Here are your FOX Business Flash top headlines for March 28th.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday approved legislation banning major digital platforms like Amazon and Google from favoring their own products and services over those of competitors, marking the first full endorsement of the Biden administration’s antitrust measure.
“The Department views the rise of dominant platforms as a threat to open markets and competition with risks to consumers, businesses, innovation, resilience, global competitiveness and our democracy,” read a letter to bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Signed by Peter Hyun, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice for Legislative Affairs.
The letter, seen by the Wall Street Journal, expresses support for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which the Senate Judiciary Panel approved in a bipartisan vote in January, and similar legislation going through the House of Representatives.
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Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc. and others oppose the proposed legislation because it would make it harder to offer popular services. Opponents of the bills also say it’s fair for e-marketplaces, search engines and app stores to capitalize on the popularity of their creations.
This file photo, dated Thursday, January 3, 2013, shows Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Prominent artificial intelligence scholar Timnit Gebru helped improve Google’s public image as a company that surveys black computer scientists and questions (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File / AP Newsroom)
The ministry’s letter takes a different view: that the platforms’ dominance gives them uncontrolled power to influence the fate of other companies, and that restricting the platforms’ behavior would bring significant benefits.
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“Discriminatory behavior by dominant platforms can erode the rewards of other innovators and entrepreneurs and reduce incentives for entrepreneurship and innovation,” the letter reads. “More importantly, the legislation can support the growth of new technology companies alongside the platforms, which could ultimately provide much-needed competitive controls for the covered platforms themselves.”
The bills supplement existing antitrust laws by clarifying what types of conduct Congress considers anticompetitive and illegal, the letter adds, noting that “this would enhance the DOJ’s ability and [the Federal Trade Commission] to challenge this behavior.”
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in the borough of Manhattan on July 21, 2015 in New York City. (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
Support for the Biden administration improves prospects for passage of the bill, which has acquitted key committees in the House and Senate.
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But it still hasn’t won a vote in both houses, and it faces both industry opposition and skepticism on both sides of the aisle. Some conservatives are wary of expanding government powers to police digital markets, while some Democrats, particularly from California, say the legislation is unfairly targeted at a handful of big companies.
In the January committee vote, some senators who voted yes said they still wanted to see changes to the bill before supporting it in the Senate. Legislative supporters, including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), are in talks with their peers to create a passable version of the bill.