Election Day 2020 is over, but the ultimate outcome for the U.S. presidency is far from certain. Big Tech faced uncertainty, too. While supporters of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joseph Biden believe their lives will be better if their candidate wins, the same can’t be said by Big Tech.
Daniel Howley for Yahoo Finance:
If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on, it’s that Big Tech needs a gut check. That could come in the form of an antitrust crackdown, an overhaul of Section 230, a law that gives internet giants broad protections from legal liability, or both. Big Tech is in trouble no matter who takes office in January.
In September, Biden campaign spokesperson Matt Hill told the Wall Street Journal that many technology giants and their executives “not only abused their power, but misled the American people, damaged our democracy, and evaded any form of responsibility.”
Trump, for his part, has many beefs with Big Tech, including what he believes is an anti-conservative bias… It’s notable that the Trump administration’s Justice Department went as far as to sue Google in October, alleging its search and search advertising businesses are illegal monopolies.
And according to Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute, that case will continue on regardless of who occupies the White House. “The Department of Justice case against Google is an incredibly strong case. I don’t expect any change in administration to impact that case,” Hubbard told Yahoo Finance.
The antitrust scrutiny doesn’t end with Google, either. Investigators are sizing up cases against Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, as well… A revenue-sharing agreement between Apple and Google was at the heart of the recent antitrust lawsuit. While Apple wasn’t named as a defendant, that suit could hurt its bottom line if the Justice Department prevails. Meanwhile, in June, Politico reported that a group of state AGs and the Justice Department were taking steps towards launching an antitrust probe into Apple’s control over its app store, which takes a 30% cut from developers.
The DOJ and FTC are likely to keep pressing these matters no matter who wins the election.
MacDailyNews Take: Since Apple does not have a monopoly in any market in which they participate, there is no legal basis for antitrust action against Apple.
So, in Apple’s case, there is no monopoly (which is legal by the way), much less monopoly abuse (which is explicitly impossible given the nonexistence of a monopoly). You cannot abuse a monopoly and therefore face antitrust action when you do not have a monopoly to begin with.
Worldwide smartphone OS market share, October 2020 (via StatCounter:
• Android: 72.92%
• iOS: 26.53%
If the customers didn’t like Apple’s iOS Software License Agreement, they should have opted for a pretend iPhone from any one of a dime-a-dozen handset assemblers. Then they could have blissfully infested their fake iPhones with malware from a variety of sources.
Apple built the Mac. Apple built the iPhone. Apple built the iPad. Apple built the App Store. Apple created the most verdant ecosystem ever created for developers by far. Only the losers and those developers who can’t read and follow simple rules are whining incessantly.
If anything, Apple takes too little of a cut for all that the App Store provides developers. — MacDailyNews, June 21, 2020
Tech may be in trouble because communism is bad…
…even if it is corporate communism.
I agree with you 100% that Corporate Communism is a bad thing.
Unless the relevant “market” is redefined as the iPhone market. Then, Apple has a monopoly. You can be sure that the developers and those aligned with them will push this tortured definition of “market.”
Agree the lawsuit against Google should prevail and Section 230 MUST be appealed or rewritten. The law was written over 20 years ago when the internet was in its infancy and Google did not yet exist. No private company should be IMMUNE and PROTECTED from lawsuits for blatant censorship and discrimination against conservatives or anyone else. It is not coincidence Silicon Valley gave 95% of political contributions to Biden.
Second, leave the Apple App Store alone already! Apple created the mainstream APP experience and the store and their are options elsewhere…
GoeB see: “No private company should be IMMUNE and PROTECTED from lawsuits for blatant censorship and discrimination against conservatives or anyone else. It is not coincidence Silicon Valley gave 95% of political contributions to Biden.”
So, what you REALLY mean, GoeB, is that you want to punish companies for PERCEIVED censorship against your preferred demographic. Because that victim whining all came from Trump and people like you.
You have all kinds of internet platforms available to spread your lies. But first you want to seek revenge for perceived wrongs. Typical…
“you want to punish companies for PERCEIVED censorship against your preferred demographic.”
Short answer, resounding YES. I would feel exactly the same way regarding your pet leftist “demographic” because it is just wrong.
Regarding “PERCEIVED” is FALSE. Name me one liberal or Democrat posts speaking out against the president or Republicans that have been taken down or account banned. Whenever you are ready.
Last time I checked posts have not been taken down or blocked from the Ayatollah of Iran posting death to Israel. Or the many media posts regarding the ILLEGAL leaking (felony) of President’s taxes breaking federal law. So you have no problem with the treatment of the president and conservatives in general because it does not affect your team? So much for Melvin’s sense of fairness, got it.
Section 230 as written protects Twitter and Facebook from lawsuits for posting inflammatory and false posts. So why continually suspend, block or post warning flags on the President’s tweets? They are immune, so what’s the problem?
One word: BIAS. The CEOs of Big Tech have been excoriated by a Senate panel recently for silencing conservatives and a smart lawyer could argue they are actively suppressing information from one side to influence an election. Probably too deep for you to understand, but this video will help you out:
“You have all kinds of internet platforms available to spread your lies.”
First, I don’t appreciate accusing me of spreading “lies” as always make a conscious effort to post the truth with less opinion and more verifiable facts. Wish I could say the same about you.
Second, name 100 “internet platforms”, no let’s make it 1,000 combined that have the reach of billions of people in competition with Twitter or Facebook. Again, whenever you are ready.
“you want to seek revenge for perceived wrongs.”
Your deflection misses the entire point. The monopoly of Big Social Media is afforded legal protection by an outdated law to censor and block voices they don’t agree with mirroring the bias of their CEO’s with impunity. Right or Left censorship is WRONG.
What part do you not understand? Typical…
First, your claim to “always post the truth with less opinion and more verified facts” is laughable, all the way back to when you were defending Bill Cosby as a victim of political correctness.
Second, I cannot name conservative media that are as popular as Twitter and Facebook because those companies have risen to the top of a free market. Most Americans prefer them to the alternatives (sort of like Joe Biden).
You LIE!
I do not defend anyone convicted of a crime when the evidence is overwhelming. You totally took out of context what I posted, gee what a surprise.
Yeah, the alternatives are the Democrat run, Democrat controlled, Democrat staffed BIASED MSM Media that supports Democrats everywhere and beats on Republicans everyday with impunity.
Democrats like yourself are not at all concerned with FAIRNESS — you are always looking to CHEAT and take advantage of a situation because all are drunk with power and enriching themselves is the ultimate goal. They mouth caring about the people every election and promise to solve problems and guess what — they only make problems worse and gives them a ticket to run again on the same empty promises, rinse and repeat…
You denigrate those who disagree with you all of the time. You label and disparage. Sick of it. Sick of you. Sick of political parties in general, but particularly the Trumpist party which despises science and fact and panders to gut emotionalism and the worst aspects of human nature.
GoeB….”GOP victim, victim, victim…blah blah blah…GOP victim victim…Democrats are awful…Democrats are responsible for everything bad.”
First, true Republicans believe in personal responsibility, fiscal conservatism, and free markets. However, the Republican Party has been drifting away from those principles for several decades to the point of embracing Trumpist. Your are not the party of Abraham Lincoln. The modern GOP is not even the party of Ronald Reagan.
You may remember Reagan, who staunchly opposed Russia and presided over the end of the Cold War? Not we have a Putin-loving, soon-to-be-former President who loves deficit spending and tariffs while weakening NATO and pulling the U.S. out of the TPP, thus handing economic leadership in the Pacific rim over to China. Trump still somehow believes that China is paying the tariff fees to the U.S. and that Mexico is paying for the wall. He is an idiot and so are the people who follow him, even those who acknowledge that Trump is a fundamentally flawed human being who is unsuited to the Office.
If you want a better America, then you will stop supporting McConnell’s blockage and obstruction of bipartisan Congressional legislation and get back to civil governance again.
One last thing…you fail on your call. I am not a Democrat. I remain Independent, and you cannot change that.p, you arrogant twit. However, in these modern times when I am forced to choose the lesser of evils between candidates, the loathesome state of the GOP pushes me to support Democrats. If your party would select better candidates than Trump and QAnon conspiracists and McConnell and Lindsey Graham and such, then you might get some of my votes. But the GOP has followed the Newt Gingrich game plan of deconstruction and destruction. I cannot support that path.
Get back to reason. Return to science-based policies. Stop lying. Stop feigning innocence in the face of blatant corruption. Stop cutting taxes and saying that growth will cover it. Stop courting radical right groups just to get their votes and money. Stop attacking the media as the “enemy of the state.” Then, perhaps, the Republican Party will earn my vote again.
One more thing…when your party campaigns to repeal and replace the ACA and provide a plan that covers everyone, provides better care, and costs less, then you need to ACTUALLY HAVE A PLAN.
After four years of the repeat and replace mantra, you still do not have a plan. Four years of lying when you really meant “repeal and leave tens of millions of people without health coverage and with no hope of a path to coverage.” Just admit the freaking truth for once.
Ahhhhh poor KingMe, so self righteous erudite elitist. Well, I could not care less about your drama queen proclamation “you are sick of” and obvious by your non-answers I don’t read you disagreeing with one word of my post.
Since I have a kind heart for political illiterates that parrot selective party dogma and MSM talking points without thinking them through and fact checking other side positions — just find your safe space, enjoy a warm Fall meal with hot apple cider and get some sleep…
I assume you think that tirade proves you always have less opinion and more verified facts.
As for Bill Cosby, you were still claiming that he was a victim of feminist extremism and liberal hypocrisy for months after he had admitted to drugging dozens of women for sex in a published sworn deposition.
“All lives matter.” Just not women’s lives or Black lives.
Good thing your opinions cannot change history.
Seem to recall years ago I was comparing the social Mores of the free love sixties to present day political correctness.
Before the cancer of PC set in and spawned present day SJW’s attempting to rewrite history and go back over 50 years to apply present day social Mores to another time, is just WRONG. Guess that is too deep to wrap your head around.
So no, you are lying about my previous posts that were more philosophical and mentioning PC as a present day CATALYST for legal action and not the reason he was convicted.
For the second time and pay attention TxLiar, the man admitted his guilt and serving just time.
Nuff said…
Thank you for repeating your vile comments from years ago suggesting that the “social Mores” of the Sixties justified serial rape. No, I was there and I can promise you that drugging women for sex was just as illegal and unacceptable then as now.
Apparently your recollection of America “before the cancer of PC set in,” back when you think racial and sexual violence were socially acceptable, drives the meaning of MAGA for you. Many white men like me don’t remember those aspects of the past with such affection; hardly anybody who is female, LGBT+, Jewish, a person of color or one with disabilities does so.
I am not necessarily arguing your stance on 230. I am arguing the fundamental rationale from you and Trump for attacking 230 recently. You only attack things when you perceive that they disadvantage you. That is my point.
That is not a deflection. It is my conclusion based on your victim behavior.
That’s why they want to stop counting in PA but count faster in AZ. No principles involved other than winning.
GoeB says: “ So much for Melvin’s sense of fairness, got it.”
I don’t do Twitter and I don’t do Facebook. I hear you give a few examples of situations that you claim show bias against conservatives. But I also note that you are biased in seeking it out to use as ammunition. So why should I believe you. Your posts have been chock full of bs in the past.
Have you ever looked for bias in the opposite direction. I strongly suspect now. If you did, then you might find some. But you prefer to play the victim card. Real Republicans in the past were proud and strong – they did not talk like corrupt dictators and Putin pawns.
You have attacked me for so long (and often erroneously) that you have become irrelevant. And that is why the future of the U.S. is currently in doubt. You have attacked its foundations and eroded public trust in virtually everything of value. Thanks for that.
Oh poor baby, like you have not attacked me repeatedly for years. Now, twho is playing the victim?…🤣
You lost! Just stew on that while you curl up in a fetal ball and pray to Q.
As far as attacking your ridiculous positions and assertions – darn right I did, and with gusto! I am proud of refuting your bs. You will receive no apologies from me.
Republican victim. A modern redundancy…
KingME, nothing is lost at this point liberal liar.
As of right now, you don’t know the election is being contested in the courts and recounts are underway?
As of right now, you don’t know the election has to be certified by states and the federal government?
As of right now, you don’t know It took 38 days for the courts to resolve the hanging chads in 2000 involving a handful of counties?
This is much, much larger involving five states on a massive scale when counting stopped in the middle of the night the president had a commanding lead. Days later massively and magically flipped for Biden. Guessing you never heard of the history of fraud ridden Dominion voting systems and in this election counting our votes in foreign countries. Thought not. Would that be Russian collusion or simply foreign collusion?
Constitutional options exist if the states certify Biden that many are not aware of because CNN and the NYT won’t tell you. Their reporting is consistently Democrat Dogma, just accept it and tow the line. Prime example is ABC News reporting nightly “President elect Biden.” That is premature at best and journalism malfeasance at worst. I don’t expect you to understand, winning by hook or crook is all KingMe and the rest of the left cares about. No standards apply.
If Trump loses it is probably the result of the most corrupt, the most foreign influenced and the most biased election in history. Bumbling Biden can then add ILLEGITIMATE to his plagiarism resume.
The Trump supporter army is NEVER going away. We will take our licks and get back in the saddle. You should REMEMBER that…💪🏼🇺🇸🦅
GeoB, your constitutional ignorance would be amusing if it were not so frightening. Yes, the states have to certify the results, but that is not a discretionary process. They count the votes and must appoint the electoral college slate pledged to the candidate who got the most popular votes. That process is set by statute in every state and the state legislatures cannot change it retroactively. A legislature that tried to interfere with the process would be slapped down by the courts, absent some overwhelming justification. In addition, legislative actions have to get past a gubernatorial signature or veto.
There is no such factual justification. The Georgia hand recount was within 500 votes of the machine (Dominion!) count, out of 5 million votes cast, leaving a 12,000 vote Biden victory. That was the closest state, and there is no reason to question states where the margin was ten times higher.
No, the federal government does not have to certify the results. The role of Congress is simply to act as witnesses while the Vice-President opens 51 envelopes and reads their contents. If the states have certified their results before December 8, those results are conclusive. Even if they were certified later, they could not be rejected without substantial evidence, of which there is none.
Georgia where the sky’s are blue…?
I have said this earlier but here it is again slightly modified:
Georgia was red,
But is now turning Blue.
Danox is right,
But Trump will still sue.
So where is FT?
Beggars can’t be choosers.
He now is GoeB.
But both are still losers.
I am IMMUNE from Libtard sophistry..,
“the ultimate outcome for the U.S. presidency is far from certain”
Ummmmm no, Biden has won. There has already been one election call for Biden. Expect others to follow in the next day or so. It is now mathematically impossible for Trump to win. Biden has won. It’s just a waiting game now as the final legal ballots are counted.
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye. Bye bye One Term Trump.
Hey, where’s Firsty? Did he take his toys and go home? What a shame. Trump’s loss is delicious.
I actually have a suspicion that “First, Then” is somehow connected to MDN. A few of my “leftist” posts were deleted while his right wing conspiracy tripe goes unchecked.
You LIE. It is NOT over…