“I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the Monopoly Game.”
~ Steven Wright
Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
Over the past few years, the Department of Justice has been pummelling Big Tech with anti-trust law suits.
Amazon, Apple, Meta, and the latest…
Google, are all under the gazing monocle of the Monopoly Man.
The New York Times reports:
U.S. Prepares to Challenge Google’s Online Ad Dominance
“The new trial is the latest salvo by federal antitrust regulators against Big Tech, testing a century-old competition law against companies that have reshaped the way people shop, communicate and consume information.
Federal regulators have also filed antitrust lawsuits against Apple, Amazon and Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, saying those companies have also abused their power.”
But, why now?
The premise is that Google is driving advertising costs up.
Because of their monopoly on search advertising. They’re making it harder for organizations like newspapers to generate ad revenue.
However, Google has had more than 95% market share on search advertising for almost two decades.
And Meta(Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), which had over 1 Billion users worldwide, also takes up massive ad revenues.
So, why now?
Specifically, these companies are being forced in two directions.
Serve the regulators, or serve their customers.
Regulators want control of communication channels, but…
Customers want to be served.
The dividing line falls on the decision to censor, or not…
Which has also become an important discussion for many left-leaning governments.
Brazil recently banned X(Twitter).
Yet, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, led a massive demonstration last Saturday, on Brazil’s Independence Day to protest the ban.
Nothing was mentioned of the protests by…
CNN, AP, Reuters, or the New York Times.
While London’s Police Chief uttered treats of arrest around the world for online speech. No matter your location, or citizenry.
And a Senior MP from Germany’s Green Party also threatened X and Telegram with bans.
Some pundits want Musk thrown in the slammer.
FOX News reports:
Ex-Labor secretary Robert Reich claims Elon Musk ‘out of control,’ says regulators should ‘threaten arrest’
“Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who served during Bill Clinton’s presidency, wrote in a column published Friday that Elon Musk was “out of control,” and argued he needed to be reined in.
After Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, now known as X, Reich deemed the purchase “dangerous nonsense.” He argued Musk’s purchase was “just about power,” rather than free speech.
Reich called on people to boycott Tesla and X and added, “Regulators around the world should threaten Musk with arrest if he doesn’t stop disseminating lies and hate on X.””
There would be quite the drama created by a government arresting such a highly productive, and influential person.
Yet, instead of arrests…
How much easier it is to simply ruin the power of these media organizations by slamming them with regulations, demanding information sharing, and inching their own piece of the censorship pie out of private organization for a hungry Deep State.
If there is anyone who has a monopoly on power through unjust means…
It is the Federal government.
Most governments, by assumption, claim a monopoly on power, while private organization like Apple, Google, and Meta have had to compete their way to the top by creating products customers want to use.
In other news…
As we enter a recession, one thing always gets cheap.
Advertising is always cheap during recession.
“Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said in a blog post on Sunday that the Justice Department was “picking winners and losers in a highly competitive industry.”
“With the cost of ads going down and the number of ads sold going up, the market is working,” she said.
“The DOJ’s case risks inefficiencies and higher prices — the last thing that America’s economy or our small businesses need right now.”
But, as it is, the Monopoly Man knows the game too well.
Tax and regulate as much as possible wins makes the Monopoly Man win, every time.
