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New FTC Task Force Will Take on Tech Monopolies (theverge.com)
The Federal Trade Commission will be launching a task force to monitor competition in the US's technology markets, commissioners announced today. From a report: The task force will include current officials working in the agency's Bureau of Competition in order to "enhance the Bureau's focus on technology-related sectors of the economy, including markets in which online platforms compete." It will also include 17 staff attorneys who will be tasked with investigating anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry. "The role of technology in the economy and in our lives grows more important every day," FTC Chairman Joe Simons said. "As I've noted in the past, it makes sense for us to closely examine technology markets to ensure consumers benefit from free and fair competition."
FTC, Your base belong to the Zuck.
This reminds me of the wonderful idea the Australian Govt had on adding tariffs to Apple products. Lets do it _after_ the boom when the market calms down and everyone has made their money. Brilliant, lets impose taxes and watchdogging after the monopolies have been established. Gotta love politics, you know the truth be known that we should have learned from the Dotcom boom and we should have learned from the EU antitrust on MS.
But I guess this is what happens when Obama came into office, sold communism and unicorns and look where we are now.
Not that "tech company" is a separate category anymore what with almost every part of industry transforming itself onto a technological base. But every industry from pharma and insuranceto automobilesto appliances is pouring money into politicians with very predictable results. For decades. For centuries. Now I'm supposed to believe the government is actually reigning in capitalism under a Republican president and a heavily Republican-constrained congress? Pull the other one, it squeakes.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
FTFY
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
also crack down on Comcast cable card rules abuse.
They need to stop the X1 only IPTV channels.
Justice Department challenges AT&T merger with appeal By Bill McCarthy on Friday, July 13th, 2018 at 1:13 p.m
https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=13476690&op=Reply&threshold=0&commentsort=0&mode=flat&pid=58184290
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
Please Please PLEASE!!
Apple has a monopoly on 1.3 billion iOS devices. Google doesn't have that with Android. First off users can install anything they want on Androod. Second Google doesn't control all android devices. They don't control Samsungs or Huawei's or even most of the others
Don't do that... Google Home Assistant is the only friend I have left! She even tells me jokes when I'm feeling down. (I deleted my Facebook account years ago; I'd be perfectly happy if some other default internet login mechanism replaced Facebook, i.e. one that is OPEN SOURCE!)
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
FTC, Your base belong to the Zuck.
Perhaps you need to look up the definition of the word monopoly. Nothing prevents users from leaving the site for competing social media platforms, and in fact the younger generation doesn't really like Facebook.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
listen asshole, I copied the wrong url fuck wad. When I tried to add a link as a reply to myself you fucking moron. slashdot stopped me from posting. So fucking look up the god damn sentence you low life dumb ass democrat cunt. And find the website yourself. Or what? You too mother fucking stupid to do that? You know, google a sentence to find the original web site. Hint mother fucking cunt. It was political fact.
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
You only think it's about monopoly rather than political donations. Most of the world runs on corruption, which for government means getting in the way so you can get paid to get back out of the way. Or pass the business model to connected cronies.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Their monopoly is the worst there has ever been. They have got to be broken up into a dozen or more companies. Maybe even confiscate all their IP, etc and make them public domain.
Corporatism != Free Market
5... 4... 3...
Apple's iOS and product line is under zero obligation to be open, emulate Android's bullshit no-wall-garden, or support devices they don't want it to. That's not a monopoly or what it means, that's a product line.
Microsoft was found guilty of abusing its monopoly position in the marketplace in spite of not having a literal monopoly. Of course, Ashcroft under Bush decided that they shouldn't be punished. Then Gates put his money into his foundation where it was hard to touch.
Apple does have a monopoly over those devices, which they enforce with anticompetitive restrictions on app stores.
With that said, Alphabet should be broken up. Google search. Google ads. Youtube. Waymo. They should all be genuinely separate, not all under the Alphabet umbrella. Putting them together gives Alphagooglebet too much power and incentive to track people.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
First off, no, Apple does not have a monopoly. They have lock-in, which is far from being the same thing. I'm not saying that lock-in is fine, but we need to stop misusing "monopoly" if we're going to have a rational discussion on the topic.
Second, even if they had a monopoly, a monopoly in and of itself does not necessarily mean action need be taken by regulators. It's when companies abuse their monopolies to gain an anticompetitive advantage that it becomes a problem (e.g. leveraging their monopoly in one market to gain an unfair advantage in another). I'm not aware of any legitimate arguments suggesting Apple has done so with their perceived monopoly.
Third, vendors are under no obligation to eliminate lock-in/make things interoperable unless there are other anticompetitive issues at play, such as what may happen if the vendor happens to also be a monopoly. That's why, for example, AT&T was forced to interoperate with other phone companies several decades back. The fact that Android commands a significantly larger market share than iOS, both in the US and abroad, suggests that Apple neither has a monopoly nor is in a position to abuse their market share for anticompetitive gain. As such, while some here may suggest that they are shooting themselves in the foot by not taking advantage of significant competitive and PR gains that could be made (not to mention the advantages for consumers), there doesn't seem to be a basis to obligate them to make their App Store open. It's their choice if they want to shoot themselves in the foot.
Consumers don't always like lock-in, but lock-in is rarely a problem necessitating regulatory intervention.
They only allow their devices, and ironically that's how it's NOT a monopoly. Apple's app store is their own, unlike a locked-in browser choice to access the entire "free" internet.
That's the opposite of my point. I don't want access to the app store, I want Apple users to be able to get apps elsewhere.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
OMG! Does this spell the end of the road for the giant telcos' monopolies?
Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.
" I want Apple users to be able to get apps elsewhere." - Well, that's not a "legal right" but in fact, you actually can. They don't have to make that easy for you though :
Their deliberately making it difficult is restraint of trade, and when coupled with their monopoly over non-difficult app stores for the platform it may well be illegal, that is if the government were actually to look into what effects it has on the market.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
New FTC Task Force Will Take Bribes From Tech Monopolies
Once the job market is collapsed, companies like amazon will follow fairly shortly as unemployed people don't make very profitable customers...
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
to bad that Comcast is the only choice for some.