Folks, the reason #Facebook/ #Instagram/ #Meta/ Zuckerberg hasn’t launched #Threads in the #EU isn’t because the EU is determined to protect your privacy, it’s because the EU is determined to protect The Single Market (peace be upon it) from anticompetitive behaviour. It’s because they’re using Instagram to launch Threads and sharing data between them (and not with EU startups that might want to use that data too). It’s #antitrust, not #privacy. It’s markets, not people.
The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $3 trillion public company.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), would create a new agency called the Digital Consumer Protection Commission that would be empowered to go after giant tech firms for a slew of anti-competitive behaviors and failing to protect consumer privacy.
A jury just found Google guilty on all counts of #antitrust violations stemming from its dispute with #Epic, maker of #Fortnite, which brought a variety of claims related to how Google runs its app marketplace. This is huge:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
They said it couldn't happen. After decades of #antitrust enforcement against #PredatoryPricing - selling goods below cost to kill existing competitors and prevent new ones from arising - the #ChicagoSchool of neoliberal #economists "proved" that predatory pricing didn't exist and that the courts could stand down and stop busting companies for it.
Price-fixing by the notorious big meat processors: The Antitrust Division is suing over price-fixing of chicken, turkey, & pork products. 90% of the market is unlawfully inflated. Big meat processors were deliberating exporting meat at a loss to restrict domestic supply & keep prices up in America. “We continue to chase all the export opportunities we can find to keep excess product off the US market.”
I don't know much about #antitrust but I DO know that my #Iphone 11 can't load many, many apps because I can't upgrade its IOS operating system. 5 years old and if I want to load the apps I need to buy another Iphone. So, yes, that's a problem.
The Department of Justice kicked off its antitrust trial against Google this week by presenting evidence that Google allegedly hid monopolistic behaviors not just by auto-deleting four years of chats, but also by training employees to avoid using certain words in office communications.
I haven't tried to play music on my iPhone in a while. It's now acting in ways that really make me suspect that Apple is being a nannying asshole again. I have my wifi turned off because I SHOULD be able to play music I've already shifted to my iPhone... music I own the files to and ripped myself. When I try to open up Apple Music, it crashes. When I search for the song I want in iOS search, it finds it, but it also crashes if I hit the file play button.
"The worse Google’s search results are, the more they depend on being the default search (because no one would actively choose a search engine with unreliable, spammy results). The more they spend on being the default, the sweatier and more desperate their money-grabbing tactics become, and the worse the search results get, and the more they need to spend to keep you locked in"
➥ @pluralistic
We've fined Apple over €1.8 billion over abusive App Store rules for music streaming providers.
For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem.
There go the people who might give a clear signal on #ClimateRisk for projects and inftrastructure.
"The Net-Zero #Insurance Alliance (#NZIA) has been buffeted by growing political opposition from some #Republicans in the US who say the group could be violating #antitrust laws by working together to reduce clients' carbon #emissions.
This month 23 US state attorneys general [said NZIA targets andrequirements] appeared to violate both federal and state antitrust laws."
The Federal Trade Commission thinks Amazon is an illegal monopoly, and it’s suing the company to stop it — which could mean breaking up the e-commerce giant.
I had occasion to talk about this in class the other day, and its one of those stories I frequently forget the details of.
The extent to which the #telecommunications landscape re-congealed to nearly pre-1982 #ATT breakup levels by the early 2000s is a pretty compelling argument for the need for ongoing #antitrust enforcement.
US Oil producers withheld prod. to DRIVE UP OIL PRICES BY COORDINATING WITH #OPEC.
-h/t M Stoller
Exxon is set to close its $60B deal for Pioneer following an agreement with #antitrust enforcers not to add fmr Pioneer Chief Exec Sheffield to its BOD.
Microsoft would buy Valve 'if opportunity arises,' said Phil Spencer in leaked email (www.pcgamer.com)
But its prime target was Nintendo, according to a 2020 email leaked during the FTC v Microsoft trial.
U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly (www.nytimes.com)
The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $3 trillion public company.
News: Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to build a new agency to police Big Tech (www.theverge.com)
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), would create a new agency called the Digital Consumer Protection Commission that would be empowered to go after giant tech firms for a slew of anti-competitive behaviors and failing to protect consumer privacy.
OC Platform Tilt: Tracking issues which disadvantage Firefox relative to first-party browsers on major software platforms (mozilla.github.io)
Mozilla:...
Google hid evidence by training workers to avoid words monopolists use, DOJ says (arstechnica.com)
The Department of Justice kicked off its antitrust trial against Google this week by presenting evidence that Google allegedly hid monopolistic behaviors not just by auto-deleting four years of chats, but also by training employees to avoid using certain words in office communications.
DOJ sues Apple over iPhone monopoly in landmark antitrust case (www.cnbc.com)
Apple and its iPhone and App Store business have been eyed by the Department of Justice, which previously filed antitrust suits against Google.
Microsoft C.E.O. Testifies That Google’s Power in Search Is Ubiquitous (www.nytimes.com)
Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, is the government’s biggest-name witness in its landmark antitrust case against Google.