The House Tech Report: An Ambitious Plan or a Starting Point for Incremental Reform?

As antitrust issues in the tech industry have become an increasing topic of discussion — and litigation — a more fundamental question has also become central: is current antitrust law sufficient to adequately preserve competition in the digital sector?  The Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee believes not.  In a lengthy report summarizing the committee’s extensive investigation into the effects of market power online, committee leaders provide an ambitious legislative plan intended to increase competition in the digital markets.  The majority’s proposals are likely to be subject to vigorous debate in Congress during the next term, with lawmakers deciding whether the current antitrust laws have proved insufficient to foster robust competition in this increasingly important sector of the U.S. economy.  This article looks at the ambitious proposals in the House Report and the likelihood of bipartisan consensus regarding the appropriate level of oversight of digital markets.

By Edith Ramirez, Chuck Loughlin, and Logan Breed¹

I. INTRODUCTION

The long-awaited report on competition in digital markets by the majority staff of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law (the “Report”)² has now become the focal point of discussion for significant potential antitrust reform in the United States.  The legislative conversation about the proper role of antitrust