Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google grilled on Capitol Hill over their market power

Cicilline said that all four companies that testified today are monopolies at the conclusion of a more than five-hour grilling of some of the top technology titans.

“These companies, as they exist today, all have monopoly power,” he said during closing statements. “Some need to be broken up.”

He also suggested that all of the companies need to be regulated. He compared the four chief executives who testified to the modern day versions of Gilded Age tycoons.

In response to a question from Neguse, Cook denied that Apple uses data on its App Store to create competing apps of its own. “We would never steal somebody’s IP," Cook said.

However, the practice at Apple has a name: “Sherlocking,” which originated from an old story in which Apple co-founder Steve Jobs copied a search tool called Watson, using it in Apple’s own tool it called Sherlock.

Apple continues the practice to this day, something generally accepted as normal in the software development industry. As Steve Jobs once said: “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said profits were not as important as getting essential items to customers and protecting its warehouse workers as the coronavirus first raged.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) questioned Bezos on Amazon’s decision to delay shipment of nonessential products in March, noting that the committee heard from “several employees” that Amazon continued to ship nonessential items like hammocks, fish tanks and pool floaties. She asked Bezos if the company designated Amazon devices such as its Fire TV, Echo speakers and Ring doorbell as essential.

In an exchange with Jayapal, Zuckerberg appeared to grow a bit frustrated with a question about the advertiser boycott Facebook is facing. The lawmaker pointed to a report that Zuckerberg was flippant about the impact of the boycott. She asked whether he was saying he didn’t care about it.

“No, Congresswoman, of course we care” about the advertising boycott, he said. But he said the company would not let advertisers dictate the company’s content policies.

Facebook has conceded to some of the demands of the boycott, including hiring a high-level senior executive dedicated to civil rights, but the organizers say the company has much further to go.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) dug into Google’s advertising business during the last round of questions in the hearing, kicking it off by asking CEO Pichai what share of the ad exchange market Google controls.

Pichai said he didn’t know.

“I’m not exactly familiar, I’ve seen various reports, but you know, we are a popular choice,” he said.

Congressman Nadler accused Cook of profiteering as the novel coronavirus spread around the world by forcing commissions on companies that have had to switch to digital models during a pandemic that has forced much of the business world online.

Cook denied that accusation. “We would never do that,” Cook said, acknowledging two cases in which companies have complained about Apple’s behavior. Cook said Apple was working with those companies on a solution.

Nadler accused Apple of changing its policies about commissions, or changing the way it enforces those policies, to extract more revenue out of developers. He pointed to the email app Hey, which has complained publicly and testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee, about Apple’s alleged behavior.

Three of the tech CEOs walked carefully around a question from Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), but Facebook’s Zuckerberg addressed it head on.

“Do you believe the Chinese government steals technology from U.S. companies?” Steube asked.

Pichai and Cook both said first they were not aware of the Chinese government stealing from Google and Apple, respectively. Zuckerberg spoke more generally.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) asked Zuckerberg about tools that Facebook uses to get insights into the competition.

He mentioned Facebook’s 2013 acquisition of an Israeli security app called Onavo Protect, which the company used to gain visibility into how consumers were using many apps that were installed on their phones. That helped Facebook monitor potential competitors and pounce on fast-growing new businesses.

The use of Onavo led to the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, The Washington Post reported.