纽约时报 众议院司法委员会对科技巨头展开反垄断调查

Congress showed the breadth of its investigation¹ into the big tech companies on Friday,

周五，国会展示了调查大型科技企业的调查广度，

making a public demand for scores of documents, including the personal emails and other communications from dozens of top executives.

公开要求诸企业出示数十份文件，包括数十名高管的私人电子邮件和其他通信资料。

Republicans and Democrats² alike on the House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the market power and behavior of the companies,

众议院司法委员会正在调查诸企业市场影响力及其商业行为，该委员会的共和党人和民主党人不约而同地

sent letters directly to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Larry Page of Google.

都给亚马逊的杰夫·贝佐斯、苹果的蒂姆·库克、Facebook的马克·扎克伯格和谷歌的拉里·佩奇写了信。

The requests called for all communications to and from eight executives at Amazon, 14 at Apple, 15 at Facebook and 14 at Google.

他们要求提供8名亚马逊高管、14名苹果高管、15名Facebook高管和14名谷歌高管往来的所有通信。

With the request, which was posted on the committee’s website,

委员会在其网站上公布了这一要求，

the lawmakers sent a not-so-subtle message that executives would be held responsible for the replies,

议员们还不那么隐晦地暗示道，高管们要对他们的回复负责，

and that the investigation would continue to play out publicly.

调查也将继续公开进行。

That has the potential of damaging the brands’ reputations.

委员会的这一举措或将损害到这些品牌的声誉。

The companies, once held up as beacons³ of American ingenuity⁴ and business acumen⁵,

因为散布虚假信息、不尊重用户隐私以及想方设法避税，

have been under siege about spreading disinformation, failing to respect users’ privacy and maneuvering⁶ to minimize their taxes.

曾经被奉为美国创造力和商业智慧的灯塔的这些企业已经饱受指责。

In addition, President Trump⁷ and other Republicans accuse some of the companies of censoring⁸ conservative voices.

此外，特朗普总统等共和党人还指责一些企业审查保守派的声音。

Similar inquiries⁹ are underway at the Justice Department, at the Federal Trade Commission and by attorneys general of dozens of states.

司法部、联邦贸易委员会以及数十个州的总检察长也在开展类似的调查。

The investigations¹⁰ are just beginning in earnest.

调查才刚刚开始严肃起来。

How far they will go, what they will uncover and whether any allegations will stand up in court are all uncertain.

调查力度多大，揭露哪些问题，是否将指控，无论何种指控，放到法庭上解决，这些问题目前都还不确定。

But the investigations show the growing angst about the power of the tech companies, which for decades faced little regulation.

但调查暴露了人们对这些科技公司的实力的担忧已经越来越严重。数十年来，这些公司受到的监管几乎为零。

Now Silicon¹¹ Valley’s influence on everything from how we vote to how we shop is readily apparent —

如今，显而易见的是，硅谷对我们的影响已经扩展到了包括投票方式和购物方式在内的方方面面——

and yet the technology driving it remains¹² largely mysterious.

但在背后驱动它的技术在很大程度上依然是个谜。

“There is this great and growing dependence¹³ on technology that we don’t really understand,”

“我们对技术的依赖性越来越大，但我们并不真正了解这些技术，”

said A. Douglas Melamed, a former antitrust official in Justice Department. “And that frightens people.”

司法部前反垄断官员道格拉斯梅拉米德说到。“想想都让人觉得害怕。”

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 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》

3 beacons   

灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台

参考例句：

• A chain of beacons was lit across the region. 整个地区点起了一系列灯塔。
• Lighthouse and beacons flash at night. 晚上灯塔与信号台闪着光。

4 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

5 acumen   

n.敏锐，聪明

参考例句：

• She has considerable business acumen.她的经营能力绝非一般。
• His business acumen has made his very successful.他的商业头脑使他很成功。

6 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 censoring   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Therefore, exhibitors shall not make use of these materials before censoring. 展商在审查前不可使用这些资料。
• The company then said it would end self-censoring search results, putting it at odds with Beijing. 随后该公司表示，将停止自我审查搜索结果，从而与中国政府发生对抗。

9 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

11 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。