April 5, 2022
3 mins read

What India can learn from US antitrust bill?

The current draft is limited to online platforms with at least 50 million monthly active users (or 100,000 business users), annual market capitalisation or US net sales exceeding $550 billion….reports Asian Lite News

As pressure mounts on Big Tech to sanitise their platforms and stop scraping users data, India needs to learn from the US antitrust bill called the American Innovation and Choice Online Act which has now been endorsed by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

In January this year, the Senate Judiciary Committee in the US approved the key antitrust reform that would ban Big Tech from favouring their own services and products over those of their rivals.

The bill, spearheaded by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), was introduced after reports surfaced that a number of tech companies, including Apple, were guilty of engaging in “deeply disturbing” anti-competitive behaviour.

If enacted, the bill would give federal antitrust agencies the authority to issue civil penalties and injunctions against so-called “covered platforms”, according to bipartisanpolicy.org.

(Photo Pexels Aaron Schwartz)

The biggest tech companies — Apple, Amazon, Facebook-owner Meta and Alphabet’s Google (it is still unclear if Microsoft would qualify) — would be barred from behaviour like biasing search results in their favour, limiting rivals’ access to platform data, and using non-public data from customers to compete against them.

Tech giants are worried about the new antitrust legislation and reports earlier surfaced that Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai have been personally “calling and meeting with Senators,” urging them to oppose the mooted legislation.

The current draft is limited to online platforms with at least 50 million monthly active users (or 100,000 business users), annual market capitalisation or US net sales exceeding $550 billion.

“The bill causes some very significant security concerns… We’re requiring companies to take down protections that are in place today, and instead, allow hackers and those looking to steal personal data to access the devices,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who voted for the bill.

According to latest reports, the DOJ has now thrown its weight behind the bill, arguing that it would enhance its ability to challenge anti-competitive behaviour.

However, industry groups and critics opposed to this legislation argue the bill is vague, overly broad, and will hurt consumers.

In India, the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s (JPC) report on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was finally tabled in both houses of the Parliament on December 16, 2021 after two years of deliberations.

However, over the last few months, the Data Protection Bill and the JPC’s recommendations have been criticized by the industry in light of their potential adverse impact on the ease/cost of doing business in India.

Concerns have now been raised on the impact of increased compliances on India’s domestic start-up ecosystem, overall global competitiveness and FDI.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on March 31 released the ‘2022 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers’ (NTE Report), reviewing significant foreign barriers to American exports of goods and services, foreign direct investment (FDI), and electronic commerce (e-commerce) in key export markets for the country.

The NTE Report identifies a range of important challenges and priorities to guide the Biden administration’s trade policy and also raises serious concerns over the proposed and promulgated restrictive data policies in India and cites them as ‘Digital Trade Barriers’.

Given the importance of India-US digital trade, it is a serious setback to the attempts by the Commerce Ministry to get a trade deal going with Washington.

ALSO READ: Jeremy Doig appointed as Chief Technology Officer of Disney Streaming

Previous Story

STORY OF NETFLIX

Next Story

Kashmir’s own hand-knotted carpet joins GI tag club

Latest from -Top News

World Bank Warns of Growing Poverty in Pakistan

Instead of concentrating on rural development to reduce poverty, the Pakistan government has been focused more on increasing defence expenditure….reports Asian Lite News The World Bank has voiced deep concern over Pakistan’s

Hasina Faces Arrest in War Crimes Probe

Two formal charges were submitted by the ICT prosecution against Hasina and her security and defence advisor, Tarique Ahmed Siddique….reports Asian Lite News Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Wednesday issued arrest

Peace in Afghanistan Vital, Says India

The Indian delegation at the meeting was led by Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar who expressed support for independent, peaceful and stable Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News On Tuesday, India reaffirmed that a

India, Qatar Strengthen Trade Ties

Goyal expressed optimism about the growing economic engagement between the two countries, stating, “Glad to meet Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed….reports Asian Lite News Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met
Go toTop

Don't Miss

YSR family continues to dominate AP

If there is another leader after Telugu Desam Party (TDP)

Indian Students Pursue Global Education in Record Numbers

How International Education Helps Indian Students? International education offers a