It still baffles me how these laws have such broad support but ISPs and telcos are no where in the discussion.
Perfect is the enemy of the good.
Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
31–40 of 343 posts
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#32> Jeff Bezos, this one’s for you. This provision aims at Amazon’s practice of using data it collects from third-party merchants to enhance its own private label offerings. If it passes, the practice would be blatantly illegal. Would it equally apply to physical stores like Safeway, Kroger, Costco's private labels like "Private Selection", "Simple Truth", "Kirkland", ... What makes Amazon different in this regard? Is…
I've had the same thought about Google promoting its own products over competitor's in search results. Isn't that the same as Whole Foods putting a stack of their 365 brand cereals at the front of the store?
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#33> Jeff Bezos, this one’s for you. This provision aims at Amazon’s practice of using data it collects from third-party merchants to enhance its own private label offerings. If it passes, the practice would be blatantly illegal. Would it equally apply to physical stores like Safeway, Kroger, Costco's private labels like "Private Selection", "Simple Truth", "Kirkland", ... What makes Amazon different in this regard? Is…
The only difference is this: > ‘covered platforms’ (companies that have a half-million monthly U.S. users and more than $600 billion in market cap) There are only 8 companies in the world that match the market cap. Probably 6 if you add "users": Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and probably Tencent.
Sounds like this would be easily defeated by spinning amazon out into different companies? Maybe that is a good end result though.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#34What if the FAANG companies were paying taxes like ordinary businesses do, wouldn't this be enough to fund free medical services for every US resident?
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What makes Amazon different in this regard? Safeway/Kroger/Costco do not have direct third-party merchants, do they? They are just resellers. This is fundamentally different from what Amazon is doing.
Grocery retail is much more complicated. They may charge shelf space rent.
They take on the vast majority of the inventory risk, which is the fundamental detail everyone seems to miss. They own what they sell.
The complications come from trying to manage that risk - manufacturers who have better products or marketing can afford to pay for prime shelf space which also means it'll move faster.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only difference is this: > ‘covered platforms’ (companies that have a half-million monthly U.S. users and more than $600 billion in market cap) There are only 8 companies in the world that match the market cap. Probably 6 if you add "users": Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and probably Tencent.
Sounds like this would be easily defeated by spinning amazon out into different companies? Maybe that is a good end result though.
I haven't looked at any formal studies of the net effects of the Bell breakup, but I'd be hard-pressed to say they were net negative.
Especially with a relatively light "break-up, then allow to recombine as market evolution renders their previous monopoly moot" long-term approach.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What makes Amazon different in this regard? Safeway/Kroger/Costco do not have direct third-party merchants, do they? They are just resellers. This is fundamentally different from what Amazon is doing.
If you think that a supermarket buys products wholesale and then puts them on shelves for customers to buy, you don't understand how supermarkets work.
> you don't understand how supermarkets work.
Agreed ;-). That's why I hang out on HN, hoping to gain some insight and knowledge.
The customer->FBA->merchant relationship is much clearer than in any supermarket I've been in. Maybe I'm really buying from a third party and the supermarket is just acting as the fulfillment center and payment processor, but it is well hidden. I'd love to know more about how the business end works.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#38> Jeff Bezos, this one’s for you. This provision aims at Amazon’s practice of using data it collects from third-party merchants to enhance its own private label offerings. If it passes, the practice would be blatantly illegal. Would it equally apply to physical stores like Safeway, Kroger, Costco's private labels like "Private Selection", "Simple Truth", "Kirkland", ... What makes Amazon different in this regard? Is…
I've had the same thought about Google promoting its own products over competitor's in search results. Isn't that the same as Whole Foods putting a stack of their 365 brand cereals at the front of the store?
i don't see what the big deal is about google promoting its own products on the results page. All that means is one less slot for wikipedia/pinterest/amazon/ebay/nytimes or some other big site.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#39They pissed off the left by being sociopathic big businesses that treated people poorly. They pissed off the right by exerting perceived control over public discourse. They've pissed off government in general by swinging around their power when called out on these things.
It wasn't a question of if the feds would screw them it was a question of when.
Re: Congress is going to throw the kitchen sink at big tech
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What makes Amazon different in this regard? Safeway/Kroger/Costco do not have direct third-party merchants, do they? They are just resellers. This is fundamentally different from what Amazon is doing.
They all have their own store brands.
Sure, but if they are the actual customers of their suppliers, it doesn't seem like what Amazon does. I don't walk into Kroger and buy Doritos from Frito-Lay with Kroger just doing the fulfillment and payment processing, do I? I'm actually buying product that Kroger owns.
At least this is how I understand it. I am 100% open to being schooled in how it actually plays out. I'm just a software guy, but I like to learn.