The U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee (the "Subcommittee") released a bipartisan legislative agenda to address "anti-competitive conduct that has seriously impacted consumers and small businesses" in the digital marketplace. The anti-monopoly agenda, titled "A Stronger Online Economy: Opportunity, Innovation, Choice," includes five legislative proposals.
The proposed legislation follows the Subcommittee's completion of a 16-month investigation into whether the so-called "GAFA firms" (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) inhibit the ability of smaller rivals to compete in digital marketplaces. Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) commented that there is "overwhelming evidence of anti-competitive conduct."
The proposed legislation includes:
- the "American Choice and Innovation Online Act," which would ban discriminatory conduct, including self-preferencing and "picking winners and losers online," by major platforms;
- the "Platform Competition and Opportunity Act," which would ban "acquisitions of competitive threats" by major platforms in addition to acquisitions that bolster the market influence of online platforms;
- the "Ending Platform Monopolies Act," which would "eliminate" the ability of major platforms to use their control across different business lines to self-preference and put competitors at a disadvantage;
- the "Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching Act" (or "ACCESS Act"), which would promote online competition by reducing barriers to entry and switching costs for businesses and consumers by imposing interoperability and data portability requirements; and
- the "Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act," which would modify merger filing fees to ensure that the resources necessary for the aggressive enforcement of antitrust laws are available to the DOJ and FTC.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
