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Social media companies shouldn’t be pressed into a common-carrier mold

The view in Washington appears to be that social media has become so important that it must come under government control. That this is a non sequitur seems lost on many. For example, some members of the House and Senate have mistakenly pressured Big Tech to steepen the political tilt of its content moderation. The [...]

Floridians can’t afford to waste the broadband dollars Congress will send our way

Floridians need to get ready for the millions of broadband dollars that Congress is about to send. The latest draft of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill has $65 billion targeted for broadband development. It is unknown how much of this will come to Florida. But if we aren’t ready to manage the money wisely, we’ll [...]

Customers break even in Apple’s settlement with small developers

Late last week, Apple and attorneys at the law firm Hagens Berman announced a class-action settlement of a 2019 case that small US iOS app developers had filed against Apple. The settlement includes $100 million for app developers, along with new opportunities to market app services not provided through Apple’s App Store. It is unclear [...]

Despite refiling, the Federal Trade Commission’s case against Facebook remains weak

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its amended antitrust complaint against Facebook. The amendment was needed because a federal judge dismissed the FTC’s first complaint, finding that the agency had failed “to plausibly establish . . . that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for Personal Social Networking (PSN) Services.” The judge [...]

New Senate bill would damage the app economy and consumers

The “Open App Markets Act,” introduced in the Senate last week, is the latest salvo against Americans who enjoy iPhones and Android phones. Other volleys have been from video game maker Epic Games, the European Union (e.g., here and here), several state attorneys general, and antitrust bills already being considered in Congress. Like these, the [...]