论平台经营者不合理限制交易的法律规制

On the Legal Regulations of Platform Operators’Unreasonable Restrictions on Transactions

【目的/意义】平台经营者掌握着优势的规制权力,且可能对平台内经营者实施排他、歧视和剥削等不合理限制交易的行为,直接损害平台内经营者的合法权益,阻碍平台市场的自由和公平竞争,迫切需要法律规制。【设计/方法】通过对《电子商务法》实施前的法律规制体系梳理,可知平台经营者不合理限制交易的格式条款规制和竞争法规制兼存在漏洞。一方面,提示说明义务弱化、公平原则适用困难、平台规则备案审查作用有限,使格式条款规制体系无力应对;另一方面,不合理限制交易行为难以被《反垄断法》和《反不正当竞争法》规制体系完全覆盖。【结论/发现】《电子商务法》第35条通过设置不合理限制交易的“禁止+合理抗辩”条款,专门规定行政法律责任,是对平台经营者不合理限制交易法律规制的发展。《电子商务法》第35条所蕴含的“相对优势地位”“不合理限制”“明显不合理限制”等关键实施要点,有待进一步丰富、充实。

[Purpose/Significance]Platform operators have superior regulatory power,and may impose unreasonable restrictions on transactions such as exclusivity,discrimination,and exploitation of operators on the platform,which directly damage the legitimate rights and interests of operators on the platform and hinders free and fair competition in the platform market.There is an urgent need for legal regulations.[Design/Methodology]Through combing the legal regulation system before the implementation of the E-Commerce Law,this article shows that platform operators unreasonably restrict transactions in the regulation of standard terms,and competition laws and regulations have loopholes.On the one hand,it is reminded that the weakening of obligations,the difficulty in applying the principle of fairness,and the limited role of platform rules for filing and reviewing make the standard terms regulatory system unable to respond;on the other hand,unreasonable restrictions on trading behaviors are also difficult to be fully covered by the Anti-Monopoly Law and Anti-Unfair Competition Law.[Findings/Conclusions]Article 35 of the E-Commerce Law establishes a“prohibition+reasonable defense”clause for unreasonably restricted transactions,specifically stipulating administrative legal responsibilities.It is the development of legal regulations for unreasonable restrictions on transactions by platform operators.The key implementation points of“relative advantage”,“unreasonable restrictions”and“obviously unreasonable restrictions”contained in Article 35 of the E-Commerce Law need to be further enriched.