Tag: Antitrust allegations

Donald Trump warns that tech biggies Google, Facebook and Amazon might be in an Antitrust situation

On Thursday, 30 August 2018 Donald Trump in an interview lashed out at current technology companies of being in a very Antitrust situation. While talking to Bloomberg, the American President pointed out that these organizations are misusing their power and influence, but didn’t comment on whether they should be broken up or not.

Donald Trump’s war of words

“I won’t comment on the breaking up, of whether it’s Google or Amazon or Facebook,” Trump’s reply on breaking the companies by the US government. This anger was quite foreseen as on Tuesday when the President alleged Google of rigging its search results for suppressing positive coverage about him. Google said that this wasn’t true, pointing out that it had promoted his address, and buzz feed News.

Companies’ take on the comment

After Trump’s attack this week, the company said its search function is not used to set a political agenda and isn’t biased against any ideology. Amazon and Facebook representatives didn’t respond yet on the warning.

Antitrust allegations have never left our tech giants

Whenever it comes to Antitrust allegations, tech companies are alleged now and then. In July 2018, European Union slapped Google with $5B for Android abuse. Apple, the trillion dollar company wasn’t even able to bypass the Antitrust threats and accused of one with Yahoo’s Game Plus platform. Now, let’s see where these how far will these accusations will go and how they will affect the organizations.

Article Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-30/google-under-fire-again-on-search-as-hatch-calls-for-ftc-probe?srnd=premium-asia

Apple and Yahoo’s Game plus dispute: Apple again under Antitrust allegations in Japan

On Thursday, August 16, 2018, Apple was probed in Japan for anti-competitive practices against Yahoo game platform. Apple has been accused of applying pressure to prevent publishers from working with Yahoo’s Game Plus Platform.  As per Japanese Media , the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating these antitrust allegations.

The Whole Story

In July 2017, Yahoo Japan came up with the Game Plus platform allowing the users to stream games online without needing to download them. Also, it benefitted the developers with fewer restrictions regarding sales, fees, and updates in comparison to the Apple App Store. This platform gained the interest of a number of companies with some big names on the list as Square Enix Holdings and many more.

Apple, who recently became $1 Trillion company, took this Game Plus Model as a direct threat to their App Store. It started pressurizing the companies to back away from Yahoo. It even got some of them off from the list. Apple  apparently believed that the deal of Yahoo with around 50 big organizations can damage App Store’s business and thus tried its money and power to put pressure on them.

How has it affected Game platform?

Apple pressure on Yahoo to quash the Game Plus Platform slashed its budget in September 2017. After the organizations started withdrawing from the platform, Yahoo has now stopped promoting its services. Yahoo has been reporting these issues to Fair Trade Commission and industry ministry from the last autumn and now they are investigating the matter.

Antitrust allegations aren’t new to Apple

Going through Antitrust allegations isn’t new to Apple. Its Universal compatibility violation is the latest on the plate. Its Irish tax bill and Qualcomm antitrust battle are also leading the list. Apple hasn’t responded to any of this accusation of Yahoo. A spokesman at Yahoo Japan said that they are adding game titles on the website. Let’s wait for Apple to comment on the matter and see where this fight goes in future.

Article Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/apple-faces-antitrust-action-in-japan-says-report/1282163/