Public Knowledge

Public Knowledge Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights this Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 2:30 p.m. Her testimony in the hearing on “Big Data, Big Questions: Implications for Competition and Consumers” will argue for new laws and rules to rein in the gatekeeper power of Big Tech.

Today, Public Knowledge joined 121 other public interest, consumer, education, and civil rights advocacy groups, as well as industry, in a letter urging the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to include a device voucher program within the budget reconciliation package to connect more low-income families.

Today, the Federal Trade Commission voted to rescind the agency’s 2020 vertical merger guidelines detailing how the Commission will evaluate vertical mergers. 

Today, the Federal Communications Commission’s Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld to the agency’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.

Today, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) introduced the “Device Access for Every American Act” to help low-income consumers afford a computer or tablet, marking a significant step toward closing the digital divide.

Today, reports indicate that President Joe Biden will nominate Alvaro Bedoya as a Commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Bedoya is the Founding Director of the Center on Privacy & Technology and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown Law.

Last year, Epic Games sued Apple, arguing — among other things — that its restrictions on app store payments for digital goods were anticompetitive. Today, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled partly in Epic’s favor. Public Knowledge argues that this win for users also demonstrates the need for federal legislation to address anticompetitive abuses in the digital economy.

Today, Public Knowledge joined 57 other public interest and consumer advocacy groups in a letter urging U.S. House leadership to pass the six bipartisan antitrust bills introduced this summer to rein in Big Tech.