nilay patel

nilay patel @reckless

Rep Johnson asking why Amazon gets reduced commissions in the App Store and if anyone else can get them. Cook says yes if they meet conditions. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Clear split between the Dems on the committee, who are basically running a trial, and the GOP members, who are doing something... else. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Cook's first time in the hot seat. Question is about the app store review process, from Rep Johnson. "The App Store is a feature of the iPhone, much like the camera," Cook says. I don't know about that. — PolitiTweet.org

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Buck says Google stealing rap lyric search results from Genius is the same as... Chinese military espionage? Incredible — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Buck is asking if Google works with the Chinese military and not the US military. (Google does not operate in China; its project to build a search engine for China is mired in internal controversy.) — PolitiTweet.org

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Now Rep Buck with a full throated defense of capitalism. "You have all enjoyed the freedom to succeed," he says. Now on to Google dropping out of the JEDI military contract bc it did not align with Google's values. He is mad about that. — PolitiTweet.org

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"It was not a guarantee that Instagram was going to succeed," says Zuck. He notes Path doesn't exist anymore. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Nadler is up now, asking Zuck about the purchase of Instagram. We have the internal docs in an exclusive here: https://t.co/i3B2dQsrHu — PolitiTweet.org

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RT @CaseyNewton: NEW: Here are the documents the House obtained about Facebook’s purchase of Instagram — including Zuckerberg’s discussion… — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

EXCLUSIVE: We have the internal Facebook emails where Zuckerberg discussed buying Instagram to "neutralize a competitor." The emails are being discussed in the hearing now. https://t.co/1LvGdiVrnI — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

The Wisconsin GOP remains deeply and utterly embarassing. — PolitiTweet.org

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Sensenbrenner says he wouldn't take hydroxychloroquine but that it's. a legitimate matter of discussion, and asks Zuck about taking down Donald Trump Jr's account being taken down. Zuck reminds him that that happened on Twitter, not Facebook. SIGH — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

@JaredEzz @mudlarklives @backlon It's going to be five hours long, we didn't think a liveblog would work well. We're live-updating this piece, though: https://t.co/gnvqfyFzVt — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Sensenbrenner rambling about "the way the Net was put together" and asking Zuck about filtering political speech. "Conservatives are consumers too" makes a repeat appearance. — PolitiTweet.org

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"As Google became the gateway to the internet... it has identified competitors and crushed them" says Cicilline. And he's done for now. On to Sensenbrenner. — PolitiTweet.org

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Cicilline asks why Google threatened Yelp in various ways. Pichai says he is happy to help him understand various issues later. It's like that. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

This is going to be a theme -- this committee has a LOT of internal docs, 1.3m collected over the course of the last year-plus. We will hear a lot about them. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Cicilline follows up with question about the value of Google ads. He's hammering Pichai from the jump. "Google evolved from a turnstile to the rest of the web to a walled garden." Referencing internal Google docs calling external sites a threat. — PolitiTweet.org

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"Why does Google steal content from other businesses?" Cicilline asks. (This is the Yelp Memorial Question.)Pichai says they don't do that. — PolitiTweet.org

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Okay, we're on to questions. These are going to be five minute blocks for each member of the committee; the Dems at least are going to focus on one company at a time. Cicilline begins with Google. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

CEO tech check: Bezos, Zuck and Pichai don't have computers in front of them that I can see. Cook appears to have an iPad. — PolitiTweet.org

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Zuckerberg now up. "Our business model is advertising," he says. He's pointing out that the other companies compete with them in various ways, calling them gatekeepers "with the power to keep our apps out of their app stores." — PolitiTweet.org

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Cook is talking about the App Store as a revolutionary alternative to physical media software distribution, without mentioning that online software distribution also exists and is commonly used on the Mac, his other platform. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Tim Cook is up now. He mentions the "seamless integration of hardware and software" within moments. — PolitiTweet.org

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"Google's continued success is not guaranteed," says Pichai. "New competitors emerge every day." This is going to be a theme -- all four CEOs are going to insist they are terrified by a huge variety of companies that compete with them. — PolitiTweet.org

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Now it's Pichai's turn to give his opening statement. He says a discussion about competition is a discussion about opportunity. All of these CEOs are talking about their personal experiences building products. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

@simoningall @Twitter Facebook spends more on its trust and safety team than Twitter makes in a year. It's tiny. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Now Bezos is reading his opening statement. All of these opening statements are publicly posted already, you can read up on them here: https://t.co/wpOiUoxqmM — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

After the Jim Jordan Four Loko Experience has come to a close, Cicilline is introducing the CEOs. — PolitiTweet.org

nilay patel @reckless

Jordan yelling that their "have to be consequences" for Twitter moderating conservatives. So I guess that's why we are going to break up Facebook? Sure. — PolitiTweet.org