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Senior members of Congress have renewed calls to review U.S. competition law following the failure of two major attempts to break Facebook.
Democrats and Republicans criticized the decision of a federal court Monday to dismiss a complaint against the social media company by the Federal Trade Commission and another by several states.
Several said the trial illustrated the need to rewrite antitrust rules, with six major bills designed to do so. curbs the power of Big Tech being debated at Capitol Hill.
Amy Klobuchar, Democratic chair of the Senate antitrust committee, he tweeted: “The ruling shows why we need to update our antitrust laws after years of bad precedent. We cannot meet the challenges of the modern digital economy with small agencies and limited legal tools.”
Ken Buck, the highest-ranking Republican on the House’s antitrust committee, said, “Congress needs to provide additional tools and resources to our antitrust agents to prosecute high-tech companies involved in anti-competitive conduct.”
Many experts expect the FTC to reopen its case against Facebook following the federal judge’s decision Monday.
In a contentious sentence, Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, had said the FTC’s demand it was “legally insufficient” and the federal agency had not “invoked sufficient facts to plausibly establish” that Facebook had the power of monopoly over the social media market.
“[W]for hatred it may mean to the public, “monopoly power” is an art term under federal law with a precise economic meaning: the power to profitably raise prices or exclude competition in a properly defined market. ” , he wrote.
The FTC will have 30 days to file a new claim. The regulator said in a statement that it was “closely reviewing the opinion and evaluating the best option to follow.”
Boasberg also dismissed a similar case followed by a group of 46 states and two more jurisdictions – led by New York Attorney General Letitia James – on the grounds that the alleged violations occurred too long ago. The New York Attorney General is reviewing the decision.
Facebook’s stock price rose more than 4% in the news a record of $ 357.36, surpassing for the first time the market capitalization of $ 1 billion.
“We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the shortcomings of government complaints filed against Facebook,” said the social media group, which added that Facebook “competes equitably every day to gain time and attention to people.” .
The trial was a setback for regulators, who in December he had charged the company of anti-competitive conduct.
The FTC then said it was looking for sanctions, including the forced breakup of Facebook from Instagram and WhatsApp, acquisitions that the social media giant made in 2012 and 2014 for $ 1,000 and $ 19 billion, respectively.
But the trial illustrated in particular the challenges faced by those trying to redefine U.S. antitrust laws for the digital age, as members of Congress debate legislation that would facilitate the processing of large technology companies. .
Regulators have traditionally shown that companies have abused their market power by showing how groups unfairly raise prices for their customers.
But academics like Lina Khan, a prominent critic of Big Tech and the recently appointed president of the FTC, have argued that companies can abuse their market power without charging anything, either by degrading services or requiring customers to provide more personal data.
“Facebook’s power is obvious, and yet we have a judge here who analyzes arcane details of what makes up the market,” said William Kovacic, a former FTC president. “It will remain as the precise example of why we need to change the law.”
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