Lina Khan: Pakistani-American Lawyer Fighting Big Tech Monopolies
Pakistani-American Lina Khan is seen as the front-runner for appointment to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as a commissioner in the ...
Pakistani-American Lina Khan is seen as the front-runner for appointment to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as a commissioner in the Biden administration. She is a Columbia University Law professor who specializes in anti-trust law.
Lina's 2017 seminal paper entitled "Amazon's Anti-trust Paradox" broke new ground in the application of anti-trust law against powerful technology monopolies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter. Traditionally, the US anti-trust actions have been focused on keeping consumer prices low. This narrow focus has helped big technology companies companies like Amazon, with its low prices, or Google and Facebook with their “free” services, to avoid anti-trust scrutiny.
Lina was born in London in 1989 to Pakistani parents who migrated to the United States when she was 11. She graduated from William College with a BA degree and then studied law at Yale University. She is now an associate professor at Columbia Law School in New York City.
 |
| Anti-Trust Scholar Lina Khan |
US tech companies are facing increasing scrutiny in Washington over their growing size and power. In October 2019, an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee issued a 449-page report. It accused the big technology companies of charging high fees, forcing smaller customers into unfavorable contracts and of using "killer acquisitions" to constrain competitors. "To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons," it said. The appointment of Lina Khan as FTC commissioner would send a clear signal to the US tech giants that the Biden administration means business.
Lina Khan acknowledges the popularity of the convenience and the free services offered by the large technology giants like Amazon, Facebook and Google but she worries about the longer-term implications of their anti-competitive behavior. “As consumers, as users, we love these tech companies,” she said. “But as citizens, as workers, and as entrepreneurs, we recognize that their power is troubling. We need a new framework, a new vocabulary for how to assess and address their dominance", she told the New York Times.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
New York's Little Pakistan
Pakistan is the 3rd Largest Source of Foreign Doctors in America
Pakistani-American Stars in "Big Sick" Movie
Pakistani-American Population Growth 2nd Fastest Among Asian-Americans
Silicon Valley Pakistani-Americans
A Dozen British Pakistanis in UK Pariament
Trump and Modi
OPEN Silicon Valley Forum 2017: Pakistani Entrepreneurs Conference
Pakistani-American's Tech Unicorn Files For IPO at $1.6 Billion Valuation
Pakistani-American Cofounders Sell Startup to Cisco for $610 million
Pakistani Brothers Spawned $20 Billion Security Software Industry
Pakistani-American Ashar Aziz's Fireeye Goes Public
Pakistani-American Pioneered 3D Technology in Orthodontics
Pakistani-Americans Enabling 2nd Machine Revolution
Pakistani-American Shahid Khan Richest South Asian in America
Two Pakistani-American Silicon Valley Techs Among Top 5 VC Deals
Pakistani-American's Game-Changing Vision
Minorities Are Majority in Silicon Valley
Riaz Haq Youtube Channel
VPOS Youtube Channel
Lina Khan: Pakistani-American Lawyer Fighting Big Tech Monopolies
Pakistani-American Lina Khan is seen as the front-runner for appointment to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as a commissioner in the ...
