Arthur Renn raises a very interesting point at Law & Libert:
Additionally, not all barriers to entrepreneurship come from the government today. The increasing digitalization of the world, combined with monopoly or oligopoly conditions for key service providers, means that any would-be entrepreneur needs the permission of multiple private firms to even be in business.
For example, the vast majority of web traffic today is through mobile phones. Two companies, Apple and Google, control 99% of smartphone operating systems. It is difficult (and in Apple’s case essentially impossible) to install applications on those phones without going through those companies’ app stores. This means a would-be entrepreneur needs their permission to even be in business. These companies enforce an array of requirements on app developers, such as requiring them to censor user content in a similar manner to how Apple and Google themselves would. This means, for example, that a would-be competitor to Twitter that wanted to employ a materially different content moderation policy as a basis of competition is barred from the marketplace.
There is an array of these private gatekeepers—Mastercard and Visa are two others—that can de facto keep entrepreneurs out of the marketplace. Imagine if the electric company or water company could refuse to do business with would-be entrepreneurs they don’t like. This is essentially the case for the critical digital and financial infrastructure necessary to be in business today. So not only are many of these critical infrastructure providers monopolies or duopolies, which makes it difficult for any competitor to them to arise, they are also able to use their market power to discriminate against or even de facto banish entrepreneurs from the marketplace at their whim.
I think I have already made my views on this clear. I think that companies with that sort of power are too powerful to be allowed to exist. They should be broken up. They are very clearly using their monopoly powers to extend their monopolies.
How will American companies compete with large foreign competitors (I hear someone ask)? Those foreign competitors should not be allowed to compete within the United States. I’m open to other solutions but what we’re doing is rather clearly not working and is equally clearly dangerous.
The simplest solution is to make them responsible for these decisions. If a bank refuses to do business with those they have judged to have low moral values, they should be accountable for misjudgements.
If anti-vaxxers are not allowed, child molesters should not be allowed, and if a child molester is using their service, the company should be liable for any damages the molester caused.
If a company is “fact checking” content, they should be liable for wrong judgements – false-positive and positive-false. Those banned for spreading “false facts” should have redress if the “fact” is later deemed true.
Companies should be required to decide whether they are a utility or a publisher.
You have addressed it many times, but IP laws restrict entrepreneurship, as well.
Not to mention that presently IP laws are doing just about the opposite of what they were intended to achieve—they are subsidizing owners of IP rather than creators of IP. It has been noted for decades that big companies freely violate the rates of small companies and individual inventors.
“They are very clearly using their monopoly powers to extend their monopolies.
How will American companies compete with large foreign competitors (I hear someone ask)? Those foreign competitors should not be allowed to compete within the United States.”
Its a very sad situation, but I think this is correct. But let’s not lose sight of the culprits, and why that solution will not work. The often heralded regulators are no use. Politicians are of no use, prime examples being pay-for-play kings such as: the Clintons, the Bidens, Mitch McConnell. And ultimately consumers, who’s slack jawed voting patterns are driven by cult products like Apple, two bucks off or simple party loyalty.
Tasty –
Accountable by whom? Ther is a reason the left went after the court system.
The other option is to treat them as common carriers.