It seems the big technology companies are running scared. According to a report by The New York Times, they have ramped up their lobbying efforts into the stratosphere at all levels of government, and Tim Cook is even personally calling politicians – most prominently, Nancy Pelosi.
The calls by Mr. Cook are part of a forceful and wide-ranging pushback by the tech industry since the proposals were announced this month. Executives, lobbyists, and more than a dozen think tanks and advocacy groups paid by tech companies have swarmed Capitol offices, called and emailed lawmakers and their staff members, and written letters arguing there will be dire consequences for the industry and the country if the ideas become law.
The bills, the most sweeping set of antitrust legislation in generations, take aim at Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google by trying to undo their dominance in online commerce, advertising, media and entertainment. There are six bills in total, and if passed, they would empower regulators, make it harder for the tech giants to acquire start-ups and prevent the companies from using their strength in one area to form a grip in another.
Apple also published a 16 page PR document today, warning that the world will end if Apple is forced to allow sideloading or third party application stores on iOS. Of course, this is all nonsense, as the only thing Apple worries about is the protection money it extracts that makes up the vast majority of its services push that it uses to please investors. Nobody is going to break into iOS users’ homes and force them to sideload – don’t sideload if you don’t want to, but the rest of us should be allowed to do whatever we want with the devices we paid money for.
Another major reason Apple is running is scared is that if it has to allow sideloading, the company will lose the control over its platform that is so coveted by Apple’s closest friends and allies, the totalitarian governments of this world. China, Saudi-Arabia, Russia, and others are weaponising Apple’s walled garden, and if that wall is cracked open, Apple is suddenly no longer as valuable to totalitarian governments. This would hurt Apple’s bottom line significantly.
Amazon and Google also have a lot to lose, of course. Google controls most of the advertising market and any measures to lessen that control will be a major blow to the company’s bottom line. Amazon, for its part, abuses the data it collects about buyers and sellers to create their own products and delist their competitors, which has become a cornerstone of the company’s strategy.
The fact they are running scared bodes well for the contents of these proposed bills, but at the same time, it also means a lot of bribes are flowing towards Washington, and American politicians are nothing if not deeply, systematically corrupt and easily bought.
This was what I feared. And it is happening for a second time.
Back in the day, Microsoft had virtually zero lobbying spending. And they were just doing their thing. (I don’t want to go into merits of their thing, just the outside effects).
However, DOJ brew up an anti-trust case against them, asking an ultimate breakup of the company even.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
And, then all of a sudden (even before the case was officially filed), Microsoft started lobbying. It went onto increasing that over time, which is still increasing today.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/03/19/microsoft-boosted-lobbyist-spending/7170666b-1a16-4636-91d0-e39de4e21565/
What happened to the anti-trust case? They reached a settlement for what is essentially a slap on the wrist:
https://www.justice.gov/archive/atr/public/press_releases/2001/9463.htm
Now, “big tech” is ramping up lobbying that coincides with the anti-trust risk over their heads (And, yes, I work for a big tech company, so I need to stop here).
You don’t have to look that far. Android is much more open in regards to installing APKs and proves that whatever Apple claims in this regard, to prevent the same on iOS, is bollocks. I personally just don’t know on why we are having this discussion in 2021. Regulators have failed us and did that hard.
Behind the boasts and badges of status these alleged captains of industry are flawed and inadequate human beings like the rest of us.
The world will end? Is Tim Cook now a believer of the Armageddon stated in the Bible? Anyway, since I do not have time to read that, he must have been saying that Apple is on a world of its own, and can’t afford to let aliens running applications inside Apple’s world.
Thom,
I’ve asked before and I’ll ask again. How would you handle China if you were running Apple. Keep in mind that right now you do not manufacture ANY iPhones or iPads and mostly not Macs (I think only the Mac Pro is manufactured in the U.S.). How would you handle and China’s market AND the people that allow you to do your job, which would be running Apple. Investors, especially the largest holders of Apple stock have a HUGE say in who is running Apple.
With that in mind, I encourage you to profoundly how you would tell China to shove their anti-human rights ways (I hate what they do as much as you) while:
1) Keeping your job as head of Apple which means keeping investors happen (profits, profits, profits)
2) Helping Chinese people who want iPhones AND freedom to be happier
3) Keeping China from nuking your manufacturing plants. Not literally nuking them but shutting them down or curbing them enough that you don’t lose your job as head of Apple.
I’m waiting … It’s an easy job. You keep saying it is. So tell us how you do things if you ran Apple.
America is a completely different place to Europe. I cannot speak for Tom but I would be lobbying government or the EU on the issue of human rights. I haven’t detected anything indicating Apple is lobbying on this issue or the the US government cares. As long as money continues to be made at the top a lot of blind eyes are turned in America.
Myself I feel Tim Cook is in denial that he got his rights and is ignoring other people don’t have theirs and the company he runs is exploiting the economic advantages of that. Not all but too many gay men like Tim Cook have that problem. They like to hide or fit in with the establishment so play the gay to a degree but otherwise don’t rock the boat or they become part of the problem. I’ve seen people from other protected minorities behave in similar ways. This isn’t to single Tim Cook out but I feel he has questions to answer and hasn’t been very forthcoming. What does Tim Cook believe in?
No European owes any American their job. If Apple, Microsoft, Google et al become persona non grata in Europe because America cannot run its own affairs responsibly I couldn’t care less. At some point values have to mean something or they are just performance.
Okay, you say that you can’t see that Apple is or isn’t lobbying government or the EU on the issue of human rights.
So tell me, what CAN you SPECIFICALLY tell me about what Apple IS lobbying China or ANY repressive government on ANYTHING. They don’t talk about it at all in the press and China sure as heck doesn’t.
So based on the fact that you don’t “know” that they are lobbying them to be even a little bit less evil you are going to assume they aren’t.
Well tell me, what am “I” lobbying the Chinese government or the EU about human rights? You don’t see anything in the news from either me or China about this either. Does that mean that I don’t?
Ah, now you ARE assuming that I do? I didn’t say that I do, I’m just asking what you know about what I do. Of course you don’t know me from anyone. You don’t know my nationality or where my ancestors are from. Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
Sometimes saying things in the press actually HURTS instead of helping. Have you ever had someone wrote ASSUME up on a website, whiteboard or blackboard? When you “assume” something, well circle the first three letters, the next letter, and the last two letters. That’s what happens when you –assume–. You make idiotic statements either to yourself or to other people, maybe on a website when you don’t have any clue what you are talking about and you won’t come out and say what you would do “as Tim Cook” to keep having China allowing you to manufacture things in their country.
Thom talks tough when it comes to Apple and China but he won’t come out and tell us what he would do “publicly” on the world stage and allow us to speculate on the repercussions that would happen if he did.
There’s a –huge– difference between “thinking” and “knowing” and you better “know” about something before you accuse someone or some company of something. I have no idea if Apple is doing anything or not. I might advocate that they do but I wouldn’t accuse them of not doing something when you don’t know jack squat.
By the way. I would love for Thom to tell us what (alphabetically) Amazon (giver of spying tech to police to spy on citizens without a court order), Google (same), and Microsoft (wow is their security great! (Solarwinds … cough, cough).
Quite frankly I don’t get while the feds aren’t going after Microsoft too. Maybe it’s because they have Microsoft stock and they got in on the riches with them but missed out on these others? See, I can make accusations without knowing jack squat too. It is fair? No. Guess what, I know I don’t know jack squat about any of them and what they are or aren’t doing. What I know is that Thom is accusing Apple of things he doesn’t have proof of and he isn’t willing to “go on record” and tell us what he would do if he was Tim Cook running Apple right now if Thom was made CEO of Apple and didn’t want his company to stop being able to make products (like Amazon, Google and Microsoft ALL DO at factories very near to Apple by the SAME company.
What about them? Note. Microsoft’s net worth is not over 2 TRILLION dollars too. Where is Thom’s accusations about Microsoft, and Amazon and Google. Fair is fair. Attack all of them or none of them.
PS: My favorite OSs didn’t come from Apple. So I’m not here in Apple’s defense. Thom is being a bully and I’m calling him out. Yes, I do use Apple’s products. But they aren’t my favorites. There is a LOT that I would change about their OSs if I were to become CEO. I also don’t own stock in ANY of the companies listed. So it’s not that I have any skin in the game on any of them. What I use and what I love depending on the day and time of the day has little to do with what OS I love the most.
@Sabon
It doesn’t work like you’re claiming or assuming. You’re the one who has everything back to front and pushing angry whataboutary and flailing around and lashing out. Tom is neither a diplomat nor a politician. Part of the reason they can take various positions and use certain types of language is because they are the ones driving policy and involved in off the record discussions and carrot and stick behind the scenes. You have to read between the lines of what is being said and different countries or blocs have different strength and weakness and interests. The European and American approaches and how we got here in the first place are very different. It’s never always one policy or statement so for you to DEMAND of Tom and wildly arm wave and DEMAND details and examples is asking for an accuracy and certainty of the WRONG things.
No professional whether it be a government minister, negotiator, policy analysis is going to get an invitation to the room let alone the chance to start wildly ranting like you. Often the reports you will read are fairly bland because they need to be readable to a wide range of policy makers and the detail is contained in lots of reports you will never get to see.
For Tom to supply an answer to your DEMANDS would take at a minimum days of work possibly weeks and even then you probably wouldn’t be happy. Why should Tom spend that time just to mollify a random ranting person on the internet? Do the work yourself. Until then stick with coding or IT support or being an end user or whatever it is you do.