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read the article and comment on the big tech companies's range of action

explain why it is difficult to regulate Big Tech companies

discuss why we should beware of Big Tech and what should be done to try and curb its power.

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Describe and find info about FIVE EYES. Use the documents and videos at your disposal.
origin, what is at stake nowadays? which countries are involved?

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1.  read the text and explain what PRISM is.

1. what happened to Snowden?

2. look at the cartoon and explain why it is ironical

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The Social Dilemma | Official Trailer | Netflix

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PRESENT THE EVOLUTION AND MONOPOLY OF BIG TECH

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How does the Five Eyes intelligence alliance strengthen the international power of English-speaking countries?

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• L’alliance Five Eyes et son évolution depuis sa création

• Les relations entre la Chine et les États-Unis

• L’hégémonie des États-Unis au sein de l’alliance Five Eyes

• L’affaire Snowden

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Find information about :

Jeff Bezos

Mark Zuckerberg ,

Bill Gates ,

Steve Jobs ,

Larry Page

Sergey Brin

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Answer questions a,b,c,e

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Watch the trailer , what issue director Oliver Stone wanted to denounce and how he chose to portray the character ES

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Snowden | Official Trailer [HD] | Open Road Films

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With the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, there is no better time than now to light a candle and curl up in a blanket to binge watch new titles on Netflix. While I have personally not had a lot of time to start watching a new series, I have watched a few new documentaries. These are the titles that I more commonly gravitate to when watching Netflix; they are very well done and they are not as much of a commitment to watch unlike a series such as Grey's Anatomy .

One of the documentaries that hit Netflix this year is called The Social Dilemma. This documentary discusses the psychology of social media and the harmful effects that it is already showing in newer generations. The film features interviews with many social media development pioneers, who have left their position to discuss some of the frightening aspects of these platforms that the public knows little about. This documentary is thought-provoking, and it made me analyze the role that social media and technology play in my day-to-day life. A quote from the documentary that stood out to me was one that was said by professor and statistician Edward Tufte which stated, "There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software." This quote was shocking to me because it made me think in a completely different way about technology and my personal usage of it. I know that personally I use technology at an unhealthy amount, and I know I am not alone. According to Addiction Center , as many as 5-10% of Americans fit the criteria for social media addiction. That may not sound like a lot, but that is more than thirty million Americans. In these times, it is hard not to be infatuated with social media and technology as it is so integrated into our society. With the current state of our world, it is almost impossible to complete a full day without the use of it. It is used for schoolwork, communication with loved ones, and keeping up with current events. It saves people from awkward social situations and it keeps them entertained.

This documentary quite honestly terrified me for the future of technology. I have always despised how addicted I am to my smartphone and how it plays such a large role in our current generation. This documentary opened my eyes to its harm and how the algorithms in our Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok feeds are completely catered to us and our beliefs. Early investor venture capitalist for Facebook, Roger McNamee stated "The way to think about it is as 2.5 billion Truman Shows. Each person has their own reality with their own facts. Over time you have the false sense that everyone agrees with you because everyone in your news feed sounds just like you. Once you're in that state, it turns out you're easily manipulated." This has created mass political polarization in our world and the people being interviewed in the documentary stated that they believed that it could lead to more serious repercussions. A more recent example of this would be within our most recent presidential election. People are now more polarized than ever concerning their political beliefs and it is creating a great division. There is no doubt that social media and technology have played a vital role in this. All in all, this documentary opened my eyes to the negative aspects of technology.

I would recommend this documentary to anyone who uses social media, which is nearly everyone. It opened my eyes to the secrets of social media algorithms and how they play a role in our daily lives. It also showed how it could affect our future. Now when I pick up my phone, I think about how involuntary that action has become. The Social Dilemma is a must-watch for anyone living in this technological generation.

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An Analysis of Netflix's 'The Social Dilemma'

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With the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, there is no better time than now to light a candle and curl up in a blanket to binge watch new titles on Netflix. While I have personally not had a lot of time to start watching a new series, I have watched a few...

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Answer question a, b,d,e.

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what impact have Big Tech companies on our lives?

what is the link between FIVE EYES AND BIG TECH COMPANIES?

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1. what is  Big Tech?

2. find information about the dominant companies in American technology.

3. look at the cartoon and say what issue it raises

4. who is Kashmir Hill?

5. watch the video below and  find information about Kashmir Hill's project and the challenges she had to face.

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Towards policy changes

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Politics

Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

FTA

The Financial Technology Association (FTA) represents industry leaders shaping the future of finance. We champion the power of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and responsible innovation.

FTA

The Financial Technology Association (FTA) represents industry leaders shaping the future of finance. We champion the power of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and responsible innovation.

Photo: Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services

Donna Goodison

Donna Goodison (@dgoodison) is Protocol's senior reporter focusing on enterprise infrastructure technology, from the 'Big 3' cloud computing providers to data centers. She previously covered the public cloud at CRN after 15 years as a business reporter for the Boston Herald. Based in Massachusetts, she also has worked as a Boston Globe freelancer, business reporter at the Boston Business Journal and real estate reporter at Banker & Tradesman after toiling at weekly newspapers.

Donna Goodison

Donna Goodison (@dgoodison) is Protocol's senior reporter focusing on enterprise infrastructure technology, from the 'Big 3' cloud computing providers to data centers. She previously covered the public cloud at CRN after 15 years as a business reporter for the Boston Herald. Based in Massachusetts, she also has worked as a Boston Globe freelancer, business reporter at the Boston Business Journal and real estate reporter at Banker & Tradesman after toiling at weekly newspapers.

Bennett Richardson

Bennett Richardson ( @bennettrich) is the president of Protocol. Prior to joining Protocol in 2019, Bennett was executive director of global strategic partnerships at POLITICO, where he led strategic growth efforts including POLITICO's European expansion in Brussels and POLITICO's creative agency POLITICO Focus during his six years with the company. Prior to POLITICO, Bennett was co-founder and CMO of Hinge, the mobile dating company recently acquired by Match Group. Bennett began his career in digital and social brand marketing working with major brands across tech, energy, and health care at leading marketing and communications agencies including Edelman and GMMB. Bennett is originally from Portland, Maine, and received his bachelor's degree from Colgate University.

Jamie Condliffe

Jamie Condliffe ( @jme_c) is the executive editor at Protocol, based in London. Prior to joining Protocol in 2019, he worked on the business desk at The New York Times, where he edited the DealBook newsletter and wrote Bits, the weekly tech newsletter. He has previously worked at MIT Technology Review, Gizmodo, and New Scientist, and has held lectureships at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. He also holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of Oxford.

Bennett Richardson

Bennett Richardson ( @bennettrich) is the president of Protocol. Prior to joining Protocol in 2019, Bennett was executive director of global strategic partnerships at POLITICO, where he led strategic growth efforts including POLITICO's European expansion in Brussels and POLITICO's creative agency POLITICO Focus during his six years with the company. Prior to POLITICO, Bennett was co-founder and CMO of Hinge, the mobile dating company recently acquired by Match Group. Bennett began his career in digital and social brand marketing working with major brands across tech, energy, and health care at leading marketing and communications agencies including Edelman and GMMB. Bennett is originally from Portland, Maine, and received his bachelor's degree from Colgate University.

Photo: artpartner-images via Getty Images

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What tech policy could look like in Biden's first 100 days

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Politics Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images FTA The Financial Technology Association (FTA) represents industry leaders shaping the future of finance. We champion the power of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and responsible innovation.

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1. observe the infographic and give information about  Five Eyes
2. Listen to the interview of Ambassador John Negroponte and pick out the events which shaped the history of Five Eyes

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1. watch the videos, read the texts and identify the context of Obama's speech

2. explain his position regarding surveillance

3. discuss: does Obama go far enough to protect civil liberties?

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President Obama on Friday announced a series of reforms to the nation's surveillance apparatus, including steps to add more privacy safeguards to a controversial National Security Agency program that collects Americans' phone records in bulk. The reforms, however, leave a number of open questions for Congress and other government officials to resolve.

"We have to make some important decisions about how to protect ourselves and sustain our leadership in the world, while upholding the civil liberties and privacy protections that our ideals - and our Constitution - require," Mr. Obama said in a speech delivered from the Justice Department.

Most significantly, Mr. Obama is requiring the NSA to get judicial approval before querying its vast database of telephone metadata.

Effectively immediately, the president is also reducing the number of data connections surveillance analysts can use to tie communications of terrors suspects to phone numbers. These so-called "hops" previously could be used three times by analysts to develop a potential pattern or matrix of sources or terrorist affiliations, but Mr. Obama is reducing the number of "hops" from three to two.

In addition to those steps, Mr. Obama is asking Attorney General Eric Holder and the intelligence community devise a way to transfer the metadata database from the government to a third party -- whether it is telecommunications firms or some yet-to-be created entity.

While Holder and the intelligence community considers what third party could hold onto the metadata, Mr. Obama is also asking them to consider what they can do with other existing programs to map terrorist connections.

The steps Mr. Obama announced, a senior administration official told reporters Friday, are "without a doubt the most significant reform in our surveillance programs since President Obama took office." While the president says he welcomes the debate over these programs, they were prompted by the information leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden.
Mr. Obama said Friday he would not "dwell on Mr. Snowden's actions," noting that he delivered a speech last year at the National Defense University -- before the Snowden revelations -- calling for a more robust public discussion about the balance between security and liberty.

Still, senior administration officials acknowledged Friday morning that the reforms announced today are targeting the metadata collection -- currently authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act -- because that program "has been of the greatest interest" since the Snowden leaks in June. The president, while announcing reforms to other facets of intelligence gathering, isn't reforming any other programs specifically authorized under Section 215.

"What the administration trying to do is less about a broader balancing of our intelligence collection and posture and more about addressing the controversies," CBS News Senior National Security Analyst Juan Zarate said. "These appear to be targeted fixes to specific controversies."

Furthermore, it's unclear whether these changes truly resolve privacy or civil liberties issues, or simply raise more questions.

"Why is AT&T having the data, rather than the government, any better?" Zarate asked. "I elect my government, I know what the oversight is -- if Google is going to run this, what control do I have over data?"

Mr. Obama himself acknowledged those apparent challenges.

Requiring telephone companies to hold data "could require companies to alter their procedures in ways that raise new privacy concerns," he said. "On the other hand, any third party maintaining a single, consolidated data-base would be carrying out what is essentially a government function with more expense, more legal ambiguity, and a doubtful impact on public confidence that their privacy is being protected."
He added, "More work needs to be done to determine exactly how this system might work."
The president has asked Holder and the intelligence community to report back to him by March 28, the date by which this program needs to be reauthorized. In the meantime, he said he would consult with Congress to see their views and get congressional reauthorization as needed.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has introduced legislation that would codify the changes the president came close to endorsing -- his bill would require the government to obtain metadata records on a case-by-case basis from telephone companies. He told CBS News that passing any legislation on this issue could be a challenge. "I would encourage the administration to do as much as it can administratively," he said.

On the other hand, Schiff pointed out that there's some incentive for Congress to act at least before June 2015 -- at that point, because of a "sunset provision" in the Patriot Act, the program would totally expire unless Congress explicitly reauthorizes it.

"For those that don't really want to see reform... if they're unwilling to compromise, the program is going to be gone all together," Schiff said.

Along with the reforms to the telephone metadata collection program, Mr. Obama also announced reforms to multiple other surveillance programs along with a series of reforms to the levers of power used to manage these programs:

Surveillance authorized under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act: Section 702 is intended to let the government collect the content of communications from foreigners, but Americans' communications are easily ensnared during the intelligence gathering. Mr. Obama said that he is asking Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to place greater restrictions on the government's ability to retain, search, and use communications between Americans and foreign citizens that is "incidentally" swept up.

FBI's use of National Security Letters: The FBI uses national security letters to obtain so-called business records (like credit card statements or phone records) without any court approval, and without disclosing the orders to the subject of the investigation. An advisory panel that Mr. Obama convened to review surveillance programs recommended -- among dozens of strong recommendations -- that national security letters be subject to judicial review. Mr. Obama didn't go that far.

"I have concerns that we should not set a standard for terrorism investigations that is higher than those involved in investigating an ordinary crime," Mr. Obama said Friday in response to that suggestion. "But I agree that greater oversight on the use of these letters may be appropriate, and am prepared to work with Congress on this issue."

He did, however, say he's directing Holder to amend the use of national security letters so that they cannot remain secret indefinitely -- the government will need to establish the need for secrecy by a certain point, or a letter's secrecy will expire.

"These are cases in which it is important that the subject of the investigation, such as a possible terrorist or spy, isn't tipped off," Mr. Obama said. "But we can - and should - be more transparent in how government uses this authority."

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court reform: While the FISA court, up to this point, did not have to review individual queries of metadata, it did grant the NSA authority at various intervals to collect the data in bulk. The court has come under fire for hardly ever rejecting government surveillance applications. One criticism of the court is that it only hears the government's perspective -- there is no adversary to argue on behalf of the subjects of surveillance.

To improve the court's perspective, Mr. Obama on Friday called on Congress to establish "a panel of advocates from outside government to provide an independent voice in significant cases" before the FISA court.

Oversight within the executive branch: In a presidential directive issued Friday, Mr. Obama ordered an annual administrative review of intelligence priorities. He also announced that new oversight officials will be appointed in the White House and the State Department.

Greater transparency: Mr. Obama said he is ordering Clapper, in consultation with Holder, to review any future FISA court opinions "with broad privacy implications" for the purpose of declassifying them.

He will also take steps to let communications providers make public more information about government requests they receive for data.

Surveillance of foreign heads of state: Absent a compelling national security purpose, the U.S. government will not monitor heads of state of close U.S. allies.

"Heads of state and government with whom we work closely, and on whose cooperation we depend, should feel confident that we are treating them as real partners," Mr. Obama said.

Bolstering protections for non-U.S. persons overseas: The presidential directive issued Friday specifies what the U.S. does and does not do in overseas surveillance. For instance, Mr. Obama said, "the directive makes clear that the United States only uses signals intelligence for legitimate national security purposes, and not for the purpose of indiscriminately reviewing the emails or phone calls of ordinary people."

On top of that Mr. Obama has taken what he called the "unprecedented step" of extending certain American protections to people overseas. He directed Holder and Clapper to develop safeguards to limit the duration in which the U.S. can hold personal information from people overseas, while also restricting the use of this information.

"The bottom line is that people around the world - regardless of their nationality - should know that the United States is not spying on ordinary people who don't threaten our national security, and that we take their privacy concerns into account," Mr. Obama said.

Answering the broader questions: Mr. Obama also announced he's asked his counselor John Podesta to lead a comprehensive review of big data and privacy. Podesta will lead a group of government officials who, along with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, will reach out to privacy experts, technologists and business leaders to discuss the challenges of "big data" and how to potentially create international norms for managing such data.

"Ultimately, what's at stake in this debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines, or passing tensions in our foreign policy," Mr. Obama said. "When you cut through the noise, what's really at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a world that is remaking itself at dizzying speed."

Mr. Obama's reforms elicited a wide range of opinions from Congress on Friday. Schiff said in a statement he is pleased with the president's concrete steps to improve privacy protections and oversight. "Though the steps announced today are important, it will be up to Congress to implement many of these changes, as well as others, and to ensure that they are durable across future Administrations," he said.

Another group of lawmakers interested in reforming NSA programs and bolstering privacy -- Senate Intelligence Committee members Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Mark Udall, D-Colo.; and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; -- released a joint statement commending the president.

"After the long push to rein in overbroad surveillance powers, we are very pleased that the President announced his intent to end the bulk collection of Americans' phone records," the senators said. "Ending this dragnet collection will go a long way toward restoring Americans' constitutional rights and rebuilding the public's trust. Make no mistake, this is a major milestone in our longstanding efforts to reform the National Security Agency's bulk collection program."

However, other lawmakers interested in protecting civil liberties -- from both sides of the aisle -- were more critical.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in a statement that he is "encouraged" by the president's reforms but disappointed in the details.

"The Fourth Amendment requires an individualized warrant based on probable cause before the government can search phone records and e-mails. President Obama's announced solution to the NSA spying controversy is the same unconstitutional program with a new configuration," Paul said. "I intend to continue the fight to restore Americans rights through my Fourth Amendment Restoration Act and my legal challenge against the NSA. The American people should not expect the fox to guard the hen house."

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., similarly said he appreciated the president's efforts. However, he said, "the steps he announced today fall short of reining in the NSA."

NSA surveillance exposed

More

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Stephanie Condon

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Obama's NSA changes raise more questions than answers

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President Obama on Friday announced a series of reforms to the nation's surveillance apparatus, including steps to add more privacy safeguards to a controversial National Security Agency program that collects Americans' phone records in bulk. The reforms, however, leave a number of open questions for Congress and other government officials to resolve.

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A public forum dedicated to civil & spirited debate on the most hot-button issues of the day.

Newsweek is excited to announce our new partnership with the creators of the Emmy award-winning documentary The Social Dilemma in a project that inspires Gen Z to debate how we should regulate social media platforms. Max Steinman, The Social Dilemma, Creative Director at Exposure Labs joins us to talk about the project. Visit thesocialdilemma.com/debate

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Introducing The Social Dilemma Debate Project

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Newsweek is excited to announce our new partnership with the creators of the Emmy award-winning documentary The Social Dilemma in a project that inspires Gen Z to debate how we should regulate social media platforms. Max Steinman, The Social Dilemma, Creative Director at Exposure Labs joins us to talk about the project.

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1. listen to the audio define what Daniel Bader calls an ad company

2. compare and contrast  Google and FB concerning data collection.

3. discuss the statement " we are the products", do you agree? why?why not?

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Which major tech companies are collecting your data and why | Your Morning

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Cutting the 'Big Five' Tech Companies From My Life Was Hell | Blocking Tech Giants: Week 6

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1. Listen to the audio, read the texts and explain the changes expected from the Biden White House

2. Define what what section 230 is and comment on the issue its raises.

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1. a.read the text and describe the situation the UK had to face with its allies in Jan 2020

2. b say what the UK's answer was and imagine why

3. comment on the interdependence of the Five Eyes countries with China.

ALL GROUPS:translate the last sentence the text ( line 29-31).

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would we need to change regulations on social media?

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read the text , say what " DIEM" consists offend how it works

comment on the possible risks of using Diem

explain the role and interests of FB in this project. Would you be ready to use Diem?

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Look at the chart and account for the evolution of tech companies from 2005 to 2020
then watch the video below and answer the questions

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watch the online doc if you can and explain how the alliance managed to change its activities after WWII

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The Five Eyes intelligence alliance could be expanded to include Japan and broadened into a strategic economic relationship that pools key strategic reserves such as critical minerals and medical supplies, according to centre-right MPs working internationally to decouple the west from China.

The coronavirus crisis has revealed the west's key strategic dependencies on China, and plans will be announced shortly under Five Eyes auspices for a major increase in production of rare and semi-rare metals from Australia, Canada, and America in order to reduce dependency on Chinese stocks.

Critical minerals, known as rare earth elements, are the key components in a wide range of consumer products including mobile phones, laptops and TVs, and have widespread defence applications in jet engines, satellites, lasers and missiles. On average, China has accounted for more than 90% of the global production and supply of rare earths during the past decade, according to the US Geological Survey.

The potential for an expanding role for the Five Eyes alliance, an intelligence relationship formed in 1941, is part of a growing interest among conservative democratic lawmakers to form a cohesive political and economic alliance to compete with China. The proposals have an added allure for British Conservative MPs looking for deeper trading relationships outside the EU and China. The current Five Eyes members are Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

The idea of a Five Eyes free trade bloc has won the backing of Andrew Hastie, chair of the Australian parliament's joint committee on intelligence and a longterm critic of China.

He told a Henry Jackson Society seminar on decoupling with China that: "once we review our supply chains and establish vulnerabilities - and I trust the other Five Eyes countries will do the same - that will give the basis for an understanding where we can mitigate one another's weakness and yes there is a potential to build a free trading bloc. We should do everything possible to build out that network."

The parallel proposal for Japan to become the sixth partner in the intelligence sharing relationship was made by the Japanese defence minister, Tarō Kōno, at a China Research Group seminar last week, and has been welcomed by the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee Tom Tugendhat.

Kōno also said he would welcome the UK joining the new Pacific regional trade grouping the CPTPP partnership.

Tugendhat, who is also the founder of the China Research Group, said that "Five Eyes has been the core of our intelligence and defence architecture for decades. We should look at partners we can trust to deepen our alliances. Japan is an important strategic partner for many reasons and we should be looking at every opportunity to cooperate more closely."

Kōno said Japan would welcome an invitation to join the Five Eyes grouping.

He warned the growth of the Chinese economy has allowed China to purchase foreign tech companies, adding: "This is a development we must monitor closely. Tech-partnerships with countries like the UK will be critical to countering China, pooling our investments and encouraging our people to study the skill sets needed for our high-tech sectors to grow."

He added China was attempting to become independent of the US dollar economy through fast money-sending services, the introduction of their own internet, launching a digital renminbi and introducing a Chinese international order.

Kōno in his remarks stressed he was not seeking a military conflict with China, and was instead hoping to provide the Chinese Communist party with the space to cut defence spending, allowing democratic nations to take parallel steps.

Urging caution about economic decoupling, Pascal Lamy, the former World Trade Organization director general, predicted a more autonomous and closed China was likely to prove more dangerous. But he warned: "The west cannot coexist in a free trade relationship with a country that subsidies 30% of its economy. If China is not willing to accept global disciplines on state aid then we have to review a number of trade commitments - whether it is on public procurement or in specific sectors."

He denied that China had cheated, but had instead exploited a general absence of WTO rules and disciplines, including on state subsidies.

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Five Eyes alliance could expand in scope to counteract China

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The Five Eyes intelligence alliance could be expanded to include Japan and broadened into a strategic economic relationship that pools key strategic reserves such as critical minerals and medical supplies, according to centre-right MPs working internationally to decouple the west from China.

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1. watch the video, pick out names of the companies mentioned and explain their evolution through time

2. comment on the speaker's tone

3. define what is Tim Wu calls America's curse and explain its consequences

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Why tech industry monopolies could be a 'curse' for society

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read the text and find out what is said about tax exile, market

power, working conditions  and salaries)

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The Big Tech platforms have established monopolies which disempower their competitors as well as their workers. EU competition law can be used by unions seeking to bring them to heel.
Amazon symbolises the four platform giants, also known as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). The company is Europe's largest platform retailer and its turnover is twice as high as that of its 20 largest competitors. While Amazon´s chief executive earned 2.16 million dollars per hour in 2017, its workers must be grateful if they receive the statutory minimum wage, which in the EU varies between €1.42 and €11.27 per hour.

In 2018, Amazon generated a turnover of about 210 billion euro worldwide, an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous year's. The company has more than 600,000 employees across the globe. With a market capitalisation of more than 730 billion euro, it is one of the most valuable listed companies. Its operating profit amounts to around 11 billion euro. Nevertheless, thanks to a ruling it had agreed on in advance with the tax authorities of Luxembourg, Amazon did not pay taxes on 75 per cent of its turnover between 2003 and 2014.

In the long run, the platform economy not only poses a risk to the stability and budgets of countries where the corporations earn their money but do not pay taxes-it also undermines social cohesion. If the European Union wants to win back the trust of its citizens, it has to make sure that burdens are equitably distributed.

EU competition law offers an approach to tame those platform giants: the European Commission obliged Amazon to refund 250 million euro in taxes; Google had to return 12 billion. But the losses to the exchequer are only one facet of the problem. Others are the exploitation of workers and the elimination of market competitors through unfair business practices, as well as the deleterious environmental impacts of, for example, excessive packaging by Amazon and the destruction of returned mint-condition goods.

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Market power

Amazon generates its turnover mainly through four channels: as one of the biggest online retailers, as the operator of by far the largest online marketplace for third-party suppliers, as one of the largest providers of online services and as the distributor of the ordered products.

Because of its large market power in some trading segments, independent traders depend on Amazon to reach their customers. There is evidence that Amazon is trying to force traders out through its sheer market power, for instance through copying products and undercutting prices.

But traders are fighting back-meanwhile, several competition proceedings against Amazon are pending due to their numerous complaints. The German Federal Cartel Office initiated an anti-abuse proceeding in 2018 and the Austrian Federal Competition Authority followed in 2019. But what about the company's employees?

Brutal piecework

Amazon's rapid growth is at the expenses of its employees and the social-security systems of its countries of establishment. According to reports by UNI Global Union, the international umbrella organisation of service unions, Amazon´s company strategy is based on brutal piecework, carried out under permanent control using advanced monitoring technology.

Workers can cover distances of 16-20 km per hour and lift 50 tons of packages per day. They may be expected to handle 300 packages per hour-taking breaks is often not possible, even to go to the toilet. Because of work accidents or overloads ambulances had to be called fully 600 times during a three-year period to Amazon's UK warehouses, where 87 per cent of workers reported suffering chronic pain in their joints.

Amazon cleverly plays with what is legally possible: to break strikes, temporary workers are hired. Safeguard measures are often reduced to a minimum. Through classification into more favourable sectoral collective agreements ('sector shopping'), the company chooses the lowest possible collective tariff. To that end, it pretends to be a logistics company in Germany, while in France it operates as a small trader.

Because the company is not paying living wages, the German trade union ver.di organised strikes in several locations on May 2nd. Italy, where a collective agreement with Amazon on wages, shiftwork and working hours was introduced for the first time in 2018, was taken as a model. UNI Global Union has successfully established the UNI Global Amazon Alliance as a network straddling14 countries.

Competition law

EU competition law is armed with strict sanctions to prevent unfair competition, not only between companies but also between member-states. The idea behind it is that a European single market can only function if both sets of parties abide by fair rules.

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The greater the market power of a company, the easier it is to enforce (unfair) conditions against its rivals. Therefore, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) prohibits the abuse of a market-dominant position. It is obvious that because of its threefold function-as marketplace, seller and deliverer-Amazon holds such a position. It is already responsible for most online trade.

Through network effects and economies of scale, the company is further expanding its position and thus driving competitors out of the market, following the motto ' the winner takes it all '. This is fatal for other market participants as well as workers. Amazon's monopoly position makes it easy to break strikes in pursuit of living wages by recruiting temporary workers or outsourcing to countries with lower minimum wages.

Therefore, trade unions are urged to use the anti-abuse procedure of EU competition law to their advantage. The commission is conducting a market survey to identify any abusive practices by the company. Provided there is sufficient evidence, it will open a procedure in which third parties will have the opportunity to submit comments.

The concerns of employees, such as application of the correct collective agreement or the maintenance of rest periods, have a competition-law aspect. According to article 102 of the TFEU, obtaining an unjustified advantage by imposing unfair trading conditions on other market participants (including workers and consumers), solely through market power, is prohibited. In such a case, penalties of up to 1 per cent of a company's worldwide turnover can be imposed. Further, the commission can require a dominant undertaking to unbundle or divest certain parts of the company.

Regulation

Electronic platforms have the same characteristics as classic physical infrastructures such as the post, rail, telecommunications and energy. While in the US and the EU these have been subject to strict regulation for years, there is no such regulation in the new sector of the GAFA companies-also referred to as 'BAADD' (big, anti-competitive, addictive and destructive to democracy). From a trade-union point of view, unbundling and regulation in this sector are urgently needed, mainly because the gap between these large corporations and the rest is constantly increasing.

Especially with the GAFA companies, the higher their market concentration, the more the share of wages in their net product decreases. For example in Ireland, the wage ratio fell by 13 per cent between 2008 and 2014. Its counterpart, the profit share, increased at about the same rate. The business model of the GAFAs does not allow for the passing on of productivity improvements to their employees.

Wealth for all requires competition for all. Competition law alone does not go far enough here: it only becomes relevant when oligopolistic structures have already been consolidated. In the digital age of winner-take-all markets, the platform economy has to be subject to legal regulation. An economy of untamed superstars produces one thing above all-many losers.
All articles published on Social Europe (SE) only represent the opinions of the respective author(s) and NOT the opinion of Social Europe Publishing & Consulting GmbH.

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Welcome to GAFA land-where the winner takes it all

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The Big Tech platforms have established monopolies which disempower their competitors as well as their workers. EU competition law can be used by unions seeking to bring them to heel. Amazon symbolises the four platform giants, also known as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon).

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1. read the text

2. identify the missions carried out by Five Eyes

3. Comment on the importance of collaboration within Five Eyes and identify their new partners.

4. Explain what makes such a cooperation possible

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read the text and explain why MZ hit the headlines
describe what makes philanthropy a "badge of honour"

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read the article: how did the pandemic shift consuming habits?

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Big Tech Could Emerge From Coronavirus Crisis Stronger Than Ever (Published 2020)

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Amazon is hiring aggressively to meet customer demand. Traffic has soared on Facebook and YouTube. And cloud computing has become essential to home workers.

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1.  who was Anthony R. Wells

2. focus on the point of view the author and pick out elements to describe the tone of the passage.

3. explain what Five Eyes draws its. strength from according to Anthony Wells

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1. Do Facebook  and Tweeter violate the First Amendment by
suspending President Trump ‘s  accounts ? Do you approve
of their decision ?

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Transposition :

Le document qui nous est présenté est un extrait d’un article de l’Université d’Ottawa, écrit par Helen Baxendale, d’Octobre 2020. Le texte s’intitule « Understanding the Five Eyes : Twitter Conference ». Le document traite de la manière dont les pays vont gérer le problème du développement de la 5G et de la montée en puissance de la compagnie Huawei, comme par exemple le Royaume Uni. Ainsi tout se repose sur les conséquences, mais aussi les avantages de travailler avec une telle compagnie.