The industry's hot discussion platform interconnection
Return to the original intention of the Internet, conducive to the development of the digital economy, and need to innovate the regulatory mechanism
Recently, the issue of "unblocking URL links to achieve interconnection" has attracted public attention.
On September 13, at a press conference of the State Information Office, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing emphasized in response to the issue of interconnection that "Internet security is the bottom line." There is still a gap between the awareness of blocking URL links and the requirements of special actions.
To this end, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology adopts various forms such as administrative guidance meetings to help enterprises realize that interconnection is an inevitable choice for the high-quality development of the Internet industry; at the same time, relevant enterprises are required to pragmatically promote instant messaging to block URL links and other different types in accordance with the rectification requirements. The problem can be solved step by step and phase by phase.
To this end, Xinjing Think Tank held a seminar on "How to Implement Platform Interconnection" on September 15.
What are the main problems that need to be solved around how to realize the interconnection of enterprise software products?
Experts are invited to discuss issues such as how it will affect the development of the Internet industry.
Opening up traffic between platforms is conducive to the development of the digital economy
At the meeting, Yu Fengxia, deputy director of the Sharing Economy Research Center of the National Information Center, said that the statement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this time shows that anti-monopoly behavior will continue to deepen, and the interconnection between platforms is a major trend that cannot be blocked, let alone , This is the original intention of the Internet.
In this context, the competitive landscape of the Internet industry is very likely to change, and the main responsibility of the platform needs to be strengthened.
Regarding the changes brought about by this interconnection, Liu Xiaochun, executive director of the Internet Law Research Center of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the most direct manifestation of interconnection is to open up the originally closed traffic between platforms and promote the flow of traffic between different platforms.
This can promote the flow of production factors such as flow-based data among different platform ecology, and reduce the overall transaction cost of the digital economy.
Platform opening and interconnection are not only the proposition of Internet anti-monopoly and the maintenance of market order, but also the issue of whether social digital welfare can be maximized.
Ouyang Rihui, deputy dean and professor of the China Internet Economics Research Institute of Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that for the construction of a unified market, interconnection will open up traffic, which will improve the level of the entire industrial chain and supply chain, and it will be important to the development of the digital economy. have benefits.
Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, emphasized that the so-called phenomenon of "large platforms lose money while small platforms take advantage" will not occur when the traffic between platforms is opened.
Experts also gave their own opinions as to which behavior is a violation of interconnection.
Chen Bing, director of the Competition Law Research Center of Nankai University and a professor at the School of Law, said that malicious "banning" of platforms, "choosing one of two", and refusal to trade data are all behaviors that hinder interconnection.
In the process of realizing interconnection, we must handle the relationship between law and policy, and the relationship between market and industry.
For behaviors that hinder interconnection, it needs to be regulated at the legal level.
Fang Xingdong, chief expert of the Institute of Social Governance at Zhejiang University, believes that the issue of interconnection is still essentially an Internet antitrust issue.
In the early days of the development of the Internet, in order to share, interconnect, and connect everyone together, no barriers were set up. Everyone thought about how to connect.
With the development of the Internet entering the stage of monopolistic competition, the logic of monopoly began to dominate, and giants began to restrict the sharing of various data.
Opening up the platform is more conducive to Internet security governance
Regarding the security issues that may be caused by interconnection, including data security and overall Internet security issues, Li Xinshe, deputy director of the Cyber Security Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that after the link is opened, data interaction between various platforms must not only protect themselves. Data, while ensuring the security of external data, the security measures of the platform must keep up, and more importantly, the platform's own main responsibility of the platform must be strengthened.
As for the security of the entire Internet, Chen Bing believes that opening up data sharing between platforms is conducive to cracking down on cross-platform crimes or illegal production.
After the realization of interconnection, data sources will be more extensive, the diversity of data will be enriched, and the quality of data will be improved, which is conducive to the efficiency of data use and is conducive to curbing the occurrence of fraud and cyber information crimes.
Liu Xiaochun emphasized that although appropriate management based on security requires the management of risky links, which is acceptable, the platform should not impose unreasonable restrictions on interconnection for other purposes based on privacy, data security, and other reasons.
Interconnection needs to clarify the main responsibilities
Opening up between platforms is only the first step. In Li Xinshe's view, follow-up regulatory measures are crucial.
After the realization of interconnection, the data flow between platforms, the whole process of collection, storage, and transmission, how to comply with the data security law, requires the regulatory agencies to issue corresponding regulatory rules.
In addition, the government must also establish long-term management safeguards to protect the legal rights of consumers, to protect the legal rights of the platform, and to protect the entire ecological environment.
Fang Xingdong said that from the current point of view, the interconnection of web page level jumps is relatively easy to solve.
But the real interconnection still has to fall to the data level.
Regarding supervision, from a legal perspective, it is possible to learn from the EU's "Digital Market Law" to provide clear regulations on the obligations of platform companies.
Regarding the supervision of interconnection, because different departments are involved, there is currently a phenomenon of multi-head supervision.
Chen Bing believes that in the future, a joint mechanism can be established in the same way as the governance of online car-hailing platforms.
At the same time, avoid the risks of regulatory arbitrage and rent-seeking.
Zhu Wei said that after the platform is opened, supervision needs to be clarified on who bears the main responsibility.
It is important to supervise individual cases. At the same time, uniform rules should be set and the same standards should be applied.
Interconnection supervision requires new content, new technology, and a routine, systematic, and perennial monitoring system. At the same time, Liu Xiaochun emphasized the need to establish a corresponding reporting and complaint mechanism, and there must be qualified professionals and technical means to adapt The characteristics of the rapid iterative development of the network industry.
In addition, interconnection can consider the introduction of expert evaluation mechanisms.
What international experience can be used for reference
Regarding the US FTC (Federal Trade Commission) v. Facebook case that has recently attracted domestic attention, Liu Xiaochun believes that there are certain misunderstandings in the domestic interpretation of this case.
Liu Xiaochun emphasized that it cannot be simply considered that the US court approves Facebook's ban.
One of the important reasons for the U.S. court to challenge the FTC’s main argument is that Facebook’s ban occurred many years ago, and it has voluntarily stopped the behavior after 2018, and there is no evidence of a comeback.
At the same time, although the US court held that Facebook cannot be deemed to violate the Anti-Monopoly Law just because Facebook established general rules and stopped opening data exchange ports to its competitors, but only to emphasize this point is an incomplete interpretation of the case.
Liu Xiaochun said that, in fact, the US court has also made it clear that under three conditions, Facebook’s refusal to trade is still illegal.
The three conditions include: one is that the transaction has happened voluntarily with a competitor, but later refuses to trade with it; the other is that while refusing to deal with the competitor, it provides services to other customers on the market who have the same conditions as the competitor. ; Third, the purpose of the monopolist's termination of the original transaction is to achieve anti-competitive purposes, and would rather sacrifice its short-term interests.
In addition, given that Facebook's voluntary suspension of the ban may be related to the disapproval of American business culture, Liu Xiaochun said that the statement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is mainly based on industrial policy considerations, which may have a long-term impact on the evolution, evolution and development of the Internet industry. .
As for how China can learn from the experience of other countries in achieving interconnection, Li Xinshe believes that China's Internet ecology needs to go its own way and do its own thing in its own soil.
In particular, in the Internet field, both China and abroad are in the exploratory stage, and no one is better than anyone else.
Of course, if there are any well-done technologies and systems, it is worth learning from each other.
For example, the European Union has done a good job of classification and classification in data circulation; similarly, many of China's practices in the Internet field are also worth learning from other countries.
Based on the proper management of security, the need to manage risky links is acceptable, but the platform should not impose unreasonable restrictions on interconnection for other purposes for reasons of privacy, data security, etc.
—— Liu Xiaochun, Executive Director of the Internet Rule of Law Research Center, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Text/Zha Zhiyuan