The President of the Polish Office for the Protection of Competition and Consumers issued two decisions concerning agreements limiting competition between truck dealers.

The two decisions issued relate to collusion by DAF car dealers. In the first case, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (Polish: UOKiK) found that five companies: DBK of Olsztyn, ESA Trucks Polska of Komorniki (Wielkopolskie Voivodeship), TB Truck & Trailer Serwis of Wolica (Mazowieckie Voivodeship), Van Tilburg-Bastianen Groep of Breda, the Netherlands, and WTC of Długołęka (Dolnośląskie Voivodeship) had entered into an agreement restricting competition. Entrepreneurs have divided the market among themselves. Together they agreed that each would sell DAF trucks in a specific area and not compete for customers in other parts of Poland. They also exchanged pricing information. In the case of four companies (excluding ESA Trucks Poland), the arrangements also concerned the exchange of information on bids submitted in tenders.

HOW DID THE CARTEL WORK?

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HOW TO RECOGNIZE A PYRAMID SCHEME?

Pyramid promotional schemes involve consumers being persuaded to participate in a “project” in exchange for the promise of remuneration or other benefits, which depend primarily on bringing more people into the scheme rather than on the sale or consumption of products. Such schemes most often offer investments in tokens, cryptocurrencies, educational or language packages, apartments, etc.

The scheme of operation of a pyramid scheme is basically as follows: you put money into a supposed investment, you refer other people, and you get paid for introducing them. Your money is not actually invested, it is used to compensate the people who brought you into the system. At the same time, your compensation comes from the contributions of people you have directly and indirectly referred. In this way, it is you, your friends and your friends of friends who are funding a system that is not really investing anything. Therefore, after a period of time, the system has to fail because the money paid in is not invested in any assets and does not make a profit. The money goes to the organizers and the highest position in the chain. The system works as long as the number of people joining and contributing money increases exponentially, which is not sustainable. As a result, the system collapses and the money invested is lost.

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In this case plaintiff AMA was a Nevada limited liability company that produces and distributes “adult entertainment over the Internet.” It owns several online websites where paying customers can view AMA’s materials. Its videos are copyrighted as audiovisual works. It also displays the company’s trademark in the corner of the screen.

Defendant was a citizen and resident of Poland, who operated ePorner, an adult video website, through MW Media, a Polish civil law partnership.

What is the case about?

AMA discovered that ePorner.com (“ePorner”), an international website where users can search for and watch adult movies displayed AMA copyrighted materials. At the time this lawsuit was filed ePorner allowed users to anonymously post adult videos. The website does not charge visitors. Instead of it, it generates revenue solely through advertising. Users of ePorner.com see ads based on their perceived location. For example, visitors who believe they are in the United States see selected ads in English.

AMA Multimedia, LLC (“AMA”) appealed the district court’s dismissal of its copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition action against the defendant for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Important is the fact that AMA was unable to determine who owned and operated ePorner, so, AMA sued all defendants as Doe Defendants and Roe Corporations in the United States. The district court permitted AMA to conduct early discovery to ascertain who owned the domains which forwarded visitors to ePorner.com. Then AMA discovered that two companies located in Arizona, GoDaddy.com and Domains by Proxy, were used to register the domains and privatize the owner’s identity. The Polish defendant was the registrant of the domains.

Path to resolve the case

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The Portuguese government, in partnership with 26 EU Member States, Iceland, and the European Commission, has launched the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA) on 3 November 2021.

The European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA) is a new entity that will support 26 EU Member States and Iceland who, having signed the EU Startup Nations Standard (EU SNS) declaration in March 2021, commit to ensuring their startups have the best conditions to grow at every stage of their life cycle.

ESNA will support these countries’ efforts to become a ‘startup nation’. It will do this through:

– sharing of best practices as set out in the EU SNS;

– providing technical support to countries to concretely implement changes;

– monitoring progress.

ESNA will work closely with the 27 European countries that have signed up to the EU SNS and support them in implementing the 8 underpinning standards:

– fast startup creation and smooth market entry (e.g. setting up a new company within one day);

– attracting and retaining talent (e.g. an accelerated visa process for tech talent from outside the EU);

– stock options (e.g. no taxes for stock options before being cashed in);

– innovation in regulation (e.g. regulatory sandboxes allowing startups to experiment);

– innovation procurement (e.g. removing administrative impediments that would put startups at a disadvantage);

– access to finance (e.g. increasing the amount and diversity of growth capital);

– social inclusion, diversity and protecting democratic values (e.g. incentives to hire on diversity of gender, ethnicity, age and religion);

– digital-first (e.g. all interactions between authorities and startups via digital interfaces).

The launch of the ESNA took place during the second day of the Web Summit in Lisbon, officiated by the Portuguese Minister for the Economy Pedro Siza Vieira.

The ESNA will also support countries that hold the rotating European Council Presidency. It will do this via the ‘ESNA Presidency Board’ which ensures ESNA can align its actions with the priorities of rotating presidencies.

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/new-european-alliance-accelerate-startups-growth

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Why Washington D.C.?

Washington D.C. may be more well known for politics than entrepreneurship, but the numbers suggest the U.S. capital is actually an underestimated startup hub. The area is home to more than 1,000 tech startups, and it ranks first in the nation for growth in entrepreneurship, according to the Kauffman Foundation. In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, Washington’s VC ecosystem more than doubled in size over the span of five years – at least from a deal flow perspective.

Washington D.C. start-up’s ecosystem.

The Washington D.C. area – which includes cities in Maryland (Baltimore, Chevy Chase), and Virginia (Reston, Arlington) – has grown its own unique VC ecosystem. This ecosystem is one of the most diverse in the U.S. in terms of industry. As reported in 2021 (as of September 10, 2021) software has established itself as the top sector of the district’s VC deals. Other main sectors include for example: biotech & pharma, HC services & systems, consumer goods & recreation and commercial services.

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