LETTER: “The American Innovation and Choice Online Act…targets self-preferencing to help restore competition in the digital marketplace and remove barriers for consumers to choose the services they want.”
WASHINGTON - More than 35 small and medium tech companies including Yelp, Sonos, Patreon, Y Combinator, and DuckDuckGo sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging it to advance legislation led by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to stop major digital platforms from unfairly preferencing their own products or services.
“Findings from the United States and governments around the world reveal the many anticompetitive self-preferencing tactics dominant technology companies use to attain and entrench their gatekeeper status in the market to the detriment of competition, consumers, and innovation,” the companies wrote.
They continued: “The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, co-sponsored by Senators Klobuchar and Grassley, targets self-preferencing to help restore competition in the digital marketplace and remove barriers for consumers to choose the services they want.”
POLITICO reported that many of the signers, including the startup incubator Y Combinator, are “new to the antitrust fight,” signaling growing momentum for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Introduced by Klobuchar and Grassley in October, this legislation will restore competition online by establishing common sense rules of the road for dominant digital platforms to prevent them from abusing their market power to harm competition, online businesses, and consumers.
Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below.
Dear Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley:
We, the undersigned companies and individual, write to urge the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary to favorably report S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Findings from the United States and governments around the world reveal the many anticompetitive self-preferencing tactics dominant technology companies use to attain and entrench their gatekeeper status in the market to the detriment of competition, consumers, and innovation. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, co-sponsored by Senators Klobuchar and Grassley, targets self-preferencing to help restore competition in the digital marketplace and remove barriers for consumers to choose the services they want.
Dominant technologies companies’ ability to give their own products and services preferential placement, access, and data on online platforms and operating systems prevents companies like us from competing on the merits. For example, due to their gatekeeper status, dominant technology companies can: use manipulative design tactics to steer individuals away from rival services; restrict the ability of competitors to interoperate on the platform; use non-public data to benefit the companies’ own services or products; make it impossible or complicated for users to change their default settings or services or uninstall apps. These tactics not only harm competition, but also deprive consumers of the innovative offerings a vibrant market would yield.
For too long, dominant technology companies have made it difficult for other businesses to compete in the digital marketplace by abusing their gatekeeper status to give themselves and their partners preferential treatment and access on their platforms. The Committee must act now to restore competition to the digital marketplace by voting “aye” on favorably reporting Senate Bill S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
Sincerely,
Andi Search
Atomized
Basecamp
Beeper
CadItApp Inc
Cohere
Disconnect
Dots
DuckDuckGo
Efani Inc
Fathom Analytics
Felt
Genius
Hotplate
Hype Machine
In Stock
Initialized Capital
Jelly Public Benefit Corporation
Jouncer
Latchel
Milk Video, Inc.
Mini Exhibitions
Mio
Miso
Neeva
Patreon
Mark Pincus
Podium
Proton Technologies
Ready
REX
Sonos
SparkToro
Telematica
The Tor Project
Wyndly
Wyze
Y Combinator
Yelp
You.com
cc: Members, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary; Members, U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary; and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
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