플랫폼기업결합 규제론에 대한 고찰 - 데이터독점론과 킬러인수론을 중심으로 -

This article addressed some problems of the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC)’s regulatory policy on platform M&A based on the dubious terms ‘data monopoly’ as well as ‘killer acquisition.’ First of all, the term ‘data monopoly’ is oxymoron because it is not possible to monopolize data in its ordinary meaning. Strictly speaking, there cannot exist data monopoly. On the other hand, it should be noted that the political slogan of ‘data monopoly’ is coined by the New Brandeis movement arguing that the so-called GAFA(Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon) ruins not only the U.S. economy but also American democracy. The New Brandeis movement also uses the false premise of ‘killer acquisition’ as an argument for the prohibition of GAFA’s acquisition of start-ups. Regardless of the New Brandeis movement in the U.S., the KFTC should not overuse the dubious terms ‘data monopoly’ and ‘nascent/killer acquisition’ as if data can actually be monopolized and there actually exist the so-called ‘nascent acquisition’ by the Korean platforms such as Naver and Kakao.