Dominant American online platforms like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant have become Life Control Interfaces (LCIs), which facilitate consumers’ online interactions and influence what consumers do and do not see and buy. These platforms operate outside of EU regulation, and create significant costs for traditional European firms in a wide range of industries. These platforms can reduce firms’ access to customers, can charge for enabling access to customers, or can charge for access to essential data on firms’ customers. Since these platforms enjoy monopoly power there is little restraint on their charges, which indirectly increase consumers’ prices. We propose that regulators encourage the formation of a consortium to offer a single integrated EU-based Life Control Interface (EuLCI). This consortium would increase the number of EuLCIs from zero to one, and thus would actually increase consumer choice. We call cooperation that enhances rather than limits choice The Cooperation Paradox.

Amazon Alexa 或 Google Assistant 等美国主导的在线平台已成为Life Control Interfaces (LCI)，这促进了消费者的在线互动，并影响了消费者看到和购买的东西。这些平台在欧盟法规之外运作，并为各行各业的传统欧洲公司带来巨大成本。这些平台可以减少公司对客户的访问，可以对允许访问客户收费，或者可以对访问公司客户的基本数据收费。由于这些平台享有垄断权，因此对其收费几乎没有限制，从而间接提高了消费者的价格。我们建议监管机构鼓励组建一个联盟，以提供基于欧盟的单一集成生命控制接口 (EuLCI)。该联盟会将 EuLCI 的数量从零增加到一，因此实际上会增加消费者的选择。我们称合作可以增强而不是限制选择合作悖论。