4 ms·

Honest question: Is this against the rules? If there's a market a company wants to enter, wouldn't they just analyze the cost to build (both product, and market

by bis301 5y ago

Honest question: Is this against the rules? If there's a market a company wants to enter, wouldn't they just analyze the cost to build (both product, and market/audience), vs. acquiring (both product, and market/audience), then pick the cheapest option?

cogman10 5y ago
Comes down to software patents. This is a damning doc if another company is suing them for patent infringement.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
fredgrott 5y ago
US rules against monopolies generally hold that the monopolist cannot clone competitors offerings. Facebook is not yet a convicted monopolist
- koolba 5y ago
  There’s no such rule. Even running a monopoly itself is not illegal, it’s only illegal if you leverage your monopolistic position to prevent competition such as temporarily cutting prices below cost to starve competition.
  - tluyben2 5y ago
    Yeah it is not like 'you are the only(/de facto) choice now, so now you are illegal!'; you also need to abuse this position to get this kind of attention.
  - cogman10 5y ago
    It also varies by nation. For example, in the US Microsoft bundling internet explorer with windows wasn't seen as a anti-competitive. In the EU, it was. In another example, apple and android both bundle browser with their operating systems. However, the EU has not rule either to be anti-competitive. That's primarily because they aren't considered to hold a monopoly on their markets. This is also a failing in the law (IMO). ISPs in the US clearly coordinate prices regionally, yet monopoly laws don't really touch them both because there are often at least 2 ISPs in most locations with relatively similarly sized customer bases and internet packages. Further, there really aren't a whole lot of national ISPs (unless you consider cell phone companies).
- bduerst 5y ago
  Most antitrust rules are in place to protect the consumer, not the competitor. You might be thinking of patents with the USPTO.

by bis301 5y ago

cogman10 5y ago

Comes down to software patents. This is a damning doc if another company is suing them for patent infringement.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

fredgrott 5y ago

US rules against monopolies generally hold that the monopolist cannot clone competitors offerings. Facebook is not yet a convicted monopolist

koolba 5y ago
There’s no such rule. Even running a monopoly itself is not illegal, it’s only illegal if you leverage your monopolistic position to prevent competition such as temporarily cutting prices below cost to starve competition.
- tluyben2 5y ago
  Yeah it is not like 'you are the only(/de facto) choice now, so now you are illegal!'; you also need to abuse this position to get this kind of attention.
- cogman10 5y ago
  It also varies by nation. For example, in the US Microsoft bundling internet explorer with windows wasn't seen as a anti-competitive. In the EU, it was. In another example, apple and android both bundle browser with their operating systems. However, the EU has not rule either to be anti-competitive. That's primarily because they aren't considered to hold a monopoly on their markets. This is also a failing in the law (IMO). ISPs in the US clearly coordinate prices regionally, yet monopoly laws don't really touch them both because there are often at least 2 ISPs in most locations with relatively similarly sized customer bases and internet packages. Further, there really aren't a whole lot of national ISPs (unless you consider cell phone companies).
bduerst 5y ago
Most antitrust rules are in place to protect the consumer, not the competitor. You might be thinking of patents with the USPTO.