The Department of Justice’s antitrust chief just clarified some possible arguments the DOJ might use against big tech.
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., argues existing antitrust laws are strong enough to regulate tech.
Here are some of the possible arguments antitrust regulators could use against Big Tech based on Delrahim's speech: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.
In addition to price inflation, "diminished quality is also a type of harm to competition," Delrahim said. "As an example, privacy can be an important dimension of quality. By protecting competition, we can have an impact on privacy and data protection." "This was likely due to, among other things, a combination of economies of scale, superior bargaining power, and overall declining input prices," he said. "It nonetheless demonstrates that price effects are not the sole measure of harm to competition under the U.S. antitrust laws."Delrhaim said exclusivity is another important way to evaluate anti-competitive behavior.
He referenced the antitrust case against Microsoft, which focused in part on the company's inclusion of its web browser in its Windows operating system, which he said discouraged users from uninstalling it and seeking alternatives.Apple has faced criticism and legal action for its rules around its App Store, which comes preinstalled on iPhones and provides specific rules to developers who wish to distribute their apps through the system.
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