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#monopolist

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M. Ní Sídach

While I'm critical of the poverty industry, this recent comment by Musk is absolutely inhuman and right on-brand!

Snopes Fact Check
Elon Musk Did Say the Word 'Homeless' Is a Lie?
The tech entrepreneur has a history of suspicion towards organizations helping homeless people.
#Neoliberal #Fascistic #antiDemocratic #antiUnion #Monopolist
snopes.com/fact-check/musk-wor

Snopes · Elon Musk Did Say the Word 'Homeless' Is a LieThe tech entrepreneur has a history of suspicion towards organizations helping homeless people.
Public
Chuck Darwin

Nationwide, just over a million children, mostly girls, participate in #cheer each year
(some estimates are even higher),
more than the number who play softball or lacrosse.

And almost every part of that world is dominated by a single company: #Varsity #Spirit.
It’s hard to cheer at the youth, high school or collegiate level without putting money in the company’s pocket.
Varsity operates summer camps where children learn to do stunts and perform;
it hosts events where they compete;
it sells pom-poms they shake and uniforms they wear on the sidelines of high school and college football games.

Each year, Varsity ships 4.6 million pieces of apparel,
from $80 leopard-print “Cheer Mom” fleeces to custom uniforms covered in Swarovski crystals.

Critics like Matt Stoller, an antitrust expert and the research director of the American Economic Liberties Project,
claim that the cheer giant is a #monopolist whose dominance in its area rivals that of Google in tech
and has had negative impacts for participants and their families.

Varsity, based in Memphis, generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue,
with gross profit margins at times topping 40 percent,
making the company a cash cow for a series of private-equity owners.

Parents have reported spending upward of $10,000 a year per child in competitive cheer,
with Varsity controlling, by some estimates, more than 80 percent of that market.

#Jeff #Webb, the man who founded Varsity, has been called “John D. Rockefeller with glitter”
and the “Dark Sith Lord” of cheer
by some of his detractors.

Webb, now in his 70s, pioneered the gravity-defying acrobatics of modern cheer.

He paired his innovations with a desire for control over every facet of the sport, which he pursued over the course of more than four decades

nytimes.com/2024/10/22/magazin

The New York Times · How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and PopularBy David Gauvey Herbert
Public
Chuck Darwin

Now that Judge #Amit #Mehta has found #Google is a #monopolist
-- lawyers for the Department of Justice have begun proposing solutions to correct the company’s illegal behavior and restore competition to the market for search engines.

In a new 32-page filing, they said they are considering both “behavioral and structural remedies“

That covers everything from applying ♦️a consent decree to keep an eye on the company’s behavior
to ♦️forcing it to sell off parts of its business, such as Chrome, Android, or Google Play.

"Similarly, Plaintiffs are considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features — including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence — over rivals or new entrants. "

But the first problem cited in the filing is 💥Google’s control of search distribution, 💥and the amount of money it pays to be the default option on platforms like Apple’s iPhone.
The DOJ lawyers write that “rivals cannot compete for these distribution channels because Google’s monopoly-funded revenue share payments disincentivize its partners from diverting queries to Google’s rivals.”
♦️Other fixes the DOJ is considering include things that affect user behavior,
like 🔸requiring “Google to provide support for educational-awareness campaigns that would enhance the ability of users to choose the general search engine that suits them best.”

In a response on its blog late Tuesday, Google claimed the proposed framework “goes well beyond the legal scope of the Court’s decision about Search distribution contracts,”
and that “[s]plitting off Chrome or Android would break them.”
Google claims that billions of people get online thanks to Chrome and Android existing as free products,
and that “[f]ew companies would have the ability or incentive to keep them open source, or to invest in them at the same level we do.”
theverge.com/2024/10/8/2426583

The Verge · A Google breakup is on the table, say DOJ lawyersBy Richard Lawler
Public
Joseph Lim :mastodon:

' #Google is a #monopolist' #federal #judge rules in #landmark #case
""This is the most important #antitrust #caseofthecentury, & it's e 1st of a big slate of cases to come down #against #BigTech" said Rebecca Allensworth, Prof at Vanderbilt University #law sch. "It's a huge #turningpoint". Google's #monopoly allowed it to inflate e prices for some search #ads. Tt, in turn, gave e Co more money to pay for its #searchengine to get #prime #placement" #BreakupBigTech #choice
bangkokpost.com/life/tech/2842

Bangkok Post · 'Google is a monopolist,' judge rules in landmark caseBy New York Times
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