“The unified voice of the Internet economy,” the Internet Association’s sometimes nickname, has fallen silent. On December 15, its Board of Directors endorsed the dissolution of the lobbying organization considered the most powerful Tech in Washington after almost 10 years of existence. This decision is linked to the growing dissensions both between the small members of the association and the GAFAM and between its last.
American Tech dispersed in the face of regulatory threats
Congressional lawmakers on both sides, Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission and other regulators, will have succeeded in indirectly silencing America’s largest tech lobby group. Antitrust assaults on GAFA have tended to fracture them rather than spur them to form a united front.
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The Internet Association quickly decided not to get involved in competition issues. Among its members are players less important than the GAFAM. Many are in favor of tighter regulation of the internet giants.
When announcing the association’s dissolution, Luther Lowe, Yelp’s public policy manager, tweeted, “ This org could have saved itself years ago by firing anyone with a market cap over $ 500 billion “. Yelp left the Internet Association in 2019.
This org could’ve saved itself years ago by kicking out everyone with a market cap greater than $ 500b (ie GAFA). I made this suggestion to the leadership a few years ago, but it was shot down, so we quit.
If anyone wants to build such an org, DMs are open. ? pic.twitter.com/WagGaLrrrf
– Luther Lowe (@lutherlowe) December 15, 2021
The Internet Association ended by the internal wars of GAFAM
Based on information from Politico, Amazon and Google, at the heart of antitrust proceedings in the United States, have expressed frustration at the timidity of the group’s lobbying on these issues. They considered cutting their subsidies, calculated by company size, in July.
A threat to the financial balance of the Internet Association, amplified with the departure of Uber and especially Microsoft, in November, announced by Axios. The company gave between $ 800,000 and $ 1 million per year to the organization.
Microsoft left because it is on the other side of the ring. The company felt the wind of dismantling blow hard on its activities in the early 2000s. Since then, the M des GAFAM has been praising its proximity to the authorities and seeking to differentiate itself from companies in Silicon Valley.
Satya Nadella, CEO of the company, was not summoned by the US Congress in July 2020 unlike Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook or Sundar Pichai. There are no FTC proceedings against Richmond.
In an internal memo dated June and signed Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, sent to Financial Times, it is written ” as a company we will continue to focus on adapting to regulation rather than fighting it “.
Amazon and Andy Jassy, its CEO, have expressed their displeasure with what is seen as preferential treatment. A spokesperson for the company said that Microsoft “ had to be looked at like any other business “.
Amazon and Google have not hesitated to attack Microsoft on other fronts. Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe called for DMA to cover software providers. An attack against Microsoft remotely controlled by the champion of e-commerce. In September, the Computer & Communications Industry Association released a study showing that 85% of business software in U.S. government agencies came from Microsoft. The study was commissioned by Google.
The heightened tensions between GAFAM and the financial difficulties exacerbated by it have doomed the Internet Association. Its board of directors explained in its press release that “ member companies remain committed to advancing public policies in support of this mission and will continue to work with stakeholders in other capacities “. Yes, but now each on their own.