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[Egan_BW]

Everything will explode, all the lizards will die out, and then eventually a bunch of primates take over and wreck the planet a second time.

[MrRoboto75]

Everything will explode, all the lizards will die out, and then eventually a bunch of primates take over and wreck the planet a second time.

we did it, reddit

[sluissa]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/elizabeth-warren-proposes-breaking-up-amazon-google-and-facebook/

Well, she just won my vote* if she still sticks to the relatively bernie end of the healthcare spectrum and doesn't do anything monumentally stupid.

On the other hand it is one of those seriously unlikely to happen campaign promises... perhaps even her "wall". But it's something to hope for.

*I reserve the right to shift votes if someone else offers something better in a nicer package than Warren. But she's not horrible and she's saying some good things, even if she's a bit out of touch with human beings.

[smjjames]

No mention of breaking up Microsoft? heh. It may not be as seriously unlikely to happen as you think since theres certainly Republicans who would enjoy getting their chunk of flesh out of the 'liberals'. The difficulty is likely to come from 'how do we split them up?' since it's not as simple as breaking up Standard Oil in the early 20th or Bell in the 1980's.

Theres a good chance that other candidates will start taking similar positions.

[sluissa]

No mention of breaking up Microsoft? heh. It may not be as seriously unlikely to happen as you think since theres certainly Republicans who would enjoy getting their chunk of flesh out of the 'liberals'. The difficulty is likely to come from 'how do we split them up?' since it's not as simple as breaking up Standard Oil in the early 20th or Bell in the 1980's.

Theres a good chance that other candidates will start taking similar positions.

Article did mention "companies with revenues larger than 25 billion" which microsoft would fall under very easily.

My only question is what sort of loopholes is this going to open up and will it backfire? Standard Oil and Bell weren't exactly the best examples of how breakups should go long term.

[smjjames]

They may not be the best examples, just the two that I thought of to make a point how breaking up the tech industries wouldn't be as simple as breaking up those industries.

Her plan doesn't sound like it's a 'take a sledgehammer and shatter into a zillion functionally identical pieces' type approach anyway, which is what the Standard Oil and Bell examples appear to be.

[bloop_bleep]

But aren't a lot of Google services highly dependent on one another? They certainly share data with each other, at least. How much Internet infrastructure will be thrown out with the bath water?

As an aside, I am mildly annoyed by all the misspelling of Nietzsche’s name on the last page.

[Dunamisdeos]

I could honestly care less about the data being shared between google services. It's not like my life will change if I need a separate Youtube login tomorrow.

[smjjames]

Even though she cites the Standard Oil and Bell/AT&T as examples, her plan sounds more like undoing the mergers and buyups, essentially peeling the companies back off. The tangle of interdependencies that is Google is certainly going to be an issue, but it's just one candidates idea of how to do it atm.

The other candidates will certainly come up with similar ideas at some point with their ideas of how to do it and the plans will come under scruitiny eventually.

[Karnewarrior]

Plus the Dems can be trusted to hire a semi-competent staff who might be able to sway them into a better way of doing things. Unlike Trump, who has no staff.

[Frumple]

But aren't a lot of Google services highly dependent on one another? They certainly share data with each other, at least. How much Internet infrastructure will be thrown out with the bath water?

Y'know, if they weren't a monopoly and several now-different groups had need or reason to share data, I'm pretty sure someone could work something out. Particularly given I'm pretty sure I vaguely remember hobbyist groups doing basically exactly that, nevermind folks actually paid to do it. It'd be less throwing out internet infrastructure and more maybe mild disruption... if that. The communication in question may be neither needed nor desirable outside the context of a singular company.

[Dunamisdeos]

All of their various acquired services worked just fine before Google.

The worst that you would likely lose is your ability to log in/activate them from your phone with one click.

[Starver]

Everything will explode, all the lizards will die out, and then eventually a bunch of primates take over and wreck the planet a second time.

Spoiler: Hmmm... (click to show/hide)

[Frumple]

Note to everyone: In the event of the apocalypse, find time to make sure the statue of liberty is thoroughly deconstructed.

[Egan_BW]

Chop up Google, where ever you sever an important connection replace it with a standardized protocol that anyone can use.