On 04/25/2014 08:23 AM, Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
On Apr 25, 2014, at 00:57 , Larry Sheldon <larryshel...@cox.net> wrote:
In a private message I asked if he could name a single monopoly that existed
without regulation to protect its monopoly power.
I answered in a private message: Microsoft.
Kinda obvious if you think about it for, oh, say, 12 microseconds.
DeBeers Diamond cartel, which operated internationally and held an
effective monopoly on the diamond market for *decades* was apparently
beyond the reach of regulation to either assist or hinder them, and has
only recently faded somewhat in the face of competition that they can't
reach with their traditional protective tactics.
The Standard Oil monopoly was obtained without the special assistance of
government as well, though they were broken up by the government. The
methods they used should be mandatory study for everyone.
The AT&T monopoly position *was* granted (and later revoked) by the
government.
Net neutrality is an intervention of the government to prevent monopoly
forming tactics on the part of major players, so I think it is something
worth having. It is not (unfortunately) something that is a natural
state for the Internet.
--
Daniel Taylor VP Operations Vocal Laboratories, Inc.
dtay...@vocalabs.com http://www.vocalabs.com/ (612)235-5711
