What is the essence of the proceedings?
For more than a year, Congress has been investigating the largest
Any move by one of these companies could have a profound and lasting impact on hundreds of millions of people.
David Cicilline, Chairman, Antitrust Subcommittee, House Judiciary Committee
Since June, the subcommittee has been holding hearings with smaller competitors that have confirmed the alleged monopolistic practices of these de facto "titans of the Internet."
Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon have long been accused ofthe fact that they occupy too much market share and impede competition. Opponents of their dominance believe that these companies are "too big to fail" - that is, they are in a position where their bankruptcy would have catastrophic consequences for the economy as a whole, and the government will bail them out to prevent these consequences.
What are the claims specifically to each company?
- Facebook is a monopoly in the sectoronline advertising and on the social media market. The purchase of Instagram by Mark Zuckerberg by the company in 2012 causes particular complaints. Congressmen admitted that this was a way to eliminate a dangerous competitor, and not to save a promising startup.
- Amazon has a monopoly inonline retail, crushing most third-party sellers and many vendors. The report estimates Jeff Bezos' company share at 50% of the American online market, not 40% as most studies claim. Democrats are confident that behind closed doors, Amazon treats third-party sellers on its site as "internal competitors" and not partners.
- With Apple, the Democrats have found a monopoly on the iOS mobile app market. The company is using control over the OS and Apple Store to create barriers and discriminate against competitors, the report said.
- Google congressmen called a monopoly in the fieldsearch engines and the accompanying advertising market. According to the authors of the report, the company functions as an "ecosystem of interconnected monopolies." By linking services to a huge amount of user information, Google only strengthens its dominance.
If this goes on, then in just ten years, 30% of global economic activity will be associated with these companies and all with a few others, congressmen noted.
What intermediate results did the US Congress come to after the hearing?
No direct congressional investigation threatenscompanies with any consequences, however, following its results, the antitrust subcommittee should issue a detailed report with information on how exactly IT giants circumvent the provisions of antitrust laws.
This document can form the basis of investigations,which the US Federal Trade Commission is already pursuing against Facebook and Amazon, and a lawsuit that the Justice Department is preparing against Alphabet Inc. In relation to Apple in the US, no other investigations have yet been launched, apart from what is being conducted by Congress.
However, it has now been decided thatthe largest tech companies in the US - Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook - are abusing their market position by limiting competition. These findings are contained in a 449-page report by the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Antitrust Policy, drawn up after 16 months of investigation. Congressmen recommend demanding that the tech four should radically restructure their business.
By controlling access to markets, these giants canpicking winners and losers throughout our economy. Not only do they wield enormous power, but they also abuse it by charging excessive fees, imposing harsh contract terms, and extracting valuable information about the people and businesses that rely on them.
Congress report
What will change if the offer becomes effective?
Subcommittee proposals can cause the mosta hard blow to technology leaders since the 1990s, when Microsoft was investigated in particular. He recommends changing US antitrust laws and forcing companies to restructure so that they cannot use their dominance in one area to harm competitors in another. Business areas should be separated and managed by different management teams, or some of them should be sold altogether.
Based on the results of the investigation, congressmen proposedintroduce “structural separation and prohibit dominant platforms from entering related business areas.” In other words, they want to split the tech giants into pieces. For example, Google could be forced to exit YouTube, and Facebook from Instagram and WhatsApp.
The antimonopoly authorities were immediately asked toconsider any mergers involving dominant platforms as anti-competitive. Thus, they no longer have to prove that the transaction is dangerous to free competition - the burden of proof will fall on the parties to the transaction.
Tech giants can be obliged to make their services compatible with competitors and offer "a level playing field for equal products" instead of preferring their own services.
Are there any other points of view on the work of IT giants?
Republicans did not support such tough recommendations, although they supported some of the least controversial proposals to strengthen antitrust enforcement.
Democrats controlling the House of Representativesit is expected that if Joe Biden wins the presidential elections in November, he will seriously consider this issue. Also, the updated composition of the Congress may accept the recommendations in whole or in part.
What do company representatives answer?
The companies themselves disagreed with the report's findings. For example, Google said in a statement that free Google products like search, maps, and gmail have helped millions of Americans. We have invested billions of dollars in product research and development and are constantly improving it, it said. We compete in a dynamic and highly complex industry, so we disagree with the report's findings, which are based on outdated information, or inappropriate accusations from our competitors.
In fact, there are suggestions that the governmentshould instruct sellers in which stores they should sell their goods, and to consumers in which stores they should buy. But if you do this, then it will become a destructive and destructive factor both for some and for others.
Amazon Statement
Interview:
During the investigation, members of the subcommittee interviewed250 people and studied more than 1.3 million documents. They concluded that each of the top four tech companies suppresses competition in various ways.
Supporters of big tech companies oftenthey say that aggressive tactics aimed at fighting competitors did not worsen the quality of services for users, but, on the contrary, improved them. However, the report describes how Google manipulated its search engine to draw attention to its own services, particularly Google Shopping, even though it does not typically rank high in Google searches.
We may have to pay special attention to the content so that it can be crawled, indexed and ranked correctly.
Congress report
What's the bottom line?
The Department of Justice is now completing an antitrust lawsuit against Google with a number of state attorneys general.
The evidence presented “demonstrates"there is an urgent need for legislative action and reform," said Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline and Judiciary Committee Chairman Democrat Jerrold Nadler.
These companies have too much power and need to be contained through appropriate oversight and enforcement. Our economy and democracy are at stake.
Jerrold Nadler, Democrat and subcommittee chairman David Cicilline and chairman of the Judiciary Committee
Read also:
On day 3 of illness, most COVID-19 patients lose their sense of smell and often suffer from a runny nose
Found 24 planets more suitable for life than Earth
The Doomsday glacier turned out to be more dangerous than scientists thought. We tell the main thing