Posted on 06/16/2020 9:50:22 AM PDT by Kaslin
I say break them apart. Who knows how much money Amazon spent bribing politicians to keep retail stores closed so that they can make a killing with mail order retail.
Did Netflix and other streaming services conspire to shut down movie theaters to drive up demand for their services? I think so.
Yes we will often fail as citizens are not united and don't have the political or financial wherewithal to combat the lobbying efforts of megacorps. However, every once and a while there is a window of opportunity for us to get something for the average citizen. Being able to express conservative ideas on YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook, etc. without having to fear your account being suspended or being fired from your job would be a good win for the average citizen that any government worth its salt should be able to find a way to support and guarantee.
“High tech isn’t swallowing up small businesses; it is saving them. A new report from the Connected Commerce Council, which analyzed the impact of internet platforms and digital tools on small companies in the COVID-19 crisis...”
Unfortunately, Mr. Stossel, all the small businesses that have already been put out of business by the likes of Amazon were unavailable to answer the survey.
There is no battlefield of ideas if only one side is allowed to use the tools to communicate their ideas to people.
This reminds me of the old arguments why the government shouldn’t breakup the Bell Telephone Company.
In short, the technology was very stagnant, and the monopoly prevented any number of other companies from doing a better job of things. But when Bell was broken up, it indeed cause some degree of chaos in the market, but so do most “gold rushes”.
Bell ran on a vast amount of thick copper cables, which couldn’t support digital, and they wouldn’t let anyone else put up their lines, even for things like cable TV.
When Bell was busted, after a brief pause there was an explosion in technology and what we see today.
And how about what had been a near monopoly for the USPS? Once it could no longer suppress package delivery, the market got USPS, FedEx, etc., etc. a LOT faster and better.
So other than possible fears that *something* bad might happen, what potential exists for after a breakup of these tech companies?
.
Half Big Tech could do it just as well, and offer COMPETITION to keep them honest and improving.
More companies doing the same thing allows the Consumers to “Vote with their Feet” to correct a business. Monopolies simply laugh and go on doing their abuses.
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Anti-Trust laws have been on the books for a very long time.
EVERY Silicon Valley employee has gone thru Anti-Trust training.
I did it 4 times I think while working for Intel.
The law was setup to keep any company from controlling a market.
If FB and Google refuse to follow clear law setup 50 years ago, why have a law?
Do you want the government to guarantee that Antifa members can post what they want on FR without fear of their posts being deleted or their accounts zotted?
No, they aren't, and your wishing doesn't make it so.
So are you a full up libertardian? Or do you only selectively support some libertardian positions?
For example, are you in favor of a free market in labor, i.e no borders and no ICE? If so, I hope you’ll be OK when we are a one-party progressive Democrat country. If not, then why plant your libertardian flag on a hill occupied by such nasty pieces of work as the libtards that run Google, FaceBook, and Twitter?
There are other search engines, aren’t there? People are not using them by choice, not because Google isn’t the only one.
Yes but they hold a market dominant position. And Google is far more than a search engine -
Break ‘em all up!
“ Washington’s assault against America’s trillion-dollar companies would aid and abet Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts.”
Idiotic position. These companies, most of them, are run by anti-American Marxist wannabes who are so aligned with China’s communist ideals that there’s hardly a dime‘s worth of difference between the two from an ideological perspective.
They only disagree on who the leaders should be.
Break them up soon.
Stossel often makes good points, but he couldn’t be more wrong on this one.
Amazingly uninformed.
Google SHOULD be broken up.
Specifically, they need to sell-off their operating system business from their data collection and advertising services.
I also never thought I’d say this, but the USA needs to have consumer protection laws enacted similar to that of the EU’s GDPR. Right now, Americans have no control over how their data is used, nor what data is collected and sold. This includes PII (Personally Identifiable Information) such as credit card number, date of birth and social security number, all of which can be used by criminals. Even HIPPA has been watered down to the point where personal information CAN be sold.
As an IT professional, I can say that GDPR is a pain to deal with, and in Germany, the German Workers Council has even stricter rules, to the point that we cannot identify which users are visiting websites using their employers Internet services and computers without special permissions.
But it DOES allow the user to take control of their personal data, and restricts what can be accessed, sold or distributed.
Mark
Another thing, since Google IS a publisher of content and they make editorial decisions based on the content of others, providing or denying them access to the public, they are NOT acting as a neutral platform, like a telephone company.
They make active decisions, making them a publisher of content, and need to be treated as such, rather than being given blanket immunity by congress.
That immunity and protection must be removed.
Mark
Yes but they hold a market dominant position. And Google is far more than a search engine -
This is absolutely correct. The search engine is tied directly into the Chrome Browser, which is an integral part of the Android Operating system, which also uses both the search and location functions. Have you ever noticed that your search results on a phone can change, based on your location? Or even certain app results? For instance, if you use the McDonalds app, you may find that the "Deals" option doesn't work, or deals can change, when you are physically near a McDonalds restaurant?
Then there's Google Analytics, which monitors your web browser, purchasing, dining, AND travel habits, building a profile, and then selling that information, including PII (Personally Identifiable Information,) over which, thanks to Google's lobbying efforts, you have no control.
And then there's their work with geolocation, self-driving vehicles and optical recognition, combined with their AI work. All of which is currently being done in conjunction with the ChiCom military (through Chinese university research.) Both the optical recognition and AI work have both civilian, as well as DIRECT military applications, which used to be illegal.
Mark
Google is working directly with the ChiCom military to develop AI, geolocation, facial recognition and other applications which have direct military applications, as well as law enforcement and civilian uses.
Mark
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