ICYMI: The Latest And Greatest On Tech And Competition Policy
September was a busy month for tech and competition policy. To help you recap it all, Springboard has rounded up the latest and greatest commentary from the past month.
Here’s what to read to get up to speed:
1. The Numerous, Significant Flaws In The American Innovation And Choice Online Act — Sean Heather, U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “As the House and Senate race to finish their legislative agendas prior to the midterm election, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), continues to be pushed by those looking to advance a deeply flawed government-knows-best agenda.”
2. Small Businesses Can’t Afford Washington’s War On Tech — John T. Scott, New York Daily News: “How does an alleged anti-monopoly bill — sold to the American public as a sword for slaying corporate dragons — turn out to be, in effect, a tax on small businesses? Recent research from Syracuse University Professor Cameron Miller and Babson College’s Richard Wang identifies many ways in which the bill will disrupt the functionality of popular platform features. Specifically, AICOA’s requirements against ‘self-preferencing,’ or integrating complementary services, will diminish the products’ effectiveness for small businesses and as a result, costs will increase and sales will diminish.”
3. The FTC Signals Intent To Expand Its Power And Move The Agency’s Focus Further Away From The Consumer Welfare Standard — Springboard: The FTC’s Strategic Plan for 2022–2026 “makes clear that the agency intends to expand its own authority and move away from the consumer welfare standard. In a dissenting statement, Commissioner Christine Wilson warns that this Plan ‘will result in higher prices, suppressed production, fewer choices, and dampened innovation.'”
4. The JCPA Hasn’t Improved With Age — Project DisCo: “What began as an effort to give journalism organizations an antitrust ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card has morphed into a vast link-tax-and-spend scheme under which leading digital services would be compelled to distribute and subsidize online content publishers, at prices set by a government-mandated panel of arbitrators. There are numerous reasons why this effort is misguided.”
5. Public Knowledge Warns Congress Against Adopting Controversial Journalism Competition And Preservation Act — Shiva Stella, Public Knowledge: “Public Knowledge, along with dozens of other organizations, warns that the JCPA will do nothing to help preserve local journalism and, in fact, will likely compound some of the biggest problems in our information landscape today: consolidation and declining quality of information. The markup follows a letter sent by 21 organizations warning Senate lawmakers against adopting the bill.”