New Browser/OS Rules Will Address User Privacy & Business Competition Needs More Quickly Than Antitrust Action
Globally, IAB comprises 47 National and Regional IABs, which are independently governed associations that make decisions about membership, practices, policies, and laws based on local market conditions.
In the U.S., antitrust is a long, complex, and often cumbersome process that too frequently fails to address pressing competitive needs in a timely manner. Among those needs are the transparency, interoperability, and fairness of the internet, and the role browsers and operating systems play in assuring them. IAB believes that browsers and operating systems are essential utilities that ought to be playing by the same rules to assure a level playing field that protects businesses’ ability to compete and grow, safeguards consumers’ privacy, and assures the security of everyone’s data.
We think the best and quickest way to guarantee these rights is through the collective development of technical standards and operating practices by the major browser and OS providers. This needs to be done together with bodies representing users, with regulation assuring all participants’ compliance, if need be. That is why IAB and IAB Tech Lab launched Project Rearc to begin the process of rearchitecting the internet supply chain to protect these rights, and why we are partnering with a half-dozen trade bodies and scores of major companies in the Partnership for Responsible, Addressable Media. We are committed to these cross-industry processes and confident they will protect consumers, businesses, and the tech platforms as we all strive to build a safer, competitive, open Internet for everyone.
