Big Tech Has Become a Creature of the Swamp
2 years, 9 months ago

Big Tech Has Become a Creature of the Swamp

Wired  

This week Apple invited real people to its developers conference, sitting everyone down in an outdoor setting to watch a prerecorded presentation. The Plain View The geeky founders of big tech companies used to view government as something to be avoided at all costs. There’s an antitrust enforcement act that would fast-track efforts to police dominant companies, and maybe make it easier to break up Facebook. Yet another bill would constrain tech platforms from favoring certain of their own products, a ban that would harm Amazon. In press interviews this week–conducted because, with the recent confirmation of another Democrat, she finally has a majority of commissioners to work with–Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said that she’s ready to roll with constraints on Big Tech.

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What is the role for out of power Democrats on Big Tech?
1 month, 3 weeks ago

What is the role for out of power Democrats on Big Tech?

Al Jazeera  

United States President Donald Trump has seemingly formed an alliance with some of the country’s most notable tech billionaires. Zephyr Teachout, a lawyer, author and associate professor of law at Fordham University, says Big Tech leaders were not aligned with the Democrats, though, and that has become even more clear than it was recently. “In the Obama era, Google wrapped …

Tech billionaires are getting their chance to shape Washington. Here’s what they’ll do with it.
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Tech billionaires are getting their chance to shape Washington. Here’s what they’ll do with it.

Politico  

Unlike wealthy power players of another generation, whose ideas and influence were often cloaked and exercised through backroom deals, these tech moguls tend to talk about their policy preferences in public … a lot. “The crypto war, we were on the receiving end for four years and it was incredibly brutal, incredibly destructive; AI, we had meetings in D.C. in …

The Beginning of the End of Big Tech
3 months, 3 weeks ago

The Beginning of the End of Big Tech

Wired  

Next year will be Big Tech’s finale. Critique of Big Tech is now common sense, voiced by a motley spectrum that unites opposing political parties, mainstream pundits, and even tech titans such as the VC powerhouse Y Combinator, which is singing in harmony with giants like a16z in proclaiming fealty to “little tech” against the centralized power of incumbents. One …

Tech CEOs sell out Democrats in rush to curry favor with Trump
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Tech CEOs sell out Democrats in rush to curry favor with Trump

Salon  

Democrats made a strategic alliance with Silicon Valley during Barack Obama’s presidency that they would be wise to shake in the face of a second Donald Trump term. Since the Obama era, Big Tech CEOs have portrayed themselves as champions for climate action and social justice, defenders of reproductive rights and fundamental freedoms, and thus allies to Democrats and progressives. …

What Donald Trump's Win Will Mean for Big Tech
55 years, 2 months ago

What Donald Trump's Win Will Mean for Big Tech

Wired  

On Wednesday, the chief executives of the leading Big Tech companies congratulated the US president-elect. Trump has shown disdain for Big Tech companies, and he’s been vocal about pursuing policies that increase the cost of doing business for Big Tech and subject them to more unfavorable regulations. And now, with Elon Musk as his biggest supporter, “this might be a …

As FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Term Expires, Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base
5 months, 3 weeks ago

As FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Term Expires, Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base

Wired  

For months, speculation has raged in Washington over the future of Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission chair and face of the Biden administration’s crusade against monopoly power. Overturning decades of antitrust norms, charged by Khan with failing to curb extreme concentrations of corporate power, the administration has routinely scrutinized major acquisitions traditionally ignored by Khan’s predecessors, forcing companies like …

The White House launched a politically potent high-tech program this year. There’s a reason you haven’t heard of it.
6 months, 1 week ago

The White House launched a politically potent high-tech program this year. There’s a reason you haven’t heard of it.

Politico  

The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform takes a brief victory lap for the program: “We’ve designated more than 30 tech hubs in communities from Reno, Nevada; to Charlotte, North Carolina; to North Central Pennsylvania,” the platform reads, lumping the 12 funded projects with 19 others named as finalists last year. The GOP platform doesn’t mention Tech Hubs by name, but it …

NADINE DORRIES: I Googled my name, and learnt all about Big Tech!
1 year, 5 months ago

NADINE DORRIES: I Googled my name, and learnt all about Big Tech!

Daily Mail  

On my first day at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, I was given a single piece of advice by my predecessor. This, I would come to realise, reflected a particular view of Big Tech — Meta, Google, Apple and Microsoft — and attempts to regulate its harmful impact on consumers and on business. On my first day …

Lina Khan is taking swings at Big Tech as FTC chair, and changing how it does business
2 years ago

Lina Khan is taking swings at Big Tech as FTC chair, and changing how it does business

NPR  

Lina Khan is taking swings at Big Tech as FTC chair, and changing how it does business Enlarge this image toggle caption Pool/Getty Images Pool/Getty Images When Lina Khan came in as chair of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021, she came in swinging. Farrar said Khan's work at the agency has included deterring companies from "anticompetitive business practices" and …

Big tech companies prep for a tough year
2 years, 2 months ago

Big tech companies prep for a tough year

Live Mint  

A newly humbled cadre of globe-spanning tech giants are about to see their resilience tested. On top of that, big tech companies were seduced during the pandemic into heavy investments in personnel and new products predicated on the idea that the shift to virtual life would be enduring—something that hasn’t panned out. In response, big tech companies are retrenching, cutting …

Big crisis of Big Tech means innovation curve had plateaued
2 years, 2 months ago

Big crisis of Big Tech means innovation curve had plateaued

Live Mint  

Joshua Browder, a 26-year-old UK entrepreneur, recently supercharged his main product in a way that he could hardly have imagined a few years ago. His startup DoNotPay developed a chatbot that could negotiate erroneous or excessive fines and fees on people’s behalf—think unfair parking tickets—by building a database of expertise based on its history of human interactions. GMR Sports in …

Big Tech And Its Congressional Allies Kill Most — But Not All — Antitrust Legislation
2 years, 3 months ago

Big Tech And Its Congressional Allies Kill Most — But Not All — Antitrust Legislation

Huff Post  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been the target of pressure from Big Tech companies, which have spent massive sums on lobbying during the current Congress. While a pair of smaller provisions in the omnibus will help antitrust advocates take on the nation’s largest tech companies in the future, the death of the Open App Markets Act and the American …

How big tech defeated the biggest antitrust push in decades on Capitol Hill
2 years, 3 months ago

How big tech defeated the biggest antitrust push in decades on Capitol Hill

LA Times  

Sen. Amy Klobuchar co- A passionate and bipartisan legislative effort to rein in the country’s largest technology companies collapsed this week, the victim of an epic lobbying campaign by Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta. The internet titans spent hundreds of millions of dollars, sent their chief executives to Washington and deployed trade groups and sympathetic scholars to quash two antitrust …

GOP splinters over effort to crack down on Big Tech
2 years, 9 months ago

GOP splinters over effort to crack down on Big Tech

Salon  

In America's current political climate, there are a vanishingly small number of issues on which Democrats and Republicans in Congress can make common cause. RELATED: Amazon, Facebook and other tech giants paid almost $100B less in taxes than they claimed: analysis To make his case, Paul argues that consumers benefit from a popular business tactic in Big Tech called "vertical …

With landmark antitrust legislation looming, Big Tech CEOs pay a visit to Congress
2 years, 9 months ago

With landmark antitrust legislation looming, Big Tech CEOs pay a visit to Congress

CNN  

CNN — As Senate lawmakers embark on a final, urgent push to pass landmark antitrust legislation to reshape the tech industry, Big Tech is bringing out its heaviest hitters to influence the members whose votes could decide the bill’s fate. Next week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai will travel to Washington to meet with US lawmakers, two people familiar with the …

Big Tech attacks become rallying cry for GOP candidates
2 years, 9 months ago

Big Tech attacks become rallying cry for GOP candidates

Associated Press  

RENO, Nev. — Shortly after launching his campaign last year for the Republican nomination in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, Sam Brown got into a scrape with Twitter. “As a Republican, we’re very used to seeing censorship happen on the Big Tech platforms.” As the 2022 primary season moves forward next week with contests in several states including Nevada, that sense …

DOJ backs antitrust bill that would stop Big Tech from giving preferred treatment to their products
2 years, 11 months ago

DOJ backs antitrust bill that would stop Big Tech from giving preferred treatment to their products

Daily Mail  

The Department of Justice has endorsed antitrust bills that would block Big Tech giants, such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook parent company Meta from giving preferential treatment to their own products. The federal authority wrote a letter to bipartisan lawmakers issuing support for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which the Senate's judiciary panel passed in January. The …

Big Tech vs Red Tech and Diminishing Democracy in Digital Age
3 years, 1 month ago

Big Tech vs Red Tech and Diminishing Democracy in Digital Age

News 18  

In the third decade of the twenty-first century, democracies face a new adversary — technology. While the United States and the European Union have enabled the creation of penetrated and argumentative democracies — wherein all countries and civil society organisations can advocate for the regulation of big tech or the promulgation of General Data Protection Regulation standards — China has …

U.S. bill would stop Big Tech favouring its own products
3 years, 5 months ago

U.S. bill would stop Big Tech favouring its own products

The Hindu  

About a dozen U.S. senators from both parties on Monday formally introduced a bill that would bar Big Tech platforms, like Amazon and Alphabet's Google, from favoring their products and services. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley's bill would prohibit platforms from requiring companies operating on their sites to purchase the platform's goods or services and ban them from biasing …

Regulations for big tech firms a global trend
3 years, 5 months ago

Regulations for big tech firms a global trend

China Daily  

JIN DING/CHINA DAILY In the United States, the executive branch, courts and the Congress are moving to restrict the dominance of the US tech giants. Big Tech's market cap over $9 trillion The combined market capitalization of the largest five high-tech giants reflects their dominance. Over the past decade, criticism against Big Tech has intensified, as evidenced by expanded antitrust …

Regulations for big tech firms a global trend
3 years, 5 months ago

Regulations for big tech firms a global trend

China Daily  

JIN DING/CHINA DAILY In the United States, the executive branch, courts and the Congress are moving to restrict the dominance of the US tech giants. Big Tech's market cap over $9 trillion The combined market capitalization of the largest five high-tech giants reflects their dominance. Over the past decade, criticism against Big Tech has intensified, as evidenced by expanded antitrust …

U.S. FTC meeting will scrutinize Big Tech's small deals
3 years, 6 months ago

U.S. FTC meeting will scrutinize Big Tech's small deals

The Hindu  

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will hold its next open meeting on Sept. 15 to hear staff findings on deals that Big Tech firms like Facebook and Apple make which are sometimes too small to spark antitrust scrutiny, the agency said on Wednesday. The staff report will include Big Tech acquisitions from 2010 to 2019, some of which were not …

Big Tech rolls on as investors shrug off regulatory pressure
3 years, 7 months ago

Big Tech rolls on as investors shrug off regulatory pressure

The Hindu  

Pressure is rising on Big Tech firms, signalling tougher regulation in Washington and elsewhere that could lead to the breakup of the largest platforms. Fast-moving environment "Breakup is going to be nearly impossible," said analyst Daniel Newman at Futurum Research, citing the need for controversial legislative changes to antitrust laws. "Until investors start to see some consensus on where the …

Break up, merger restrictions and other ways US Congress is trying to rein in Big Tech
3 years, 8 months ago

Break up, merger restrictions and other ways US Congress is trying to rein in Big Tech

Firstpost  

The bipartisan legislation targets the companies’ structure and points toward breaking them up, a dramatic step for Congress to take against a powerful industry whose products are woven into everyday life. Groundbreaking legislation is advancing in Congress that would curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and could force them to untie their dominant platforms …

Break them up? 5 ways Congress is trying to rein in Big Tech
3 years, 8 months ago

Break them up? 5 ways Congress is trying to rein in Big Tech

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Groundbreaking legislation is advancing in Congress that would curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and could force them to untie their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. The measures seek to rein in the tech giants in five ways: BREAKING THEM UP The legislation would bar the four companies from …

House panel pushes legislation targeting Big Tech’s power
3 years, 9 months ago

House panel pushes legislation targeting Big Tech’s power

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — A House panel pushed ahead Wednesday with ambitious legislation that could curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and force them to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. Many state attorneys general have pursued antitrust cases against big tech companies, and many states joined with the U.S. Justice Department …

US antitrust overhaul: What it means for the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook; how it would change big tech
3 years, 9 months ago

US antitrust overhaul: What it means for the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook; how it would change big tech

Firstpost  

Even if only some of the proposals are passed as law, they will likely have significant consequences for the way big tech does business globally. Five antitrust laws proposed in the United States aim to aggressively rein in the market power of “big tech” companies and change the way they do business. The expansive proposals range from breaking up different …

Biden elevates energetic critic of Big Tech as top regulator
3 years, 9 months ago

Biden elevates energetic critic of Big Tech as top regulator

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday installed an energetic critic of Big Tech as a top federal regulator at a time when the industry is under intense pressure from Congress, regulators and state attorneys general. The selection of legal scholar Lina Khan to head the Federal Trade Commission is seen as signaling a tough stance toward tech giants Facebook, …

Bills that could force Big Tech breakups unveiled in House
3 years, 9 months ago

Bills that could force Big Tech breakups unveiled in House

The Hindu  

A group of House lawmakers has put forward a sweeping legislative package that could curb the market power of Big Tech companies and force Facebook, Google, Amazon or Apple to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. It concluded that the four tech giants have abused their market power by charging excessive fees, imposing tough contract terms …

Opinion: Big Tech is broken. But can Congress fix it?
3 years, 9 months ago

Opinion: Big Tech is broken. But can Congress fix it?

LA Times  

The internet has been a great unifier, enabling people to join others around the globe in pursuit of common interests. And now, the internet’s largest platform operators — Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google — are uniting Democrats and Republicans on the House antitrust subcommittee in pursuit of their common interest: reining in Big Tech’s power. Not that Democratic administrations have …

House lawmakers introduce Big Tech bills that could break up Amazon, Google and others
3 years, 9 months ago

House lawmakers introduce Big Tech bills that could break up Amazon, Google and others

CNN  

CNN Business — Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google could be forced to make sweeping changes to their businesses under a series of new bills introduced Friday by House lawmakers targeting the companies’ economic dominance. “In such instances the bill requires dominant platforms to divest lines of business where the platform’s gatekeeper power allows it to favor its …

Big Tech’s outsized influence draws state-level pushback
3 years, 11 months ago

Big Tech’s outsized influence draws state-level pushback

Associated Press  

New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris was ecstatic when Amazon named Long Island City in 2018 as a front-runner for its new headquarters, a project that would bring 25,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in construction spending to his district in Queens. “Traditional antitrust enforcement doesn’t work because Big Tech has become too big and too powerful.” Tech companies aren’t content …

Big Tech's outsized influence draws state-level pushback
3 years, 11 months ago

Big Tech's outsized influence draws state-level pushback

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But while the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have filed major antitrust …

tech employees agree tech giants are too powerful
4 years ago

tech employees agree tech giants are too powerful

The Hindu  

Silicon Valley’s powerful chief executives don't seem to be talking much on behalf of their employees who increasingly find themselves at odds with their companies’ senior leadership, according to a survey by Politico’s new media company Protocol. Protocol surveyed over 1,500 tech employees across the U.S, ranging from c-suite executives to associates, and over 40% of the respondents worked at …

As the Trump era comes to an end, what happens to Big Tech?
4 years, 4 months ago

As the Trump era comes to an end, what happens to Big Tech?

LA Times  

In the days before the 2020 election was called for Joe Biden, President Trump was on Twitter — doing battle with Twitter. On antitrust, for instance, there’s clear overlap between progressive calls to “ break up Big Tech ” — which Biden has nodded to but not endorsed — and the various tech antitrust investigations Trump has overseen. In one …

Analysis: Two words describe the Senate’s Section 230 Big Tech hearing: Worthless and petty
4 years, 4 months ago

Analysis: Two words describe the Senate’s Section 230 Big Tech hearing: Worthless and petty

CNN  

CNN Business — In 1994, Congress dragged the CEOs of the nation’s largest tobacco companies to Capitol Hill, where they testified — under oath — that cigarettes are not addictive, contrary to evidence otherwise. “And why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic super PAC suppressing views contrary to your political beliefs?” Dorsey denied Cruz’s allegations, but acknowledged the …

House panel says big tech wields monopoly power
4 years, 5 months ago

House panel says big tech wields monopoly power

Live Mint  

America’s biggest technology companies have leveraged their dominance to stamp out competition and stifle innovation, according to a Democratic-led House panel, which said Congress should consider forcing the tech giants to separate their dominant online platforms from other business lines. The report released Tuesday from Democratic staff of the House Antitrust Subcommittee capped a 16-month inquiry into the market power …

Congress Unveils Its Plan to Curb Big Tech’s Power
55 years, 2 months ago

Congress Unveils Its Plan to Curb Big Tech’s Power

Wired  

Anyone who's paid even slight attention to the congressional investigation of the power wielded by tech giants won't be surprised by the report released Tuesday by the subcommittee’s Democrats. The report, which ends a 16-month investigation and includes a trove of internal documents, lays out the most thorough case yet that Big Tech exploits its advantages in unfair ways. As …

Five things to know about the Big Tech antitrust report
4 years, 5 months ago

Five things to know about the Big Tech antitrust report

Associated Press  

After years of calling Big Tech too big, Democratic lawmakers are calling for Congress to rein in Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple by breaking them up, limiting future mergers and blocking self-dealing that could hurt competitors. BYE BYE, BUY BUY BUY The report attributes the “significant and durable market power” of the companies in large part to “a high volume …

Democrats call for Congress to rein in, break up Big Tech
4 years, 5 months ago

Democrats call for Congress to rein in, break up Big Tech

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are calling for Congress to rein in Big Tech, possibly forcing Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple to break up their businesses, while making it harder for them to acquire others and imposing new rules to safeguard competition. “By controlling access to markets, these giants can pick winners and losers throughout our economy.” In addition to proposing …

U.S. House's antitrust report hints at break-up of Big Tech firms, lawmaker says
4 years, 5 months ago

U.S. House's antitrust report hints at break-up of Big Tech firms, lawmaker says

The Hindu  

The U.S. House of Representatives antitrust report on Big Tech firms contains a “thinly veiled call to break up” the companies, Republican Congressman Ken Buck said in a draft response seen by Reuters. The House antitrust subcommittee is expected to publish its report this week on Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and Google owner Alphabet Inc. A Buck representative …

CEOs of 3 tech giants to testify at Oct. 28 Senate hearing
4 years, 5 months ago

CEOs of 3 tech giants to testify at Oct. 28 Senate hearing

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The CEOs of technology giants Facebook, Google and Twitter are …

Big Tech Does Not Agree With That Characterization
4 years, 7 months ago

Big Tech Does Not Agree With That Characterization

Wired  

So the Marlins had teammates with Covid—and played the Phillies anyway? The Plain View I found it fitting that the first time Congress got to question the entire quartet of the most powerful tech CEOs, none were actually in the room. When they stood up to be sworn in for their “tobacco moment”—named after the oath taken by nicotine-stained executives …

Lawmakers grill 4 Big Tech CEOs but don’t land many blows
4 years, 7 months ago

Lawmakers grill 4 Big Tech CEOs but don’t land many blows

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Congressional lawmakers finally got a chance to grill the CEOs of Big Tech over their dominance and allegations of monopolistic practices that stifle competition. Invective flew Wednesday as legislators questioned Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook at a hearing of the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust. The panel’s chairman, Rep. David …

Lawmakers batter Big Tech CEOs, but don’t land many blows
4 years, 7 months ago

Lawmakers batter Big Tech CEOs, but don’t land many blows

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Congressional lawmakers finally got a chance Wednesday to grill the CEOs of Big Tech over their dominance and allegations of monopolistic practices that stifle competition. The panel’s chairman, Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, said each platform controlled by Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple “is a bottleneck for a key channel of distribution.” “Whether they control access …

US tech giants too powerful, antitrust panel chair warns
4 years, 7 months ago

US tech giants too powerful, antitrust panel chair warns

Live Mint  

Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook are too powerful and will likely emerge from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger, the head of a US congressional antitrust committee said Wednesday at a high-stakes hearing featuring the CEOs of the four US tech giants. "Simply put, they have too much power," Representative David Cicilline said in his opening remarks at the hearing expected …

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook are testifying before US Congress
4 years, 7 months ago

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook are testifying before US Congress

Live Mint  

Four Big Tech CEOs — Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple — are set to answer for their companies’ practices before Congress as a House panel caps its yearlong investigation of market dominance in the industry. The White House cited an earlier Trump executive order in that direction and his request …

Heads Of Amazon, Apple, Facebook And Google Testify On Big Tech's Power
4 years, 7 months ago

Heads Of Amazon, Apple, Facebook And Google Testify On Big Tech's Power

NPR  

Heads Of Amazon, Apple, Facebook And Google Testify On Big Tech's Power Enlarge this image toggle caption Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Updated at 6:35 p.m. Cook said that "there are many reasons why" an app may not meet the App Store's guidelines, dismissing the suggestion that Apple squashed its competition to favor its own …

GOP Dwells on ‘Bias in Big Tech’ as Facebook, Google Take Stand
4 years, 7 months ago

GOP Dwells on ‘Bias in Big Tech’ as Facebook, Google Take Stand

Bloomberg  

When four of the most prominent executives in American business testify before Congress Wednesday, the topic will ostensibly be whether they’ve used their market power to squelch competition. The Republican congressmen participating in the hearing Bloomberg Terminal are eager to talk about another issue: the tech industry’s supposed bias against conservatives. A confidential memo from Republican leadership preparing lawmakers for …

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