美国国家公共电台 NPR Facebook逃过反垄断大劫 市值站上万亿美元

A federal judge dismissed two huge antitrust complaints against Facebook. It's a big win for that company.

一名联邦法官驳回了两起针对脸谱网的巨额反垄断诉讼。这对脸谱网来说是重大胜利。

These suits were filed back in December — one by the federal government and one by most of the country's attorneys general.

这两起诉讼在去年12月分别由美国联邦政府和多州检察长提起。

But this does not mean Facebook is out of the hot seat by any stretch of the imagination.

但这并不意味着脸谱网可以凭借任何想象力摆脱困境。

For more, we are joined by NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond.

NPR新闻的科技记者香农·邦德将带来详细报道。

Just a note — Facebook is among NPR's financial supporters, but we cover them like any other company. Shannon, good morning.

需要指出的是，脸谱网是NPR新闻的财务支持者之一，但我们会像报道其他公司一样报道脸谱网。香农，早上好。

Good morning, Rachel.

早上好，蕾切尔。

These lawsuits¹ were thrown out at a very early stage of the process, right? What happened?

这些诉讼在早期阶段提出，对吗？发生了什么？

Right. Well, the Federal Trade Commission and these 48 attorneys general — they had accused Facebook of crushing its competition by buying up rivals, like Instagram and WhatsApp,

对。联邦贸易委员会和48名检察长指控脸谱网通过收购Instagram和WhatsApp等竞争对手来压制竞争，

and suffocating² other companies by preventing them from accessing its platform and data.

并通过阻止其他公司访问其平台和数据来扼杀竞争。

Facebook disputed these claims. It said the government hadn't shown any illegal behavior, and it asked the court to throw these suits out.

脸谱网反驳了这些说法。该公司表示，政府未能证明脸谱网存在任何非法行为，并要求法院驳回这些诉讼。

And yesterday, the judge largely agreed with the company, and he tossed the complaints.

昨天，法官基本上同意了该公司的意见，驳回了这些诉讼。

So let's talk about that substance. What did the judge say was wrong with these cases?

我们来谈谈这一点。法官说这些案件有何问题？

Well, of course, you know, we know Facebook boasts more than 2 billion users around the world. It's the largest social network.

当然，我们知道脸谱网在全球拥有超过20亿用户。脸谱网是最大的社交网络。

But Judge James Boasberg says the FTC just needs to show more evidence to back up its claim that under the law, Facebook has a monopoly.

但是法官詹姆斯·博阿斯伯格表示，联邦贸易委员会只需要提供更多证据来支持其主张，即根据法律，脸谱网存在垄断行为。

So he's given the FTC 30 days to file a new complaint addressing his concerns.

因此，他给联邦贸易委员会30天的时间提交一份新诉讼，以解决他的担忧。

Now, when it came to the states' case, the judge said their accusations³ about Instagram and WhatsApp just came too late.

至于多州检察长的起诉，法官表示，他们对涉及Instagram和WhatsApp的指控提出得太晚。

These were deals that were made years ago, right? Facebook bought Instagram in 2012. It bought WhatsApp in 2014.

这些都是几年前就已完成的交易，对吧？脸谱网在2012年收购了Instagram，2014年收购了WhatsApp。

Now, people I talked to said that was kind of surprising.

接受我采访的人都表示，这有点令人惊讶。

Back at the time these deals were made, the states didn't look at whether they were good or bad. And yet now the judge is saying it's too late to object.

在达成这些交易的时候，美国并没有考虑这些协议是好还是坏。但是现在法官表示，现在提出反对为时已晚。

I spoke⁴ to Bill Kovacic. He's a former FTC chair and a law professor at George Washington.

我就此采访了比尔·科瓦西奇。他曾任联邦贸易委员会主席，现任乔治华盛顿大学法学教授。

And he says these rulings show just how much of an uphill battle the government faces.

他表示，这些裁决显示出政府面临的斗争有多艰难。

You do not expect to get knocked out of the game in the very first inning,

你不希望在第一局就被淘汰出局，

and the judge has given them a very sobering reminder⁵ of how hard it will be to succeed with this kind of very difficult case.

法官非常冷静地提醒他们，在这种非常困难的案件中，他们要想取得成功有多困难。

So this is, no doubt, welcome news for Facebook. What are they saying?

毫无疑问，这对脸谱网来说是喜讯。他们有何表态？

Well, it's — yes, it's definitely a temporary reprieve⁶.

没错，这绝对是暂时缓刑。

A spokesman says the company is pleased that the court recognized the, quote, "defects" in the government's case, says Facebook competes fairly.

一名发言人表示，该公司很高兴法庭承认了政府案件中的“缺陷”，并称脸谱网的竞争是公平的。

Investors⁷ were also happy. The stock rose after the news.

投资者也很高兴。消息传出后，脸谱网的股票上涨。

So Facebook's market cap has now passed $1 trillion for the first time. Very few companies can claim that.

现在，脸谱网的市值目前首次突破1万亿美元。很少有公司能做到这一点。

So if this is a temporary win, what's the government's next move?

如果这是暂时的胜利，那政府下一步会怎么做？

Well, the FTC and the state attorneys general say they're reviewing the judge's opinions. They're weighing their options.

联邦贸易委员会和多州检察长表示，他们正在审查法官的意见。同时也在权衡自己的选择。

I think we can expect them to refile this complaint. They may also appeal this dismissal.

我想我们可以期待他们再次提出申诉。他们也可以对这一驳回裁决提出上诉。

Certainly, the FTC is not going to back down, Rachel. You know, it just got a new chairwoman, Lina Khan. She's an outspoken⁸ critic of Big Tech.

当然，蕾切尔，联邦贸易委员会不会让步。该委员会刚刚迎来一位女主席——琳娜·汗。她直言不讳地批评大型科技公司。

And Kovacic, the former FTC chair I spoke with — he told me he sees two paths forward for the agency.

接受我采访的前联邦贸易委员会主席科瓦西奇表示，他认为该机构有两条发展道路。

One is we're going to keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to bringing tough cases.

其一是我们在处理棘手案件时，需要踩下油门。

But the second path is to go to the Congress and say, see? This is why you have to do your job to give us better tools.

第二条路是借助国会，明白吗？这就是你们必须履行职责并为我们提供更好的方法的原因。

And when it comes to Congress, right now the House Judiciary Committee is advancing a bipartisan package of bills.

说到国会，现在众议院司法委员会正在推进一项跨党派的一揽子法案。

They seek to rein⁹ in Big Tech, curb¹⁰ some of what it can do and also beef up antimonopoly enforcement at agencies, including the FTC.

他们试图控制大型科技企业，限制其部分能力，同时加强联邦贸易委员会等机构的反垄断执法。

And just yesterday, we heard from Democrats¹¹ and Republicans on the committee. They're making that case.

就在昨天，我们收到了该委员会中民主党人和共和党人的消息。他们将提出上述观点。

They're saying, you know, this is exactly why we need the kind of reforms we are proposing here, this dismissal itself.

他们表示，就这一驳回判决而言，这正是我们需要提出那种改革的原因。

NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Shannon, thank you for that.

以上是NPR新闻科技记者香农·邦德带来的报道。香农，谢谢你。

Thanks, Rachel.

谢谢你，蕾切尔。

1 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

2 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

9 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

10 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》