Congress' renewed attack on Big Tech may clear the field for decentralization

On Tuesday, a House subcommittee put out a massive report that places Big Tech in the crosshairs of major antitrust reforms.

The four firms at the center of the report - Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon - have been in hot water with Congress for some time.

The proposed rule changes would not only clearcut huge chunks of these firms' claims to the tech market, but also seem to leave the field open for blockchain technologies that make concentration of power impossible not only illegal, but technologically impossible.

The report, entitled "Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets," comes from the staff of the Democratic majority of the House Antitrust Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.

It's a 449-page account of America falling out of love with Big Tech.

The core criticisms are already familiar: Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon use their roles as vital gatekeepers to bully competitors and muscle into new markets on the basis of ill-gotten leverage.

The report proposes updating cornerstone antitrust legislation like the Sherman Act, lowering the threshold for market dominance.

Subcommittee staff recommends that Congress consider shifting presumptions for future acquisitions by the dominant platforms.

Each platform uses its gatekeeper position to maintain its market power.

Framing internet technology as infrastructure is growing more and more common in the halls of Congress.