4 ms·

It is actually very easy to do legislatively (laws tell the companies what to do, not necessarily how to do it). The technical challenges fall on Google.

• JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > It is actually very easy to do legislatively It would be easy to write a law, not to pass one. Generally speaking, when a law is unpredictably disruptive it becomes (a) difficult to pass and (b) time-consuming and costly to defend in court.
  • rpiguy 7y ago
    The difference in this case is that the usual defenders of private property rights and libertarianism feel as though Google is suppressing them, potentially removing the usual roadblock to this kind reform. This is a rare instance where anti-corporate leftists and dejected right wingers could actually do something substantive together. In most cases I would agree with you the defenders of private industry are pretty fierce in the US, but all that ideology sort of dissipates when you feel like you are being oppressed (whether or not, or to what degree it is true).
    • JumpCrisscross 7y ago
      > the usual defenders of private property rights and libertarianism feel as though Google is suppressing them, potentially removing the usual roadblock to this kind reform Potentially. It's still more difficult than the author's index proposal. No reason they can't be pursued in parallel. Regarding a search-ad break-up, I'd guess there would be lots of wrangling over (and lobbying around) defining search and advertising. For example, is Amazon's product search tied to an advertising business, given it sells third parties' products?