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Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

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Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#51
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy smokes, since when did interest in our constitutional rights of free speech become a "right" thing? It seems like the "From the right" should be "right-wing belief that tech platforms push left-wing biases", true or not, that is their gripe.

And the down votes prove your point... Incredible.

I love how downvotes on Hacker News have become a totalitarian attack on free speech.

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#52
post #19

Surprised to not see Amazon on here, esp. given DJT's hatred of Bezos. But maybe they're saving the best for last. Certainly would not be surprising given Amazon's developing vertical monopoly on all things bought and sold.

Amazon is on the list. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20087732

And Netflix is not, probably because Hastings once said net neutrality is no longer their primary battle. IOW, they will pay to play. Disgusting. The selections make this a transparent move.

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#53
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That means Microsoft has a better product, that doesn't mean it's a monopoly.

Better product for sure. But that doesn't mean it's not a monopoly. >That means Microsoft has a better product, that doesn't mean it's a monopoly. Actually that's the text book definition of monopoly. Monopolies are thus characterized by * a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service - nobody else is making commercial spreadsheet tools * a lack of viable substitute goods - all the other stuff (google…

I've taken plenty of business law classes, and I've never heard such a thing in terms of what defines a monopoly. Your 1st point is debunked by your second point. Your 2nd point of "isn't workable in practice" is just bunk. For your third point, GSuite costs more per seat than O365 in some cases...so I don't even know what you're talking about.

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#54

Surprised to not see Amazon on here, esp. given DJT's hatred of Bezos. But maybe they're saving the best for last. Certainly would not be surprising given Amazon's developing vertical monopoly on all things bought and sold.

If Amazon has a monopoly on all things bought and sold, that would undermine the antitrust cases against the other targets.

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#55

The potential cases against the large tech firms are all coming in at the same time. I wonder what could be driving it. If they move foward, I hope that the nature of the results are good for the public (i.e. preventing anti-competitive behavior)

> I wonder what could be driving it.

Redirecting people's anger for Comcast, and this admin's failure to maintain net neutrality despite protest from both sides [1], towards something else.

[1] https://revddit.com/user/yiannopoulos_m?after=t1_dirwgoo&lim...

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#57

In my career, first it was IBM, the unstoppable juggernaut that was going to take over the world. Then it was Microsoft, and everyone forgot about IBM. Then it was Apple, and everyone forgot about Microsoft. Before IBM, it was RCA. Everyone has forgotten about RCA. It's like in retail. First it's Sears, the unstoppable juggernaut that will take over the world. Then it's Walmart, and Sears is bankrupt. Now it's Amazon…

For both IBM and Microsoft, I would argue that anti-trust cases at least contributed to their fall from the top. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/15/business/us-vsibm.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor... .

Hmm...Microsoft is currently valued at close to a trillion dollars and, AFAIK, the most valuable traded company on earth.

Re: Antitrust Troubles Snowball for Tech Giants as Lawmakers Join In

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the left, populist economists calling for Big Tech to be broken up for monopoly and tax dodging. From the right, culture warriors calling for regulation so their chosen avatars of free speech are not de-platformed. From the bottom, consumer advocates angry at the privacy abuses of large corporations, not to mention increasingly shoddy quality caused by lack of competition. From the top, as you mentioned- tech co…

Holy smokes, since when did interest in our constitutional rights of free speech become a "right" thing? It seems like the "From the right" should be "right-wing belief that tech platforms push left-wing biases", true or not, that is their gripe.

> since when did interest in our constitutional rights of free speech become a "right" thing?

Confusing government regulation of private parties to prevent those actors chosen exercise of the right of free speech by way of not actively using their resources to magnify the reach of your favored actors speech with “free speech” is a “right” thing, and one diametrically opposed to Constitutional free speech.

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