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Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook due to attend congressional hearing

JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,579 Part of The Furniture
edited July 2020 in Politics & Debate
The CEOs of the world's biggest tech companies - Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook - are due to attend a congressional hearing on July 27th. According to Business Insider, this is part of a wider investigation by the US government into the dominance of large tech companies. This will be an antitrust hearing, which means they're looking at ways to prevent these firms gaining a monopoly in their industries or too much control over their markets.

What do you guys think about this? Do tech companies have too much influence and control right now? Should we be regulating them more than we are? How much of a problem is corporate consolidation?
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Moderator Posts: 991 Part of The Mix Family
    Personally I think it's impossible to ignore how much money and power these companies have at the moment, Amazon especially just seems to keep growing and growing with no end. Tech companies are a relatively new industry which is why they haven't had proper oversight until now, if they were regulated and treated like any other business by the government they absolutely wouldn't be so out of control. They also really need to start paying their taxes! :rage:
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,287 Skive's The Limit
    Amazon is huge. The reason they don't pay much in tax is because they are not a very profitable company. Amazon intentionally posts low profits because it takes the vast majority of the money it earns and invests it right back into the company so that it will profit all the more in the future.

    It's a very successfull business model.
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  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,579 Part of The Furniture
    Skive said:
    Amazon intentionally posts low profits because it takes the vast majority of the money it earns and invests it right back into the company so that it will profit all the more in the future.
    Interesting @Skive - I didn't know about that but just did some research. I suppose that gives Amazon a pretty bulletproof legal defense against not paying a lot of tax. Obviously that's not to say they're on good ethical ground by any means, but it could be a sign the laws need updating.
    Click here for everything you need to know about The Mix's merger
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
    The truth resists simplicity.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,287 Skive's The Limit
    Mike said:
    Skive said:
    Amazon intentionally posts low profits because it takes the vast majority of the money it earns and invests it right back into the company so that it will profit all the more in the future.
    Interesting @Skive - I didn't know about that but just did some research. I suppose that gives Amazon a pretty bulletproof legal defense against not paying a lot of tax. Obviously that's not to say they're on good ethical ground by any means, but it could be a sign the laws need updating.
    It's funny.
    I'm a leftie with concerns over globalisation, the unchecked power and influence of largle multi national corpoartions, and economic inequality.
    I'm also an an Azure AWS SysOps Admin who spends several hundred thousand pounds of public money with Microsoft and Amazon every year,
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  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,579 Part of The Furniture
    @Skive said:
    It's funny.
    I'm a leftie with concerns over globalisation, the unchecked power and influence of largle multi national corpoartions, and economic inequality.
    I'm also an an Azure AWS SysOps Admin who spends several hundred thousand pounds of public money with Microsoft and Amazon every year,
    It's difficult to escape, right? In some ways you can't fight against the tide, especially when it's your livelihood. And arguably using these companies' services doesn't necessarily mean you support everything they do and stand for. Regulation can happen alongside, although some people lean more towards a full boycott for things they don't support. Tempted to say there are merits to both. Do you ever feel conflicted?
    Click here for everything you need to know about The Mix's merger
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
    The truth resists simplicity.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 281 The Mix Regular
    edited August 2020
    It's scary how big these companies are.
    The things is a lot of the fact these companies are successful is because they are a monopoly. They have the network effect and the fact that they can be more efficient e.g. amazon. Although it isn't necessary for amazon to take over every aspect of business in the end ppl support them because they are convenient. They are very bad though using manipulative business practices driving out competitors, and the way they treat their workers for example. Some people say it's because of the way capitalism works especially with these sorts of companies.
    I think one issue with the internet is there area lack of public sites. I think closest are things like wikipedia, open source projects and that. There is also email but it is kinda out of date they will need to change email even though email clients make it better (except those clients are things like google)
    With covid it seems to have even given an opportunity to certain companies to increase this control. I also do not like things like amazon alexa as it has authoritarian spying vibes, i wouldn't want that in my home not that voice activated stuff interests me seems highly gimmicky and i rather type.
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