Antitrust

Federal lawmakers are trying to keep Big Tech companies from favoring their own product lines over others.

As Big Tech swallows more of the internet, Congress cannot afford to lose the momentum with which it approached competition policy a year ago.

One of the few things most Republicans and Democrats agree on is the need to take on Big Tech monopolies like Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Big Tech is attempting to divert attention away from their own monopolistic practices.

Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's and George's Farms are among the string of chicken producers involved in a $181 million class action lawsuit.

While the easing of Apple's payment restrictions on apps like Netflix and Spotify appears to be a victory, some companies said there's still a long way to go.

The law allows app developers the freedom to choose their own payment processing systems without facing delayed app reviews or being deleted from the Apple's and Google's marketplaces.

"We are concerned that they could potentially have significant negative effects on small and medium-sized businesses like yours that sell in our store," Amazon wrote in its email.

"For years, Apple and Google have squashed competitors and kept consumers in the dark, Senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.

The congressman conceded to The Verge last week that he was wrong to believe "the market will take care of" creating competition within Silicon Valley.

Addressing concentrated power is essential.

For decades, a corporatist Republican Party blithely toed a libertarian line on antitrust, instinctively opposing all but the most egregious restraints of trade. No longer.

The legal action could change how Amazon negotiates with more than 2 million third-party sellers.

In ASP's second Chat looking at monopolies, the history of America's antitrust laws, and the current debates over the power of big tech, Chris Evans and Mark Kassen talk with Senator Mike Lee about free speech, privacy, and the delicate balance of protecting consumers without stifling innovation.

The best way to think about antitrust, then, is to take away coordination rights from Big Tech companies and grant them instead to workers, closer to the original aims of antitrust law to begin with.

"Right now, you have a few companies that dominate as gatekeepers in so many areas," said Klobuchar.

We can, and must, use all tools necessary in our policy and legal arsenal to rein in the Big Tech oligarchs before it is too late.

If appearing to take others' private property isn't prohibited by antitrust law, then what is?

Everything conservatives say they stand for—free thought, free speech and free markets—is now under threat.

Will Chamberlain of the Internet Accountability Project debates Matthew Feeney of the Cato Institute.

Google pays Apple an estimated $10 billion per year to be the default search engine on its devices. Google, meanwhile, sees an approximate 50 percent of searches coming from Apple products.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday morning against Google has nothing to do with President Donald Trump, said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.

"These firms have too much power, and that power must be reined in and subject to appropriate oversight and enforcement. Our economy and democracy are at stake," the report said.

The four technology companies "have too much power, and that power must be reined in and subject to appropriate oversight and enforcement," the subcommittee's report said.

House Republicans must pick a side.

Google battles Bill Barr; Single employees at Facebook battle parents; and a Spotify guy to the rescue at Gannett.

"I believe Amazon should be scrutinized. We should scrutinize all large institutions, whether they're companies, government agencies, or non-profits," the world's richest man is expected to tell Congress.

"There are things small companies simply can't do. I don't care how good an entrepreneur you are, you're not going to build [a] Boeing 787 in your garage," the Amazon boss is expected to tell politicians on Wednesday.

"Facebook is a successful company now, but we got there the American way: we started with nothing and provided better products that people find valuable," Zuckerberg will say.

The congressional hearing will include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook—here's how to watch via live-stream.