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Justice Department Opens Antitrust Review of Big Tech Companies

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The federal government has turned its full investigative powers toward examining the world’s biggest technology companies, building on a backlash against the industry that has been growing for over a year.

The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it would start an antitrust review into how internet giants had accumulated market power and whether they had acted to reduce competition. Similar inquiries are underway in Congress and at the Federal Trade Commission, which shares antitrust oversight responsibilities with the Justice Department.

The action is the clearest sign yet that the longtime arguments that helped shield the tech giants from antitrust scrutiny are eroding. Since the 1970s, a consensus in antitrust circles has been that if companies were focused on consumer welfare — for example, by offering low prices — they were not likely to attract federal intervention. Since companies like Google and Facebook largely provide free services, the thinking went, they were not subject to federal antitrust examination.
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This Big Tech debate has been mentioned in past as hot button issues and this is still true as in the article here.
 
Thats great.They need to get investigated..Maybe this thread should go in the Internet section of the forum since it could get into a hot topic mode which is not allowed in the Off The Air section........ .
 
I saw this statement in the coverage of this story:

"Washington lawmakers have been calling for stricter regulations of the big tech companies, but the DOJ may be hampered in any resulting actions as current antitrust laws don't seemingly apply to companies offering inexpensive goods or free online services."

That means that there may be an investigation, there may be hearings, but it's unlikely that it will lead to any changes, unless new laws are written and passed.
 
https://apnews.com/47f5f7fd9e0941a880b929af081a37a0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have fined Facebook $5 billion for privacy violations and are instituting new oversight and restrictions on its business. But they are only holding CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible in a limited fashion.

The fine is the largest the Federal Trade Commission has levied on a tech company, though it won’t make much of a dent for a company that had nearly $56 billion in revenue last year. Two of the five commissioners opposed the settlement and said they would have preferred litigation to seek tougher penalties. Privacy advocates worry the settlement will do little to force Facebook to rein in its data-collection practices.


As part of the agency’s settlement with Facebook, Zuckerberg will have to personally certify his company’s compliance with its privacy programs. The FTC said that false certifications could expose him to civil or criminal penalties.
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Here is another investigation that was happening at the same time but it was facebook that was named in the fines over privacy issues.
 
Just heard on the radio .Great that Google and FB whistle blowers are coming out .Alot of big heads will be rolling and end up getting the book tossed at them...
 
TheBigA said:
I saw this statement in the coverage of this story:

"Washington lawmakers have been calling for stricter regulations of the big tech companies, but the DOJ may be hampered in any resulting actions as current antitrust laws don't seemingly apply to companies offering inexpensive goods or free online services."

That means that there may be an investigation, there may be hearings, but it's unlikely that it will lead to any changes, unless new laws are written and passed.
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The key word there is "seemingly".

The answer is, we simply don't know, because its never been tested in court.

It only takes one judge. Obamacare is a tax and all that.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
It only takes one judge.
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In the case of the DOJ, if a case is appealed, there will go to a three judge panel. That's what happened in the AT&T case.

But before all that, they have to decide if there's a case at all. It's not against the law to be profitable. And the gov't doesn't require usage of social media or smart phones.
 
"Amazon has ‘destroyed’ retail and should be scrutinized," Treasury chief Mnuchin says.

That's really not true. Technology has CHANGED retail. Some of these companies have destroyed brick & mortar, but its because their costs are lower. Consumers are willing to wait a week for mail delivery rather that go out to the mall. Who's fault is that?

In doing so, they've energized the shipping business, including the post office.

Sure scrutinize technology, but what you're really scrutinizing is popular behavior. People shop online because it's cheap and easy. There was nothing preventing other retailers from doing the same, except lack of imagination. And as the government examines technology, keep in mind what it will do for things like alternatives to radio, including streaming.
 
Really the same thing when Wal-Mart came to town. Hmmm, I can pay for parking downtown, visit 6 or 8 retailers to get everything I need but I still need to get all my shopping done before 5pm (12noon on Mondays) or I can go to this place that's open until 10pm, has everything under one roof at lower prices. What am I going to pick? Same with Amazon. Now people want to shut down Dollar stores.


TheBigA said:
"Amazon has ‘destroyed’ retail and should be scrutinized," Treasury chief Mnuchin says.

That's really not true. Technology has CHANGED retail. Some of these companies have destroyed brick & mortar, but its because their costs are lower. Consumers are willing to wait a week for mail delivery rather that go out to the mall. Who's fault is that?

In doing so, they've energized the shipping business, including the post office.

Sure scrutinize technology, but what you're really scrutinizing is popular behavior. People shop online because it's cheap and easy. There was nothing preventing other retailers from doing the same, except lack of imagination. And as the government examines technology, keep in mind what it will do for things like alternatives to radio, including streaming.
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gr8oldies said:
Now people want to shut down Dollar stores.
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I saw that! What they really want is to regulate people's behavior.

But yes where were all the complainers when Wal Mart came to town and destroyed the local department store business. Or Home Depot.

Of course none of these government people shop at Wal Mart, so it's off their radar.
 
TheBigA said:
I saw that! What they really want is to regulate people's behavior.

But yes where were all the complainers when Wal Mart came to town and destroyed the local department store business. Or Home Depot.

Of course none of these government people shop at Wal Mart, so it's off their radar.
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Got a point there .Home Depot,Lowes killed the Ma/Pa hardware stores here in town.Walmart knocked out Dying Kmart /Sears and other stores in the local mall when it move into town..

My gripe with Amazon with is not a tech giant is the deal with USPS .The USPS should get rid of bulk shipping charges to these companies.

The Gov people more likely to shop at Kohls ,Macys and Boscovs and other good quality stores .
 
WPPCProductions said:
My gripe with Amazon with is not a tech giant is the deal with USPS .The USPS should get rid of bulk shipping charges to these companies.
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Shipping is up to the customer. They can use FedEx, UPS, or any shipper they prefer. USPS is not required at Amazon, and they are actually starting their own in-house shipping option.
 
WPPCProductions said:
Got a point there .Home Depot,Lowes killed the Ma/Pa hardware stores here in town.Walmart knocked out Dying Kmart /Sears and other stores in the local mall when it move into town..

My gripe with Amazon with is not a tech giant is the deal with USPS .The USPS should get rid of bulk shipping charges to these companies.

The Gov people more likely to shop at Kohls ,Macys and Boscovs and other good quality stores .
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Where I live we still have several "Ma/Pa" hardware stores (OK, not exactly "Ma/Pa" but Ace Hardware). I find it much easier when shopping for actual hardware to visit these local stores instead of trying to find packages of 100's at the Big Box store. AND, there are people who actually know hardware available to answer questions. Yes, prices are a bit higher but you get what you pay for.

As long ago as 30 years our local Kmart stores were dirty, unorganized and unhelpful. I last bought a small fan in a Kmart store in the early 70's if that gives you an idea of how much I liked that store. It still works BTW. Sears was a different story one being the quality of its products were generally more expensive than that of Walmart (full of Chinese knockoffs). Customers not needing top quality tools for example quit shopping at Sears. But now Harbor Freight is knocking down Walmart and using the same retailing methods.

As far as USPS bulk shipping......it is keeping the USPS alive right now. There is not enough first class mail to pay for the USPS and a lot of their previous bulk shipments were "stolen" by UPS, Fedex etc. They are now fighting back but they have the added responsibility of visiting every single addressable location in the country six days per week. That is a huge cost the other shippers don't have. You own a business? You want your mail to arrive 3-4 days per week instead of six? That is what you are facing if the USPS can't successfully with private enterprise.
 
TheBigA said:
Yet even with all the criticism, millions of people still use it, and as a result, the company is making billions:

https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/...te-court-costs-and-bad-buzz-facebook-still-ra

If Facebook is so bad, don't use it. There are lots of options. Or just stop using social media and spend time with the family.
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I don't use social media.


Facebook, Twitter, I'm on none of it.


But the fact that the owners of social media companies seem to want to interfere with
elections in a way that affects life in my country makes it a concern of mine.
 
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