0 Persons are tagged with #monopoly

#monopoly

anonymiss@despora.de
anonymiss

#Microsoft is being investigated by the #FTC over #antitrust concerns

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/24307790/microsoft-is-being-investigated-by-the-ftc-over-antitrust-concerns

But in recent years Microsoft has mostly escaped the kind of antitrust scrutiny applied to #Amazon, #Apple, #Meta, and #Google, each of which is fighting its own #monopoly charges from the #government.

If you call it Meta instead of #Facebook then Google is #Alphabet. Good journalism is so hard to find... đŸ˜©

#economy #politics #justice #siliconvalley #technology #Software #Problem #future #capitalism #internet #news #usa

Microsoft is being investigated by the FTC over antitrust concerns

The last monopoly suit against Microsoft was filed over 25 years ago.

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prplcdclnw@diasp.eu
David

Biden Asked Microsoft to “Raise the Bar on Cybersecurity.” He May Have Helped Create an Illegal Monopoly.

https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-white-house-offer-cybersecurity-biden-nadella

Reporting Highlights

  • Raising the Bar: President Joe Biden asked tech companies to “raise the bar on cybersecurity.” So Microsoft offered the government free upgrades and the consultants to install them.
  • Competitive Advantage: While the plan helped the government bolster cybersecurity, it also helped Microsoft tighten its grip on federal business and freeze out its competitors.
  • Money for Nothing: Legal and contracting experts say the deals never should have come to pass, as they sidestep or even possibly violate federal procurement and antitrust laws.

#monopoly #monopolies #microsoft #propublica #cybersecurity #security #safety #biden #it #antitrust #antitrust-law

Biden Asked Microsoft to “Raise the Bar on Cybersecurity.” He May Have Helped Create an Illegal Monopoly.

When the White House welcomed Microsoft’s offer of $150 million in tech services, it helped the world’s largest software provider tighten its grip on federal business and freeze out competitors.

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waynerad@diasp.org
Wayne Radinsky

I heard the judge at Google's antitrust trial left to coach Kamala Harris for her Presidential debate, but after looking for more information on (ironically?) Google, I discovered it wasn't the judge, it was Google's lead defense attorney, which is a lot less weird, but is still a little weird.

"Karen Dunn, a litigator at Paul Weiss, opened Google's defense in a federal court case targeting its digital ad business. Shortly after, she reportedly helped Harris prepare for her debate with Donald Trump in Philadelphia."

What's y'all's predictions for how these antitrust cases are going to turn out for Google? Business as usual or a radical change in Google's business practices?

Who is Karen Dunn? Key figure behind Kamala Harris' debate preparations

#solidstatelife #domesticpolitics #monopoly #antitrust

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wazoox@diasp.eu
Emmanuel Florac

A Post-Google World - BIG by Matt Stoller

#monopoly #GAFAM #Google

And what does Judge Brinkema think? So far, Brinkema, while ruling against the DOJ on their request for a jury trial, has been strongly skeptical of Google’s arguments and its team. She denied Google’s motion to dismiss for all five monopolization claims, saying “there are enough specific allegations, including various quotes from people within Google, you know, referring to some competitors as presenting existential threats,” that the case should go to trial.

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-post-google-world

A Post-Google World

Another Google antitrust trial starts on Monday. If Google loses, it'll be three strikes. At some point, they will give up and realize that the writing is on the wall for their current business model.

dredmorbius@diaspora.glasswings.com
Doc Morbius

What do you do with a problem like Google?

Or more technically Alphabet.

The company's quite clearly not only a monopoly (duh) but an abusive one (duh), and has been for years, if not decades.

It's also, however, a rather complex assemblage of bits which as I've noted in the past has an interesting combination of both rent-seeking activities (advertising) and stuff that looks strongly like "public goods" in the technical economic sense: nonrivalrous and nonexcludable in consumption with near-nil marginal costs: search, browser development, and a bunch of other stuff.

Along with roles which don't fit well into traditional anti-trust space, most especially an insane level of data aggregation and control over flows (Web, email, consumption, real-space audio and video monitoring, and more).

I'm not fully up to speed on recent judicial findings (DC Circuit judge Amit P. Mehta), though I've followed some discussion.

Past anti-trust cases have involved regional divestment (AT&T, funny how that worked out), consent decrees (AT&T again ~1954, IBM, Xerox, Kodak, Microsoft, Facebook, Google), which have had some useful benefits (AT&T's exclusion from software/computer markets directly gave rise to Unix, Linux, and much of MacOS, Microsoft slowed down a smidge after its 1990s knuckle-rap), but leave me underwhelmed.

Anyhow, have at it, discuss. Seriously if at all possible, thanks.

Reshares welcomed, discussion on original if possible.

#Google #AlphabetInc #Antitrust #monopoly #AntitrustRemedies

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wazoox@diasp.eu
Emmanuel Florac

Monopoly Round-Up: Price-Fixing in French Fries, Pianos, Plumbing Supplies, Storage Units, Plus FTC Investigates McKinsey

#politics #oligarchy #plutocracy #monopoly

Why is the FTC looking at McKinsey? The reason is that this consulting giant is a ringleader of pricing in the economy. McKinsey’s main strength is that it is trusted by corporate America to gather large troves of sensitive business data, and then share insights about that data. To give you a sense of how this system works, here’s an email from a BIG reader on how important McKinsey is to his corporation.

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-price-fixing-in

Monopoly Round-Up: Price-Fixing in French Fries, Pianos, Plumbing Supplies, Storage Units, Plus FTC Investigates McKinsey

So much on the monopoly front has happened over the past two weeks outside of the political realm. PBMs, non-competes, investigations oh my! Let's catch up.

One person like that
mlansbury@despora.de
Mark Lansbury

Food giants are strangling Britain’s farmers and consumers. What’s the solution? Break them up

When #British farmers protested outside the Houses of Parliament earlier this year, they sent 49 scarecrows, after a survey had found that 49% of UK fruit and vegetable farmers said they expected to go bust within a year. The scarecrows stood in for real farmers, who are mostly too afraid to speak out.

One farmer told campaigners they had grown 60 tonnes of salad potatoes for a large UK supermarket, only for the supermarket to suddenly cancel the order, leaving the farmer “financially screwed”. The arbitrary power that supermarkets wield instils fear, which the supermarkets leverage to impose take-it-or-leave-it fees and other unfair conditions on farmers.

The problem is our monopolised food system.

Think of it as a vast profit machine shaped like an hourglass, with many food producers at the top, millions of consumers at the bottom, and a few dominant firms – such as giant supermarkets or global food traders – clustered at its narrowing neck, siphoning a cut from the passing traffic. This power ripples through global supply chains.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/22/big-supermarkets-strangling-farmers-shoppers-solution-break-them-up

#UK #Food #poverty #hunger #farmers #agriculture #farming #consumers #supermarkets #monopoly #CorporateGreed #CorporateTerrorism #corruption

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