House Antitrust Panel Urges Tougher Regulation Of Big Tech Firms

Antitrust Panel Takes On Big Tech

The HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Antitrust Subcommittee has issued its report on competition in digital markets, noting the domination of digital distribution by "gatekeepers" AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE, and FACEBOOK and finding "evidence of monopolization and monopoly power."

The report criticized government antitrust agencies for failing to investigate all but one acquisition among hundreds of deals by the big four digital companies in the last decade. FACEBOOK, the report concluded, is a monopoly for social networking, "firmly entrenched and unlikely to be eroded by competitive pressure from new entrants or existing firms"; the committee said GOOGLE is a monopoly for online search and advertising, AMAZON's market share of online retail is "likely understated," and APPLE has "significant and durable market power in the mobile operating system market" and controls all software distribution to iOS devices. The result, the report said, harms news organizations and has "materially weakened innovation and entrepreneurship in the U.S. economy" as well as undermined privacy.

The subcommittee's recommendations included keeping the dominant platforms from operating in adjacent lines of business; instituting nondiscrimination requirements and requiring equal terms for equal products and services; interoperability and data portability; presumptive prohibition against future mergers and acquisitions by the dominant platforms; safe harbor for news publishers; and prohibitions on bargaining power abuses. The report also recommended strengthening antitrust laws and enforcement.

Responding to the report, NAB Pres./CEO GORDON SMITH said, “NAB thanks Chairman (DAVID) CICILLINE (D-RI) and the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee for its important investigation into the dominant competitive power of digital technology platforms. We applaud the Subcommittee for examining the challenges this presents to local media outlets, including radio and TV broadcasters, as they compete online for advertisers and audiences, and the impact on the future of local journalism. AMERICA’s broadcasters are committed to working with the Subcommittee and CONGRESS on bipartisan solutions that level the playing field and preserve local journalism.”

« see more Net News