4 ms·

It's awful that in today's world, a feature of a platform is that they don't partake in a particular scummy business practice. It's a shame that we even have th

by glasss 6y ago

It's awful that in today's world, a feature of a platform is that they don't partake in a particular scummy business practice. It's a shame that we even have this issue.

r00fus 6y ago
Blame the "no regulation" crowd for that. Well functioning regulation and consumer protection is what promotes good things by forcing bad actors to get in line.
- gowld 6y ago
  There's no guarantee that regulation is good regulation.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    Very true, which is why a smart merchant won't push their luck by abusing their customers. Turns out a lot of them, such as the NYT, aren't that smart.
  - baq 6y ago
    And there is no guarantee that bad regulation is worse than no regulation.
- jungturk 6y ago
  In theory, a competitive market could achieve the same goals, but in practice, it seems like marketplaces often need some regulatory nudging to get over the humps.
  - r00fus 6y ago
    Completely unregulated free markets lead to extremes like slavery and leaded toys. Regulatory practices can be abused or coopted (leading to regulatory capture) but that shouldn't mean we shouldn't keep pushing. Would you frequent a completely unmoderated online forum? We all know how chatroulette turned out...
  - fatbird 6y ago
    Every time we say "in theory a competitive market could achieve the same goals," we find that the entrepeneurs don't have the same goals. The problem isn't the mechanism of capitalism, it's the naive belief that consumer goals and seller goals are aligned.
    - a1369209993 6y ago
      Actually the problem is more that the theoretical concept of a competitive market bears about as much resemblance to any real consumer goods market as a homogenous sphere of bone, meat and skin in a frictionless vacuum bears to a cow.
      - fatbird 6y ago
        Agreed.
- devilduck 6y ago
  In my experience the no regulation crowd is the same as the "I should be able to monetize in any way possible no matter how gross the practice is" and they generally think other people are stupid and are willing to take advantage of that

by glasss 6y ago

It's awful that in today's world, a feature of a platform is that they don't partake in a particular scummy business practice. It's a shame that we even have this issue.

r00fus 6y ago

Blame the "no regulation" crowd for that. Well functioning regulation and consumer protection is what promotes good things by forcing bad actors to get in line.

gowld 6y ago
There's no guarantee that regulation is good regulation.
- CamperBob2 6y ago
  Very true, which is why a smart merchant won't push their luck by abusing their customers. Turns out a lot of them, such as the NYT, aren't that smart.
- baq 6y ago
  And there is no guarantee that bad regulation is worse than no regulation.
jungturk 6y ago
In theory, a competitive market could achieve the same goals, but in practice, it seems like marketplaces often need some regulatory nudging to get over the humps.
- r00fus 6y ago
  Completely unregulated free markets lead to extremes like slavery and leaded toys. Regulatory practices can be abused or coopted (leading to regulatory capture) but that shouldn't mean we shouldn't keep pushing. Would you frequent a completely unmoderated online forum? We all know how chatroulette turned out...
- fatbird 6y ago
  Every time we say "in theory a competitive market could achieve the same goals," we find that the entrepeneurs don't have the same goals. The problem isn't the mechanism of capitalism, it's the naive belief that consumer goals and seller goals are aligned.
  - a1369209993 6y ago
    Actually the problem is more that the theoretical concept of a competitive market bears about as much resemblance to any real consumer goods market as a homogenous sphere of bone, meat and skin in a frictionless vacuum bears to a cow.
    - fatbird 6y ago
      Agreed.
devilduck 6y ago
In my experience the no regulation crowd is the same as the "I should be able to monetize in any way possible no matter how gross the practice is" and they generally think other people are stupid and are willing to take advantage of that