> These entities don't need to be somehow (gently) "restrained", but as a civilization we need to rethink the power we've ceded to them at a very fundamental le

> These entities don't need to be somehow (gently) "restrained", but as a civilization we need to rethink the power we've ceded to them at a very fundamental level, or we risk growing ever weaker and more dependent on them. I wholeheartedly agree with you on all the points you made, but I'm a bit weary for this one, especially using the term 'ceded'. Have we really ceded power to Apple/Google/Amazon/Facebook or have they simply 'won' the capitalism game? If they won, do we penalize them for winning? Can we force a breakup of these Tech Titans into independent companies (something akin to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 [1] or the breakup of Standard oil in 1911 [2]) or would that stifle the amazing innovation these companies put out regularly? If we have indeed ceded power, then what is our recourse? Legislation? By whom? Many of these companies are arguably working for the same government that is in the best place to enact such regulations, as shown in the Snowden leaks. I don't know what the best answer is, perhaps we need to wait out a few generations to get policy makers that actually understand what the internet is and the implications of digital monopolies. Perhaps the answer is less pessimistic. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass%E2%80%93Steagall_legislation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass%E2%80%93Steagall_legisla... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller