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Comment by mattmanser | Hacker News Reader

I expect the government will eventually force Facebook to open up and support a common federated social networking standard

Seriously? This will never, ever happen.

Ever, ever, ever.

That's just not how life works. Or businesses. Or how the US government works. It's the total antithesis to the American ideals. It wouldn't even have a chance of happening in social democracies in Europe, let alone America.

Ever.

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Ma-Bell breakup? Standard Oil breakup?

I fail to see how things like that never ever happen. It doesn't happen in quite the same way, but the fact is, anti-trust isn't antithesis to the American ideals. Allowing one company a position where it can toss abuses both upstream and downstream of its supply chains doesn't mesh at all with a market interested system.

Ma-Bell and Standard Oil were essential services, Facebook is entertainment.

I don't see an Internet wide login and identity service as related to the entertainment industry any more it is to many others. Furthermore, I'm fairly certain that facebook's business, while it facilitates entertainers, is not actually engaged in entertainment. To argue that its different from Ma-Bell in its basic feature, connecting people, I feel is a complete misunderstanding of the service.

Of course, my sister uses her telephone connection for entertainment as well..

I think your taking my "entertainment" to mean the industry and not a category. Facebook is not an essential service of the internet. It is not the only way to communicate like Ma Bell was. It is not a dictating force in the economy like Standard Oils was.

I'm going to take issue with both of those comparisons. Standard Oil was only a dictating force in the economy for a short while, after it took over every other oil distribution company. Oil is a dictating force, the company was simply an outgrowth of scarcity rent.

Ma-Bell was in fact, not the only way to communicate. That's like saying Phones were the only way people got in touch. Its simply and patently wrong. as far as industries that did Ma-Bell's job, you've the post, television, and radio.

The post cannot be used to get the police or anyone else in a timely manner. Television and radio are broadcast media and only really go one way. Ma-Bell was it.

Cars didn't run on something Standard Oil did not sell.

I tend to agree with you, but it's important to remember that you should never say never.

Stranger (and more asinine) things have happened.

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