Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 12 June 2019
Tech on trial: House mulls antitrust help for news industry

Continued from Front Politicians on the left and
right have differing gripes
As a partial solution, Cicil- about the tech giants.
line proposed legislation Some complain of aggres-
to establish an antitrust ex- sive conduct that squashes
emption that would allow competition. Others per-
news companies to band ceive a political bias or
together to negotiate rev- tolerance of extremist con-
enue rates with big tech tent. Still others are upset
platforms. He called it “a by the industry’s harvesting
life support measure, not of personal data.
the remedy for long-term Several Democratic presi-
health” of the news busi- dential candidates think
ness. they have the solution:
The senior Republican on breaking up the compa-
the full committee, Rep. nies on antitrust grounds.
Doug Collins of Georgia, Cicilline has called that “a
said he backs Cicilline’s last resort,” but the idea
proposal. Addressing the has currency with both ma-
broader question of an- jor political parties, includ-
titrust, however, he said, ing at the White House.
“Big is not necessarily bad,” Trump noted the huge fines
adding that lawmakers imposed by European reg-
need to proceed cautious- ulators on the biggest tech
ly. companies.
The head of an association Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at the Open Markets Institute, and Matt “We are going to be look-
that represents technology Schruers,vice president of Law and policy with the Computer and Communications Industry ing at them differently,” he
and telecom companies Association, are sworn-in to testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust subcommittee hearing on said in an interview Mon-
said the government scruti- ‘Online Platforms and Market Power’, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2019. day on CNBC.
Associated Press
ny of successful companies “We should be doing what
is appropriate. However, Before the internet, “news less competition among cade has enjoyed haloed (the Europeans) are do-
an antitrust exemption for publishers received an ex- news outlets.” status and a light touch ing,” Trump said.
the news industry wouldn’t emption to deal with previ- But David Chavern, presi- from federal regulators. “Obviously, there is some-
solve the problem, said ous competitors like radio dent of the News Media With regulators at the Jus- thing going on in terms of
Matt Schruer, vice presi- and TV news (and they) Alliance representing some tice Department and Fed- monopoly.”
dent of the Computer and have not worked,” Schruer 2,000 news organizations of eral Trade Commission ap- The tech giants have most-
Communications Industry said. “The results were few- all sizes and types, called parently pursuing antitrust ly declined to comment on
Association. er choices for readers and an antitrust exemption “the investigations of Facebook, the antitrust investigations.
lightest-touch option on Google, Apple and Ama- Google has said that scru-
the table.” zon, and several state at- tiny from lawmakers and
“There’s a real urgency in torneys general exploring regulators “often improves
the industry. We’re at crisis bipartisan action of their our products and the poli-
point now,” Chavern said. own, the tech industry finds cies that govern them,”
Stepping ahead of the criti- itself in a precarious mo- and that in some areas,
cism, Google’s vice presi- ment — with the dreaded such as data protection,
dent of news Richard Grin- M-word increasingly used laws need to be updated.
gas said the company has to describe their way of do- Facebook executives have
“worked for many years ing business. Cicilline has been calling broadly for
to be a collaborative and flatly called them monopo- regulation while explicitly
supportive technology and lies. rejecting the idea of break-
advertising partner to the The Justice Department’s ing up “a successful Ameri-
news industry.” antitrust chief suggested in can company.” CEO Mark
“Every month, Google a speech Tuesday that he Zuckerberg has called for
News and Google Search may take a broad view of new rules in four areas:
drive over 10 billion clicks to harm to competition, and harmful content, election
publishers’ websites, which take into account quality integrity, privacy and data
drive subscriptions and sig- factors such as the threat portability.
nificant ad revenue,” he to privacy, not only wheth- When Democratic presi-
said in a statement Tues- er a company’s dominant dential contender Sen.
day. market position results in Elizabeth Warren tweeted
In a Capitol steeped in par- higher prices. in April that tech giants like
tisanship, inflamed by spe- “Price effects alone do not Amazon should be broken
cial counsel Robert Muel- provide a complete pic- up, Amazon tweeted back,
ler’s report and Democrats’ ture of market dynamics, “Walmart is much larger.”
intensifying probes of Presi- especially in digital markets And Apple has countered
dent Donald Trump, Con- in which the profit-maximiz- a legal challenge to its
gress’ new investigation of ing price is zero,” Assistant management of the App
tech market power stands Attorney General Makan Store by saying it “will pre-
out. Not only is it bipartisan, Delrahim said, according vail when the facts are pre-
but it’s also the first such re- to a transcript of his speech sented and the App Store
view by Congress of a sec- in Tel Aviv, Israel, provided is not a monopoly by any
tor that for more than a de- by the department. metric.”q