Executives from four companies feeling hamstrung by big tech aired their grievances in front of members of Congress at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder Friday.
Members of the hosted their first field hearing in a decade in the University of Colorado Law School鈥檚 Wittemyer Courtroom.
Startups Basecamp, PopSockets, Tile and Sonos each had representatives in front of the subcommittee complaining about the practices of major technology players, such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook.
Sonos鈥� CEO Patrick Spence laid out the ways Amazon and Google have allegedly undercut his company鈥檚 smart speaker products. Spence said his competitors subsidize their smart speakers with data collection from users.
Tile鈥檚 Kirsten Daru told the subcommittee Apple created unfair competition to their item-finding product by making it more difficult to enable Tile products on iPhones. Meanwhile, Daru said, Apple鈥檚 own item-finding products are easily enabled by one touch of a button.
Several of the company representatives complained about Google allegedly burying search results in order to incentivize advertising purchases. They alleged that Google, Amazon and Apple all lean on their dominance to force companies into accepting less-than-reasonable terms.
Advocating for Congressional action on tech marketplace
The companies all advocated for Congress taking action to level the playing field. They recommended breaking up major companies like Facebook and Amazon. They also pushed for more legislation and regulation on data use and sales practices.听
The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), includes Vice Chair Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.). Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) was also at the hearing as a guest of the committee.
鈥淭he state of Colorado鈥攁nd the 2nd Congressional District in particular鈥攊s a hub for tech innovation and ingenuity,鈥� said Rep. Neguse. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud to secure this opportunity to highlight Colorado on the national level and bring my congressional colleagues to learn about the growing vibrant and strong tech community in our district, and to continue our work as a committee on anti-trust matters and ensuring federal conditions enable such ingenuity in Colorado and across the nation to grow.鈥澨�
Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook did not testify on Friday. The subcommittee members said they appreciated the opportunity to hear from companies with smaller lobbying budgets.
鈥淭hrough the subcommittee鈥檚 investigation, it has become clear that the dominant online platforms have tremendous power to shape and influence online commerce,鈥� said Rep. Cicilline. 鈥淭his hearing is an opportunity to hear directly from a diverse group of innovative companies that are forced to rely on these platforms as gatekeepers to reach consumers and the online marketplace.鈥�
A hub for innovation and policy
The hearing was the second Congressional hearing Colorado Law hosted over the last six months.
鈥湺兑趼眯猩� Boulder is where policy and research intersect,鈥� said Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. 鈥淲e are excited to have our experts join with national policymakers and industry leaders to discuss the future of technology and the economy.鈥�
S. James Anaya, dean of Colorado Law, said the law school is pleased to feature these kinds of important, high-profile events.听
"From congressional hearings to an annual session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which we hosted in fall 2018, we are proud to provide a platform for official inquiries of national and often international importance," Anaya said.
via Colorado Law's YouTube channel.
