by Ailan Evans
Apple CEO Tim Cook called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress last week, warning lawmakers that newly proposed antitrust legislation would harm consumers and hurt innovation, five sources with knowledge of the conversations told The New York Times.
Lawmakers introduced a series of antitrust bills that target Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon, The New York Times reports. The legislative efforts seek to rein in the tech companies by addressing alleged anti-competitive practices and by curbing monopoly power, according to a report by CNET.
Pelosi pushed back on Cook’s warnings, asking him to name specific policy objections, two sources with knowledge of the conversations told The New York Times.
The antitrust legislation includes the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which aims to prevent tech giants from preferencing their own services, as well as the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act, which seeks to prevent larger tech companies from acquiring smaller competition. Other bills in the legislative package address conflicts of interest and funding of antitrust efforts.
Cook’s reported warnings are part of a larger lobbying effort by the tech industry to influence lawmakers’ decisions on antitrust legislation, according to The New York Times. Kent Walker, Google’s vice president for global affairs, also reportedly called lawmakers and objected to the bills.
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Ailan Evans is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Tim Cook” by Austin Community College CC BY 2.0.
