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Anti-trust actions against Tech companies
This morning-
[link=https://www.axios.com/european-union-amazon-antitrust-7c91cc96-c458-463d-a900-0e1739a100dc.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100]https://www.axios.com/eur…c&utm_content=1100[/link][h1]European Union hits Amazon with antitrust charges[/h1]
“EU regulators believe “the use of non-public marketplace seller data allows Amazon to avoid the normal risks of retail competition and to leverage its dominance in the market for the provision of marketplace services in France and Germany the biggest markets for Amazon in the EU,” according to a statement.”
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From September:
[link=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/460905-ftc-launches-amazon-antitrust-probe-report]FTC launches Amazon antitrust probe[/link]The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly launched an investigation to determine whether Amazon controls an inappropriately-large share of the retail market.
[link=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/amazon-antitrust-probe-ftc-investigators-interview-merchants]Bloomberg News[/link] reported Wednesday that at least three merchants which sell products on Amazon’s platform have been contacted by FTC investigators who are reportedly seeking to determine how much of their business relies on Amazon’s services.
Representatives for Amazon and the FTC declined a request for comment from The Hill. The probe [link=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/453447-eu-opens-antitrust-probe-into-amazon]follows a similar investigation[/link] launched by regulators in the European Union (EU) in July.
[link=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-antitrust-probe-48-u-s-states-launch-antitrust-investigation-of-google-dominance-in-search-ads-and-data/]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-antitrust-probe-48-u-s-states-launch-antitrust-investigation-of-google-dominance-in-search-ads-and-data/[/link][h1]48 U.S. states launch antitrust investigation into Google[/h1]
Fifty state {and territory} attorneys general, led by Texas, have announced an investigation into Google’s “potential monopolistic behavior.” The attorneys general are looking into whether the Silicon Valley search giant has gotten too big, and perhaps too effective at stomping out rivals.
The investigations will initially focus on the advertising market and whether Google broke the law in achieving dominance in the industry, said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the probe.
“This is a company that dominates all aspects of advertising on the internet, as they dominate the buyer, seller and auction side,” Paxton said. He later added: “If advertising costs are higher, advertisers pay more, and ultimately that’s passed on to consumers.”
Attorneys general in 48 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, are leading separate investigations. The attorneys general of California and Alabama are not involved in the probe.
The legal authorities investigating the company on Monday focused on its dominance in advertising and in search. Nine of 10 online searches are conducted through Google, and the company has been criticized for prioritizing its subsidiaries in search results.
Last week, online project management company Basecamp [link=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/google-paid-search-ads-shakedown-basecamp-ceo-says.html]complained[/link] that Google’s paid search ads are similar to a “shakedown,” noting that it had to pay to make sure its service appeared before rivals’ ads.
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[link=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/530683-google-hit-with-another-antitrust-lawsuit-by-states]Google hit with another antitrust lawsuit by states[/link]
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general filed another antitrust lawsuit against Google on Thursday focused on its online search market power, adding to the growing legal battles facing the tech giant.
The lawsuit filed by 35 states and Washington, D.C, Guam and Puerto Rico alleges Google illegally maintains monopoly power over search engines and search advertising markets through a series of anti-competitive contracts and conduct.
Our economy is more concentrated than ever, and consumers are squeezed when they are deprived of choices in valued products and services, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) said in a statement. Googles anticompetitive actions have protected its general search monopolies and excluded rivals, depriving consumers of the benefits of competitive choices, forestalling innovation, and undermining new entry or expansion.
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[b]Leading Critic of Big Tech Gets White House Post[/b][/h1]
President Biden is expected to name Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor, to the National Economic Council on Friday as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, according to a White House official, putting one of the most outspoken critics of Big Techs power into the administration, the [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/technology/tim-wu-white-house.html]New York Times[/link] reports.-
[link=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-09/antitrust-scholar-khan-to-get-biden-nod-for-ftc-post?srnd=premium]Biden to Tap Antitrust Scholar Lina Khan for FTC
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President Joe Biden plans to nominate [link=https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/lina-khan]Lina Khan[/link], a Columbia Law School professor who specializes in antitrust law, to serve as a member of the [link=https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/13362Z:US]Federal Trade Commission[/link], Politico reported Tuesday.
The pick marks the latest signal that Biden is preparing to square off against the technology industrys biggest companies. The White House declined to comment Tuesday on the matter.
Khan, whose research focuses on technology markets, previously worked as an aide to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra as well as for the New America Foundation and its spin-off, the Open Markets Institute. In a 2017 [link=https://archive.is/njcsK]article[/link] for the Yale Law Journal titled Amazons Antitrust Paradox, she argued that current U.S. antitrust law insufficiently counters the anti-competitive effects of Amazon-type, platform-based business models.
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wonder how they’ll approach net neutrality.
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[link=https://www.wsj.com/articles/congress-eyes-antitrust-changes-to-counter-big-tech-consolidation-11615458603?mod=hp_lead_pos7]Wall Street Journal[/link]: Congress is considering the most significant changes to antitrust law in decades, including some proposals with bipartisan support. Lawmakers are looking at setting a higher bar for acquisitions by companies that dominate their markets; making it easier for the government to challenge anticompetitive conduct; and potentially forcing some giant tech companies to separate different lines of their businesses.
For these measures to become law, lawmakers will have to move beyond their general unease with dominant companies particularly in the tech sector and navigate constituencies that dont agree on whether antitrust law needs a major overhaul or targeted changes.
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[link=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/550256-german-advertising-federation-files-antitrust-complaint-against-apple]Apple hit with German antitrust complaint
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The ZAW, the advertising federation, filed the complaint with a German competition regulator, arguing Apple is abusing its market power and violating antitrust law through the launch of its anti-tracking feature, according to the federations [link=https://zaw.de/missbrauchsbeschwerde-der-medien-und-werbewirtschaft-gegen-apple-beim-bundeskartellamt/]press release[/link].
Apple is expected to launch its new feature through an operating system update this week. The feature will require apps to gain users’ permission before tracking them across the web, limiting the reach of targeted ads.
The industry associations that filed the complaint in Germany argue that the update will give Apple one-sided advantages.
With these unilaterally imposed measures, Apple effectively excludes all competitors from processing commercially relevant data in the Apple ecosystem. At the same time, however, the group is excluding its own (advertising) services from the planned changes and collecting considerable amounts of user data itself, the ZAW said in the release.
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[link=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/24/tech-antitrust-republican-490446]https://www.politico.com/…rust-republican-490446[/link]
[h2]Tech giants’ foes open up their wallets to the Houses top antitrust Republican[/h2] [b]Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado was selected as the top Republican on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee earlier this year.[/b]
Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, has raised tens of thousands of dollars from companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and Fox Corp. since June 2019, a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance disclosures shows. Buck has pushed for laws and rules that could boost the companies’ abilities to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook. His increasingly aggressive stance has also won him praise as a trailblazer among GOP trustbusters, part of a notable shift in his partys attitudes toward reining in corporate monopolies.
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One reason tech antitrust has attracted so much attention on the Hill is because the victims are not only small and medium-sized enterprises, workers and consumers but also other large corporations, said Sandeep Vaheesan, a legal director with anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute. Some of the victims of these monopolists have real lobbying power, the money to donate to political campaigns and [the ability to] support counter-narratives to challenge the hegemony of the big players in tech.
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Buck has received over $50,000 from corporate rivals of the major tech companies and their lobbyists since the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee began its bipartisan investigation into the big tech companies in June 2019, according to a POLITICO analysis of the congressmans filings with the Federal Election Commission.
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[link=https://www.axios.com/amazon-dc-antitrust-lawsuit-e668f9f4-5160-46e4-826f-35f1094cf709.html]D.C. files antitrust lawsuit against Amazon over contracts with third party sellers
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Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine on Tuesday filed an antitrust [link=https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/Amazon-Complaint-.pdf]lawsuit[/link] against Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant’s anticompetitive pricing practices result in higher costs for consumers and less choice in the online retail market.
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[/b]The lawsuit alleges that provisions known as “most favored nation” agreements bar third-party sellers from offering their merchandise on other platforms for lower prices, including the third-parties’ own websites.In 2019, Amazon [link=https://www.axios.com/amazon-price-practice-antitrust-elizabeth-warren-d802ba71-d376-4316-b9dc-cca4540959ac.html]said it would end[/link] the “most favored nation” pricing provisions after criticism from Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren, who was then a presidential candidate.
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[link=https://www.ft.com/content/3750ad46-04c3-4010-9fc1-fe2427c8520c]https://www.ft.com/conten…4010-9fc1-fe2427c8520c[/link]
[h1][b]Brussels to open formal antitrust probe into Facebook[/b][/h1] European Commission will investigate if Facebook is undermining competition in the online classifieds market
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[b]Big Tech Antitrust Measures Advance In House[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-facebook-pressure-falls-short-as-major-antitrust-measures-advance-in-house-committee-11624505607]Wall Street Journal[/link]: A House committee approved far-reaching legislation to curb the market dominance of tech giants, including Alphabet Inc.s Google and Facebook Inc. In a package of six bills, the most significant measure to pass by late Wednesday requires that the largest internet platforms make it easier for users to transport their data to other platforms and even communicate with users on other platforms.
The bills must still pass the full House, where the timetable for bringing them to the floor for final votes remains unclear.-
federal judge dismisses FTC complaint against Facebook. The complaint alleged that FB maintained a monopoly in personal social networks or PNS.
FTC has until July 29 to file an amended complaint.
The judge is saying the FTC’s complaint was too vague (and is giving them another shot to file an amended complaint in a month
Here is the full opinion
[link=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.224921/gov.uscourts.dcd.224921.73.0.pdf]https://storage.courtlistener.com/re…24921.73.0.pdf[/link]
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[h1][b]Bidens Antitrust Chair Gets Off to Aggressive Start[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/ftc-lina-khan-antitrust-chair-497764]Politico[/link]: The Federal Trade Commissions first meeting under new Chair Lina Khan broke decades of precedent Thursday by taking place in public something unheard-of for the notably secretive antitrust and consumer protection agency. Then it pushed through a series of actions on progressive Democrats wish list: Fines for companies that lie about products being Made in America. Greater latitude for launching antitrust probes and lawsuits. And a wider door to writing new regulations something else the FTC hasnt done much of in decades.
All this came despite fierce objections from the commissions two Republicans, in a sign that partisan rancor is also back in vogue at the Biden-era FTC.
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Biden Nominates Another Big Tech Foe[/h1]
President Biden announced Tuesday he is nominating Jonathan Kanter, a known legal foe of Google and other major tech companies, to head the Department of Justices antitrust division, [link=https://www.vox.com/recode/22585851/jonathen-kanter-biden-google-facebook-tech-antitrust-department-justice-tim-wu-lina-khan-apple]Recode[/link] reports.
If confirmed to his post by the Senate, Kanter will have the power to take on cases to break up Big Tech companies or otherwise limit the size of their businesses. And as head of the DOJ antitrust division, Kanter would also decide how to proceed with the Trump administrations landmark case against Google for engaging in allegedly anti-competitive business practices. -
[link=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-flagged-to-justice-department-for-possible-criminal-obstruction-of-congress-11646827200?mod=djemalertNEWS]Wall Street Journal
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[h1]Amazon Flagged to Justice Department for Possible Criminal Obstruction of Congress[/h1] [h2]House Judiciary Committee accuses tech giant of withholding information during antitrust probe; Amazon has denied any attempts to mislead[/h2]A U.S. congressional committee is asking the Justice Department to investigate [link=https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/AMZN]Amazon.com[/link] Inc. [link=https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/AMZN?mod=chiclets]AMZN -1.05% [/link]and some of its executives for what lawmakers say is potentially criminal obstruction of Congress, according to people familiar with the matter and a letter containing the request.
The letter, dated March 9 and viewed by The Wall Street Journal, was sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland by Democratic and Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee.
The letter accuses the Seattle-based tech giant of refusing to provide information that lawmakers sought as part of an investigation by the bodys Antitrust Subcommittee into Amazons competitive practices. The letter alleges that the refusal was an attempt to cover up what it calls a lie that the company told lawmakers about its treatment of outside sellers on its platform.[/QUOTE]
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[link=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3504031-key-senate-antitrust-bill-hangs-in-the-balance/]Senate antitrust bill hangs in the balance
[/link]Klobuchar and Sen. [link=https://thehill.com/people/chuck-grassley/]Chuck Grassleys [/link](R-Iowa) American Innovation and Choice Online Act advanced with bipartisan support out of the Judiciary Committee earlier this year, but the chances of it passing hinge on supporters[b] [/b]gaining a large enough coalition. Even some Democrats who voted to advance the bill in January have expressed hesitation in supporting it on a floor vote, and more may back off amid a dwindling deadline ahead of competitive midterm races.
The bill, like antitrust reform efforts in the House, is creating strange bedfellows, bringing together senators across the aisle who are split on most other issues.
The unlikely allies could give the bill a fair chance of passing in the evenly split 50-50 Senate if called for a vote. But hesitancy among some Democrats may dissuade leadership from putting it forward.[/QUOTE]
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[link=https://www.axios.com/2022/10/22/rnc-lawsuit-google-spam-filter-blocks-email]https://www.axios.com/202…am-filter-blocks-email[/link]
[h1]RNC sues Google claiming spam filter blocks email[/h1]
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has filed a lawsuit against Google in a U.S. district court in California for allegedly putting its campaign emails in the spam folders of its millions of users.
Google last month launched a pilot program to keep campaign emails out of spam. But the RNC has been criticizing the program, arguing it doesn’t help enough with political email filtering.
[b]The lawsuit alleges[/b] that Google “has relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors and supporters spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building.”
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[h1]Biden to Push Ambitious Antitrust Crackdown on Big Tech[/h1]
The White House is planning a post-midterms push for antitrust legislation that would rein in the power of the worlds largest tech companies, a last-ditch effort to get a stalled pair of bills through Congress before a predicted Republican takeover in January, [link=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-04/biden-plans-ambitious-antitrust-crackdown-on-big-tech-post-midterms?srnd=politics-vp&sref=nXmOg68r#xj4y7vzkg]Bloomberg[/link] reports.[ul][*]White House effort on tech bills to come after midterms[*]Bills are stalled after $100 million lobbying by companies [/ul]
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[b]U.S. Sues Google for Abusing Monopoly in Digital Ads[/b][/h1]
The Justice Department and a group of states sued Google on Tuesday, accusing it of illegally abusing a monopoly over the technology that powers online advertising, the [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/technology/google-ads-lawsuit.html]New York Times[/link] reports.
Its the agencys first antitrust lawsuit against a tech giant under President Biden and an escalation in legal pressure on one of the worlds biggest internet companies.-
interesting timing since they just did a round of layoffs.
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[link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/03/biden-sotu-section230/]Washington Post[/link]
[b]Bidens State of the Union address to take aim at Silicon Valley[/b][/h1] [h2][/h2] [h2]As critical legislation has stalled in Congress, the president plans to call on Republicans and Democrats to work together to regulate the industry[/h2]
President Biden plans to call for tougher regulation of Silicon Valley in Tuesdays State of the Union, leveraging the prime-time spotlight to galvanize Republicans and Democrats against industry abuses and signaling a new priority for his administration in its third year.
The focus on tech is likely to be part of the presidents pitch for bipartisanship with a divided Congress, according to four people familiar with the speech who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the presidents plans. The speech will address antitrust enforcement and the tech industry, as well as the need for stronger privacy protections, according to two of the people.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed is playing a key role in crafting the policy sections of the State of the Union address, according to two of the people. Reed is a prominent tech industry critic, and shortly before joining the administration, he wrote [link=https://www.protocol.com/why-section-230-hurts-kids]a 2020 [/link]op-ed criticizing Section 230, the tech industrys prized legal shield that protects companies from culpability over the posts, photos and videos that people share on their platforms.[/QUOTE]
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