Mike Peterson
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that she spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook about a recent slate of antitrust bills, adding that she told him to let the process play out.
On Thursday, the House Speaker detailed her conversation with Cook, but maintained her stance that American privacy and data are at the ends of giant technology companies. Pelosi said she told Cook to let the legislative process continue, CNBC reported.
"If you have substantive concerns — and they have members who have voted with them on this — they can put forth what they want to put forth," said House Speaker Pelosi. "But we are not going to ignore the consolidation that has happened and the concern that exists on both sides of the aisle."
House Speaker Pelosi added that the primary concerns of lawmakers are consumers and competition. While technology is an asset to the U.S., the speaker said she's concerned about fairness, privacy, and data exploitation.
Just a day earlier, reports indicated that Cook had personally called Pelosi and other lawmakers in an attempt to sway opinion against a recent slate of antitrust bills that could have major changes on the technology industry.
Cook reportedly said that the bills were rushed and would stifle innovation and hurt consumers.
The antitrust package was introduced in the U.S. House earlier in June. There are a total of five bills that could have significant ramifications for Apple and other technology giants, including new restrictions on the preinstallation of first-party iOS apps.
Along with Apple, other groups have voiced their opposition to the bills. On Tuesday, a group of think tanks and nonprofits — some of which are backed by Apple — penned a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging lawmakers to reject the bills.
The House Judiciary Committee is currently reviewing the legislation. On Wednesday, it approved a bill that could increase the budgets of the top antitrust enforcement agencies in the U.S. That approval means the bill will now go before the full U.S. House of Representatives for a vote.
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Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
18 Comments
House Speaker Pelosi added that the primary concerns of lawmakers are consumers and competition. -- Sorry but when have lawmakers actually been concerned about consumers over corporations. My concerns are usability and privacy, not competition. I quit buying crappy tools when they only lasted a few times. Competition doesn't mean the lowest price is always better. I want to pay for what I see as the best product that works for me. I choose to do this and what the government is doing is forcing a fantastic company to allow crap to run on their products. That isn't what I want so stop trying to tell me what is good for me when you aren't technically qualified to make those decisions.
Just trust us, the government is here to help. The scariest thing you could ever hear. I wouldn't trust Nancy Pelosi to tell me the sky was blue.
Apple Love the Democrats so now deal with this bills as Pelosi turn her back to Apple