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> Is the Competition Commission of India (CCI) politically independent? How is it relevant? Android is close to 100% of the mobile phone market. Even if every

by sinyug 5y ago

> Is the Competition Commission of India (CCI) politically independent? How is it relevant? Android is close to 100% of the mobile phone market. Even if every single member of the commission was named Modi, that still makes Google a monopolist. I don't understand the fetishization of political independence. Why would you want unelected members who are unanswerable to the people making decisions which would have a massive impact on their lives?

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> How is it relevant? Whether the probe is facts based or politically motivated matters. If the latter, there are cards on the table we aren't seeing, e.g. the promise of the probe being dropped in exchange for something the ruling party values.
- cyberpsybin 5y ago
  This ain't China or US
- smoldesu 5y ago
  It's also worth noting that India has been spending the better half of a decade trying to strongarm Big Tech with their massive market to no avail. The government has become increasingly sensitive and restless in recent years, demanding companies like Twitter and Facebook censor info or risk their domestic employees being perpetually arrested. So, yeah, there are some concerns to be had with their tech policy.
- sinyug 5y ago
  > Whether the probe is facts based or politically motivated matters. It is for the voters, and no one else, to decide whether they care about so-called political motivation. The Indian government represents the will of the Indian people. And what it says, goes. If anyone has a problem with that, they can always approach the courts.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - wtmt 5y ago
    Two caveats: > The Indian government represents the will of the Indian people. Not really representative of the will or the real issues that are bothering the people. The current government is more of a “show business” than a government (look at how the COVID vaccination drives are dampened and pumped up by sycophants just to please one person). > If anyone has a problem with that, they can always approach the courts. The Indian judicial system is excruciatingly slow, easily distracted by trivial matters (like BCCI corruption) and mostly doesn’t stop the government from bulldozing ahead while a case is pending. It took several years and across the terms of three or four chief justices of the Supreme Court to hear the right to privacy case. It took another year and several months to hear the Aadhaar case (which still has pending lawsuits), the cases on electoral bonds hasn’t been heard for years…all these are cases that affect every resident and the future of the country…the list goes on. Depending on the Indian judiciary to save the people from the executive is mostly futile.
    - sinyug 5y ago
      > current government is more of a “show business” than a government You can criticize individual governments all you want. But the principle still stands. The Indian government is formed by people who have been directly chosen by the people of India. Except the brief period of insanity in the 1970s, we have had a good history of peaceful transfer of power from one government to the other. > sycophants I don't want to derail the conversation, but I am sure you would agree that this is hardly unique to the current disposition. > The Indian judicial system is excruciatingly slow I know. My complaints go far beyond that however. None of the judges are answerable to the people because none of them are elected. The SC even invented the collegium out of thin air. The second problem is that this makes their interference in executive matters even more worrisome because they cannot be voted out and impeaching them isn't particularly easy. Still, the judiciary is fairly independent and people who think that the government has exceeded its powers can always try to get justice. Whether they get it in time or not is a different matter, but the option is available (unlike in, say, China).
- th3iedkid 5y ago
  Even if it isn’t the latter , there will always be such open cards.It would remain utopian to claim anything in any democracy is purely fact based and nothing can change with political will.You can probably get it in more authoritative regimes however.

by sinyug 5y ago

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

> How is it relevant? Whether the probe is facts based or politically motivated matters. If the latter, there are cards on the table we aren't seeing, e.g. the promise of the probe being dropped in exchange for something the ruling party values.

cyberpsybin 5y ago
This ain't China or US
smoldesu 5y ago
It's also worth noting that India has been spending the better half of a decade trying to strongarm Big Tech with their massive market to no avail. The government has become increasingly sensitive and restless in recent years, demanding companies like Twitter and Facebook censor info or risk their domestic employees being perpetually arrested. So, yeah, there are some concerns to be had with their tech policy.
sinyug 5y ago
> Whether the probe is facts based or politically motivated matters. It is for the voters, and no one else, to decide whether they care about so-called political motivation. The Indian government represents the will of the Indian people. And what it says, goes. If anyone has a problem with that, they can always approach the courts.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- wtmt 5y ago
  Two caveats: > The Indian government represents the will of the Indian people. Not really representative of the will or the real issues that are bothering the people. The current government is more of a “show business” than a government (look at how the COVID vaccination drives are dampened and pumped up by sycophants just to please one person). > If anyone has a problem with that, they can always approach the courts. The Indian judicial system is excruciatingly slow, easily distracted by trivial matters (like BCCI corruption) and mostly doesn’t stop the government from bulldozing ahead while a case is pending. It took several years and across the terms of three or four chief justices of the Supreme Court to hear the right to privacy case. It took another year and several months to hear the Aadhaar case (which still has pending lawsuits), the cases on electoral bonds hasn’t been heard for years…all these are cases that affect every resident and the future of the country…the list goes on. Depending on the Indian judiciary to save the people from the executive is mostly futile.
  - sinyug 5y ago
    > current government is more of a “show business” than a government You can criticize individual governments all you want. But the principle still stands. The Indian government is formed by people who have been directly chosen by the people of India. Except the brief period of insanity in the 1970s, we have had a good history of peaceful transfer of power from one government to the other. > sycophants I don't want to derail the conversation, but I am sure you would agree that this is hardly unique to the current disposition. > The Indian judicial system is excruciatingly slow I know. My complaints go far beyond that however. None of the judges are answerable to the people because none of them are elected. The SC even invented the collegium out of thin air. The second problem is that this makes their interference in executive matters even more worrisome because they cannot be voted out and impeaching them isn't particularly easy. Still, the judiciary is fairly independent and people who think that the government has exceeded its powers can always try to get justice. Whether they get it in time or not is a different matter, but the option is available (unlike in, say, China).
th3iedkid 5y ago
Even if it isn’t the latter , there will always be such open cards.It would remain utopian to claim anything in any democracy is purely fact based and nothing can change with political will.You can probably get it in more authoritative regimes however.