Monopoly on Operating Systems

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In the nineties, nets gate navigator put their really shitty internet explorer on windows. That's how they got in trouble with anti trust. The main thing it does now is block mergers that would lead to monopolies. So go back to the cell phone carriers, right? We had four of them only, classic alagopoly. While t mobile and sprint have tried a couple of times to merge,. Each time the justice department would block them or threaten to take them to court. Tand few in number. They won twice. And then the third time, sprint and t mobile last year decided, we're going to go to court. And they did win.

Paris Marx is joined by Rob Larson to discuss how tech billionaires use philanthropy to massage their images, how they're creating a world that leaves nearly everyone else worse off, and how we need to respond with an online socialism to bring tech platforms under worker control.

Rob Larson is the author of “Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley” and an economics professor at Tacoma Community College. He also recently wrote about how billionaire-funded philanthropy is a public-relations scam for Jacobin and how the tech platforms are on their best behavior during COVID-19 for Current Affairs. Follow Rob on Twitter as @IronicProfessor.

Tech Won't Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter.

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