To TRUST, or to ANTI-Trust?
Antitrust hearing analysis and why they are important in the Indian context.
Satyajit Roy
Colonised by our own data!
In July of 2019, the CEO’s of four of the biggest tech firms in the world, Google (Sundar Pichai), Amazon (Jeff Bezos), Apple (Tim Cook) & Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg) were called to testify before the United States congress. These companies are accused of being too big and using unfair practices that crush competition to grow to this stage, and being monopolistic in nature.
Heres a great video from CNBC that takes us through AntiTrust as well as its history in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcghGCBROR0&t=183s
As a business owner who sells OFFICIAL LICENSED MERCHANDISE by THE BIGGEST COMPANY in the WORLD, on Amazon, from personal experience I can tell you that counterfeit goods are a real issue. Although we have category managers assigned to us, the onus of tacking and identifying counterfeit sellers falls on us.
In these digital times, I know how easy it is to create a TWO/THREE PARTY VERIFICATION system, where only License Holders would be able to tag certain keywords.
Amazon is in no way incentivised to do so, as they are making money on the sale of counterfeit goods as well as licensed goods. This hurts our business directly, as counterfeit goods do not have to pay a royalty to the parent company so they can price the same product cheaper.
In this hearing, the congresswoman, has held Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to account, and like his compatriots, you will see that, in most cases answers given, are at best vague.
AMAZON
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4-Ke0PDmKU
In addition to these charges, the other three companies, including Amazon, have been accused of using data generated on their platforms, to launch products and services, which compete directly with existing companies which use these platforms, and using unfair practices to divert traffic away from, and then towards, products and services which are self owned.
These cannibalistic practices make sure that no company will ever grow to its full potential unless it somehow goes unnoticed by these all encompassing platforms.
APPLE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6eYLCxxQdA&t=558s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nSHiHO6QJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjU1chIhnug
The committee assigned to questioning the CEO’s did a fabulous job, laying out the issues and asking relevant questions with even better follow up questions.
The CEO’s on the other hand were visibly uncomfortable when they knew they could no longer give evasive answers.
Asking for regulations on these companies, which have economies larger than many countries, would not only be a prudent decision but a necessary one.
In India, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Group, called for the world to have a check on these companies, warning of the harms of data colonisation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY6KoBWMglc
Post which Reliance Industries went OVER THE TOP of these Tech Giants to own the Pipeline through which the DATA would flow, colonising the colonisers in the process.
More recently we saw Dr. Aniruddha Malpani’s (Angel Investor), LinkedIn account being banned, for speaking out about unfair practices being used in the EdTech Company, BYJU’s.
Im no expert of defamation law, but I can say that the decision to ban his account was sincerely in the hands of the platform, LinkedIn. BYJU’s on the other hand is one of the biggest advertisers on LinkedIn.
You don’t need to be an expert to understand why the decision was taken to ban Dr. Malpani’s account. There’s a clear conflict of interest here. Logic would dictate, that the platform would go with the decision, that would continue to earn them more revenue, which is exactly what happened.
It’s not the decisions that is the issue though, its the basis on which this decision was taken, and how there is no accountability or no reason for accountability.
As a business owner I can tell you that if you are not afraid that your data will be used by the platforms you are using, you are being ignorant by choice.
With the launch of ‘REELS by Instagram’ we can see how blatantly these giant monopolies copy and manipulate their competitors.
What is being touted to us as ‘FREE & FAIR PLATFORM’s’, is neither free nor fair.
Our own data is being used to colonise us, and this time the colonisers are digital!
To Trust would be foolish,
To ANTI - Trust, wise.
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Satyajit Roy
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