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US antitrust regulators giving Silicon Valley’s ‘free’ apps a free pass
https://theconversation.com/are-us-antitrust-regulators-giving-silicon-valleys-free-apps-a-free-pass-63974 [theconversation.com]
U.S. antitrust law is uniquely devoted to a strain of economics often called “price theory.” Beginning in the 1970s, price theory came to dominate antitrust law and scholarship.
Price theory (no surprise) focuses on prices. Supposedly, price theory uses price as a synechdoche to represent all aspects of competition. But in fact, businesses compete not just on price but also on quality, innovation, branding and other product attributes.
Yet U.S. antitrust regulators and courts have traditionally focused heavily on price competition. When products are “free” (or, more accurately, “zero-price”), they simply slip under the antitrust radar.
If the SCOTUS is willing to declare that money is speech, it should be no great leap to recognize that speech can also be money. Wallstreet has clearly recognized the truth in that, giving multi-billion dollar valuations to companies that are entirely predicated on reselling their users' attention. How long until American courts catch up with reality?
