
The growing list of U.S. government inquiries into Big Tech - bookofjoe
https://www.axios.com/the-growing-list-of-us-government-inquiries-into-big-tech-a67c870e-129f-4372-9397-4597e0c06ae9.html
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SirensOfTitan
Are companies like Comcast or Verizon on this list? I honestly trust Google,
Facebook, Apple and the like much more—I shutter to think of a world where big
tech is neutralized while companies like Comcast control content production,
distribution, etc.

~~~
ineedasername
I think I view it as these companies simply all being very untrustworthy but
in very different ways. I don't trust Google or Facebook with private data. I
don't trust Comcast or Verizon to have transparent billing that doesn't run up
against the edge of fraud. That sort of thing.

~~~
ravenstine
Comcast has overlap with both since they thought it was acceptable to inject
JavaScript into unencrypted HTTP responses.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15890551](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15890551)

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wpasc
For 4 of the largest companies in the world that have a global presence, that
list doesn't seem that long?

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aviraldg
The timing is way too convenient. The current American government hates tech
companies due to their generally left leaning ideologies:
[https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/06/26/trump-says-big-tech-
comp...](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/06/26/trump-says-big-tech-companies-
like-twitter-are-all-democrats-and-purposely-repressing-his-
reach.html#aoh=15692943290759)

[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-tech-factbox-
id...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-tech-factbox-
idUSKCN1UJ2OO)

------
StartupJFox
This is part of the trend of _hipster antitrust_ zealots who view antitrust
law as a solution to much bigger problems of governance.

The dominant relationship between US tech firms and government is that they
cooperate fully on surveillance of the American people.

~~~
StartupJFox
See my tweet on the subject:

[https://twitter.com/startupjfox/status/1176306514577043458](https://twitter.com/startupjfox/status/1176306514577043458)

~~~
jeffk_teh_haxor
The HN hivemind leans very pro-regulation these days.

~~~
DoreenMichele
There's no hivemind here.

~~~
AlchemistCamp
IMO, every site with upvotes and downvotes develops a hivemind. I've seen it
happen on my own projects.

~~~
DoreenMichele
I see a hivemind as unthinking conformity. The way you avoid an unthinking
hivemind is by harnessing the power of group dynamics to push against
unthinking conformity such that refusal to be an unthinking conformist is the
group norm.

I don't think unthinking conformity is the norm on HN. Thus, I don't think it
has a hivemind.

Certainly, there are group norms of some sort here. There are always group
norms.

But some group norms are healthier than others. In my opinion, those that push
back against unthinking conformity are better than those that push towards it.

------
panny
Oh, I see why Jeff Bezos' washingtonpost ran their hit job [1] on Apple now.
It seems Amazon basics is getting scrutiny while Apple has almost escaped
unscathed. We all know the 30% haircut is ridiculous, but that's hardly the
most anti-competitive thing Apple is known to do.

[1][https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/05/how-
app...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/05/how-apple-uses-
its-app-store-copy-best-ideas/)

~~~
ineedasername
What? How do you even get from this HN post to the WaPost article? It's not
like anything on this list is news, the Washington Post didn't cause this to
happen to Apple or anyone else. These issues have been covered by plenty of
media outlets. The only novel thing about this whole post is simply that it's
aggregating them all into a single place.

~~~
panny
>the Washington Post didn't cause this to happen to Apple

What? How do you even arrive at that conclusion giving what I wrote? According
to TFA,

"Apple is also part of the House Judiciary Committee's probe, which is looking
into whether the cut that its App Store takes from software developers'
revenue is anti-competitive."

That's it. That's all they're going at Apple for.

When this wapo hit piece was published last month
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20890717](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20890717)),
I pointed out in comments that Amazon basics steals business from third party
sellers on the amazon store, just as Apple steals business from third party
developers on the app store.

Now I see why. Of course Bezos is going to publish articles pointing out that
Apple is getting away with the same anti-competitive behavior Amazon is under
investigation for: Stealing business from the third parties under them.

~~~
ineedasername
Maybe we simply misunderstood each other? Still I just don't need the WaPo
thing. Bezos is notoriously hands off, and even if he isn't hands off behind
the scenes, these issues with Apple are nothing that other media outlets
haven't reported on, so it's hard to attribute WaPo's nearly identical
reporting to bias. It comes off as a bit conspiracy theorist to attribute such
hidden machinations absent any actual evidence.

