I think the most obvious candidate is to split Google and Youtube.
Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
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Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#12I know that Facebook has instagram and whatsapp, but wouldn't breaking Facebook up leave the still monolithic but waning Facebook proper together? I'm not saying WhatsApp and Instagram aren't massive, but am I wrong in assuming that Facebook is still a monolith regardless if it loses it subsidiaries?
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#13Is breaking them up really a priority? What benefit would that have that we couldn't achieve via properly taxing and regulating them in the first place?
I guess by breaking them up, regulating and taxing them becomes easier, because the parts don't have the same power?
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#14Comparisons will be made to Microsoft and Internet Explorer but to me the really crucial part of this isn't market dominance in the "what app are you using" sense, it's data.
Facebook, Google and Amazon really do have an unprecedented amount of data on us. And keep vacuuming up more and more of it. Facebook should never have been allowed to buy WhatsApp (and maybe not Instagram though I'm less concerned about that one). Google should never have been allowed to buy DoubleClick.
Question is how you'd effectively roll that back now. I'm concerned that the government doesn't have enough people with the technical knowledge to really tackle the data question, but I'm still glad Warren is starting the conversation. And she's got some interesting ideas:
> Companies with an annual global revenue of $25 billion or more and that offer to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties would be designated as “platform utilities.”
> These companies would be prohibited from owning both the platform utility and any participants on that platform. Platform utilities would be required to meet a standard of fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory dealing with users. Platform utilities would not be allowed to transfer or share data with third parties.
https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big...
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#15I think the most obvious candidate is to split Google and Youtube.
which would be very interesting, as youtube is 100% dependent on Google infrastructure to work (everything from machine learning to data delivery).
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#16To what end? "illegally undermine competition?"
She is inferring that Google/Amazon/Facebook are committing anti-trust crimes? What proof does she have?
>Companies would be barred from transferring or sharing users’ data with third parties.
That can be done without breaking them up. I don't think she realizes that splitting up amazon and amazon basics will do little to nothing.
There are other things that can be done. You could require freedom of speech apply to industry leaders for example. However I suspect the democrats would never propose that because it would be bad for them.
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#17Is breaking them up really a priority? What benefit would that have that we couldn't achieve via properly taxing and regulating them in the first place?
It would help give China a fairer chance in the AI race. Due to economies of scale and the sheer amount of resources they command, Facebook and Google are able to conduct research that would otherwise be incredibly expensive (e.g. training AlphaZero), and offer incredibly high salaries to lure in researchers. Apparently 80% of all machine learning engineers work at Google or Facebook! Breaking this concentration of machine learning research power would give companies like Baidu, Bytedance and Tencent, which were not broken up and which enjoy strong government support, the chance to catch up and maybe even overtake the remnants of Google/Facebook.
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#18Here we go, buckle up. With the amount of power democrats are likely to consolidate in the next few elections there could be some serious movement on this if it becomes a priority for the party. I think the big three are way too powerful and need to be broken up, but doing so intelligently is a tricky problem that I don't have much faith in government tackling. Zuckerberg integrating all the services yesterday seems…
> if it becomes a priority for the party
I think that's very unlikely. Maybe in the far future, but unless there is some significant campaign finance reform first, the big tech companies have more than enough cash to prevent the "worst" possible outcome (from their perspective).
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#19What is the alleged anti-competitive behavior? The article doesn't mention it. It sounds like she is calling for their breakup merely for being big and powerful, and if that were cause enough to break up an entity we would logically start with the government.
Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon
#20Is breaking them up really a priority? What benefit would that have that we couldn't achieve via properly taxing and regulating them in the first place?
Taxing and regulation stifles innovation, risk taking and productivity. It also encourages cronyism.
I prefer breaking up monopolies if the end result will be a healthier, consumer-focused and competition driven market.
Given that this is an Elizabeth Warren idea, I'm suspicious that the motives are anything having to do with creating a vibrant market... :)