Lina Khan, president of the Federal Competition Agency (FTC), in Washington, April 12, 2024 (AFP/Bastien INZAURRALDE)
After largely leaving big tech companies alone for more than a decade, US competition authorities are finally trying to intervene: several high-profile antitrust cases could radically change their business models.
Launched under the Trump and then Biden administrations, the federal competition agency (FTC) and the Department of Justice now have five pending cases against American tech giants, including two against Google which could lead to the split of the business.
The most recent of these proceedings was launched in March against Apple by the FTC, which accuses the iPhone maker of abusing its dominant position in the high-end smartphone sector.
Washington had remained largely silent on the risks of stifling competition in the technology sector since the long battle against Microsoft, from the 1990s to the agreement reached in the early 2000s.
Inspired by initiatives taken in Europe and elsewhere, government lawyers ensure that the practices of digital platforms prevent possible competitors from emerging and harm consumers.
But no significant change is expected quickly: between investigations, possible trials and inevitable appeals, these cases could last up to ten years.
The first complaint, filed in 2020 against Google regarding its search engine, could lead to a first decision at the end of the year.
– Political considerations? –
In a separate filing, the Justice Department is also suing Google for its dominance in the digital advertising industry.
Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General of the United States for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, at the American Bar Association in Washington, April 12, 2024 (AFP/Bastien INZAURRALDE)
Amazon and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) are the subject of FTC proceedings.
American elected officials, who have so far failed to agree on a reform of competition law in the internet age, applaud these procedures.
But many lawyers and business leaders say they are motivated mainly by political considerations, to give the public impression that the administration is tough on abuses of power by tech titans.
Antitrust authorities strongly defend their cases, citing the need to protect consumers.
“It’s better to look at the real facts than to rely on impressions,” Lina Khan, chair of the FTC, said at a conference in Washington hosted by the American Bar Association.
“We’re really tackling issues that affect people’s lives, including health care and digital technologies,” she added.
The lawyer insisted on the need not to get bogged down in “outdated theories which are clearly in contradiction with what we see with our own eyes”, ensuring that her agency’s files “are adapted to the year 2024” .
His critics point to a widely held view within the legal community that the cases brought by the Biden administration rest on flimsy legal foundations.
– “More daring” –
“Ultimately, they are turning competition law upside down,” said a senior executive at a large technology group, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission responsible for a Europe adapted to the digital age, participates in a round table of the American Bar Association in Washington, April 12, 2024 (AFP/Bastien INZAURRALDE)
In an informal survey of 19 leading competition law experts, the majority said it would be difficult for the plaintiffs to achieve their goals.
The cases against Google are considered the strongest for the government and those against Amazon the weakest.
“Overall, it is safe to say that there are expected to be more cases lost than cases won,” wrote Daniel Crane, a law professor at the University of Michigan, who led this investigation.
“If I had to do it again, I would have been more daring, because we don’t have much time,” Margrethe Vestager, competition tsar of the European Union, declared in Washington. “Concentration is increasing in all jurisdictions.”
In office for nearly a decade, she has launched her own wave of cases against tech companies, and some have also been accused of being outlandish.
Last month, the EU fined Apple €1.8 billion for blocking music streaming services from offering subscription options to users outside of the App Store.
© 2024 AFP
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