Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google face claims of 'harmful' power

July 30, 2020

BBC NEWS

The heads of some of the world's biggest tech companies have appeared before Washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power to quash competitors.

Tech giants face feeding frenzy

frenzy n.  /ˈfrenzi/  ~ (of sth) a state of great activity and strong emotion that is often violent or frightening and not under control 疯狂；狂乱；狂暴

• in a frenzy of activity/excitement/violence 疯狂的活动╱兴奋╱暴力

• The speaker worked the crowd up into a frenzy . 演讲者把听众的情绪煽动得疯狂起来。

feeding frenzy n. 1.an occasion when a group of sharks or other fish attack sth （鲨鱼等鱼群的）疯狂捕食 2.a situation in which a lot of people compete with each other in an excited way because they want to get sth （对某物的）集体狂热追求；（人群的）疯抢

Feeding frenzy在这里用于形容4巨头公司在做五分钟陈述时，周围各个党派人士不停批判4巨头，如同鲨鱼疯狂抢食

Four of the world's top technology company executives may have been testifying before the Judiciary Committee from a distance, but they were still caught in the middle of a political storm on Wednesday afternoon.

Judiciary Committee：美国参议院司法委员会

judiciary n. /dʒuˈdɪʃəri/ （统称）审判人员；司法部；司法系统 • an independent judiciary 独立的司法系统

The stated purpose of the hearing was to address whether existing anti-trust laws provide sufficient regulation of transnational tech Goliaths. The reality, however, was that the proceedings - with each member of the committee receiving five minutes to speak - were more akin to a feeding frenzy, as corporate chiefs faced criticism from every direction。

Democrats expressed concern that the companies were abusing their power by disadvantaging competitors or buying them out entirely. Republicans accused the witnesses of insufficient patriotism and being too cosy with the Chinese.

anti-trust laws：反垄断法，反托拉斯法

Goliath n. /ɡəˈlaɪəθ/  a person or thing that is very large or powerful 巨人；强大的人（或物）• a Goliath of a man 巨人一般高大的男子 • a Goliath of the computer industry 计算机行业的巨头

形容行业巨头我们遇到过tycoon、titan、magnate、giant还有这里的goliath。Tycoon和magnate都指代有行业巨头，产业巨头。而titan、giant和goliath没有特定的指代，可以用来形容企业，也可以形容其他。

proceeding n.   /prəˈsiːdɪŋ/  

1.[ Cusually pl. ] ~ (against sb) (for sth) the process of using a court to settle a disagreement or to deal with a complaint 诉讼；诉讼程序 •bankruptcy/divorce/extradition, etc. proceedings 破产、离婚、引渡等诉讼 •to bring legal proceedings against sb 向某人提起法律诉讼

2. proceedings [ pl. ] an event or a series of actions 事件；过程；一系列行动

akin to：近似，同类·What he felt was more akin to pity than love. 他感受到的更像怜悯，而不是爱。

patriotism n. /ˈpeɪtriətɪzəm/  /ˈpæt‑/  [ U ] love of your country and willingness to defend it 爱国主义；爱国精神

cosy /ˈkəʊzi/  

1.warm, comfortable and safe, especially because of being small or confined 温暖舒适的（尤指狭小的室内地方） •a cosy little room 温暖舒适的小房间 •a cosy feeling 惬意的感觉

2.friendly and private 亲密无间的；密切的 •a cosy chat with a friend 与朋友亲切的闲聊

3.( often disapproving ) easy and convenient, but not always honest or right 轻易得到的，轻松的（但不一定是诚实或恰当的）

cosy up to sb：( informal ) to act in a friendly way towards sb, especially sb who will be useful to you 献殷勤；取悦

Both sides expressed outrage over how the companies managed speech and expression on their platforms. They didn't go far enough in removing hateful rhetoric and false information, Democrats said. They singled out conservatives for censorship, the Republicans countered.

outrage /ˈaʊtreɪdʒ/  1.[ U ] a strong feeling of shock and anger 愤怒；义愤；愤慨•The judge's remarks caused public outrage. 裁判的话引起了公愤。 2.[ C ] an act or event that is violent, cruel or very wrong and that shocks people or makes them very angry 暴行；骇人听闻的事；3.to make sb very shocked and angry 使震怒；激怒

rhetoric n. /ˈretərɪk/  1.华而不实的言语；花言巧语 •the rhetoric of political slogans 政治口号的虚华辞藻 •empty rhetoric 空洞的花言巧语 2.修辞技巧；修辞

single out ： If you single someone out from a group, you choose them and give them special attention or treatment. 选出; 挑出•  The gunman had singled Debilly out and waited for him. 枪手单单挑出德比利，并等着他出现

Through it all, the witnesses thanked the questioners and took their lumps, perhaps confident that they could soon log off and get back to their work. While all the politicians seemed to agree that the big tech companies were a problem, their chances of arriving at any kind of solution seems unlikely.

Lumps（非正式）参考：thefreedictionary.com

a. Severe punishment or treatment, as a beating or an unsparing criticism: take one's lumps. 严重的惩罚，像殴打或者严厉的批评

b. One's just deserts; comeuppance: get one's lumps. 罪有应得，因果报应

 

What did the companies say?

Appearing by remote video, the executives defended their companies, saying their products helped smaller businesses and they remained vulnerable to competition from newcomers.

Apple boss Tim Cook said the business climate was "so competitive I would describe it as a street fight for market share in the smartphone business".

Mr Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, denied that Amazon's multiple roles were a conflict of interest, but he admitted the firm was reviewing its handling of sales data from sellers on the site.

The company has been accused of using such information to launch its own version of hot-selling products.

Mr Bezos said Amazon rules forbid staff from looking at sales data from individual companies, but he conceded it was possible that employees had violated the policy.

concede v. /kənˈsiːd/

1. ~ sth (to sb)~ sb sth：to admit that sth is true, logical, etc. 承认（某事属实、合乎逻辑等）·It must be conceded that different judges have different approaches to these cases. 必须承认不同的法官会采用不同的方法来判定这些案件。

2.~ sth (to sb)~ sb sth ：to give sth away, especially unwillingly; to allow sb to have sth （尤指勉强地）让与，让步；允许 •The President was obliged to concede power to the army. 总统被迫把权力让给军队。

3.~ (defeat) to admit that you have lost a game, an election, etc. 承认（比赛、选举等失败）•After losing this decisive battle, the general was forced to concede. 输掉了这场决定性的战役后，那位将军不得不承认失败。

"We are investigating that," he said.

In his prepared remarks, Mr Bezos said Amazon faced significant competition from firms such as Walmartand noted that the company lost money for years as it branched out into new areas.

"I love garage entrepreneurs - I was one. But, just like the world needs small companies, it also needs large ones. There are things small companies simply can't do," he said.

garage /ˈɡærɑːʒ/  n. 车库；汽车修理厂；飞机库vt. 把……送入车库；把（汽车）开进车库

What has Donald Trump said?

US President Donald Trump is a long-time critic of Amazon and threatened his own action on Twitter, writing: "If Congress doesn't bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders."

He also told reporters that White House officials would be watching the hearing closely.

be watching the hearing closely：密切关注听证会

Executive Orders：行政命令

"There's no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad," he said.

Tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said "storm clouds" were building in Washington but he thought it was unlikely that Congress would come together on new legislation that would force tech companies to change.

Wedbush Securities韦德布什证券公司

"We think a legislative fix is the only one that creates a potential for limitations on these companies' ability to conduct business, whether that takes the form of higher taxes or new rules regarding market concentration," he wrote.

market concentration：市场集中化/度 公司占有市场的份额。越高的化，垄断的可能性越大

"Absent a legislative fix, we don't see meaningful change in regulation, although future acquisitions will most certainly be scrutinized and more difficult to close."

Absent a legislative fix：立法修订的缺陷

acquisition n. /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃn/  

1.（知识、技能等的）获得，得到 •theories of child language acquisition 幼儿语言习得的理论

2.（多指贵重的）购得物 •His latest acquisition is a racehorse. 他最近购得一匹赛马。

3.[ CU ] ( business 商 )  购置物；收购的公司；购置的产业；购置；收购

 

原文链接：https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53583941