Both online services are urging the US Congress to pass legislation to regulate the practices of web giants.
The GAFAM today have a considerable influence on our uses of the Web and use this advantage to derive maximum profits.
A bill to prevent GAFAMs from promoting their online services
Some American parliamentarians took the subject at arm’s length and drafted a bill called American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO) which aims to better regulate the practices of Web giants and prevent them from creating monopolies in their various fields of activity.
In detail, the AICO bill would prohibit platforms like Google or Amazon from favoring their own services to the detriment of competing solutions and from using the data in their possession to give themselves an advantage over their competitors.
AICO goes further by strengthening the means allocated to the regulatory bodies of the Department of Justice as well as the powerful Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in order to enforce the new legislation, if it is finally adopted.
A project supported by many tech players, but whose examination in Congress is slipping
In any case, many tech players are pushing for Congress to validate the AICO as soon as possible. No less than 12 companies, therefore DuckDuckGo or Proton sent a joint letter to the legislators in order to put forward their arguments in favor of this new text of law.
According to them, the AICO would significantly stimulate competition between the giants of the Web and their smaller competitors. This regulation would also make it possible to better respect the privacy of users. ” Competition policy may not solve all of our data privacy challenges, but it’s surely a good start, which is why lawmakers must pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act “, says Andy Yen, President and founder of Proton.
” Companies like Google and Facebook have abused their positions of power, locking users into endless surveillance and making it difficult to switch to more private alternatives. », adds Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo.
However, the AICO vote seems to be compromised in the short term. While the latter was to be held during the summer, it was postponed to the fall. But the bill, carried by Democratic deputies, will have to have the approval of the Senate, half composed of elected Republicans. The Congress risks running out of time to examine the text, particularly given the mid-term elections to be held next November.
Source : The Verge
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