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

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

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Joe Touch <touch () isi edu>
> Date: December 14, 2016 at 6:59:17 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [IP] Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
>
> Hi, Dave,
>
> Market share is only part of the story, but a monopoly is determined not by share but by choice (or lack thereof). 
> For example, nothing forces me to use either Google or Facebook.
>
> I can use at least a dozen search engines other than Google.
> I can post web pages dozens of other ways than Facebook.
> However, over 1/3 of the US has NO alternatives for Internet, TV,       or phone service.
>
> A merger between a AT&T and TWC could force more customers to have no choice.
>
> Joe
>
> > On 12/13/2016 10:54 AM, David Farber 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/>
> >
> >
> >
> > Archives   | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now       



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20161214192046:506739F8-C25C-11E6-A887-D7D0A317E2F6
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com