by Dan Moren
Congress report details anticompetitive behavior in big tech
Ars Technica’s Kate Cox has a really great overview of the recently released Congressional report on anticompetitive behavior in the tech market, including Apple:
The committee found internal documents showing that company leadership, including former CEO Steve Jobs, “acknowledged that IAP requirement would stifle competition and limit the apps available to Apple’s customers.” The report concludes that Apple has also unfairly used its control over APIs, search rankings, and default apps to limit competitors’ access to iPhone users.
While Apple faces its fair share of challenges for its App Store behavior (and it will be interesting how that shakes out even as it fights the same matter on the judicial front with Epic), the other major companies that Congress scrutinized—Facebook, Google, and Amazon—have it as bad, if not worse.
The real question is the ultimate implication of these finds. While the report garnered rare bipartisan (if qualified) support, it’ll be up to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to take action, or Congress to pass new laws. And most of that is going to depend heavily on how a little event next month shakes out.