Big Tech is under the Hot Seat... Will someone make these Monopolies do the right thing? Will those cast out be let back in?

Big Tech is under the Hot Seat... Will someone make these Monopolies do the right thing? Will those cast out be let back in?

Big Tech on a rare bipartisan hot seat
Big Tech and its practices will be under a bipartisan microscope as the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday will launch its investigation into the market dominance of Silicon Valley's biggest names. It will begin with a look at the impact of the tech giants' platforms on news content, the media and the spread of misinformation online. The House Judiciary Committee's investigation of tech market power stands out because it's bipartisan and the first review by Congress of industry that dominated with generally little interference from federal regulators.


But with regulators at the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission apparently pursuing antitrust investigations of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon, and several state attorneys general exploring bipartisan action of their own, the tech industry finds itself being increasingly accused of operating like monopolies. Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI, will lead Tuesday's subcommittee hearing and vowed that the panel will broadly investigate the digital marketplace and "the dominance of large technology platforms," with an eye toward legislative action to increase competition.


Investigators seek clues behind NYC helicopter crash
The helicopter pilot killed in Monday’s crash in New York Cityhas been identified as a former volunteer fire chief and a "dedicated, highly professional and extremely well trained firefighter,"as well as a skilled pilot. Tim McCormack died Monday after he made a "crash landing" on the roof of 787 Seventh Avenue in MidtownManhattan around 2 p.m. as rain and strong winds hammered the city, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) said. Investigators believe he was conducting “executive travel” and was headed to the “home airport in Linden, N.J.” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio later told reporters that there appeared to be no connection to terrorism.


The Federal Aviation Administration said the National Transportation Safety Board was in charge of the investigation and "will determine probable cause of the incident." McCormack had been involved in a bird strike-related emergency landing for a helicopter in 2014.


DOJ casts wide net in probe of surveillance abuses in Russia investigation
As part of its ongoing "multifaceted" and "broad" review into potential misconduct by U.S. intelligence agencies during the 2016 presidential campaign, the Justice Department revealed Monday it is also investigating the activities of several "non-governmental organizations and individuals." In addition, the DOJ announced that the probe, let by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, was looking into the involvement of "foreign intelligence services."


The DOJ's announcement came as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler announced Monday that he plans to hit pause on efforts to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt, after reaching a deal with the Justice Department for access to evidence related to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report. Separately, John Dean, the former White House counsel to Richard Nixon, testified Monday that he sees “remarkable parallels” between Watergate and the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report – at a dramatic Capitol Hill hearing that Republicans panned as a political “show.”


Kim Jong Un's half-brother was CIA informant: Report
Kim Jong Un’s half-brother was working as a CIA informant before he was brazenly murdered in a Malaysian airport in 2017,according to a report Monday. Kim Jong Nam, the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il’s eldest son, “met on several occasions with agency operatives,” according to the Wall Street Journal. “There was a nexus” between Kim Jong Nam and the intelligence...