> All businesses are subject to market forces and cannot sustain a monopoly This is a very old view of free market, and perhaps only the proponents of classic

> All businesses are subject to market forces and cannot sustain a monopoly This is a very old view of free market, and perhaps only the proponents of classic economics can agree with you. Market forces have a natural tendency for monopoly, which is why monopoly laws are needed in the first place. For example, oil companies and ISPs are all monopolies naturally formed. Now, the IT companies may be different. As you say, the technology in this area advances so rapidly that a monopoly at one time soon becomes irrelevant at another time. Still a monopoly Microsoft is in the area of desktop operating system, but the power of such monopoly has faded away. But I don't think the European regulators would take this into account.