> We need similar laws to protect startups, small businesses, and sole proprietors
Yeah, because laws protecting inefficient business are great for society and consumers.
No business "deserves" protection. Consumers do, but not business.
Yeah, because laws protecting inefficient business are great for society and consumers.
No business "deserves" protection. Consumers do, but not business.
I'm fine paying the AWS tax. It's a generic utility more or less and I can just as easily use Azure or Google (assuming you're not baked into certain offerings, but that's out of scope and honestly is a choice.)
If you want on Android there's no choice. You play by Google's rules and pay their tax.
People get up in arms when ISPs try to pull this (net neutrality). This is the same pattern. Phones, OSes, etc. should be "dumb" pipes. (The analogy isn't elegant here, but you get it.)
That is a huge claim, thrown around by you with no backing. You could get a few economists to discuss that for ages without reaching a conclusion.
Unless you're talking about the layman's definition of monopoly, which means "whatever I want it to mean".
This is particularly relevant when there's the Amazon app store, and app preloads, and the Korean app store, and Fortnite isn't available on the Play store.
And that's before we get into the fact that iOS competes with Android, and that includes the app stores. This would be like complaining that to get a product to be sold by Walmart, you need to get Walmart to sell it.
No matter how you look at it, consumers never had so many choices, prices have never been this low, and app distribution has never been so easy.
Google have absolute monopoly of android apps in the common market, and a monopoly of mobile apps in the android market.
The EU already ruled this http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4581_en.htm
I really don't understand app-store apologists. Its abuse of dominance, plain and simple.
And if you read the EU decision, you'll notice that they're assuming that Android doesn't compete with iOS...
Did you even read my comment? It's literally exactly what I said. I gave two examples of a market and two of a commodity. Maybe you need to go read what a monopoly is instead of assuming others don't know what they are talking about (both me, and the EU, clearly)
That completely ignores the fact that there is intense competition for developers and users between Android and iOS, and renders the point moot.
Sure, you can always define an arbitrary market for which a company will have dominance, but that's irrelevant from an economics perspective.
Maybe you should go read on what a monopoly actually is...
Here's a good interview with the economist who taught me what a monopoly is:
https://hbr.org/2017/11/as-more-people-worry-about-monopolie...
Will be a good point for you to start.
The market is the common market, the commodity is android apps. Just like I said, just like the EU said. As for defining "arbitrary markets", I am not the one who described the appstore as a 'market' - that was google.
Go try your inflated ego elsewhere, i'll just call you out on your BS.
Oh, you mean that if politicians pass a law saying the sky is red, then it stops being blue?
Seriously, if the EU "rules" that gravity doesn't exist, then it suddenly stops existing?
Don't be angry because you don't understand the subject...
If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.