The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would prohibit dominant tech platforms from what its sponsors believe amounts to unfairly ranking their services above those of rivals. The legislation would prohibit dominant tech platforms like Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook) and Google from giving preferential treatment to their own services in marketplaces they operate. Many complaints have been leveled against the major online platforms. For example, Google is accused of monopolizing the digital advertising technology industry and user search, while preferring its own products in an exclusionary manner. Apple is accused of extracting rents from app producers through a gatekeeper role on its operating system, and Amazon is described as engaging in predatory pricing, unfairly harnessing third‐party business data to gain a competitive edge, and self‐preferencing its own products in ways harmful to competition.
Some experts believe in order to hold Big Tech accountable ensuring all Americans have their rights and freedoms protected, policymakers need to require unprecedented transparency on data use, content moderation decisions, and algorithmic impacts, scrutinize Big Tech’s ad tech model, apply and modernize antitrust law where appropriate, establish liability for Big Tech executives, punish fraud and breaches of contract, and enable American users to have recourse to in case of censorship. In the meantime, groups representing Big Tech, including Amazon, Facebook and Google, have spent at least $36.4 million since January 2021 on an advertising campaign to oppose antitrust legislation, according to The Wall Street Journal. Here is an opinion piece we found of interest relating to how the American Innovation and Choice Online Act for antitrust reform.
Calling for Antitrust Reform
In an opinion piece “Calling for Antitrust Reform” for Mozilla, Urmika Devi Shah, attorney, argues that it is time for governments to address the reality that five tech companies control our online experiences today. He believes that updated competition laws are essential for the internet in order to be private, secure, interoperable, open, accessible, transparent, and a balance between commercial profit and public benefit. Shah emphasizes that this is Mozilla’s vision for the internet. For this reason, Mozilla supports the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) which Shah feels is an important step in correcting two decades of digital centralization that will create a level playing field for smaller, independent software companies to compete.
Mozilla believes AICOA will facilitate innovation and consumer choice by ensuring that big tech companies cannot give preference to their own products and services over competitive options offered by others. Mozilla, and many other independent companies, are not able to effectively compete without this antitrust law. He emphasizes that a fair playing field is vital to ensure that Mozilla and other independent companies can continue to act as a counterweight to big tech and are able to shape the future of the internet to be more private and more secure. Shah said Mozilla understands that the bill sponsors intend AICOA to regulate only gatekeeper companies and their controlled products. It is not intended to regulate or impact the agreements or product offerings of non-regulated independent companies like Mozilla that partner with gatekeepers for critical services. In addition, AICOA does not require trading off privacy and security in order to enhance competition. Read the full article on Mozilla.
Disclosure: Fatty Fish is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
The Fatty Fish Editorial Team includes a diverse group of industry analysts, researchers, and advisors who spend most of their days diving into the most important topics impacting the future of the technology sector. Our team focuses on the potential impact of tech-related IP policy, legislation, regulation, and litigation, along with critical global and geostrategic trends — and delivers content that makes it easier for journalists, lobbyists, and policy makers to understand these issues.
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