Market Definition, Antitrust Error, and Digital Platforms in Korean Competition Law and Policy

For a long time, big businesses have been witches that hunted and condemned by populist politicians and egalitarians. Now the full-blown rule of reason prohibits witch-hunt. However, big digital platforms are becoming today’s new witches. New ambitious hunters are against the traditional rule of reason because they do believe that AI and big data are witchcraft for real. There are a lot of criticisms on data monopoly as if it really does exist. However, data monopoly does not exist. But it raises real problems as if it exists. Data monopoly, in this regard, can be called a phantom, imaginary risk. We should note that imaginary risk perception may subvert the real world. Even when the relevant market is defined properly, a false-positive error will occur if we are captured by imaginary risk perception. Conversely, even if the relevant market is defined improperly, a false-positive error will not occur if our decision is based on sound, reliable fact-based analysis. To protect free and fair competition in the market economy, fact-based analysis must prevail over imaginary risk perception.