undefined | Better HN

0 pointsxvector5y ago0 comments

Because the government should not have unilateral power over a platform you've poured your own time, money, and effort into developing.

That would be theft. I am honestly amazed that people are still in favor of gross government overreach in the era of Trump.

0 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

Apocryphon5y ago· 2 in thread

You can say the same about Ma Bell, or Standard Oil.

The pre-edited version of the original post asked the ludicrous question "So now we’re going to have governments design the software in our phones", so he got a ludicrous answer in kind. But in theory, if Apple's control of the App Store platform constitutes a monopoly, it would not be gross government overreach to pursue antitrust, as it has done historically, even if it has been unfashionable in recent decades.

xvectorOP5y ago

> if Apple's control of the App Store platform constitutes a monopoly,

But it's not a monopoly. The vast majority of the "app store" ecosystem is the Play Store. Apple's "App Store" is a minority player.

Otherwise you could arbitrarily divide any platform recursively until something is a monopoly in need of getting regulated.

Apocryphon5y ago

The OP article argues that it is a monopoly. You are free to agree or disagree with its thesis. However, my statement was that "if Apple's control of the App Store platform constitutes a monopoly", then the government should have free rein to do so, as it has repeatedly done so in the past.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse