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Last week, Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and lawmakers
from both parties said they had the Senate votes needed to pass
legislation that would prevent tech platforms, including Apple
and Facebook, from favoring their own businesses.
Companies supporting the measure, which include Yelp, Sonos,
DuckDuckGo and Spotify, called it a "moderate and sensible bill
aimed squarely at well-documented abuses by the very largest
online platforms."
Other signatories included the American Booksellers Association,
the American Independent Business Alliance, the Institute for
Local Self-Reliance and Kelkoo Group. Amazon.com, the Chamber of
Commerce and others oppose the measure.
Supporters urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying it would
modernize antitrust laws so smaller companies can compete.
Last week, Klobuchar said she believed she had the 60 Senate
votes needed to end debate and move to a vote on final passage.
There is a similar bill in the House of Representatives.
"It's no surprise that Yelp and Spotify like the bill since it's
designed to help them. But senators are telling us that they
just aren't hearing their voters demanding changes to Amazon
Basics and Google Maps," the pro-tech Chamber of Progress said
in a statement.
The tech giants have said the bill would imperil popular
consumer products like Google Maps and Amazon Basics and make it
harder for the companies to protect their users' security and
privacy.
Carl Szabo of NetChoice said the pressure being exerted to get a
vote on the bill was a sign that it did not have enough support
to pass. "This is a drowning bill's last gasp for air," he said.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Chris Reese and David
Gregorio)
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