressive thing about Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s Apple fine is not the billions of euros but the optimism. The idea that the law should apply also to those companies that ... »

Cold Turkey on Internet and Democracy »

22 July 2016 | Per Strömbäck

When parts of the Turkish military attempted a coup d’etat on president Erdogan last week, the president reacted by asking the people to take to the streets and “defend democracy”. He communicated thi... »

Bold but Futile – Vestager’s Struggle with #Google »

15 July 2016 | Per Strömbäck

On Thursday, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager brought her third case against Google, this time against its advertising business. Netopia can only agree with the Commissioner’s conclusion... »

We Need to Talk about Uber »

13 July 2016 | Per Strömbäck

I have taken Uber rides on three different continents. Frequent Netopia readers know I am critical of the company and its policies, but I like to think of those rides as field experiments. Each time, ... »

The Secret to #SiliconValley ’s Success (it’s not what you think!) »

4 July 2016 | Per Strömbäck

“Why are there no successful European internet companies?” I think that you have heard this question many times, just as I have. What is the answer? Don’t we have enough innovation? Perhaps not enough... »