(单词翻译:单击)
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A federal judge dismissed two huge antitrust complaints against Facebook. It's a big win for that company. These suits were filed back in December — one by the federal government and one by most of the country's attorneys general. But this does not mean Facebook is out of the hot seat by any stretch of the imagination. For more, we are joined by NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Just a note — Facebook is among NPR's financial supporters, but we cover them like any other company. Shannon, good morning.
SHANNON BOND, BYLINE: Good morning, Rachel.
MARTIN: These lawsuits were thrown out at a very early stage of the process, right? What happened?
BOND: 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, and suffocating other companies by preventing them from accessing its platform and data. Facebook disputed these claims. It said the government hadn't shown any illegal behavior, and it asked the court to throw these suits out. And yesterday, the judge largely agreed with the company, and he tossed the complaints.
MARTIN: So let's talk about that substance. What did the judge say was wrong with these cases?
BOND: Well, of course, you know, we know Facebook boasts more than 2 billion users around the world. It's the largest social network. 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. So he's given the FTC 30 days to file a new complaint addressing his concerns. Now, when it came to the states' case, the judge said their accusations about Instagram and WhatsApp just came too late. These were deals that were made years ago, right? Facebook bought Instagram in 2012. It bought WhatsApp in 2014. Now, people I talked to said that was kind of surprising. 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. I spoke to Bill Kovacic. He's a former FTC chair and a law professor at George Washington. And he says these rulings show just how much of an uphill battle the government faces.
BILL KOVACIC: You do not expect to get knocked out of the game in the very first inning, and the judge has given them a very sobering reminder of how hard it will be to succeed with this kind of very difficult case.
MARTIN: So this is, no doubt, welcome news for Facebook. What are they saying?
BOND: Well, it's — yes, it's definitely a temporary reprieve. A spokesman says the company is pleased that the court recognized the, quote, "defects" in the government's case, says Facebook competes fairly. Investors were also happy. The stock rose after the news. So Facebook's market cap has now passed $1 trillion for the first time. Very few companies can claim that.
MARTIN: So if this is a temporary win, what's the government's next move?
BOND: Well, the FTC and the state attorneys general say they're reviewing the judge's opinions. They're weighing their options. I think we can expect them to refile this complaint. They may also appeal this dismissal. Certainly, the FTC is not going to back down, Rachel. You know, it just got a new chairwoman, Lina Khan. She's an outspoken critic of Big Tech. And Kovacic, the former FTC chair I spoke with — he told me he sees two paths forward for the agency.
KOVACIC: One is we're going to keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to bringing tough cases. 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.
BOND: And when it comes to Congress, right now the House Judiciary Committee is advancing a bipartisan package of bills. They seek to rein in Big Tech, curb some of what it can do and also beef up antimonopoly enforcement at agencies, including the FTC. And just yesterday, we heard from Democrats and Republicans on the committee. They're making that case. They're saying, you know, this is exactly why we need the kind of reforms we are proposing here, this dismissal itself.
MARTIN: NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Shannon, thank you for that.
BOND: Thanks, Rachel.
中文翻译
参考译文：
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。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。但这并不意味着脸谱网可以凭借任何想象力摆脱困境。NPR新闻的科技记者香农·邦德将带来详细报道。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。
香农·邦德连线：早上好，蕾切尔。
马丁：这些诉讼在早期阶段提出，对吗？发生了什么？
邦德：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，并通过阻止其他公司访问其平台和数据来扼杀竞争。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。昨天，法官基本上同意了该公司的意见，驳回了这些诉讼。
马丁：我们来谈谈这一点。法官说这些案件有何问题？
邦德：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。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。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。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。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。接受我采访的人都表示，这有点令人惊讶。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。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。他表示，这些裁决显示出政府面临的斗争有多艰难。
比尔·科瓦西奇：你不希望在第一局就被淘汰出局，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。
马丁：毫无疑问，这对脸谱网来说是喜讯。他们有何表态？
邦德：没错，这绝对是暂时缓刑。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。投资者也很高兴。消息传出后，脸谱网的股票上涨。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。
马丁：如果这是暂时的胜利，那政府下一步会怎么做？
邦德：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。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。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。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。
科瓦西奇：其一是我们在处理棘手案件时，需要踩下油门。第二条路是借且国会，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。
邦德：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。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。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。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。
马丁：以上是NPR新闻科技记者香农·邦德带来的报道。香农，谢谢你。
邦德：谢谢你，蕾切尔。
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重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. buy up 大量买进，全部买下（土地、房产或商品）；
They have taken over our firm by buying up shares.
他们借收购股权而接管了我们的公司。
2. back down 放弃（主张、要求、承诺等）；打退堂鼓；
The United States had no intention of backing down in its bitter row over farm subsidies.
美国无意就激烈争吵的农产品补贴问题作出让步。
3. rein in 控制；约束；
His administration's economic policy would focus on reining in inflation.
他的政府的经济政策将侧重于控制通货膨胀。
4. beef up 改善；加强；改进；提高；
Banks will also be required to beef up their risk management practices.
该计划还将要求各银行加强其风险管理措施。
