Core Viewpoint - The State Administration for Market Regulation has drafted the "Antitrust Guidelines for the Public Utilities Sector (Draft for Comments)" and is seeking public feedback on it [1]. Group 1: Overview of Public Utilities - Public utilities encompass a range of industries that provide essential goods or services to the public, including water supply, electricity, gas, heating, sewage treatment, waste disposal, broadcasting, and public transportation, most of which have natural monopoly characteristics [3]. Group 2: Antitrust Guidelines Purpose - The guidelines aim to address the unique characteristics and market competition rules of the public utilities sector, enhancing the scientific, targeted, and effective nature of antitrust enforcement [4]. Group 3: Identification of Antitrust Behaviors - The draft provides detailed specifications on potential monopolistic agreements in the public utilities sector, helping operators accurately identify legal risks [6]. - Horizontal monopolistic agreements are prevalent in the public utilities sector, particularly in the bottled gas industry, where operators may fix prices or divide market shares through informal agreements [8]. Group 4: Abuse of Market Dominance - The draft addresses the frequent occurrence of market dominance abuse in sectors like water, gas, electricity, and heating, detailing factors related to unfair pricing, refusal to deal, and other unreasonable trading conditions [9]. - It specifies common scenarios that may not be considered legitimate justifications for market dominance abuse, emphasizing that actions without legal basis or those claiming safety without proof are generally not justified [10][14].

Group 1 - The core issue involves a lawsuit filed by Hangzhou LeDu Technology Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou NetEase Cloud Music Technology Co., Ltd. against SM Entertainment Co. and Kasmong (Shanghai) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. regarding the abuse of market dominance [1] - The court hearing is scheduled for August 6 at the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang Province [1] - In January, NetEase Cloud Music informed fans of SM Entertainment that due to the copyright holder's unilateral decision not to renew the contract, all songs under SM Entertainment may be removed from the platform by January 31, 2025 [2]

Core Viewpoint - The Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court upheld the ruling that North Media's subsidiary FK Distribution abused its dominant position in the market by imposing tying conditions for the distribution of leaflets in contracts with customers [1] Group 1: Legal Ruling and Company Response - The ruling was based on the Competition and Consumer Authority and Competition Appeals Board's findings regarding FK Distribution's practices in 2018-2019 [1] - North Media Group's CEO expressed disagreement with the judgment, highlighting that the ruling overlooked the competitive challenges faced by Danish media and advertising distributors against global online giants [1] - The company plans to appeal the judgment to the High Court after reviewing the details closely [1] Group 2: Financial Implications - North Media has not estimated any potential financial liability related to the ruling during the pending case [1] - The ruling does not alter the Group's financial outlook for 2025 [1] Group 3: Company Overview - North Media operates platforms that connect businesses and consumers, focusing on various transaction types [3] - The company has two core business areas: Last Mile, which includes FK Distribution and SDR Svensk Direktreklam as leading distributors in Denmark and Sweden, and Digital Services, which encompasses growth-oriented businesses like BoligPortal, Dayli, and Bekey [3]