Re Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Andrew Bridges <apbridges () gmail com>
> Date: December 13, 2016 at 8:50:46 PM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
>
> Also for IP, if you wish.
>
> As Art points out, the monopoly (really oligopoly) question is separate from the digital copyright issue.
>
> As to the former, we have previously heard about other dominant groupings:  AOL+Prodigy+Compuserve; IBM+DEC+HP; 
> Microsoft+Novell+WordPerfect+Lotus; MySpace+Friendster.  Now more than ever new technologies and business models 
> compete with old ones, and competition among models may matter more than competition within one model.  Standalone 
> applications were a big deal and then suites changed the landscape.  MS owned the desktop; Google owned the 
> searchable Web; apps and cloud services are now at the fore.  Successful companies migrate well from one model to 
> another, but fresh challenges and challengers are likely to arise, and today's GAFA may look very different in a few 
> years.
>
> On the question of digital copyright, the Techdirt report The Sky Is Rising and its sequel provide a useful different 
> perspective.  See https://www.techdirt.com/skyisrising/  There are now many opportunities for entertainment spending 
> that compete forcefully against recorded music, and the drop in recorded music revenues has many explanations, 
> including freedom from the necessity of buying music in 12-packs when one wants only 1 or 2 songs from the 12-pack.  
> Andrew Bridges
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 4:39 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: Art Brodsky <artbrodsky () yahoo com>
> > > Date: December 13, 2016 at 6:35:14 PM EST
> > > To: "dave () farber net" <dave () farber net>, ip <ip () listbox com>
> > > Subject: Re: [IP] Re Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
> > > Reply-To: Art Brodsky <artbrodsky () yahoo com>
> > >
> > > A comment for IP, if you wish.
> > >
> > > Taplin's piece is about protecting music from alleged digital copyright, not a serious discussion of monopolies or 
> > > the Internet or telecom.  His reference to the "fading telecommunications business" shows he doesn't really care 
> > > about Internet carrier monopolies or consumer choice.  Absent the copyright issue, Taplin and others from the 
> > > "creative community" would not care a whit about Facebook and Google.
> > >  
> > > Art Brodsky
> > > Communications Consultant
> > > 301-908-7715
> > > @artbrodsky
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Dave Farber <farber () gmail com>
> > > To: ip <ip () listbox com> 
> > > Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 5:27 PM
> > > Subject: [IP] Re Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Begin forwarded message:
> > >
> > > > From: Christopher Mitchell <christopher () newrules org>
> > > > Date: December 13, 2016 at 5:09:27 PM EST
> > > > To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> > > > Subject: Re: [IP] Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
> > > > Reply-To: christopher () newrules org
> > > >
> > > > I'm glad that 100 years ago, people demanded the big monopolies be broken up rather than be suckered into an 
> > > > argument about whether Standard Oil was worse than the Railroads. The question is not which monopoly is the worst, 
> > > > it is what to do about massive firms that prevent markets from working well. 
> > > >
> > > > Historically, the solution has come from sensible people within existing parties working together to support 
> > > > policy that prevented this consolidation. The longer we wait to deal with it, the harder it will be ... especially 
> > > > as they eclipse the power of government. 
> > > >
> > > > Christopher Mitchell
> > > > Director, Community Broadband Networks
> > > > Institute for Local Self-Reliance
> > > >
> > > > https://www.muninetworks.org
> > > > @communitynets
> > > > 612-276-3456 x209
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 12:54 PM, David Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Begin forwarded message:
> > > >
> > > > From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> > > > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
> > > > Date: December 13, 2016 at 8:28:49 AM EST
> > > > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > > > Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
> > > >
> > > > Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
> > > > By JONATHAN TAPLIN
> > > > Dec 13 2016
> > > > <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/ 12/13/opinion/forget-att-the- real-monopolies-are-google- and-facebook.html>
> > > >
> > > > The proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner has drawn censure from both sides of the political aisle, as well as a 
> > > > Senate hearing that looked into the potential for the combined company to become a monopoly.
> > > >
> > > > But if we are going to examine media monopolies, we should look first at Silicon Valley, not the fading phone 
> > > > business.
> > > >
> > > > Mark Cuban, the internet entrepreneur, said at the meeting of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee last 
> > > > week that the truly dominant companies in media distribution these days were Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon.
> > > >
> > > > “Facebook is without question in a dominant position, if not the dominant position, for content delivery,” he said.
> > > >
> > > > Look at the numbers. Alphabet (the parent company of Google) and Facebook are among the 10 largest companies in 
> > > > the world. Alphabet alone has a market capitalization of around $550 billion. AT&T and Time Warner combined would 
> > > > be about $300 billion.
> > > >
> > > > Alphabet has an 83 percent share of the mobile search market in the United States and just under 63 percent of the 
> > > > US mobile phone operating systems market. AT&T has a 32 percent market share in mobile phones and 26 percent in 
> > > > pay TV. The combined AT&T-Time Warner will have $8 billion in cash but $171 billion of net debt, according to the 
> > > > research company MoffettNathanson. Compare that to Alphabet’s balance sheet, with total cash of $76 billion and 
> > > > total debt of about $3.94 billion.
> > > >
> > > > In the first quarter of 2016, 85 cents of every new dollar spent in online advertising will go to Google or 
> > > > Facebook, according to Brian Nowak, an analyst with Morgan Stanley.
> > > >
> > > > Google and Facebook can achieve huge net profit margins because they dominate the content made available on the 
> > > > web while making very little of it themselves. Instead, they both have built their advertising businesses as “free 
> > > > riders” on content made by others, some of it from Time Warner. The rise of these digital giants is directly 
> > > > connected to the fall of the creative industries of our country.
> > > >
> > > > Every pirated music video or song posted on YouTube or Facebook robs the creators of income, and YouTube in 
> > > > particular is dominated by unlicensed content. Google’s YouTube has an over 55 percent market share in the 
> > > > streaming audio business and yet provides less than 11 percent of the streaming audio revenues to the content 
> > > > owners and creators. But Facebook, which refuses to enter into any licensing agreement on music or video, is 
> > > > challenging YouTube in the free online video and music world.
> > > >
> > > > In the past decade, an enormous reallocation of revenue of perhaps $50 billion a year has taken place, with 
> > > > economic value moving from creators of content to owners of monopoly platforms.
> > > >
> > > > I reached this conclusion from the following statistics: Since 2000, recorded music revenues in the United States 
> > > > have fallen to $7.2 billion per year from $19.8 billion. Home entertainment video revenue fell to $18 billion in 
> > > > 2014 from $24.2 billion in 2006. United States newspaper ad revenue fell to $23.6 billion in 2013 from $65.8 
> > > > billion in 2000.
> > > >
> > > > [snip]
> > > >
> > > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress. com/feed/>
> >
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