The United States Finally Takes on Big Tech
- Paul Thurrott
- Jun 04, 2019
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36
No, it’s not just Google. Amazon, Apple, and Facebook are also under scrutiny by the U.S. government now, and each could face sweeping antitrust charges.
It’s about time.
The U.S. House of Representatives informed Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google that it is investigating antitrust violation by each company. And if that wrongdoing is found—which it will be— it will instruct the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch formal antitrust investigations that will lead to fines and behavioral remedies. The DOJ will examine Apple and Google, while the FTC will tackle Amazon and Facebook.
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At issue is a growing concern, suddenly explosive, that these corporations are abusing their market power, spreading disinformation, violating user privacy, and more. And this has support on both sides of the aisle, with various politicians from both major parties making Big Tech reform a major part of their platforms.
“This is about how do we get competition back in this space,” said Rhode Island representative David Cicilline, the chairman of the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust. He says he will subpoena executives and documentation from each firm and plans to record testimonies and hold hearings for each.
“As tech has expanded its market share, more and more questions have arisen about whether the market remains competitive,” Georgia representative Doug Collins agreed. Collins is a Republican, while Cicilline is a Democrat.
Formal antitrust action could take years, but as we’ve already seen, even the threat of federal oversight has already had an impact. On Monday, Apple quietly reversed its market abusing banning of third-party digital wellness apps on iOS after being informed of the House’s plans. And none of these companies wants to be brought down like Microsoft was by its antitrust issues of the early 2000s. Microsoft’s hobbling by antitrust regulators in the U.S. and EU is what led to the rise of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google in the first place.
And the EU is already racing ahead to curb these giants, too. Google has been found guilty of violating EU antitrust laws three times already and has weathered massive fines and behavioral remedies. And Apple is now under investigation for abusing its App Store monopoly there as well.
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Conversation 36 comments
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#432990">In reply to Hypnotoad:</a></em></blockquote><p>While I wouldn't lay all problems Microsoft has (which isn't all that many anyway) to antitrust, it's a bit silly to say anything about Microsoft lead to the rise of Amazon. Or did I miss the era where Microsoft was a major retailer selling literally everything from soup to nuts?</p>
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PeterC
<p>This is good. We will all benefit in some fashion and any change is better than the status quo. Well done the US, just make sure the process instigates fundamental and real change, and isnt just loud words that mean nothing in practise.</p>
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Hifihedgehog
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Apple is evil. You should be able to easily procure and use a third party app over a first party one and you should also be able to make that third party one the default for a given protocol or file type in the operating system's settings. What Apple has been squeaking by with iOS for now a decade plus would have been straightway penalized if Microsoft had done it with Windows. The fact that you still cannot select a default web browser or mail client in iOS flies in the face of decades of judicial precedent which have been served to Microsoft and others. I, for one, hope that immediate action is finally taken against Apple's draconian, despotic policies.</span></p>
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Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#433063">In reply to toph36:</a></em></blockquote><p>I am making the move later this year from a iPhone X probably to a S10 or S10 plus. </p><p><br></p><p>I have a launch day iPhone X, that will be two years old in October? I have grown to pretty much hate FaceID or FaceID only. I hate the lack of an Audio Jack and the dongles. I hate the fact that I can't make a different browser or maps app the default app.</p><p><br></p><p>I wont miss the dark mode or updated reminders app in iOS 13!</p>
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BrianEricFord
<blockquote><em><a href="#433069">In reply to trparky:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>It should also be abundantly clear that he’s posted the same exact comment on more than one comment thread so is maybe not someone to take all that seriously.</p>
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Stooks
<p>If any GDRP type laws come out of this, it will hurt Google/Facebook the most. Not good for either since they hardly make any real products or at least make real money off of those real products.</p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#433129">In reply to Pbike908:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'm in favor of greater corporate taxes regardless of the industry involved, but tax breaks offered by cities and states are a self-inflicted problem. The practice goes back at least to the times when cities offered sweetheart deals to sports franchises long before tech was dominant. </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#433178">In reply to A_lurker:</a></em></blockquote><p>Facebook's and Twitter's mythical "censorship antics" would be irrelevant to antitrust even if they were actually "guilty" of doing it. </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#433306">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>It depends on what figures you use. Amazon's e-commerce gross is almost an order of magnitude greater than their cloud operations. Profits are a different matter.</p>