Information and Antitrust: The Vices and Virtues of Digital Society

Antitrust & Information is the title of the conference organized by the Università Bocconi Department of Legal Studies, in collaboration with the ASK research center and the Department of Economics at Università del Salento, on Friday 20 June (room N03, p.zza Sfraffa 13 at 9:30am). The conference aims to collect the most diverse ideas and institutions on the kaleidoscopic relationship between information, which has become a good in itself, and antitrust law. Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor from the University of Iowa, will open the conference. "Professor Hovenkamp is considered the most eminent and influential professor of antitrust in the world, he has written the most important treatise on the subject and it's not a coincidence that he has often been cited by the US Supreme Court over the past 20 years," explains Mariateresa Maggiolino, a faculty member at the Department of Legal Studies, who organized the event.

Today there is much talk about "technology of information" or "market of information," "economy of knowledge" and "digital society." But what does that mean exactly? In a market where all information is shared in real time, what role do antitrust policies have? For years companies have been equipped with computers, mobile devices, clouds and internet in general. Having complete and exact information is a necessary and indispensable condition in order to be competitive on the market, so it is essential to archive, retrieve, transmit and manipulate information.

Sharing information, which is increasingly quick and easy thanks to modern technologies, is a great tool allowing companies to always be up to date, but on the other hand it can also facilitate collusion: it is therefore fundamental to analyze antitrust policies to use them correctly.

To participate in the event, registration is required.