Kafa: Americans think to tighten the screw

Europeans dream of it, will Americans do it? While the EU has been trying for years to limit the Kafa monopoly and bring out champions on its own continent, part of the salvation may come from the other side of the Atlantic. On Friday, June 11, several bills launched by the bipartisan coalition were released. Their goal? Control the power of technology companies. For these texts to be fulfilled, companies like Google or Amazon would have to sell or split the assets to meet the new terms.

Penalty risk

One of the texts proposes to prohibit groups from owning subsidiaries operating on their platform if they compete with other companies. Texts also provide, in most cases, to make it illegal for a group to prioritize its own products on its platform. Will the company be fined if it violates this measure? 30% of its US revenue. For example, Google can no longer provide its own travel research services, or Apple can no longer provide Apple Music.

“Unrestricted technological monopolies have more power over our economy”

Another bill would prevent sites from taking action on mergers unless they can prove that the target does not compete with one of the products or services they offer. Another will force sites to allow their users to transfer their data to another location, if they wish, including competition.

Projects that are not unanimous

The various measures put forward follow a sixteen-month inquiry by a commission into competition in the digital marketplace. Its leader, Democrat David Cecil, said Friday: “Unrestricted technological monopolies have more power over our economy. They are in a unique position of selecting winners and losers, destroying small businesses, raising consumer prices and firing people.“

These plans are not unanimous. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said: “Firmly opposed“For this text.”Bills targeting specific businesses, instead of focusing on business practices, are bad policy … and may be ruled unconstitutional“It simply came to our notice then. We need to see if these plans work,” he said.

OV