Google’s attempt to unseat the video conferencing upstart already provides evidence of monopolization. This is The COVID-19 Daily Report for June 6, 2020.
Big Tech
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Spotify Is Doing to Podcasting What Facebook and Google Did to Blogs
By acquiring the most popular shows, Spotify wants to dominate the industry, and make it impossible for newer voices to emerge.
Posted inCoronavirus
Contact Tracing Versus Civil Liberties
During a pandemic, how can policymakers balance privacy protections with public health?
Posted inPolitics
Apple Gets a Boot in Joe Biden’s Door
Cynthia Hogan, one of the members of Biden’s vice-presidential search committee, was a top lobbyist for the computing giant.
Posted inWorking in America
Across Class Lines: Amazon Tech Workers Join Warehouse Workers in Protests
Home-office climate activists and warehouse employees across the nation find common cause mobilizing against Amazon’s policies.
Posted inEconomic Policy
How Amazon Uses Lending to Control Small Businesses
The nature of the Amazon marketplace makes it virtually impossible for third-party sellers to borrow from private banks. Amazon’s own lending unit has filled the gap.
Posted inPolitics
Welcome to the Bullshit Economy
The Iowa caucus disaster is a function of a broken economic structure that rewards con artistry over competence.
Posted inTAP
The Silicon Valley Job Squeeze and the Boeing Chats
Today on TAP: David Dayen looks at the week’s most interesting stories
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Silicon Valley’s Big Apple Gambit
The four biggest tech firms are all opening offices in a very specific section of Manhattan, which happens to be the home district of one of their chief antagonists in Washington.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Pharma-Funded ‘Dark Money’ Group Hosts House Staffers for California Junket
The staffers, several of whom work for reps on the subcommittee overseeing pharmaceuticals, met with executives from drug companies Merck and Genentech.
