Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

The only moral monopoly is one controlled by the people, democratically. If your business model is monopoly, expect to be taken over.

[tweeted that]

If something is necessarily a monopoly, it needs people's oversight. If it is not necessarily a monopoly, it needs to be freed from monopolistic control. Most likely, the small parts of something that is a natural monopoly (installation and maintenance of fiber optic cables, for instance) needs to eventually be taken over by public organizations, providing it as a service to any company that would do anything with it— crucially, in a way that does not privilege one company over any others.

Further thought: If we want any of the theoretical benefits of competition in a market, all anti-competitive business practices ought to be illegal. Lock-in contracts, etc.

Yes, telecommunication companies are on my mind as i write this, but they aren't the only ones out there. Most big businesses trends toward heavy components of monopolist behavior; it's easier than innovating.

If you are basing your business on being able to monopolize a good or service (and this includes proprietary software compatibility) you are not adding to society, you are extorting resources from other people, and deserve to have that source of power and income taken away. Now i am all for changing systems to get things working right, so i don't mean individual-company trustbusting. I just mean, don't count on an environment that makes monopoly possible, because society can't afford that.

Political addendum: If you shut down the means of communication necessary for broad-based movements, a revolution by a minority is justified to make this communication possible.

Somewhat related to monopolies and communication:
http://www.contentious.com/2011/02/14/how-obamas-national-wireless-initi...