Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act
Latest action · Apr 12, 2021 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 12, 2021
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act
This bill makes various changes to the federal antitrust statutes and places restrictions on acquisitions involving certain dominant digital firms.
First, the bill revises the evidentiary standards for establishing an illegal monopoly. Under the bill, if a plaintiff establishes the existence of substantial market power or the detrimental effects of particular practices, then the plaintiff need not further establish the scope of the relevant market or the share of the market controlled by the defendant. Further, to prove that the procompetitive effects justify a defendant's conduct the defendant must show by clear and convincing evidence that (1) the procompetitive effects of the conduct outweigh the anticompetitive effects, and (2) the defendant could not obtain substantially similar procompetitive effects through commercially reasonable alternatives. In the case of a violation, courts must order the disgorgement of all profits earned as a result of the conduct.
Next, the bill generally prohibits acquisitions by companies with a market capitalization exceeding $100 billion where the effect of the acquisition may be to lessen competition.
Finally, the Federal Trade Commission may designate as a dominant digital firm a website or online service that the commission determines possesses dominant market power based on specified factors. Acquisitions by such firms in excess of $1 million are presumed unfair trade practices under the bill. Further, a dominant digital firm that provides search functionality must disclose to users any search results are that are promoted or demoted based on whether the search result is affiliated or not affiliated with the firm.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 12, 2021Introduced in Senate
- Apr 12, 2021Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Civil actions and liability
- Commerce
- Competition and antitrust
- Corporate finance and management
- Evidence and witnesses
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Government studies and investigations
- Internet and video services
- Internet, web applications, social media
- Judicial review and appeals
- Public contracts and procurement
- Securities
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 12, 2021Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.