The US House of Representatives Antitrust Subcommittee is investigating the state of competition in the technology industry and is preparing to put forward comprehensive reform proposals, including the splitting of technology giants such as Amazon and Apple . These large technology companies not only own the market, but also sell their own products on the market, and have been criticized to stifle competition and innovation.
Picture: On July 29, 2020, at the hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee, CEOs of four major technology companies including Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple testify under oath
The U.S. House of Representatives Antitrust Subcommittee, led by Democratic Representative David Cicilline, has been investigating the technology industry for a year. Its survey recommendations and report are still being drafted, and the contents of both may change. It is unclear which members will support this report. According to people familiar with the matter, the report is expected to be released this week, but it has been delayed for some reason. If approved, these proposals will be the largest reform of competition law in decades.
Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado revealed that Cicillin’s proposal would include using the “Glass-Steagall law” to deal with technology platforms. This bill was used to separate the business of commercial banks and investment banks during the Great Depression. Buck said that Cicillin’s proposal would prohibit technology companies from entering different business areas and would be equivalent to splitting these companies. For example, Amazon will be banned from selling its own products on its market, Google cannot have the world’s largest search engine and YouTube at the same time, and Apple will be banned from owning an application store and providing its own applications.
Buck said: “The main remedy for most companies to create competition in the technology market is to create structural separation through legislation.” He said that he agrees with Cicillin’s view that it is necessary to control technology companies and agree to give more competition enforcers. Resources to implement certain remedial measures. Spokespersons for Cicilin and Buck did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Cicilin said in an interview in August that these companies are “deeply disturbing” abusing their dominant position to crush competitors.
According to Buck, the draft report will also recommend legislation that requires technology companies to allow users to easily move their data from one website to another, transfer the burden of proof in merger cases to technology companies, and remove some of the merger buyers. Its market share is limited to 25%, while overturning the Supreme Court and other critics’ rulings that have prevented the enforcement agency from blocking the merger and canceling the arbitration clause in terms of service terms.
According to reports, in addition to the Cicillin investigation, federal and state antitrust law enforcement agencies are preparing to file antitrust lawsuits against Google, and more cases may be in the pipeline. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing to file a lawsuit against Facebook. Amazon and Apple are also facing investigations by federal antitrust agencies. It is unclear whether Republicans on other committees will support Barker’s proposal. The Republican leader of the subcommittee, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (Jim Sensenbrenner), said at the October 1 hearing that he and Cicillin “Finally, there are differences on the future of the antitrust law.”
Representative Jim Jordan is the Republican leader of the Judiciary Committee, which includes the antitrust team. He has repeatedly used investigative hearings to accuse these companies of suppressing conservative voices. In his report, Buck expressed his concerns about the “censorship” across political factions, and specifically mentioned “prejudice against conservative media and figures.” He said the Democrats will recommend restrictions to make it more difficult for technology companies to grow through acquisitions of other companies.
During the investigation, committee members often complained that technology companies were able to consolidate their dominance by acquiring promising start-ups, and there were few anti-monopoly enforcers to review. At a recent hearing, a former head of the Department of Justice’s antitrust department stated that the court has made it almost impossible for the government to prevent dominant companies from acquiring newly established competitors, and suggested that one of the solutions is to let buyers Take responsibility to prove that these transactions will benefit competition. This may make it easier for antitrust enforcers to block transactions.
Although Buck said he supports the transfer of responsibility, he said that Congress should gather more information on another Democratic proposal, which is to prohibit the acquisition of future competitors and start-ups, such as Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. Buck said such a ban would prevent startups from selling their ideas to other companies to profit, and reduce investors’ incentives to support startups.
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