Hillicon Valley: Antitrust leaders demand regulators pursue Facebook | FTC charges chipmaker | GoPuff workers speak out
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A district court judge’s decision earlier this week to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint against Facebook remained in the spotlight Friday, with congressional leaders on antitrust urging the agency to keep pursuing the case. Meanwhile, the FTC pushed forward with a different antitrust case — charging chip supplier Broadcom with monopolizing the market.
BIG 4 BIG 4: Congressional leaders on antitrust are urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pursue its monopolization case against Facebook.
In a letter Friday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) urged the regulatory agency’s chief Lina Khan to pursue enforcement action against the social media giant despite an unfavorable court ruling earlier this week.
U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg sent the FTC’s case back to the agency Monday, ruling that it had provided insufficient evidence for the claim that Facebook controls over 60 percent of the personal social networking market.
The FTC was given 30 days to refile its complaint. The agency also has the option to file charges against Facebook through its in-house court.
The lawmakers, who are the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House subcommittees dedicated to antitrust, called on the FTC to “consider all available options under the law for ensuring that the Commission’s claims receive a full and fair hearing before the court.”
CHIP SUPPLIER CHARGED: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Friday it is charging chip supplier Broadcom with monopolizing the market.
The agency said the company used exclusive deals to monopolize semiconductor components that are used to deliver television and broadband internet services.
The FTC also put out a proposed consent order for the company that would settle the charges if Broadcom stopped the exclusive deals they were putting their customers in.
“We are pleased to move toward resolving this Broadband matter with the FTC on terms that are substantially similar to our previous settlement with the EC [European Commission] involving the same products,” a spokesperson for Broadcom said.
GOPUFF CONCERNS: GoPuff drivers are publicly calling on the delivery app to improve its treatment of workers for the first time as the company continues to rapidly expand.
In an open letter released Thursday in collaboration with the labor rights organization Working Washington, 24 goPuff drivers demanded a livable wage, real flexibility and more oversight of managers. Organizers are hopeful that more will sign on in the coming days.
GoPuff — which offers fast delivery of a wide variety of products stocked in its own warehouses across the country — has seen relatively little organizing among its workforce compared to its fellow gig economy firms such as Uber, Lyft or Instacart.
However, with the company’s growth during the pandemic to more than 450 warehouses and a surge in hiring that brought its valuation to nearly $9 billion earlier this year, that is changing.
The Hill spoke with half a dozen goPuff drivers over the last few months who described the working environment there as the worst of both worlds: all the rigid time demands and clashes with management of a traditional job without the safety net that full employment provides.
BRANSON’S RACE TO BEAT BEZOS: Virgin Galactic on Thursday announced that it will be conducting its first full crew test flight along with company founder Richard Branson on July 11, just days before Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to launch from Earth in his own spacecraft.
The British-American spaceflight company said in a press release that the “Unity 22” mission will mark the 22nd test flight for the VSS Unity spacecraft and the fourth crewed mission for the company.
Branson, who the company said will be “testing the private astronaut experience,” will be joined on the flight by two pilots and three other mission specialists.
An op-ed to chew on: The tweet heard around the world: A message for space tycoons
Lighter click: The holiday weekend is coming
NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:
Internal Apple survey shows concern about hybrid work model (The Verge / Zoe Schiffer)
How much money TikTokers make, according to creators (Insider / Dan Whately)
What If Regulating Facebook Fails? (Wired / Said Vaidhyanathan)
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