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Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

nytimes.com

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Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#201

Post by notyourwork »

saas_sam wrote: post #190
fowkswe wrote: post #158

If there has ever been a monopoly, those 3 companies are it. I wont speak for social media and search, but Amazon has a complete stranglehold on retail in the United States. People keep saying 'retail is dead', thats bullshit, Amazon has a monopolistic stranglehold on the selling of all goods. If that weren't the case, small shop brick and mortar shopping would still be a thing.

A monopoly means you are the exclusive provider of something. Amazon has a ton of competition. People are CHOOSING to use Amazon because they are the best at what they do, for now. It's convenient. There is NOTHING stopping you from using boutique websites, Target.com, your neighborhood supermarket, or whatever you want. You choose Amazon because they are the cheapest, fastest, and easiest to work with. That is not a…

People always seem to conflate winning and monopoly which is false.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#202

Post by JackFr »

velcrovan wrote: post #116
sleepysysadmin wrote: post #16

To 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…

There is a case for splitting Amazon and AWS. The point of anti-trust laws is to break up monopolies because they represent a massive and dangerous concentration of market and political power in the hands of the few. You don't need evidence of any specific crime to do it. You can say you'd prefer it not be that way. But it's a provision of existing law, with precedents. To really argue for your preference you'd need…

> The point of anti-trust laws is to break up monopolies because they represent a massive and dangerous concentration of market and political power in the hands of the few. You don't need evidence of any specific crime to do it.

Not actually true. To break up an existing company, you need to be taken to court by the United States under the one of the anti-trust acts, and prove a violation of the law.

To be clear the FTC can prevent mergers with no evidence of wrongdoing, based solely on market share, but breaking up an existing company is a rarely used remedy in antitrust cases.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#203

Post by 908087 »

saas_sam wrote: post #190
fowkswe wrote: post #158

If there has ever been a monopoly, those 3 companies are it. I wont speak for social media and search, but Amazon has a complete stranglehold on retail in the United States. People keep saying 'retail is dead', thats bullshit, Amazon has a monopolistic stranglehold on the selling of all goods. If that weren't the case, small shop brick and mortar shopping would still be a thing.

A monopoly means you are the exclusive provider of something. Amazon has a ton of competition. People are CHOOSING to use Amazon because they are the best at what they do, for now. It's convenient. There is NOTHING stopping you from using boutique websites, Target.com, your neighborhood supermarket, or whatever you want. You choose Amazon because they are the cheapest, fastest, and easiest to work with. That is not a…

If Amazon achieve their goal, you won't have the option of going to your neighborhood supermarket.. because it will have either been run out of business or acquired by Amazon.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#204

Post by moate »

systematical wrote: post #180
fowkswe wrote: post #158

If there has ever been a monopoly, those 3 companies are it. I wont speak for social media and search, but Amazon has a complete stranglehold on retail in the United States. People keep saying 'retail is dead', thats bullshit, Amazon has a monopolistic stranglehold on the selling of all goods. If that weren't the case, small shop brick and mortar shopping would still be a thing.

Yeah no one cares about monopolies anymore. But how exactly do you split up a search engine for instance?

You silo the search engine segment of the business as one company, the advertising segment as a separate business, etc etc. Alphabet is more than just the Google search engine at this point.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#206

Post by ascendantlogic »

devoply wrote: post #196
oceanstone wrote: post #178

> The key components of the Warren plan include passing legislation that would designate companies with annual global revenue above $25 billion that provide marketplace, exchange, or third-party connectivity as “platform utilities” and prohibit those companies from owning participants on their platforms. As a Googler, speaking for myself, this seems like an interesting idea that could positively impact the tech scene…

I also see Elizabeth Warren has created a set of powerful enemies way too early that will do much to stop her from becoming America's first woman president. If you wanna do something like this wait until you are in office. These are not issues that your average American cares about.

Unfortunately I agree. Since Silicon Valley leans left so heavily this is the sort of thing you sit on until much later in the process. I personally feel that Google, Facebook, et al are too big and powerful now, this is going to immediately set those companies against her so she's kneecapping her campaign before it even gets started.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#207

Post by jhall1468 »

neuronic wrote: post #171
JabavuAdams wrote: post #157

Whoops. Guess she won't be winning then...

If, as usual, people are voting heavily against their own interests and more according to the lobbyist propaganda fed by economics 101 professors, then you are likely on point.

Maybe we can just assume people are allowed to have different opinions, rather than implying anyone that disagrees with you is one of the "sheeple" huh?

I don't think we need to break up any of these companies. Particularly when an industry like Cable/ISP's exist, which are allowed to have an actual regional monopoly and artificially inflate prices in order to force you to use their other services.

None of these three do anything of the sort. And Amazon, really?

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#209

Post by darkpuma »

fowkswe wrote: post #158

If there has ever been a monopoly, those 3 companies are it. I wont speak for social media and search, but Amazon has a complete stranglehold on retail in the United States. People keep saying 'retail is dead', thats bullshit, Amazon has a monopolistic stranglehold on the selling of all goods. If that weren't the case, small shop brick and mortar shopping would still be a thing.

Independent retail isn't dead but it sure is limping. I've been trying to get a book from a local book store that specializes in computer shit for a week and a half now; they had to special order (even though it's not particularly obscure) and said it would be three to four days, but it still hasn't come in and I think they're getting annoyed with me checking in daily.

If I'd bought it on Amazon, I could have had it within hours. But I wasn't really in a hurry and thought I'd support a local business. I'd probably do the same again, but I can see why many people don't want to put up with this.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#210

Post by CoolestBeans »

Permit wrote: post #182

> The parallel she uses to make her case is the breakup of Microsoft, which she weirdly calls “the tech giant of its time” (Microsoft is still a tech giant), and holds as perhaps the last example when government went toe to toe with the technology industry. > “The government’s antitrust case against Microsoft helped clear a path for Internet companies like Google and Facebook to emerge,” Warren writes. In what way wa…

Sure, but Microsoft after the lawsuit was not the "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" powerhouse from the 90s it used to be. They couldn't be, they couldn't risk another antitrust suit that might have real consequences. I think one could argue that Microsoft not being in full on domination mode created the opening that enabled all these other companies to thrive since they no longer had to deal with the extended existential threat of Microsoft.
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