zlacker

>>pavel_+(OP)
> If we look at major commercial databases today, two out of the three big names in commericial databases forbid publishing benchmarks.

I see many people bashing Oracle/Ellison, but they are not alone in this. MS does the same thing as well. The really worrying thing is that such practices are deemed to be legal. The entire principle of Free Markets is underpinned by consumers having accurate information about the goods they are purchasing. Having licensing agreements that are expressly designed to prevent the dissemination of product-information, goes against everything that Capitalism and Free-Markets stand for.

The fact that there are no government regulations against such behavior, is precisely what leads people to think that we are living in a Corporatocracy, and not a Free Market.

>>whack+2d
A business is often, maybe even entirely, opposed to free markets and competition. There are numerous transparency and disclosure regulations to inhibit such behavior. I'd put this in the category of fraud: deception intending to result in financial gain. The problem is politics, in particular the Republican variety, is too forgiving, or even servile, when it comes to accommodating big business fraud under the auspice that all regulation is bad, and it is regulations that inhibit free market behavior, rather than encourage it.

Strong anti-fraud and competition (anti-trust) laws are absolutely necessary to have something even crudely approximating a free market.