Breaking up big tech monopolies

<Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon>

Almost posted this article in the thread about Facebook's "data breach", but thought it might get lost in debating privacy, ToS, or even psychographic models of propaganda.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a15895746/bust-big-tech-silicon-valley/

Silicon Valley’s Tax-Avoiding, Job-Killing, Soul-Sucking Machine


Interesting concept -- to treat GAFA as modern-day monopolies that need to be broken up because they're concentrating market power, and destroying market competition. Not sure if I agree with his ultimate conclusion, but I was impressed by the research and data. The EU seems to be way ahead of the US in the way it regulates these new industries in the internet space. www shouldn't mean Wild Wild West

bump

I must have done something wrong, because the title still shows as GAFA :noob:

I think you should be able to do it from the forum screen. Double click on the bar containing a post you made whose title you want to change. Don't click on the links, though, that'll just take you into the thread. Changing it from "Edit Post" just changes the title on the post, not the thread.

If the EU regulations compared to US ones are so great why are all the internet giants American? Silicon Valley is working and innovating in ways that we on this side of the pond are simply not competing with.

Our citizens are using American companies.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

If the EU regulations compared to US ones are so great why are all the internet giants American? Silicon Valley is working and innovating in ways that we on this side of the pond are simply not competing with.

Our citizens are using American companies.

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Because Europeans aren't as smart, innovative, and motivated as Americans, #AmericanExceptionalism. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

If the EU regulations compared to US ones are so great why are all the internet giants American? Silicon Valley is working and innovating in ways that we on this side of the pond are simply not competing with.

Our citizens are using American companies.

---

I don't know why. Are they 'giants' because the US hasn't updated anti-trust laws to include tech? Maybe some of the credit you give Silicon Valley's innovating is actually due to scale and concentrated market share, or intellectual property and patent laws -- making it hard for any small start-up (US or EU) to compete?

Now that Zuckerburg has testified, and admitted that "regulation" is needed (because they've done a shit job at regulating themselves) there's going to be a huge debate about whether that means rules for giants, or breaking up the monopolies.


ps thanks Wraith :)

And oh yeah, it's going to get more complicated. We've got Trump blasting Amazon (mostly b/c it's owned by his nemesis Bezos) using false data about the USPS, and taxes.

He's saying regulation is "needed" to move the debate into the back room, where his lobbyists can explain why so many of the ideas that come out of academic/media agitation against the Internet are Teutonic.