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Comment by raw_anon_1111 | Hacker News Reader

So now we are calling booking.com a “monopoly” and there is no other way to easily make hotel and airline reservations?

Why not regulate Spotify as part of the DMA then?

Booking.com parent company (that owns almost every significant booking system) is a monopoly.

And it’s impossible to go to the hotel, airline website directly? I for one refuse to use a third party booking company. If anything goes wrong or you want to change snything, the hotel can’t really do anything.

Most airlines have a functioning website (I don't recall ever booking a ticket at a reseller). Hotels, on the hand, ....

Whats wrong with Hilton, Hyatt, Marriot, or IHG’s websites?

And when things go wrong or you want to change something, I would much rather deal with the hotel directly than deal with a third party.

That limits you to these chains and they are not as popular outside of the USA.

Most of my traveling outside of the US has been in Canada, Mexico, central and South American and the Caribbean. You can find those chains in most of those countries.

I have been to London and found plenty of choices for Hilton. Looking at our bucket list for the next few years (we started traveling a lot post 2021), I’m looking at Hyatts in Spain (Barcelona, Seville and Madrid), in Australia and Japan.

It’s not until I get to countries in Africa where I can’t find many chains. In big cities in Europe, Australia and Asia, the American chains are ubiquitous.

> So now we are calling booking.com a “monopoly” ,

No, you are. I suggested they're not exactly a small player, considering that DMA is trying to also appeal to local entrepreneurs/startups - and not stand for consumers too.

Personally i use any channel that suits my need and budget, including Booking, Google, etc, but DMA is regulating for 450million people so, I can see their side of argument.

> Why not regulate Spotify

what about them? not a Spotify user - so what can they do that say YT Music, Amazon Music, Apple etc aren't allowed?

How do you have a “local entrepreneurs startup” that has a global catalog of hotels all around the world?

The problem with the EU in general is that every time they try to pass a law they run into the pesky problem of free will and users preferring the offerings of the BigTech companies not realizing that all of the laws they pass further entrench the big companies because they have the resources to both desk with the regulations and they can create and nurture their business in more favorable countries like the US and then use those resources to expand.

The reason that the tech environment is so anemic in the EU is not because there aren’t enough laws and regulation.

Not an EU citizen, but I think the amount artists get paid from streaming is a crime.

“But it would kill streaming music!“

If your business model doesn’t work without screwing over the producer of goods, perhaps your business model just doesn’t work.

But the Spotify model seems to be what customers want.

And it's not like the average artist made a ton of money before Spotify, there has long been a high supply of artists, which in theory keeps their pay down. (higher supply -> lower price)

And Google, Apple, Booking.com, etc are “what the companies want”.

The whole idea of laws like the DMA isnt that the whiny babies that consumers are get whatever their monkey brain wants. Its to protect the wider marketplace.

And yes yes it isnt perfect. But the crying and weeping of the big American tech companies show that it is working as intended.

You are admitting they aren’t passing laws based on what consumers - who they are suppose to represent - want?

You could also say that many artists made zero money before but now make some and the ones that used to make a lot are losing some by being on streaming.

No, we are not. The DMA does not talk about "monopolies".

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