zlacker

[return to "Google is already pushing WEI into Chromium"]
1. mozbal+O4[view] [source] 2023-07-26 12:35:33
>>topshe+(OP)
If this isn't the straw that breaks the camel's back, there is never going to be one.

Google needs to be broken up.

They own the browser market. They own the web (through Adwords). They own Search. They own mobile. They own most of the video sharing market with 2.5 billion monthly annual users. They own a good chunk of email with 1.2 billion monthly annual users.

They have amassed an incomprehensible amount of power and influence over humanity and they have proven repeatedly that they are willing to use that power to the detriment of humanity and to entrench themselves further.

Google needs to be broken up.

◧◩
2. px43+z6[view] [source] 2023-07-26 12:43:34
>>mozbal+O4
Google broke itself up in 2015. What are you even asking for here?

Chrome and Android are open source, and there are several forks of both thriving in the ecosystem. Yeah it would be cool if there was a decent open source alternative to GMail and Drive, but no one else seems to have figured out how to get the incentives right for something like that.

◧◩◪
3. alista+W7[view] [source] 2023-07-26 12:49:35
>>px43+z6
Google broke itself up in 2015. What are you even asking for here?

No, it didn't, it restructured itself into Alphabet, with many subsidiaries. But, all the core businesses are still under that umbrella organization, with most web-related businesses remaining inside the current Google entity.

A forced divestment of the browser business might help. Same for the productivity products.

◧◩◪◨
4. Cthulh+3h[view] [source] 2023-07-26 13:30:03
>>alista+W7
But what does breaking up even mean? Separate companies, each publicly traded with their own C level staff, shareholders, etc?

Because to me it just feels like it might be legally separated, but still owned and directed by the same handful of people. And it being separated makes it safer, in that they can't forward e.g. large fines to the parent company.

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about large corporations. or economy. or governments.

◧◩◪◨⬒
5. alista+ao[view] [source] 2023-07-26 13:57:54
>>Cthulh+3h
Yes, breaking up a company means divesting some business units. The new businesses would have their own BoD, leadership, shareholders, etc.

The US did this with Standard Oil in 1911, Bell/AT&T in 1983. And the same laws were used against Microsoft in 2001, though the company was able to avoid a break-up.

Breaking up Google might not be the best option. Perhaps more rigorous regulation by the government would be better, similar to Microsoft. But a break up should be an option.

[go to top]