US Lawmakers Report Market Abuses By Big Tech Companies And Suggest Reforms
The U.S. House of Representatives panel that was looking into the abuses of market power by Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, found out that the four big technology companies used ‘killer acquisitions’ to compete with rivals, forced small businesses into oppressive contracts, and charged excessive fees.
The antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee recommended that the four technology giants should not control the market and compete in related businesses.
The committee also suggested structural breaking up but stopped short of mentioning a particular company should be broken up.
Through the 449-page report, the committee described many incidents where the companies had misused their power to oppress the smaller business – the committed also suggested some extreme changes to antitrust law.
The report said, ‘To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons.’
Due to this report, Amazon stated in a blog post on Tuesday against market interventions that ‘would kill off independent retailers and punish consumers by forcing small businesses out of popular online stores, raising prices and reducing consumer choice’ and ‘fringe notion of antitrust.’
In a recent statement, Google said that it completes, ‘fairly in a fast-moving and highly competitive industry. We disagree with today’s reports, which feature outdated and inaccurate allegations from commercial rivals about Search and other services.’
In response to this report, Facebook called itself ‘an American success story’ and also said, ‘We compete with a wide variety of services with millions, even billions, of people using them. Acquisitions are part of every industry and just one way we innovate new technologies to deliver more value to people.’
‘Scrutiny is reasonable and appropriate but we vehemently disagree with the conclusions’ – Apple. The company was also seen defending its commission rates and said it would exert immediate response in the coming days.
The investigation was conducted for more than a year and involved 1.3 million documents as well as 300 interviews. The investigating committee was led by Democratic Congressman David Cicilline – it found that the companies created ‘a position that enables them to write one set of rules for others, while they play by another’ by running marketplaces where they also competed.
I am Darryl Broadhurst and i give investors an insight into the most recent news hitting the “Technology” sector in Wall Street. I have been an independent financial adviser for over 11 years in the city and in recent years turned my experience in finance and passion for journalism into a full time role. I perform analysis of Companies and publicizes valuable information for shareholder community.
