Kill them.
From CNBC:
- Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim laid out some possible antitrust arguments against big tech in a new speech in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
- The speech clarifies some potential arguments the Department of Justice may be pursuing as it reportedly eyes probes into Apple and Google parent company Alphabet.
- Among those arguments: if a company makes an acquisition or other move for “no economic sense” but simply to harm competitors, that could be a violation.
The Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general brought the case against big tech into focus in a new speech delivered at the Antitrust New Frontiers Conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Makan Delrahim laid out some possible arguments against the tech giants as his office is reportedly taking the lead on investigating Google parent company Alphabet and a potential probe into Apple. The Federal Trade Commission, meanwhile, reportedly has taken jurisdiction over Facebook and Amazon.
Shares of these companies dropped on last week’s reports that U.S. antitrust officials were beginning to take action on long-anticipated investigations. But the case against the companies has remained unclear as some tech advocates have argued that old school antitrust laws don’t have a place in the digital economy.
Delrahim’s speech, as transcribed on the DOJ’s website, argues existing antitrust laws are strong enough to regulate tech.
“We already have in our possession the tools we need to enforce the antitrust laws in cases involving digital technologies,” Delrahim said. “U.S. antitrust law is flexible enough to be applied to markets old and new.”
Google declined to comment on the speech. Apple, Facebook and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Here are some of the possible arguments antitrust regulators could use against Big Tech based on Delrahim’s speech:
The ‘no economic sense test’One way of evaluating whether a company has violated antitrust law is through what Delrahim called the “no economic sense test.” A monopoly that makes a decision that makes no economic sense except for “its tendancy to eliminate or lessen competition” would fail the test, according to Delrahim’s definition.
“But even if a company achieves monopoly position through legitimate means, it cannot take actions that do not advance plausible business goals but rather are designed to make it harder for competitors to catch up,” he said.
This test suggests antitrust regulators may look into tech companies’ acquisitions and decisions around product development to evaluate whether they made business sense or simply hindered or squashed competition.....MORE
