6 ms·

Google needs to be split up and shut down. Why aren’t the American authorities using the antitrust laws that is already there?

cdransf 7y ago
Because Republicans are in power and they know no greater god than corporate power and the almighty dollar.
- scarface74 7y ago
  I’m not defending Republicans but as someone else said American anti trust law has always been about protecting consumers and not businesses. Unfortunately, everything I could site about the difference comes from Ben Thompson’s (of stratechery fame) Exponent Podcast.
  - kevinh 7y ago
    The current interpretation of antitrust law in the United States is fairly new (it's only been around for 50 years or so, and as I understand it, largely driven by The Antitrust Paradox by Robert Bork [yes, that Bork]). Before that, there was broader enforcement in the antitrust sphere.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      Of course there is a Planet Money episode about that.... https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=696337392 https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...
sfifs 7y ago
Basically because the current philosophy of the US justice department anti trust prosecutions is whether market dominance of the player harms ordinary people or causes them to incur higher cost. It is not really about actual monopoly power. Google has been pretty careful to stay consistent with this philosophy. This wasn't always so in the US and it's not the same philosophy in EU. However, it is a valid and consistent view.
- telltruth 7y ago
  Corollary 1: You are legally allowed to kill all of your competition while not improving your monopoly product as long as you keep your product free. Corollary 2: Human attention is considered equivalent to monetary value of exactly $0 by US government. Corollary 3: You should never trust your government to be smart or do right thing for you.
  - sfifs 7y ago
    Counterpoint: If you strongly want your government to change its approach, organize to change the government. In US, it's very safe to do this without violence but even in significantly less safe places, people have successfully done this peacefully [1] [2] [3] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Delhi_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Delhi_Legislative_Assem... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_West_Bengal_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_West_Bengal_Legislative... [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2005_Bihar_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2005_Bihar_Legislati...
fx32s 7y ago
Why would it need to be shut down.
int_19h 7y ago
Because they were reinterpreted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Antitrust_Paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Antitrust_Paradox

cdransf 7y ago

Because Republicans are in power and they know no greater god than corporate power and the almighty dollar.

scarface74 7y ago
I’m not defending Republicans but as someone else said American anti trust law has always been about protecting consumers and not businesses. Unfortunately, everything I could site about the difference comes from Ben Thompson’s (of stratechery fame) Exponent Podcast.
- kevinh 7y ago
  The current interpretation of antitrust law in the United States is fairly new (it's only been around for 50 years or so, and as I understand it, largely driven by The Antitrust Paradox by Robert Bork [yes, that Bork]). Before that, there was broader enforcement in the antitrust sphere.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Of course there is a Planet Money episode about that.... https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=696337392 https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...

sfifs 7y ago

Basically because the current philosophy of the US justice department anti trust prosecutions is whether market dominance of the player harms ordinary people or causes them to incur higher cost. It is not really about actual monopoly power. Google has been pretty careful to stay consistent with this philosophy. This wasn't always so in the US and it's not the same philosophy in EU. However, it is a valid and consistent view.

telltruth 7y ago
Corollary 1: You are legally allowed to kill all of your competition while not improving your monopoly product as long as you keep your product free. Corollary 2: Human attention is considered equivalent to monetary value of exactly $0 by US government. Corollary 3: You should never trust your government to be smart or do right thing for you.
- sfifs 7y ago
  Counterpoint: If you strongly want your government to change its approach, organize to change the government. In US, it's very safe to do this without violence but even in significantly less safe places, people have successfully done this peacefully [1] [2] [3] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Delhi_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Delhi_Legislative_Assem... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_West_Bengal_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_West_Bengal_Legislative... [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2005_Bihar_Legislative_Assembly_election https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2005_Bihar_Legislati...

fx32s 7y ago

Why would it need to be shut down.

int_19h 7y ago

Because they were reinterpreted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Antitrust_Paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Antitrust_Paradox