The U.S. is in a crusade against the power of Amazon Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google – Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Today, a House committee prepares to vote on an antitrust bill against technology monopoly, seeking to reduce the almost ominous market presence of the Big Five.
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This is a decisive step in the political and judicial offensive against the Big Five launched by Donald Trump during his term.
The U.S. To Vote Against Technology Monopoly
Critics say that the Big Five have been rampaging the industry for the past two decades, acquiring potentially dangerous rivals to eliminate all traces of competition. Such practice was reported against Facebook and Google in January, in a string of lawsuits filed by numerous U.S. states and prosecutors in recent years.
So, one of the bills to be voted on today would require any of these companies to refrain from any acquisition unless they can demonstrate that the prospective company does not compete with any similar products or services.
As reported by Forbes, the Federal Trade Commission and 46 states sued Facebook in December 2020, accusing it of buying up competitors like WhatsApp and Instagram. With the lawsuit, the FTC antitrust lawsuit looks to force Facebook to reverse the two acquisitions.
The House committee will consider possible amendments and then decide whether to move the draft to a final vote. Two of the six bills introduced last week target Amazon and Alphabet Inc – Google’s parent company – for creating platforms for other businesses while competing against them from a position of power.
Should the bill pass, it would force these tech giants to get rid of such platforms, thus limiting their market position.
Unfair Competition
Curbing the technology monopoly is a point on which both Democrats and Republicans agree. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., head of the antitrust subcommittee of the Justice Committee, said last week: “These bandits of today are increasing their power thanks to unfair competition.” Republican Ken Buck emphasized his opposition to “the abuse of power in Silicon Valley.”
The last of the six bills complements a measure already passed by the Senate, which would increase the budget of antitrust authorities and make the companies that plan the biggest mergers pay more.
According to experts, this latest bill is the one most likely to become law, although advocates of the legislation hope that the consensus between Democrats and Republicans will make it possible to move forward with all the rules, despite pressure from union lobbies.
Amazon, Google, Facebook, are part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders' families.
