Growing tensions between Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft, lie behind the death of the Internet Association (IA), the nine-year-old lobby group that was Big Tech’s voice in Washington, Ars Technica reports, citing “insiders and industry observers.”
The Washington-based group, which dubbed itself the “unified” voice of the internet industry, will shut at the end of the year after both Microsoft and Uber, among others, pulled their financial support, leaving an insurmountable funding gap.
The closure is a sign of the increasingly different policy objectives of its Big Tech members, said observers, with Microsoft in particular looking to distance itself from its Silicon Valley peers.
“Microsoft has realised that it doesn’t want to be associated with Google, Facebook and Amazon,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly campaign group. “It’s really, really simple.”
MacDailyNews Take: Really, does anybody not collecting a paycheck from them (and many who do), really want to be associated with Google or, even worse, Facebook?
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Like ANY of these corporations needs a ‘voice’ in Washington.
YouTube is my only involvement with google. I switched to DuckDuckGo years ago and never used google photos etc. Closed Facebook about a year ago and all other “social media” I deleted several years ago too. Using a VPN and ad blocking software/piehole. Deleted all streaming services and all subscriptions also about a year ago. All of the above makes me feel like I’ve taken a digital bath after having been swimming in digital crap.
“Really, does anybody not collecting a paycheck from them (and many who do), really want to be associated with Google or, even worse, Facebook?”
MacDailyNews is a best in class Apple news related site!
I guess Microsoft is “respectable” now 😆
Depends who you’re being compared to. You’re often known by the company you keep!
20 years ago, Microsoft was in FaceBook’s position of unavoidable evil.
Merry Christmas to all loyal MDN readers. To the kegs – prost!
The sledgehammer needs to come down on big tech. Only alt tech save the internet from cyber tyranny.