WASHINGTON: After more than a decade of leaving Big Tech alone, US antitrust enforcement has led to several high-profile cases that could dramatically change the way industry giants operate.
Five major cases from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed under the administration of Trump and Biden are two major developments against US technology companies, including Google, which could see the company split.
The most recent came in March against Apple by the FTC, which said the iPhone maker dominated the premium smartphone industry.
Washington has been largely silent on Big Tech since its battle with Microsoft that began in the 1990s and followed a bitter battle with the DOJ in the early 2000s.
Inspired by movements in Europe and elsewhere, the new generation says that the experiences of tech giants such as Amazon and Meta are hindering the experience, harming consumers and requiring radical changes in business processes.
Trials are held before different federal judges for different periods of time and based on different fees. Litigation with complaints can take up to ten years.
The first case in the 2020 campaign against Google on the search engine may reach its first decision later this year.
In the second Google case brought by the DOJ, the company aims to dominate the digital advertising industry. Amazon and Meta, meanwhile, face the FTC.
The lawsuit drew applause from lawmakers, frustrated by the power of big tech companies in the public eye.
But many business groups and the legal profession are blocking the lawsuits, seeing them as legalistic or politically motivated.
The head of the FTC’s antitrust division and the DOJ see their role as a way to protect consumers.
“It’s always good to look at the facts, not the fluff,” said FTC Chairman Lina Hahn at a conference organized by the American Bar Association in response to her criticism.
“We’re really talking about pain points that affect people’s lives, like healthcare and digital [technology], but there’s no way around it.”
Instead of getting bogged down in legal theory, the FTC said the lawsuit is “appropriate for 2024.”
“That means not relying on old assumptions and theories that clearly contradict what we see with our own eyes.”
In an informal survey of 19 top antitrust scholars conducted by University of Michigan law professor Daniel Crane, most respondents believed the case would be difficult to prosecute.
“As a general rule of thumb, it’s fair to say that most lawsuits are expected to lose more than they win,” he said.
Khan’s critics point to a widespread perception in the legal community that the Biden administration’s actions were carried out legally.
“I’m very upset about these lawsuits because they seem ambitious, not based on legal and economic analysis,” said Michael Santoro, a management professor at Santa Clara University who was not part of the survey.
“Ultimately, they’re reversing the antitrust laws,” said a senior executive at the tech giant, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The head of competition of the European Union Margrethe Vestager, speaking in Washington with her US counterparts, said she wants more attacks on previous antitrust rulings.
“If I were to do it again, I would be braver because we didn’t have much time. Concentration increased in every area.”
Vestager, who has been on the job for nearly a decade, continues to file lawsuits against tech companies accused of being legally creative or remote.
In its latest tech ruling, MusicB last month fined Apple 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to prevent the music streaming service from offering subscription options outside the App Store.
