Competition Law in Tourism

486 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM services by either that provider itself or any business users which that provider controls and, on the other hand, other business users23. This description of discriminated treatment is specified in the following paragraph. The most relevant topics in this study are: a) access that the provider or business users may have to any personal data or other data which business users or consumers provide prior to using online intermediation services concerned or which are generated through the provision of those services; b) any direct or indirect remuneration that is charged for the use of the online intermediation services concerned; and c) access to, or use of, services that are directly connected or ancillary to the online intermediation services concerned. The restriction to offer different conditions through other means is also regulated in a specific way24. One example is any restriction of ability on business users to offer the same goods and services to consumers under different conditions through other means than through those services, must be communicated to the public through their terms and condition in the easiest way possible. This information will mention the main economic, commercial or legal terms for those restrictions25, with the option to implement them concurrently with other national or worldwide laws26. 2. GERMANY There is a remote connection in relation to the parity clauses analysis linked to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and National Authorities in Germany. Apart from the country’s contribution in the above-mentioned 2010 investigation, the German Competition Authority has had a critical role to play and was responsible for the first movements worthy of attention produced by German national authorities27. The first aspect mentioned in National contexts was produced by the German Competition Authority – BkartA28, 29. The first BKartA step linked to an OTA 23 Art. 6, § 1. 24 Art. 8. 25 Art. 8, § 1. 26 Art. 8, § 2. 27 ISRAEL, Alexander, & JAKOBS, Moritz. Germany: challenges from new online practices to established competition law principles. Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, v. 6, no. 8, 2015, pp. 588590. 28 In German, Bundeskartellamt. 29 WISMER, Sebastian. A note on price-parity clauses in platform markets. In: SURBLYTĖ, Gintarė (org.). Competition on the internet. Berlin: springer, 2015. p. 43.

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