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FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

ftc.gov

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Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#601

Post by quickresponse »

skewart wrote: post #570
quantummkv wrote: post #546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now that Zuck is under so much scrutiny, he won't be allowed to acquire the next hot social platform. When instagram isn't the "it" platform anymore, Facebook is doomed. Zuck got around that problem copying competitors lock, stock and barrel and using his monopoly to attempt drive out that competition. Instagram was under threat by two "It" networks. Both of them ended up being copied in Instagram Facebook needs to…

How would breaking up Facebook into three companies fix this though? Suppose Instagram is a separate company and a new competitor starts getting popular. Why wouldn’t Instagram still just copy the competitor’s features? It’s hard to compete with Instagram because everyone is already on Instagram, not because everyone is also on Facebook. (A lot of IG users don’t use FB much, and vice versa.) A freestanding Instagram…

Because if FB were split in three it would signal a definitive shift towards antitrust regulators actively applying the law. In that reality, all move-the-needle mergers would be subject to antitrust regulations that should have (but weren't really) applied to FB's previous acquisitions thus constraining IG's freedom to copy and crush.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#602

Post by walrus01 »

dang wrote: post #701
dang wrote: post #525

There are multiple pages of comments, accessible via the 'More' link at the bottom of the page, or click here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25363366&p=2 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25363366&p=3 (This message will eventually self-destruct.)

This is a stub comment to hold all the replies to the parent. I did not mean to explode an offtopicness charge, and usually turn off replies for these because the same issue comes up every time and the answer is always the same. (When it comes to explaining something, the internet is stateless [1].) Forgot to do so in this case! I'll move them now. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

Here's a thought for UI change for HN, at the top of any page such as this one with a great many posts, that has multiple pages, how about a text-based chooser menu with clickable numbers that looks like:

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 > End

or similar...

Located directly below the add comment button.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#603

Post by hombre_fatal »

walrus01 wrote: post #602
dang wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stub comment to hold all the replies to the parent. I did not mean to explode an offtopicness charge, and usually turn off replies for these because the same issue comes up every time and the answer is always the same. (When it comes to explaining something, the internet is stateless [1].) Forgot to do so in this case! I'll move them now. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

Here's a thought for UI change for HN, at the top of any page such as this one with a great many posts, that has multiple pages, how about a text-based chooser menu with clickable numbers that looks like: Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 > End or similar... Located directly below the add comment button.

I think everyone knows that the UX is bad. The work just has to be done, and it's not particularly critical.

If I know anything about software, it's been in HN's issue tracker for years.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#604

Post by einpoklum »

munk-a wrote: post #258
saddlerustle wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no way to provide access to the social graph in a privacy preserving way. It's not okay to allow a third party to access the data your friends have shared with you without your friends consenting. Unencumbered API access to the social graph is exactly what led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and promising to restrict API access was part of Facebook's settlement with the FTC.

> There's no way to provide access to the social graph in a privacy preserving way. If we're not okay with other companies having access then why is it okay for a single company to have that access? Do you know and trust every facebook employee including those that don't work there yet with your data? Do you trust that that data will be securely handled when the company is sold after declaring bankruptcy? I think you…

> then why is it okay for a single company to have that access?

I'd say it's not ok, but people keep on giving Facebook all that information (and it's very tempting to do so). There are technical solutions which anonymize/privatize social network information, and then no entity has such access.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#605

Post by jart »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #603
walrus01 wrote: post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a thought for UI change for HN, at the top of any page such as this one with a great many posts, that has multiple pages, how about a text-based chooser menu with clickable numbers that looks like: Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 > End or similar... Located directly below the add comment button.

I think everyone knows that the UX is bad. The work just has to be done, and it's not particularly critical. If I know anything about software, it's been in HN's issue tracker for years.

Considering how awful the unilateral design changes to Facebook and Reddit have been, I for one sincerely hope that Hacker News never changes. Its UX is perfect.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#606

Post by edumucelli »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #603
walrus01 wrote: post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a thought for UI change for HN, at the top of any page such as this one with a great many posts, that has multiple pages, how about a text-based chooser menu with clickable numbers that looks like: Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 > End or similar... Located directly below the add comment button.

I think everyone knows that the UX is bad. The work just has to be done, and it's not particularly critical. If I know anything about software, it's been in HN's issue tracker for years.

This UX may be bad, but the current hackish solution of a parent comment being posted with link to the other pages is the worst.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#607

Post by easytiger »

folkrav wrote: post #113
easytiger wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit is here. It has been a swift decline notable in the last year or so. Sadly. Even fairly uncontroversial assertions of fact are downvoted frequently

What a pretentious (and wildly indemonstrable) take.

It is based on my experience of using this site for 12 years. You can huff about it all you please.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#608

Post by headmelted »

saddlerustle wrote: post #222
ghufran_syed wrote: post #155

I feel like instead of pushing for the companies to separate, congress should pass laws mandating [adversarial interoperability]( https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interopera... ). Then the data (including the social graph) really would belong to the users, and facebook would have to compete with multiple other “social network clients” that would rapidly emerge. Facebook would lose some monopoly profi…

There's no way to provide access to the social graph in a privacy preserving way. It's not okay to allow a third party to access the data your friends have shared with you without your friends consenting. Unencumbered API access to the social graph is exactly what led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and promising to restrict API access was part of Facebook's settlement with the FTC.

This.

The counter-argument to this is having the government provide the graph and an API to allow networks like Facebook connect to it. This should rightly terrify just about everybody.

I like the concept Diaspora had back in the day, it just wasn't workable really as your mum/aunt/non-tech friend wouldn't be able to understand how something like that works and would ultimately lose/delete/corrupt their tokens.

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#609

Post by gnopgnip »

SulfurHexaFluri wrote: post #468
andromeduck wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or we could just make it much easier for people to break off and start their own business

The problem is if you try to monetize it, facebook or google will overnight release a 10x better version for free.

Unless it harms consumers, that is not an anti-trust issue

Re: FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization

#610

Post by lawn »

aerosmile wrote: post #568
dang wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stub comment to hold all the replies to the parent. I did not mean to explode an offtopicness charge, and usually turn off replies for these because the same issue comes up every time and the answer is always the same. (When it comes to explaining something, the internet is stateless [1].) Forgot to do so in this case! I'll move them now. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

I get it that HN is all about minimal design, but the need for the parent post (in this and other threads) is a sign that the UI could be improved in this aspect.

Meh. It's all just text, why not show everything?
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