5 ms·

What incentive is there for states to sue over monopolies? Is it simply to advocate for their constituencies?

dkjaudyeqooe 5y ago
Upholding the law? Having a functioning market and economy perhaps? It's the government's job to regulate the market. Abusing your (near) monopoly position to drive out competition is illegal.
- t-3 5y ago
  > Abusing your (near) monopoly position to drive out competition is illegal. Yes, but it happens so often with so little attention paid that stories like this more often make me think a politician is looking for election funding rather than trying to enforce the law.
  - mhh__ 5y ago
    Is that looking a gift horse in the mouth?
    - t-3 5y ago
      Not really, when any investigations or actions are likely to be indefinitely delayed as soon as a lobbyist writes check. If they actually do something other than slap-on-the-wrist fines that don't even do damage, you won't hear me complaining, but I don't have high expectations. The EU seems to be far more interested in reigning in big tech, but they don't seem to be any more succesful, and their most substantive efforts have had lackluster results (I mean, really, is anyone's privacy improved by having more javascript popups added to every single page? Does it even lower the potential for tracking and abuse, let alone reduce the actual commission of such acts?).
      - ziml77 5y ago
        Is it possible the EU is being careful because the major tech companies that it would want to punish are all American? People over here could see those actions as the EU trying to take down American companies so that companies in EU countries can take an overwhelmingly dominant position. I would imagine that perception could lead to restrictions and tariffs just like we've applied to China.
        pgeorgi 5y ago
        I'm not sure the EU cares: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/EU-GOOGLE-ANTITRUST/0H0012Y9L1DV/index.html http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/EU-GOOGLE-...
      - pgeorgi 5y ago
        > I mean, really, is anyone's privacy improved by having more javascript popups added to every single page? How about app stores implementing "privacy dashboards" where you can see what data an app collects and how it uses it? With the idea that app makers become more careful in what they do because it becomes so obvious. That's a result of the GDPR. Things take a while when the law is designed for not being used as a ban hammer but to coerce better behavior. The DPAs are mostly working in the background to get actors into compliance. Every time you see a lawsuit over such things, a multi-year process broke down to the point where that's the last recourse.
- philjohn 5y ago
  There seems to be other equally pressing market capture targets to go after - Sinclair broadcasting being one example. It seems interesting that "Old Media" is coming off unscathed and the ire is all directed at "New Media".
  - salawat 5y ago
    At least in my case I've had an interest in deconglomerating Old Media for a while. When you start finding out how more than half of the work journalists do gets thrown into the can for content/narrative/audience engineering purposes, it's time to reevaluate the incentives of the folks running the presses.
koalaman 5y ago
Call me cynical, but I’ve always assumed these and the european efforts are bought by companies that are threatened by Google.
Nasrudith 5y ago
Standard careerism demagoguery (remember Backpage?) and trying to bully for favorable coverage for themselves. The ignorants see "Big Tech" as a traditional media company and are mad they aren't playing ball.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

Upholding the law? Having a functioning market and economy perhaps? It's the government's job to regulate the market. Abusing your (near) monopoly position to drive out competition is illegal.

t-3 5y ago
> Abusing your (near) monopoly position to drive out competition is illegal. Yes, but it happens so often with so little attention paid that stories like this more often make me think a politician is looking for election funding rather than trying to enforce the law.
- mhh__ 5y ago
  Is that looking a gift horse in the mouth?
  - t-3 5y ago
    Not really, when any investigations or actions are likely to be indefinitely delayed as soon as a lobbyist writes check. If they actually do something other than slap-on-the-wrist fines that don't even do damage, you won't hear me complaining, but I don't have high expectations. The EU seems to be far more interested in reigning in big tech, but they don't seem to be any more succesful, and their most substantive efforts have had lackluster results (I mean, really, is anyone's privacy improved by having more javascript popups added to every single page? Does it even lower the potential for tracking and abuse, let alone reduce the actual commission of such acts?).
    - ziml77 5y ago
      Is it possible the EU is being careful because the major tech companies that it would want to punish are all American? People over here could see those actions as the EU trying to take down American companies so that companies in EU countries can take an overwhelmingly dominant position. I would imagine that perception could lead to restrictions and tariffs just like we've applied to China.
      - pgeorgi 5y ago
        I'm not sure the EU cares: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/EU-GOOGLE-ANTITRUST/0H0012Y9L1DV/index.html http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/EU-GOOGLE-...
    - pgeorgi 5y ago
      > I mean, really, is anyone's privacy improved by having more javascript popups added to every single page? How about app stores implementing "privacy dashboards" where you can see what data an app collects and how it uses it? With the idea that app makers become more careful in what they do because it becomes so obvious. That's a result of the GDPR. Things take a while when the law is designed for not being used as a ban hammer but to coerce better behavior. The DPAs are mostly working in the background to get actors into compliance. Every time you see a lawsuit over such things, a multi-year process broke down to the point where that's the last recourse.
philjohn 5y ago
There seems to be other equally pressing market capture targets to go after - Sinclair broadcasting being one example. It seems interesting that "Old Media" is coming off unscathed and the ire is all directed at "New Media".
- salawat 5y ago
  At least in my case I've had an interest in deconglomerating Old Media for a while. When you start finding out how more than half of the work journalists do gets thrown into the can for content/narrative/audience engineering purposes, it's time to reevaluate the incentives of the folks running the presses.

koalaman 5y ago

Call me cynical, but I’ve always assumed these and the european efforts are bought by companies that are threatened by Google.

Nasrudith 5y ago

Standard careerism demagoguery (remember Backpage?) and trying to bully for favorable coverage for themselves. The ignorants see "Big Tech" as a traditional media company and are mad they aren't playing ball.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]