FTC expands workshop on B2B competition

The event is designed to aid business leaders with ways to maximize benefits of e-commerce

Less than three weeks after a May 4 announcement by the Federal Trade Commission that it would hold a public workshop on business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces, the FTC has announced that it is expanding the event to two days.

Originally slated for June 29, the workshop will now be held June 29 and 30, according to a May 22 release from the FTC.

The commission stated that the change was made in light of the high level of public interest in the event

The workshop will bring together designers, owners, and operators of B2B electronic marketplaces, and the buyers and sellers who use or wish to use them.

The goal of the workshop is to enhance understanding of how B2B electronic marketplaces function and the means by which they may generate efficiencies, and to identify any antitrust issues that they raise, according to a release from the FTC.

B2B electronic marketplaces are software systems that allow buyers and sellers of similar goods to carry out procurement activities using common, industry-wide computer systems.

Recent weeks have witnessed multiple announcements of plans to develop electronic marketplaces linking competitors with suppliers willing to meet their purchasing needs. While B2B electronic marketplaces may well create significant efficiencies, the arrangements may also raise certain antitrust issues, the FTC stated.

The workshop will seek input from designers, owners, and operators of B2B electronic marketplaces; buyers and sellers who use or wish to use them; and antitrust practitioners and others familiar with the competition issues that they may raise. It will address the following questions, among others:

How do B2B electronic marketplaces work? What can they do?

What are the business reasons driving the creation of B2B electronic marketplaces? What new efficiencies can such marketplaces create?

What business reasons prompt buyers and sellers to be interested in using B2B electronic marketplaces?

What competition issues may be raised by B2B electronic marketplaces?

What are likely pro-competitive benefits, and what are possible anticompetitive concerns?

What issues are relevant to structuring and implementing B2B electronic marketplaces so as to both realize efficiencies and avoid competition problems?

The workshop will be held in Room 432 of the Federal Trade Commission Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C.

No preregistration is required to attend the event, and a transcript will be made available on the FTC web site following the workshop.

Any interested person may submit a written presentation that will be considered part of the public record of the workshop. Written presentations should be submitted in both hard-copy and electronic form. Six hard copies of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions should be captioned "Comments regarding B2B Electronic Marketplaces."

Electronic submissions may be sent by electronic mail to b2bmarketplaces @ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label on the disk stating the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word processing program used to create the document.