Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google face potential antitrust reforms

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The big tech companies have been on the receiving end of a wave of criticism from all corners, much of it relating to their size and market power. Antitrust suits are being filed and lawmakers are holding hearings.

Now we have a bi-partisan group in the House, of all places, introducing a package of bills that would beef up antitrust laws that would impact companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google:

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google could be forced to overhaul their business practices under an expansive set of antitrust reforms introduced by a bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Friday.

The package of five bills, draft versions of which were reported by CNBC and other outlets, would make it harder for dominant platforms to complete mergers and prohibit them from owning businesses that present clear conflicts of interest. The legislation represents the most comprehensive effort to reform century-old antitrust laws in decades.

The pressure is mounting and it will be interesting to see the details.

  

Pandemic increases activity for fintech companies

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With everyone stuck at home, any business that aims to replace brick and mortar activity with electronic transactions has a change to gobble up new busness.

That’s certainly the case with the fintech business area, as more people look to manage money electronically and avoid going to the bank. And we’re seeing more activity in that area as companies like Paypal and Venmo see a surge in new sign-ups.

  

Twitter gets serious about video

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Twitter is introducing a new program that will enable users to monetize videos they post on Twitter. The program is quite attractive with a 70/30 revenue split in favor if the user, and the program is also non-exclusive. This will provide real incentives for celebrities and others with large Twitter followings to use Twitter for their videos along with YouTube and other platforms. Maybe the Twitter brass is finally figuring out how to monetize their users.

  

Internet growth is slowing

Mary Meeker’s latest report has generated a lot of buzz as she points out how Internet growth is slowing, which has significant ramifications for parts of this industry such as smartphone sales.

While this saturation means certain aspects of the Internet market are maturing, it also points to the reality that the connectivity of the modern world. The prevalence Internet infrastructure is affecting many other industries and cultures as connectivity alters things such as our politics along with countless businesses.

  

Facebook is dominating the mobile market

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Give Mark Zuckerberg credit – he realized Facebook was behind when it came to mobile and he forced his company to adapt quickly. It’s reminiscent of Bill Gates coming to terms with the web back in the 90s.

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