[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #637: Big Tech: Breaking up is (really) hard to do

Wed Mar 13 10:30:19 EDT 2019

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OPLIN 4Cast #637: Big Tech: Breaking up is (really) hard to do
March 13th, 2019

[image: Cube breaking apart] In the past several days, would-be Democratic
presidential nominee Elizabeth Warren has been getting a good deal of
attention, especially with her plan to break up the big technology
monopolies: specifically, Amazon, Google and Facebook. Warren contends
<https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big-tech-9ad9e0da324c>
that they've "bulldozed competition, used our private information for
profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the
process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation. "

Most people might be hard-put to argue with her logic, especially after the
string of ongoing privacy violations and breaches by at least a couple of
these massive companies. It might be time for some governmental
intervention, but it's sure not going to be easy.

   -
   - Elizabeth Warren also wants to break up Apple
   <https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/09/elizabeth-warren-reportedly-also-wants-to-break-up-apple/>
   [TechCrunch] "Specifically, Warren believes Apple should not be able to
   both run the Apple App Store and distribute apps in it. 'It’s got to be one
   or the other,' Warren told The Verge. 'Either they run the platform or they
   play in the store. They don’t get to do both at the same time.'”
   - Should We Break Up Big Tech?
   <https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/should-we-break-up-big-tech/>[National
   Review] "Normally conservatives would unanimously and loudly denounce such
   an outrageous incursion into the free market, but this time I wonder
   whether some on the right might at least agree with the diagnosis, if not
   the cure. "
   - Why We Can't Break Up with Big Tech
   <https://www.npr.org/2019/02/10/692877140/why-we-cant-break-up-with-big-tech>
   [NPR] "'When I started pulling stats about Amazon, I was shocked,' she
   said. The company reportedly controls nearly half of all online commerce.
   But the company's most profitable business is Amazon Web Services, or AWS,
   its cloud-computing arm that hosts apps and websites. 'They basically
   control kind of the backbone of Internet infrastructure,' she said.
   'They're not just shipping packages out all over America. They're also
   shipping a ton of data to people's computers.'"
   - Big Technology Companies are Modern Monopolies, but Don’t Break Them Up
   <https://www.barrons.com/articles/big-tech-companies-modern-monopolies-google-facebook-51552076382>
   [Barron's] "By shifting ownership of user data back to the users
   themselves, as well as by requiring networks be interoperable, market power
   will be rebalanced. As the temptation to build data monopolies is reduced,
   corporations and platforms will have to compete harder on the products and
   services they provide.  "

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Commentary: Don't damage our democracy by breaking up big tech
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W6540164514&site=ehost-live>
   ( Szabo, C. (2018, July 5). Commentary: Don’t damage our democracy by
   breaking up big tech. *San Jose Mercury News (CA)*. )
   - Big Tech’s Big-Time, Big-Scale Problem
   <http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=130700797>
   ( MANNE, G. A., & HURWITZ, J. (GUS). (2018). Big Tech’s Big-Time, Big-Scale
   Problem. *CATO Policy Report*, *40*(3), 3. )
   - Should Big Tech Be Regulated
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=134538265&site=ehost-live>
   ( ZINGALES, L. (2019). Should Big Tech Be Regulated. *USA Today Magazine*,
   *147*(2884), 47–48. )

------------------------------
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