WHAT DOES IT MEAN – FORENSIC?

Independent economic investigations that become possible with development of digital technologies and use tools of digital criminal investigations

On 6 December, experts discussed the key themes of developing digital criminal investigations and shared practical investigation experiences at a Business Breakfast on “Digital Criminal Studies and Forensics: Tools of Efficient Business” organized by the “Sobytie” Conference Centre.

Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department Anton Teslenko was one of the key speakers at the event. He described the practice of investigating anticompetitive practices related to use of auction robots and price algorithms.

Anton Teslenko pointed out that “the first incidents of using auction robots and price algorithms to anticompetitive ends, exposed by Russian antimonopoly body, led to the need of elaborating reasonable enforcement practices of evaluating such actions. According to the recommendations on the practices of employing information technologies in commerce, approved by FAS Presidium, its necessary to, first of all, evaluate the methods and goals of using information technologies that must be allowed if there is not restriction to competition. A fact of a user having software or use of price algorithms or online-platforms by itself is not considered an element of violations”.

Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department also drew attention of the participants that a list of digital evidence used by the antimonopoly authority keeps expanding and robust efforts are being undertaken to automate exposure and proofs of cartels and other anticompetitive agreements. In the speaker’s view, “digital” collusions often leave more traces that “traditional” anticompetitive agreements.

“Digital transformation of anticompetitive agreements accelerates every day and questions related to such transformation need understanding and discussions by the academic researchers and practitioners no less than other achievements of the forth industrial revolution. I would agree with the statement of Head of FAS Anti-Cartel DepartmentAndrey Tenishev that there is a long-standing need to create a new discipline – antimonopoly criminal studies”, concluded Anton Teslenko.