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> Once that happens, it's free to raise prices to monopolistic levels

These fears are not based on evidence. When has someone released a free product only until they wiped out all the competition, proceeding to jack up prices? I mean, once they jack up the prices there is an established market ripe to pick customers from. Furthermore, the temporary profits, if any, would only be temporary and would be a greater cost to their corporate image.

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Jacking up prices isn't the only potentially-negative consequence of driving its competitors out of business, nor is it a requirement to be considered anti-competitive. The history of Internet Explorer is an interesting illustration of both.

Adobe InDesign hiked in price once it was clear that Quark was no longer a real threat. That said, InDesign was a better product almost right from the start. But just sayin'

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