MarketWatch: Bills targeting Apple and Google face biggest test yet
Big Tech’s first big showdown for antitrust legislation is about to reach Capitol Hill.
A Senate bill that squarely aims at reining in the power of vast digital platforms from Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.91% and Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -1.28% GOOG, -1.15% will be debated by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a public hearing Thursday. A second bill, likely to be considered next week, has similar goals.
The so-called self-preferencing American Innovation and Choice Online Act from Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, prevents the likes of Apple, Google and Amazon.com AMZN, -1.35% from favoring their services over others. The other bill, the Open App Markets Act from Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., promotes competition on app stores such as Apple Store and Google Play.
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“We applaud the agencies for launching an open, clear-eyed look at gathering input from diverse stakeholders who are impacted by merger policy, yet have historically been shut out of agency discussions,” Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, told MarketWatch.