There's more to the story: it was a monopoly that was tolerated by the state under some conditions, like releasing patents. See for example https://voxeu.org/ar

There's more to the story: it was a monopoly that was tolerated by the state under some conditions, like releasing patents. See for example https://voxeu.org/article/how-antitrust-enforcement-can-spur-innovation https://voxeu.org/article/how-antitrust-enforcement-can-spur...