We must break tech monopolies before they break us
The CrowdStrike incident emphasizes the risks of tech monopolies, prompting calls for regulatory action and a more open cloud ecosystem to enhance resilience and innovation in digital infrastructure.
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The recent CrowdStrike incident has highlighted the dangers of tech monopolies, revealing how concentrated power among a few companies can lead to widespread disruptions. A simple update error from CrowdStrike affected numerous sectors, including healthcare and aviation, demonstrating the fragility of our digital infrastructure. This incident has reignited discussions about the need for regulatory intervention to dismantle monopolies, as seen in the U.S. where a judge ruled against Google's search monopoly. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating the impact of major tech companies on competition and consumers. The rise of AI further complicates the landscape, posing new risks as reliance on a few tech giants grows. The call for a more open and equitable cloud ecosystem is urgent, as the current concentration of power leaves us vulnerable to both human errors and cyber threats. Governments and regulators must act decisively to foster a competitive environment that encourages innovation and resilience in digital infrastructure. The U.S. government's consideration of breaking up major tech firms is a crucial first step towards achieving a balanced digital landscape. Collaboration among stakeholders is essential to prevent future crises and ensure the stability of our digital systems.
- The CrowdStrike incident underscores the risks of tech monopolies.
- Regulatory actions are being considered to dismantle major tech firms.
- The rise of AI adds complexity to the challenges posed by tech dominance.
- A more open cloud ecosystem is necessary for resilience and innovation.
- Collaboration between governments and the tech industry is vital for future stability.
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9 commentsIf you really do believe that the tech giants need to be reigned in, breaking them up is NOT the way to do it. It's a red herring, a quixotical quest that will eat up time, money and opportunity costs for newer, better companies. Break-ups will be litigated endlessly, we'll end up talking about who benefits from what and at the end either nothing will happen or some business unit(s) will be spun out as sacrificial lambs so that the main behemoths can keep printing cash.
The correct answer IMHO is "tax and regulate". Recognize that big tech are now infrastructure companies, massive railways on which international commerce happens and that they need to be taxed as such and regulated. As in regulated for minimum service levels, for liability on what happens on their rails (see Crowdstrike), for access to their platforms to others, for competing against their own customers. Regulate them, tax them, squeeze their margins down to something reasonable, turn them into, well, AT&T.
No, that won't kill them and it would be much less dramatic than a breakup (and would feel less satisfactory, for sure). But it could actually happen relatively quickly and would push them to their natural place, i.e. platforms and utilities on top of which younger, hungrier companies can build.
Giving these large tech companies all the data they could ever need is part of the problem for sure. There are plenty alternatives that can be used which at least is a meaningful course of action to promote diversity away from big tech.
Maybe I’m not smart enough to understand how this is not the most obvious first step towards any meaningful change. So maybe someone can point out what I’m missing here.
This shift could level the playing field. Small businesses could access tailored software solutions without huge teams or long wait times. It's democratizing app development, potentially breaking the dominance of tech giants and creating a more balanced, competitive digital landscape.
Amazon entering a market absolutely warps that market.
But the danger with big tech to me is much more similar to how big-MSM is dangerous.
There's a lot of proof now that big-tech + MSM have been behaving against the interests of "the people" in the C19 response and the 2020 elections.
Zukerberg was telling his C-fam to not take the vax while his platform was pushing the vax (not allowing critique of the vax) in all kinds of nasty ways.
Similar things have come out regarding the 2020 elections. Where "Russian meddling" turned out to be "DNC meddling".
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