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- You're assuming that there's the political will to do so. In the US, the Department of Justice would prosecute an antitrust case, and cases in the past (most
by ascagnel_ 4y ago
- You're assuming that there's the political will to do so. In the US, the Department of Justice would prosecute an antitrust case, and cases in the past (most notably Microsoft's antitrust case) have been dropped as political winds have shifted.
- Antitrust proceedings are slow. The Microsoft case (which was a much more cut-and-dry antitrust case) was filed in May 1998 and settled in November 2001 -- three and a half years. Given that Google today moves faster than Microsoft in the late 90s, 3.5 years is enough time to drive a critical mass of users away from other browsers, which effectively kills any market.
- What antitrust behaviors could be forced that would restore a competitive browser market? I could see Google being forced to spin off Chrome into its own company or donate the code to a third-party, open-source organization, but these only shift the problem around, they don't get at the root issue of there not being a competitive browser market.