House Committee Requests Tech Executives' Emails in Antitrust Probe
September 13 2019 - 8:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Ryan Tracy
Congress is ramping up its probe into the tech industry, with
House lawmakers demanding emails and executive communications from
four technology giants as they look for evidence of anticompetitive
behavior.
House Judiciary Committee leaders from both parties asked
Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc., owner
of Google, to provide by Oct. 14 reams of documents including
executive communications and financial statements as well as
information about competitors, market share, mergers and key
business decisions.
The dozens of executives named in the requests include Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim
Cook and Google's early leaders Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric
Schmidt.
Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said the requests will aid a
continuing investigation, citing "growing evidence that a handful
of corporations have come to capture an outsized share of online
commerce and communications."
"This information is key in helping determine whether
anticompetitive behavior is occurring," said Rep. Doug Collins (R.,
Ga.), the panel's top Republican. The letters were also signed by
Reps. David Cicilline (D., R.I.) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.),
the two senior members of the panel's subcommittee on antitrust
issues.
The companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment
early Friday. They have all previously said they provide
significant benefits to consumers and face significant competition.
They have expressed willingness to work with authorities.
The congressional probe adds to scrutiny of the tech giants,
which already face a broad antitrust review by the Justice
Department that could lead to formal investigations. The Federal
Trade Commission, the other top U.S. antitrust enforcer, has opened
an investigation of Facebook, with an early focus on its key
acquisitions, and is privately questioning third-party sellers who
use Amazon's marketplace.
State attorneys general from both parties recently launched
probes of Google and Facebook. Authorities in other countries are
also investigating the companies.
U.S. sanctions against the companies, if they come at all, are
likely to be years away and imposed by federal or state enforcers,
rather than Congress. The House probe represents a different
threat, even if it doesn't result in any changes to antitrust
laws.
Documents released to lawmakers could become public and serve as
justification to summon top executives to high-profile hearings.
That will create risks to the companies' reputations and could fuel
political pressure for a regulatory crackdown.
The House panel's detailed information requests also provide
hints as to how authorities could try to build an antitrust case
against the firms:
-- The request to Alphabet targets 24 products and services,
from advertising technology to YouTube and the Waze navigation app,
seeking executives' communications regarding acquisitions and how
other businesses interact with Google's own services.
-- The lawmakers asked Amazon to provide executive
communications related to product searches on Amazon.com and the
pricing of Amazon Prime as well as fees charged to sellers.
-- Apple was asked for executives' emails about its App Store,
including search results, and its decisions regarding the apps it
provides to consumers by default.
-- Facebook received questions about its executives' discussions
around the acquisitions of WhatsApp, Instagram, and the
data-security app Onavo as well as decisions related to how
third-party apps work on its social-media platform.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 13, 2019 08:44 ET (12:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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