Financial Times
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Washington vs Big Tech: Lina Khan’s battle to transform US antitrust
Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan has begun a fundamental revamp of the FTC by rescinding policies designed to limit its legal powers, changing the way it makes decisions, and promising to rewrite the statements which underpin antitrust enforcement in the US.
Mozilla: Big Tech can’t outrun demands for accountability (Financial Times)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 08/11/2021 - 11:49Big fines can change Big Tech
Multimillion-euro fines can force Big Tech companies to change their behaviour despite their deep pockets, according to French Competition Authority President Isabelle de Silva. She does not believe sanctions could be played down as merely “the cost of doing business,” breaking away from the consensus in the European Union, where competition officials have struggled for years to contain the market power of Big Tech despite levying billions of euros of penalties. Since June 2021, her office has hit Google with €720 million in fines in two separate cases.
The UK's alternative networks spur a fibre broadband ‘gold rush’
BAI Communications' £1 billion project to enable fiber broadband for Tube passengers and aboveground London businesses signals the coming of age of alternative networks, or "alt-nets," who are spending huge amounts of money to compete in the increasingly crowded UK market. About 50 such companies, backed by funds promising billions of pounds, have burst onto the scene in recent years pledging to take the fight to Openreach, the networking division of incumbent BT, as well as Virgin Media’s cable network. Ranging from those targeting customers in underserved rural areas to others seeking to
Big Tech is both for and against regulations
Tech companies' calls for or against “regulating technology” do not mean much in and of themselves. The irony is that for years, lobbyists have had a field day with the opposite framing, that “regulation stifles innovation.” After the idea caught on, it effectively paralyzed democratic lawmakers who did not want to be seen as old-fashioned or getting in the way of exciting technologies and digital opportunities. Looking at what companies do in practice, beyond touting support for “regulation,” is revealing.