Is spring coming for sellers? Amazon is under pressure again, and the US has enacted laws to prohibit platforms from favoring self-operated businesses

Some time ago, the United States launched a new round of sanctions against the monopolistic behavior of technology giants such as Amazon and Google , and proposed several directly targeted antitrust bills.

At 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, one of the most controversial bills , the End Platform Monopolies Act , was finally passed by the House Judiciary Committee with a vote of 21 to 20 .

The most controversial antitrust bill

As the most controversial of several antitrust bills, the Ending Platform Monopoly Act not only prohibits platform operators such as Amazon, Apple, and Google from favoring their own products and services , but can even break up their monopolies by forcing industry giants to eliminate or sell certain departments . At the same time, these companies also face a fine of 15% of their annual revenue .

“ Google, Amazon, and Apple all favor their own products in search results, giving themselves an unfair advantage over their competitors, ” said Representative David Cicilline, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee .

As the bill was voted through, the House Judiciary Committee approved four measures directly aimed at controlling the power of giant American companies , including that large technology companies considering mergers and acquisitions would need to prove they are legal and that platforms should allow users to transfer their data elsewhere.

The committee also voted to increase the budget of the agency that enforces antitrust laws .

Tech giants struggle

Since the antitrust bill was announced this month, Apple and other technology giants have naturally tried their best to struggle and resist. Apple CEO Cook once called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to postpone the review of these bills , but was ultimately refuted.

In addition to the calls from corporate executives, U.S. lobbying firms and more than a dozen think tanks and advocacy groups hired by technology companies crowded into Capitol offices, calling, emailing, and writing to legislators and their staff. But in the end, the Ending Platform Monopoly Act broke through layers of obstacles and was passed.

However, one thing should be mentioned that the US government has raised the antitrust knife this time, but it will take some time before the knife falls!

Because the revised version of the bill says companies would face civil penalties and lawsuits from U.S. antitrust regulators if they fail to comply " within two years of the (Federal Trade) Commission or the Department of Justice designating a covered platform . "

This also means that these tech giants still have a long grace period before they are punished. For example, Amazon can still wait for the bald man to return from space .

Amazon

Antitrust

USA