商业数据竞争法保护:耦合关系、现实挑战与优化方案

Commercial Data Protection by the Anti-Unfair Competition Law:Association Relationship,Practical Challenges and Optimization Solutions

商业数据是数字经济发展的生产要素,是影响经营者商业模式、竞争优势的重要经营资源。在商业数据权属不明的情形下,在司法实践中援引《中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法》第二条(以下称“一般条款”)处理商业数据权益纠纷已经成为一种通行的裁判思路。但一般条款具有高度抽象性,以抽象的原则规范调整具体案件的事实关系,客观上会带来法律解释与法律适用层面上的问题:一是竞争关系认定的法律定位出现偏移,把认定竞争关系作为前置条件的传统做法无法适应数据竞争的特殊需要;二是变动不居的商业道德本质上是一种主观价值判断,容易诱发不确定性风险;三是竞争利益权利化,裁判者会习惯性陷入“合法权益—加害行为—损害后果”的权利侵害判断范式,忽视数据流通、共享的积极面向。为更好地规制数据领域的不正当竞争行为,应及时修正竞争关系认定的法律定位,摒弃把竞争关系认定作为不正当竞争行为认定前置条件的传统做法;借助行业自律公约、行业技术规范、裁判者自主创设的具体规则,辅助评价商业道德,强化商业道德的可识别性及其评价的可操作性;恪守反不正当竞争法对竞争秩序干预的谦抑性,严格限制对一般条款的适用,包容审慎对待数据领域的新型竞争行为,为市场主体行为自由和商业模式创新、技术创新提供充足空间。

Commercial data is a production factor for the development of the digital economy,and has become an important business resource that controls the business model and competitive advantage.In the case where the ownership of commercial data is unclear,judicial practice has become a common way of adjudicating disputes over the rights and interests of commercial data by citing the general clause of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.However,the general clause is highly abstract,adjusting the factual relationship of specific cases with abstract principles,which objectively brings about problems in legal interpretation and legal application:first,the legal position of the identification of competitive relationship has been deviated,and the traditional competitive relationship cannot adapt to the particularity of data competition behavior;second,the ever-changing business ethics is essentially a subjective value judgment,which easily induces uncertain risks;and third,competitive interests are“entitled”,and judge habitually fall into“the legitimate rights-injuring behavior-damage consequences”analysis approach of rights infringement,ignoring the positive aspects of data circulation and sharing.In order to better regulate data unfair competition,it is recommended that:we should revise the legal position of competition relationship in a timely manner,and abandon competitive relationship as a separate additional requirement for determining unfair competition;we should,with the help of industry selfdiscipline conventions,industry technical norms and specific rules independently created by judge,assist in evaluating business ethics,and strengthen the identifiability and operability of business ethics;and we should strictly abide by the humility of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law’s intervention in the market competition order,strictly limit the application of general terms,tolerate and prudently treat competition in the data field,and provide sufficient development space for the freedom of behavior of market players and business model and technology innovation.