AAPL Apple Inc

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)

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