For American consumers and big tech, the war against them continues. Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, led by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) that would significantly change America’s antitrust laws in a way that would profoundly harm consumers. AICOA’s proponents claim the bill would “restore competition online by […]
Technology
ACI Sends Letter to Department of Education and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: End Cheating on College Campuses
WASHINGTON – Today, the American Consumer Institute (ACI), as a part of its recently launched initiative, The Academic Integrity Project, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra highlighting the epidemic of cheating taking place on college campuses, and urging the agencies […]
Townhall: Price Controls Will Not Lower Drug Prices
58 million Americans are not able to afford the drugs they need, and 34 million adults know someone who died because they could not afford medications. Earlier this month the House Ways & Means Committee endorsed H.R. 3, a proposal that would set prescription drug price controls as one way to pay for the massive $3.5 […]
Real Clear Policy: Congress — Pass a Federal Data Law
In the first six months of 2021, there were 1,767 data breaches reported across the globe, exposing over 18 billion records. To contextualize that number, more records were exposed in six months than people on earth. Data breaches not only compromise consumers’ and businesses’ financial situations, but they can also lead to unnecessary stress and […]
Real Clear Policy: Antitrust Bill Will Undermine Competition & Choice
Rather than creating a punitive regulatory environment, lawmakers would be wise to craft legislation that incentivizes tech platforms to compete and innovate with each other, so that consumers are able to reap the significant benefits tech platforms can provide. Not doing so will only represent Washington’s failure to protect consumers. This full article can be […]
The Economic Standard: Antitrust Reform Would Harm Workers, Not Help Them
n the minds of some politicians, it seems there is not a social problem antitrust reform cannot solve. Most recently, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have expressed a belief that breaking up large companies will enhance conditions for working Americans. This erroneous view was clearly displayed during the latest House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing entitled 21st […]
ACI Sends a Letter To Senator Grassley: Don’t Undermine Consumer Welfare
Senator Grassley and Members of Congress: We appreciate your efforts and careful attention to antitrust and other competition related issues with technology companies. While we support antitrust scrutiny to promote competitive behavior, as long-time supporters of free markets and free expression, we are concerned to see drastic antitrust reform proposals that completely overlook consumer welfare […]
The Economic Standard: Big Tech’s Big Consumer Wins
Over the past year, lawmakers in Washington and State Capitols have criticized big tech’s business practices, alleging self-preferencing, pre-installing apps, and data collection practices amount to violations of America’s antitrust laws. Yet, few have given much consideration to the numerous consumer benefits generated by the industry. Rather than simply focusing on market definitions and an […]
ACI Study Finds Government-Owned Broadband Networks Will Not Bridge the Digital Divide
Today, the American Consumer Institute (ACI) released a new study examining the dangers of government-owned broadband networks at a time when some states and municipalities are flush with stimulus dollars. Despite significant advancements in internet subscribership and record levels of private investment that have led to lower prices and increased speeds for consumers, some persist […]
Town Hall: Regulators Wrong on Big Tech Benefits
Simply assuming that bunding is bad is simply erroneous. This commentary shows that tech companies are bundling services and it is resulting in tens of billions of dollars of benefits to consumers. All the while, regulators want to end the bundling of online services and features, claiming (inaccurately) that this violates antitrust laws. Unless policymakers […]