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The definition of "monopoly" doesn't matter that much though. What matters is whether new players can realistically enter a market and compete on merit. That's

The definition of "monopoly" doesn't matter that much though. What matters is whether new players can realistically enter a market and compete on merit. That's what creates incentives for innovation and low prices. I agree with you that the film industry itself doesn't currently have a monopoly or oligopoly problem, especially not internationally. But the fact that there are huge problems in related areas of digital content distribution and discovery (app stores, search, social networks, network operators specifically in the US) is cause for alarm in my view. The problem is spreading rapidly and it wouldn't be a surprise if the film industry was one of the next victims.

scarface74 7y ago
Digital content distribution - as far as movies, music, and books anyone can put up a website, provision some servers and sell content in standardized formats that can be consumed anywhere. Search - nothing is stopping anyone from going to other search engines. It’s not like Bing is backed by one or two people with no financial backing. Social networking - the social networks pre- Facebook failed because people chose a better experience. On none of those cases are corporations forcing people to do anything nor or any of them essential services for which there is no alternative. And the “definition” does matter. Once people in power can make up their own definitions it leads to government overreach.
- fauigerzigerk 7y ago
  It doesn't matter what people could do in purely technical terms. What matters is whether there is an economically viable way to enter a market and create real competition. It's not a theoretical question. It has to actually happen for the benefits of free markets to accrue. Currently, that seems unrealistic in some areas like app stores where you can see egregious misuse of dominant market positions. It's ineffective in other areas like social networks because all new market entrants are swiftly taken over by incumbents without any resistance by regulators. The definition of monopoly is important in some respects but not for the question of whether or not we can reap the benefits of markets or suffer the consequences of dysfunctional markets. It doesn't take a clearcut monopoly to render a market dysfunctional. (I'm not sure which people in power you are talking about)
  - scarface74 7y ago
    It's ineffective in other areas like social networks because all new market entrants are swiftly taken over by incumbents without any resistance by regulators. You act as if it isn’t the goal of every startup that takes VC funding to get acquired. Yeah going public is the other route, but statistically it hardly ever happens. Look no further than YC. Only two YC backed companies have ever gone public. VCs wouldn’t invest in companies if they thought their only exit strategy was navigating via the very unlikely road of going public. If it were harder to sell a company to a larger tech company, most of these investments would never happen. The definition of monopoly is important in some respects but not for the question of whether or not we can reap the benefits of markets or suffer the consequences of dysfunctional markets. It doesn't take a clearcut monopoly to render a market dysfunctional. Facebook came in and took on MySpace with a better product - not government regulation. I'm not sure which people in power you are talking about The government. Everyone likes government power as long as their side is in charge.
    - fauigerzigerk 7y ago
      >You act as if it isn’t the goal of every startup that takes VC funding to get acquired. I didn't mean to imply anything wrt that question. I don't think it matters. What matters is whether the market is actually working, and it's not. There's very little competition. MySpace was ages ago and it never had the financial might of Facebook. So that's not a good example of an oligopoly resolving itself, but I grant you that there are such examples (IBM for one, also Microsoft although regulators may have influenced that one). I'm actually rather skeptical when it comes to the effectiveness of competition regulation. But some of the things that are happening right now are simply unacceptable, regardless of whether or not they might eventually resolve themselves. That 30% app store revenue cut is just ridiculous, as are lifetime bans from extremely dominant platforms without explanation or recourse. >The government. Everyone likes government power as long as their side is in charge. You said it was a problem if people in power were making up their own definitions, and you said it in response to a sloppy use of the term "monopoly" by an HN commenter. "HN commenter" doesn't quite meet my definition of "people in power".

scarface74 7y ago

Digital content distribution - as far as movies, music, and books anyone can put up a website, provision some servers and sell content in standardized formats that can be consumed anywhere. Search - nothing is stopping anyone from going to other search engines. It’s not like Bing is backed by one or two people with no financial backing. Social networking - the social networks pre- Facebook failed because people chose a better experience. On none of those cases are corporations forcing people to do anything nor or any of them essential services for which there is no alternative. And the “definition” does matter. Once people in power can make up their own definitions it leads to government overreach.

fauigerzigerk 7y ago
It doesn't matter what people could do in purely technical terms. What matters is whether there is an economically viable way to enter a market and create real competition. It's not a theoretical question. It has to actually happen for the benefits of free markets to accrue. Currently, that seems unrealistic in some areas like app stores where you can see egregious misuse of dominant market positions. It's ineffective in other areas like social networks because all new market entrants are swiftly taken over by incumbents without any resistance by regulators. The definition of monopoly is important in some respects but not for the question of whether or not we can reap the benefits of markets or suffer the consequences of dysfunctional markets. It doesn't take a clearcut monopoly to render a market dysfunctional. (I'm not sure which people in power you are talking about)
- scarface74 7y ago
  It's ineffective in other areas like social networks because all new market entrants are swiftly taken over by incumbents without any resistance by regulators. You act as if it isn’t the goal of every startup that takes VC funding to get acquired. Yeah going public is the other route, but statistically it hardly ever happens. Look no further than YC. Only two YC backed companies have ever gone public. VCs wouldn’t invest in companies if they thought their only exit strategy was navigating via the very unlikely road of going public. If it were harder to sell a company to a larger tech company, most of these investments would never happen. The definition of monopoly is important in some respects but not for the question of whether or not we can reap the benefits of markets or suffer the consequences of dysfunctional markets. It doesn't take a clearcut monopoly to render a market dysfunctional. Facebook came in and took on MySpace with a better product - not government regulation. I'm not sure which people in power you are talking about The government. Everyone likes government power as long as their side is in charge.
  - fauigerzigerk 7y ago
    >You act as if it isn’t the goal of every startup that takes VC funding to get acquired. I didn't mean to imply anything wrt that question. I don't think it matters. What matters is whether the market is actually working, and it's not. There's very little competition. MySpace was ages ago and it never had the financial might of Facebook. So that's not a good example of an oligopoly resolving itself, but I grant you that there are such examples (IBM for one, also Microsoft although regulators may have influenced that one). I'm actually rather skeptical when it comes to the effectiveness of competition regulation. But some of the things that are happening right now are simply unacceptable, regardless of whether or not they might eventually resolve themselves. That 30% app store revenue cut is just ridiculous, as are lifetime bans from extremely dominant platforms without explanation or recourse. >The government. Everyone likes government power as long as their side is in charge. You said it was a problem if people in power were making up their own definitions, and you said it in response to a sloppy use of the term "monopoly" by an HN commenter. "HN commenter" doesn't quite meet my definition of "people in power".