To save the earth, all we have to do is use heat to somehow power giant laser beams to fire lasers into space. The earth will cool off because we are sending excess energy out.
If you have two mini-marts across the street from each other, and they both meet to discuss how they are going to charge $4 for a gallon of milk, if you find out and report them to the DoJ, they will get in trouble, regardless of if they are a monopoly or even if their collusive act would have any effect on the market.
The difference is that the microwave is not designed to become unusable by installing alternate software onto it. The software you install might do so but the original software will let you.
And nobody forces you to use Windows - you can use Linux or Apple with emulators for all PC software you need.
And nobody forces you to use Google - yahoo, bing, askjeeves lol.
The biggest reason I think that there is reason for investigation is that you become locked into a contract if you so choose to use a motorola phone.
Couldn't this be some sort of unfair business practices? I mean, if Microsoft made it so that only Microsoft approved programs could run on windows, they would be sued in a heart beat, what makes this different?
Remember Enron? When they purposely closed down their power plants to make it seem like the system was over capacity as an excuse to raise rates? That is what deregulation got you.
Of course they had government assistance, do you know expensive it is to start up a power company? Prohibitively high. Even if they didn't help them, they would have become monopolies anyway. Its called economies of scale, and for power generation and distribution, it will always be more efficient to have one producer. Unless of course you want there to be 8 poles at every location where there is one now.
LOL, you are completely mistaken, things like power companies were regulated because they became monopolies. In fact, its government regulation forcing power companies to lease their lines out that is what creates competition in the market.
Well I hope it wasnt Arco that you were comparing to another gas station, because Arco is cheaper because they charge you for using your Debit card. Which is funny because they provide inferior gas yet the total price is about the same.
I dont know about you, but I live in an area where if you want decent internet, you are forced into getting Comcast, and this is a college town. The best alternative is DSL that only runs about 2MB download compared to the 30MB I get from Comcast. So I essentially have zero choice when it comes to switching. If Comcast chooses to start throttling Torrents again, I essentially end up in the exact same position switching to the other ISP. And with the way ISPs are set up in this country, I am certain that others would run into similar problems across the country.
Its not an accurate representation comparing ISPs to wireless cell phone providers since wireless cell phone providers are much more heavily regulated by the FCC, something that should be done for the ISPs.
No, collusion is an agreement, meaning they have to meet and "agree" to terms. Its price fixing in that a Gas Company can increase the cost of gasoline, a largely inelastic good and they know that the other gas companies will set it equal to their price. So in the end, you get consumers paying a higher price then what is required for a good. Remember a couple of years ago when gas jumped up by almost 80% yet consumer use in the US dropped only 5%? That means the gas companies can get away with a lot and they know it.
If you don't understand why more gas companies can't enter the market, then god help you. Most gas companies make money hand over fist, moreso then other markets, so you would think more gas companies would be sprouting up all the time until they were equal to what other markets make in profits.
So you are saying that the people in areas with 1-2 ISPs will be able to switch to a different ISP that doesn't restrict traffic? Have you ever noticed how when one gas station raises their prices, the one directly across the street raises theirs to the same? Its not collusion but its price fixing. ISPs will do the same exact thing. Comcast goes, hey Wave Broadband is filtering out Torrents, we are gonna do it too to save money, people can complain but where they gonna go?
Well, like most liberties you can wave them. If you choose to not be safe by not updating your software and such, that becomes your liability and not theirs.
I love how a second world nation is further ahead with ensuring the freedoms of its people then the United States. How about we just add an amendment to the constitution that replaces all references of "people" to "corporations".
Well, in his speech for going to war with Iraq he did mention freeing the Iraqis from an oppressive regime as one of the goals. In fact, that was the goal that I think most warranted the Invasion.
That won't work because without profits they will choose to become more and more inefficient. Think electric companies that buy their workers new trucks each and every year.
Slashdot Mirror
Oooh, hyperbole, that's the way to convert people to your side.
To save the earth, all we have to do is use heat to somehow power giant laser beams to fire lasers into space. The earth will cool off because we are sending excess energy out.
If you have two mini-marts across the street from each other, and they both meet to discuss how they are going to charge $4 for a gallon of milk, if you find out and report them to the DoJ, they will get in trouble, regardless of if they are a monopoly or even if their collusive act would have any effect on the market.
The difference is that the microwave is not designed to become unusable by installing alternate software onto it. The software you install might do so but the original software will let you.
And nobody forces you to use Windows - you can use Linux or Apple with emulators for all PC software you need.
And nobody forces you to use Google - yahoo, bing, askjeeves lol.
The biggest reason I think that there is reason for investigation is that you become locked into a contract if you so choose to use a motorola phone.
But Motorolla is a major player too, with 17% that is nothing to laugh at. http://www.answers.com/topic/motorola-inc
Yet Google is far from a monopoly yet they are being investigated in Europe for unfair business practices. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/15thu3.html?_r=3
Couldn't this be some sort of unfair business practices? I mean, if Microsoft made it so that only Microsoft approved programs could run on windows, they would be sued in a heart beat, what makes this different?
Well then I guess that no business is free to compete since they all need government permission in the form of Business Licenses and such.
Remember Enron? When they purposely closed down their power plants to make it seem like the system was over capacity as an excuse to raise rates? That is what deregulation got you.
Well, as of April 2010, they weren't. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/groups.htm#oem do you have evidence to the contrary?
Of course they had government assistance, do you know expensive it is to start up a power company? Prohibitively high. Even if they didn't help them, they would have become monopolies anyway. Its called economies of scale, and for power generation and distribution, it will always be more efficient to have one producer. Unless of course you want there to be 8 poles at every location where there is one now.
LOL, you are completely mistaken, things like power companies were regulated because they became monopolies. In fact, its government regulation forcing power companies to lease their lines out that is what creates competition in the market.
Well I hope it wasnt Arco that you were comparing to another gas station, because Arco is cheaper because they charge you for using your Debit card. Which is funny because they provide inferior gas yet the total price is about the same.
I dont know about you, but I live in an area where if you want decent internet, you are forced into getting Comcast, and this is a college town. The best alternative is DSL that only runs about 2MB download compared to the 30MB I get from Comcast. So I essentially have zero choice when it comes to switching. If Comcast chooses to start throttling Torrents again, I essentially end up in the exact same position switching to the other ISP. And with the way ISPs are set up in this country, I am certain that others would run into similar problems across the country.
Its not an accurate representation comparing ISPs to wireless cell phone providers since wireless cell phone providers are much more heavily regulated by the FCC, something that should be done for the ISPs.
My mistake, I apologize, I should have said it is a Developing country and compared that to the fact that we are a Developed country.
No, collusion is an agreement, meaning they have to meet and "agree" to terms. Its price fixing in that a Gas Company can increase the cost of gasoline, a largely inelastic good and they know that the other gas companies will set it equal to their price. So in the end, you get consumers paying a higher price then what is required for a good. Remember a couple of years ago when gas jumped up by almost 80% yet consumer use in the US dropped only 5%? That means the gas companies can get away with a lot and they know it.
If you don't understand why more gas companies can't enter the market, then god help you. Most gas companies make money hand over fist, moreso then other markets, so you would think more gas companies would be sprouting up all the time until they were equal to what other markets make in profits.
Last I checked we were fully industrialized.
So you are saying that the people in areas with 1-2 ISPs will be able to switch to a different ISP that doesn't restrict traffic? Have you ever noticed how when one gas station raises their prices, the one directly across the street raises theirs to the same? Its not collusion but its price fixing. ISPs will do the same exact thing. Comcast goes, hey Wave Broadband is filtering out Torrents, we are gonna do it too to save money, people can complain but where they gonna go?
You mean my illegal downloading of 1 million dollars worth of songs (Read: 5 songs) won't be protected?
Well, like most liberties you can wave them. If you choose to not be safe by not updating your software and such, that becomes your liability and not theirs.
I love how a second world nation is further ahead with ensuring the freedoms of its people then the United States. How about we just add an amendment to the constitution that replaces all references of "people" to "corporations".
Well, in his speech for going to war with Iraq he did mention freeing the Iraqis from an oppressive regime as one of the goals. In fact, that was the goal that I think most warranted the Invasion.
That won't work because without profits they will choose to become more and more inefficient. Think electric companies that buy their workers new trucks each and every year.
I wasn't shitting on the tradesmen, just pointing out that its not fair to compare their college bound to our average citizen.