Sen Warren targets Amazon, Apple, Google in anti-monopoly speech

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Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)) laid into a handful of major US technology companies, saying they are examples of concentrated corporate power that can thwart competition. "Google, Apple and Amazon provide platforms that lots of companies depend on for survival," she said during a speech. "But Google, Apple and Amazon also in many cases compete with those small companies so that platform can become a tool to snuff out competition." Sen Warren said the European Union's citizens "may soon enjoy better protections than US customers" after the EU decided to push forward with anti-trust charges against Google's search business, while the United States dropped its probe a few years back.

She also highlighted the Federal Trade Commission's investigation into whether Apple has improperly harmed rival music streaming companies in its app store. And she brought up allegations by authors that Amazon is using its dominant book-selling position to steer consumers away from rival publishers. And though regulators recently blocked Comcast's proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, Sen Warren called out the nation's largest Internet service provider, saying Comcast has been buying out its rivals over the years to the detriment of consumers. "While big telecom giants have been consuming each other, consumers have just been left out in the cold facing little to no choice in service providers and paying through the nose for cable and internet services," she said. Sen Warren conceded that major tech companies have changed the world and "deserve" their large profits and success. But she said they shouldn't be able to thwart their rivals. "The opportunity to compete must remain open for new entrants and smaller competitors who want their own chance to change the world," she said.


Sen Warren targets Amazon, Apple, Google in anti-monopoly speech Elizabeth Warren says Apple, Amazon and Google are trying to ‘lock out’ the competition (Revere Digital)