Antitrust Thoughts
Yes, Apple created the iPhone and the App Store and, under current U.S. antitrust doctrine, almost certainly has the right to impose whatever taxes it wishes on third parties, including 30% on purchases and the first year of subscriptions, and completely cutting off developers from their customers. Antitrust law, though, while governed by Supreme C
... See moreBen Thompson • United States v. Apple
our laws are so unwieldily that we cannot properly target companies for their anti-trust problems.
You can read it as an EU mandate for E2EE - except other parts of the EU are trying to ban E2EE. You can read it as the EU standing up against government surveillance, except that plenty of EU states do this too.
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter
.2023-06-18
The EC, to my eyes, is saying that it’s illegal for a successful platform to adapt and evolve. Or at the very least they’re saying they might deem it illegal.
John Gruber • European Commission Launches Investigation Against Microsoft for Integrating Teams With Office
I think the bone I have to pick here is the choice of areas to legislate. What about Ad Tech? Search? These are much more concerning monopolies.
I think the EC expects these companies to capitulate. To bend their entire global strategy to the whims of EC bureaucrats, and just accept being handcuffed. But what’s clearly happening is that the these gatekeepers are reading the writing on the wall, and are going to postpone all new features and products in the EU until after they have assurance
... See moreJohn Gruber • European Commission Launches Investigation Against Microsoft for Integrating Teams With Office
Gruber and Evans are informing my thoughts on EU anti-trust policy so far. They seem to make sense, but I worry, “What am I missing?”
Two challenges: first, yes, this does make life harder for Slack etc, but, if we took this logic at face value then your word processor would not be allowed to include a spell checker and your spreadsheet could not do charts (in the 1980s both of these were separate purchases). What’s the coherent theory for how we choose the trade-off between inte
... See moreBenedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 547
The EU is doing things, but not the right things, about anti-trust. What’s a better way of framing this? More specific and less subjective?
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