The Department of Justice plans to review how online platforms can achieve market power and if they have engaged in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or harmed consumers.
Strong Access
The department will look at widespread concerns for consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs on research, social networking and retail services. Its antitrust department will seek input from the public, including industry participants who have direct information on competition between platforms online.
The goal is to ensure Americans’ access to free markets. The Ministry of Justice will seek redress if it identifies violations of the law.
Although the department did not mention the name of any particular company, there are strong indications that Google, Facebook and Amazon are among its important targets.
“It seems that the breadth of this is huge, which means it may lack depth, focus or change significantly,” said Willy Lechter, vice president of marketing at Versace.
“The deliberate analysis of the real anti-monopoly issues that Amazon dominates increasingly on e-commerce can produce useful results,” he told TechNewsWorld, but casts a shadow over the conflicting agendas, and the process is likely to become a political theater. “He said.
Fear and hatred
Facebook and Google have been repeatedly penalized for violating user privacy. The two companies, in addition to Amazon, are facing potential antitrust measures in the EU.
While huge fines have been imposed (Facebook has just approved a $ 5 billion deal with the US Federal Trade Commission), activists’ concerns have not faded.
Josh Golein, executive director of the Campaign for a Childhood Free of Commercials, said the agreement “frees Facebook by violating the privacy of children and manipulating children and adolescents to make purchases in the application.”
Sarah Miller, co-president of Freedom From Facebook, said the FTC “did not ask for Facebook to be blamed.”
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He said the fine up to “a joke for Facebook, a one-time parking ticket.”
Miller suggested that Congress enable state prosecutors to investigate Facebook before “disintegrating democracy.”
At the same time, Amazon has generated fear in large and small retailers.
Nearly 75 percent of retailers with at least 100 employees expressed concern about Amazon’s lack of pricing, according to an ActiveViam study covering 500 top decision makers at prices in such companies.
“When there are more than 100 million active users in the market, there is reason to worry,” he said, “when there are 1 billion active users per month, one faces digital monopolies.
“We need regulatory protection, but the problem is that most legislators lack the technical skills to understand how to write privacy policies that bring power back into the hands of consumers while ensuring the public good and allowing the e-commerce market.” “
He suggested that any change in behavior would bring great technological benefit.
“I remember that when Microsoft really decided to comply with EU requests, it was strengthened,” he said. “Behavior allows greater focus on markets and customers that companies should focus on first.
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