US lawmakers have asked Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook to hand over internal emails and other documents as part of their antitrust probe into the tech giants, the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2019) US lawmakers have asked Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook to hand over internal emails and other documents as part of their antitrust probe into the tech giants, the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement on Friday.Congressmen Jerrold Nadler, Doug Collins, Jim Sensenbrenner and David Cicilline "today issued requests for information (RFIs) to Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company), Amazon, Apple and Facebook. Committee members will use this information as they continue their bipartisan investigation into competition in the tech sector," the statement said.
The lawmakers wrote letters to the four firms demanding that they hand over financial statements, organizational charts, emails that raise competition concerns and documents related to any foreign or domestic government investigations, the statement said.
They also asked that the companies provide a list of any legal cases they have faced due to alleged anti-competitive behavior, as well as any documents provided to the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
Subcommittee's chairman David Cicilline called the letters an "important milestone" in the antitrust investigation.
"We expect stakeholders to use this opportunity to provide information to the Committee to ensure that the internet is an engine for opportunity for everyone, not just a select few gatekeepers," he said.
By obtaining these documents, lawmakers hope to uncover any possible violations of antitrust law.
Committee Chairman Nadler in the statement said increasing evidence shows that a small number of companies "have come to capture an outsized share of online commerce and communications."
All companies should provide the documents by October 14, the lawmakers wrote in their letters.
