3 ms·
Microsoft is bigger than its tech rivals but lawmakers treat it as an ally
- bnt 5y agoWell, MS is actively working with US gov in fighting ransomeware, spyware, various attacks on infra and agencies + they already went through all the "let's split them up" saga 20 years ago. Time for another tech giant to feel the heat. Google basically owns the internet, FB has info on everyone in the world, maybe time to see what can be done there?
- bediger4000 5y agoOK, but arguably Microsoft has more monopoly power than Facebook, Google and Apple, given its overwhelming market share. If you split up anything else, it's hard to justify not breaking up Microsoft. The usual anti-trust argument for the last 30 (?) years has been about harm to consumers. Does the monopoly (or oligopoly) harm consumers or benefit them? If the latter, then regulators let the merger happen, or near-monopoly keep existing. It's hard to imagine a harm to consumers argument work in the case of Google or FB or Apple. Look, I was militantly in favor of breaking up Microsoft in 1999-2000, the last trial. But the courts decided not to do so. The same rules need to apply to everyone. In that context I don't see any anti-trust effort happening, as much as it needs to.