Tell that to the people who lived 150 years ago under monopolies that they were basically slaves to
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FTC Accuses Facebook of Social Media Monopoly, Calls for Divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp
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Google also needs some oversight but by far Facebook is the 800 lb evil gorilla in the room.
I’ve frankly been waiting ten years for this.
They need to shut FakeBook down completely. A platform that’s a complete waste of time.
Couldn't happen to a nicer company.
I'd actually look forward to using Instagram again if I knew Facebook wasn't involved.
I'd actually look forward to using Instagram again if I knew Facebook wasn't involved.
Actually yes it is their problem, when they intentionally bought competing platforms to nullify completion. Then it became their problem.
I don't get the feeling they're being punished for success, I feel like they're being punished for one thing by accusing them of another. The sins most people associate with Facebook aren't to do with their success, it's either data privacy or misinformation. It seems to me what's happening is since there aren't really any effective laws to prosecute in those areas, they're picking up the one big club they have.
If that what this turns out to be, I really don't like that approach. You wind up doing a lot of damage without ever addressing the core problem. There needs to be better laws, not the misapplication of existing ones.
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There is nothing about this that is anything like communism or dictatorship. It’s kind of embarrassing for you that you think that.
It’s just the government prosecuting potential law breaking. Much like if you broke the law, you might expect to get arrested and find yourself in court.
There are laws against anti-competitive behaviour for a reason. It’s to protect consumers because once a company becomes as dominant as Facebook, they can just buy and obstruct any potential competitor. In doing so, they can get away with increasingly anti-consumer behaviour without fear of viable competitors.
Basically the sum of all the posts in this thread: Break all big, bad companies up. They are bad and evil and deserve to be broken up. But, but, but the huge, big, wildly most successful and richest company in history Apple is a good company and the government needs to stay away from it. Apple doesn't need oversight, but every other company in the world does. Hahaha so entertaining
Its a cloud based social media host. How is FB not a tech company?
Image from Face Book data center in northern Sweden from four years ago
You obviously haven't read many let alone all of the posts in this thread...
The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. It was the FTC that approved FB buying Instagram and WhatsApp.
Because they make software and hardware...both of which are the very definition of a tech company.
Anti-trust / anti-competitive behaviour law isn’t necessarily about the size or profitability of a company. It’s about the things it does with the power and influence that comes with that size and wealth.
Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp to prevent competition. That is by definition anti-competitive. And in about a blatant a way as possible.
So whilst apple might be highly profitable, I’m not aware of them purchasing competitors to reduce competition. Are you?
Every post I have seen said yes break them all up, but don't touch apple. Admittedly, I haven't read every single post.
Anti-trust has a huge legal bar..... Companies buy their competition all the time. T-Mobile/Sprint. Intel/Alterrra etc. I also worked in the past for a company that bought the rights to technology and shelved it for competitive reasons. Completely legal. If there are viable alternatives then it is hard to prove. Just because people choose (even if every human on earth) to flock to these platforms doesn't mean they are a monopoly. They will point to Twitter and iMessenger as alternative options.
The only question is the actual advertising contracts.
*Edit.... Although many feel the broken up company would be worth more to shareholders getting a piece of a bunch of small companies would be better for growth. So investors will mostly likely make a killing.
Dude! Dude. Read you statement again. Apple gobbles up companies left and right. Apple uses it's sheer size and number of users to push other companies around and get what it wants. How many small companies has Apple put out of business when it comes out with a new gadget or new software that was previously serviced with a smaller company. Apple does everything it can to kick competitors off it's platform so users have to use its service. Look no further than the current situation with xbox game pass. No other reason for Apple to not want Microsoft game pass on the App Store other than only wanting users to use the inferior Apple Aracde.
Name one competitor that apple bought to prevent it being a competitor.
There aren’t any because the biggest purchase apple made was beats. Apple wasn’t making headphones other than the crap freebies dished out with iPods and iPhones, and were playing catch-up with Spotify on streaming.
Basically all the others were technology / accu-hire acquisitions where they wanted specific tech or talent.
An equivalent would be, for example apple buying Microsoft. Or Samsung.
Then your eyes are deceiving you or, more likely, your eyes are fine and your preconceptions about who's posting are interfering with your comprehension.