I can't think of a single anti-tech monopoly action over the past 35 years that served any purpose other than allowing the investigators to bloviate loudly about how wonderful they are.
The anti-IBM one over their domination of the mainframe market was rendered obsolete by market changes. Likewise the anti-Microsoft one over Internet Explorer - do you remember IE, the browser you used to download a better browser.
They are all just used as a tool for political blackmail. Microsoft used to be looked down upon in Washington because they were notorious for refusing to play the lobbying game. "They think they're better than us" was a common complaint. Now they make damn sure that stupid actions from Washington that affect them are lobbied against.
Bullseye.
Big tech all learned from Microsoft‘s combination of naïveté and arrogance.
Now everyone with a huge market cap in tech runs a desert strategy.
Warren Buffett said he likes businesses with a moat.
Big tech like to keep a massive desert between themselves and all else.
Acquihire of competing talent, acquisition of competing product.
It is of existential importance to balance innovation/job/wealth creation regulating big tech with supporting the global success of American(western) superplatforms of GeoDigital importance.
FAANG+ are the new Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
And they are all fighting each other and government.
BATH+(Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei) are all fully aligned and integrated with CCP/PLA One Belt, One Road strategy.
We are at war.
Why did everyone go nuts with Microsoft 20 years ago? Because the OS was what mattered and everyone wanted Windows sourcecode/backdoors or else government anti monopoly lawsuits......and China rightly avoided Windows at the government level.
Then it was about search.
And now it’s about perpetual connectivity offering automated deep data insight on individuals that represents power far greater than the nuclear weapon.
And most elected politicians and senior level appointees can’t explain Moore’s, Metcalfe’s, or Zipf’s Laws.
If we fail. If we are shortsighted. We could lose forever.
It really is that serious.
We need to ensure big tech doesn’t suffocate innovation.
And we need FAANG+ to beat BATH+, especially in the developing world.
It is a GeoDigital War.