On October 7, due to differences between Democrats and Republicans in the United States on remedial measures, the House of Representatives report on how to restrict the powers of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook may be postponed.

Pictured: US Democrat David Cicilline (David Cicilline) leads the House of Representatives Judicial Antitrust Subcommittee to investigate the technology giants

Despite the various differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the United States, in recent years the two parties seem to have maintained the same position on one issue, that is, they are both hostile to the enormous power held by the tech giants. This bipartisan cooperation should have prompted the two parties to release a landmark report in the House of Representatives this week, putting an end to a 15-month investigation of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. This report will include recommendations made by lawmakers to control these companies, including the most thorough revision of US antitrust laws in half a century.

But five people familiar with the matter revealed that in the past few days, support for these proposals largely depends on partisan politics. On Monday, Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee announced that they had postponed the release of the antitrust investigation report because they were unable to obtain Republican support. According to two people familiar with the matter, the committee’s Republican leader and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (Jim Jordan) has asked his colleagues not to support the Democratic leadership’s report. In addition, Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck (Ken Buck) has distributed another report entitled "The Third Way" (The Third Way), which refutes certain Democratic legislative proposals.

Four sources with knowledge of the situation said that Republicans’ main objection to the report is that certain legislative proposals for technology giants may affect other companies and hinder economic growth. Several Republicans were also frustrated that the report did not address the anti-conservative bias of technology platforms. In his "third way," Buck stated that some of these proposals are "impossible to win conservative support."

Since Microsoft was accused of antitrust 20 years ago, this partisan struggle has cast a shadow over Congress’ actions to restrict the power of technology companies. Although the House report may still be released this week, if Democrats led by Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee, cannot get much support from Republican members, the The report may lose much influence.

This turmoil has given Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google a respite, even if only temporarily. Three sources familiar with the report said that the House committee is expected to accuse them of stifling new competitors, bullying companies that need them to reach users, and reducing competition across the economy, thereby reaching the top of the global economy. It is expected that this report will also initiate other actions against the technology giants. The U.S. Department of Justice has been working hard to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google, and then the state attorneys general filed separate lawsuits against the Internet search giant.

Cicillin declined to comment. Jordan’s spokesperson Russell Dye also declined to comment. Buck said in a statement: "I agree with Chairman Cicillin's view that the behavior of large technology companies is anti-competitive." However, he added: "Faced with such a major problem, I am The legislative choice is not surprising."

With the support of both parties, the House Judiciary Committee began an investigation of the four technology giants in June 2019. The committee interviewed hundreds of platform competitors and business customers, such as third-party sellers on Amazon and developers who publish applications through the Apple App Store. In July of this year, the chief executives of the Big Four testified at a hearing with the committee to defend their company.

However, the two-party cooperation has been affected. Jordan became the Republican leader of the committee this year, and he has always been openly skeptical of the investigation. At the hearing in July, he spent a lot of time criticizing the CEOs' so-called platform's bias against conservatives and deviating from the original intention of investigating antitrust behavior and Silicon Valley market forces. A person familiar with the matter said that last week, the Democratic staff of the committee provided the draft report to all committee members who wished to review the report.

According to a source familiar with the investigation, the staff received new evidence about Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and included it in the report last week, which also delayed the investigation. At the same time, Jordan does not plan to sign the Democratic Party report now. His unwillingness to support this report may cause other Republicans on the committee to refuse to sign.

In recent days, Buck shared his "third way" report, which included several recommendations made by Democrats who supported the committee, including giving more resources to the federal antitrust agency and making limited legislative changes to authorize enforcement. Antitrust law. But this report refutes other proposals, such as not allowing online companies to compete on the platforms they operate, saying this is "almost undisguised call to break up large technology companies."

The last major revision of the US antitrust law was nearly 50 years ago, when new rules were formulated around merger review. The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976 requires companies to notify the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice in the event of large mergers, both of which are major antitrust enforcement agencies . Critics in the technology industry now believe that these laws are not enough to show that these companies are rapidly expanding in new markets and stifling young competitors.

William Kovacic, the former chairman of the FTC, stated that the antitrust report of the House Judiciary Committee “has the potential to become the most influential study of this type since the 1970s. This could lead to truly significant Change, but no change will happen overnight." (Little)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate