Why the US government comes for Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple



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<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Big Tech is faced with such a choice the industry n has never seen Titans like Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG& nbsp;GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) address existential threats on several fronts. Antitrust enforcement, interference in elections, freedom of speech, hate speech and a number of other important issues arise at the same time, making it difficult to understand troubling landscape of the country's most prosperous industry. "Data-reactid =" 15 "> Big Tech is facing a problem that the industry has never seen before: Titans like Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Facebook (FB ) Antitrust enforcement, interference in elections, freedom of speech, hate speech and a number of other important issues arise at the same time. time, which complicates the understanding of the troubling landscape of the country 's most prosperous countries.

To help understand this, we look at some of the biggest names in technology and look at the problems they will soon face.

Amazon

Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the world, but the empire of CEO Jeff Bezos has many critics demanding, among other things, an increase in taxes on commercial activities and, in the most extreme case, a complete break.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is currently at war with the company, is currently asking Bezos to improve the working conditions of employees of the distribution center of Amazon.Sanders fired his last salvo against the company via Twitter, referring to & nbsp;a story from The Daily Beast data-reactid = "19"> The presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is waging a war with society, is now calling Bezos to go on a mission. improve the working conditions of employees at the Amazon distribution center. Sanders launched his latest corporate salvo via Twitter, referring to an article in the Daily Beast detailing the fate of employees, including those who threatened to commit suicide.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Sanders also hit Amazon not to & nbsp;pay federal income taxes for the second year in a row. The company pays corporate taxes. "Data-reactid =" 20 "> Sanders also hit Amazon for not pay federal income taxes for the second year in a row. The company pays corporate taxes.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) meanwhile, & nbsp;established a plan& nbsp; dismantle tech giants, including Amazon, which first names the company as a platform utility and limits its ability to sell its own Amazon Basics products through Amazon.com. In addition, Warren would seek to cancel Amazon's acquisitions of the Whole Foods organic grocery chain and shoe retailer Zappos. "Data-reactid =" 21 "> The presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), presented plans to dismantle technology giants, including Amazon, which begins by naming the platform utility company. Shaped and limiting its ability to sell its own Amazon Basics products through Amazon.com, which would also strive to cancel Amazon 's acquisitions of a chain of custody. Whole Zappos Organic Grocery Store for online sale of food and shoes.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is looking to dismantle a number of large technology companies. (Image: Reuters / Kamil Krzaczynski)

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Then there are reports& nbsp; this & nbsp;the Federal Trade Commission& nbsp; reviews Amazon's business practices to determine whether it uses anti-competitive practices to outpace other retailers. "data-reactid =" 42 "> It would appear that the Federal Trade Commission is looking at Amazon's business practices to determine if the company is using anti-competitive practices to outpace its competitors.

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade group representing some of the world's largest retailers support the FTC's efforts, she sent & nbsp;a letter to Commission asking it to examine the potential anti-competitive practices of the e-commerce giant, as well as Google. "data-reactid =" 43 "> The Retail Industry Leaders Association, a professional group representing some of the largest retailers in the world, is supporting the FTC's efforts and has sent a letter to the commission asking them to look into the potential anticompetitive practices of the e-commerce giant, as well as Google.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Amazon has also been facing pressure from President Donald Trump , which claims that the company has entered into a very detrimental agreement with the US Postal Service that is detrimental to the final outcome of Post Office. But some analysts have claimed that the problem of Post Office is that people have turned away from sending letters and postcards for the benefit of e-mails and SMS. & nbsp;Amazon's business really helps the service. "data-reactid =" 44 "> Amazon has also been pressured by President Donald Trump, who says the company has reached a special agreement with the US Postal Service that undermines the bottom line of the post office. however, the problem is that people have turned away from sending letters and postcards to e-mails and SMS, and that Amazon's activities really help the service.

Apple

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "While the FTC examines potential antitrust issues at Amazon, the Department of Justice & nbsp;is about the case of Apple. The biggest vulnerability of the iPhone manufacturer seems to be what made the company's smartphone so indispensable to start: the App Store. "Data-reactid =" 46 "> While the FTC is investigating potential antitrust issues at Amazon, the Justice Ministry is the biggest vulnerability of the iPhone maker seems to be what made the smartphone of the year. so essential business to start: the App Store.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The problem is that Apple keeps total control over its the applications, up to which applications may or may not appear, but that may change soon, but in May, & nbsp;the Supreme Court allowed& nbsp; lawsuit claiming a 30% fee. Apple is asking application developers to sell their apps via the App Store is anti-competitive. "data-reactid =" 47 "> The problem is that Apple retains full control over its application market In May, the Supreme Court authorized a lawsuit claiming the 30% fee claimed by Apple from developers for the sale of their apps through the App Store is anti-competitive.

Spotify also raised concerns about the amount of fees charged by Apple for the sale of apps through the store. In March, the streaming music services company had filed a lawsuit against Apple with the European Union, claiming that the technology giant's App Store's policy was unfair and anti-competitive.

The pricing structure of the Apple App Store allows the company to charge developers 30% of the price of selling an app. If the app is a subscription service, Apple charges 30% of the price the first year, then 15% for each subsequent year.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Apple has responded to criticisms about its App Store structure by claiming that without the store, companies like Spotify would never have reached the level of success they currently experience, and the company claims that & nbsp;84% of applications are free& nbsp; and their developers do not pay any fees to Apple. "data-reactid =" 54 "> Apple reacted to criticisms made against its App Store structure by claiming that without the store, companies like Spotify would never have reached the level of In addition, the company claims that 84% of the apps are free and that their developers do not pay any fees to Apple.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Sen. Warren, however, does not hear none of that. & nbsp;Warren said the Vergethat she would also push Apple to stop selling its own apps on the App Store. If this happens, it would be a blow to the company, which relies on applications like Apple Music and Apple TV + to improve Apple's results against the backdrop of a global slowdown in smartphone sales. "Senator Warren, however, does not hear that." Warren told The Verge that she would also urge Apple to stop selling its own apps on the App Store. This would be a blow to the company, which relies on applications such as Apple Music and Apple TV + to increase the results of Apple against a backdrop of global slowdown in smartphone sales.

Facebook

Facebook's problems are among the most striking in the technological space. Not only is the company scrutinized for potential anticompetitive business practices, but it is also faced with a scrutiny of how it handles hate speech, freedom of expression, and electoral interference.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes, & nbsp;wrote an editorial& nbsp; in the New York Times, in which he called for the dismantling of Facebook, claiming that he exercised too much power over consumers. Hughes went so far as to call the power of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to head unprecedented and non-US Facebook. Facebook's co-founder, Chris Hughes, wrote an editorial in the New York Times, Hughes went so far as to call the power of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to head unprecedented Facebook and no American.

Facebook's reputation has also not recovered from the many self-inflicted scandals that it has faced in 2017. The Cambridge Analytica debacle revealed that a political consulting firm could exploit data from users of Facebook to help in the election of President Trump without the contribution of these users. .

Facebook co-founder, President and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, testifies before the House Committee on Trade and Energy at the Rayburn House Office Building at Capitol Hill on April 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Image: Yasin Ozturk / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

The company has also been criticized for its slow response to the 2016 election interference campaign in Russia. Mr Zuckerberg first rejected the idea that the Russian campaign could have had an impact on the election, before yielding to the pressure and admitting that the company should do more to protect the integrity of the elections.

Earlier this year, Facebook was heavily criticized during the live broadcast on the site of a shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. According to Facebook, the video, which featured first-person shooting, had only been viewed 200 times. But the video remained active for several minutes after its conclusion and Facebook was to be informed by the local police in New Zealand before taking it.

At that time, the video was already prevalent on the Internet. It is always available and is regularly updated, even if Facebook is fighting each download.

More recently, the company had to answer questions about why it allowed a fake video to give the impression that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in a position to stay online. Zuckerberg admitted that his company was too slow to qualify the video for fraud, but said that he would not remove it.

Zuckerberg said that he did not want Facebook to serve as a moderator of freedom of expression and called on the government to intervene. As with Amazon, the FTC examines Facebook's practices to determine whether there is a need to investigate the company's anti-competitive behaviors. The commission, however, has not revealed exactly what she is looking at inside Facebook.

Google

Google is one of the most powerful companies on Earth. It is the largest Internet search provider in the world, one of the largest digital ad sales companies and the most visited web site on the web. But this has also brought a lot of attention to the company.

Elizabeth Warren has partnered Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon as a company to dismantle through antitrust measures. She said the company's search engines and ad exchange companies should be separate.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, sworn in, attends his testimony at a hearing of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in Capitol Hill, Washington, on December 11, 2018. (Image: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images )

It also states that Google should be forced to cancel its mergers with Waze, Nest and DoubleClick, all of which have already been fully integrated into the company. The Department of Justice also reviews Google for potential antitrust issues.

The European Union has already sentenced Google three times to fines for anti-competitive business practices. The most recent fine has reached the equivalent of $ 1.69 billion and is later than that of US. Google prohibited users of its AdSense platform from serving ads to competing search engines. Google challenges the fine.

Like Amazon, Google has also been criticized by Trump, who has claimed unfounded that the company is deliberately promoting content that describes it in a bad light. However, this content is taken from websites on the Internet and shows only what popular press organizations publish on certain topics.

California cleans its backyard

California has given birth to many companies that dominate the global market for advanced technologies and is now trying to drag them down. On January 1, 2020, the state will adopt one of the most stringent laws in the world in terms of protecting the privacy of consumers.

<p class = "canvas-atom text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Inspired by the EU General Regulation on the data protection & nbsp;California Consumer Protection Act& nbsp; will oblige technology companies to inform consumers about the collection of their data, the reason for its collection, the use made of it and the people with whom it is shared. "data-reactid =" 113 "> Inspired by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act will require technology companies to inform consumers of their data collection, the reason for their collection, use and the people with whom they are shared.

Companies will also have to comply when consumers ask them to delete their personal information. In addition, the law will require websites to include a prominent section that allows users to choose not to sell their data. In fact, the link will literally say "Do not sell my personal information".

Technology companies, of course, are dissatisfied with the bill and are currently trying to dilute it before it comes into effect. There are still many arguments between them and privacy advocates before the law is implemented. However, when it comes into effect, it will immediately put a brake on the technology industry that has been lacking since the creation of the mainstream Internet as we know it.

The California bill is important because it could eventually serve as a model for a national law on the protection of personal data, something that is currently lacking. Legislators in Washington have already worked on similar measures regarding data privacy. A proposal by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asks companies to submit detailed reports on their privacy practices. If the leaders lie on this information, they risk up to 20 years in prison.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also introduced a "do not follow" bill that would force businesses to comply with consumer demands not to collect their data.

Whatever your point of view, Silicon Valley is changing, which will impact the number of us who use and interact with the sites and services we rely on. It remains to be seen how much this is changing.

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