We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon

Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by visarga on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @03:21AM (#15130261)

Maybe nationalization is a bad way to go about it, but these companies are too large, they have too much power over society and society needs to exert power back onto them. So there should be some kind of external oversight when decisions that affect millions of people are being made.

I think governments are inefficient and corrupt, but companies are absolutely free to do as they please when deciding how to change products that affect society. Also, there is much more spying freedom in the private sector. This is why there should be a mechanism to oversee what happens with our data.

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Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by simonh on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @04:08AM (#15130486)

You mean like a set of regulations these companies had to comply with? Maybe with panels of ordinary citizens to adjudicate their application, overseen by a professional expert. Maybe we could call these regulations 'laws'.

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Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by igravious on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @04:56AM (#15130666)

Largest companies by annual revenue[0]:

    WalMart Stores (US)  - $485.8bn 
    State Grid (China) - $315.1bn
    Sinopec (China) - $267.5bn 
    China Natural Petroleum (China) - $262.6bn
    Toyota Motor (Japan) - $254.7bn
    Volkswagen (Germany) - $240.2bn
    Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands) - $240bn
    Berkshire Hathaway (US) - $223.6bn
    Apple (US) - $215.6bn
    Exxon Mobil (US) - $205bn

None are the big three. Should we nationalize Toyota and Volkswagen also?

[0] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/20/revealed-worl...

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Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by TrickyRick on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @05:23AM (#15130774)

Are you more or less forced to buy a Toyota simply because all your friends drive a Toyota? Is the majority of roads exclusive to Toyotas? If you question a business decision of Toyota, or a design of their car, can you then sell said car and purchase one from another brand with minimal impact on your daily life (Other than the fact that you have to sell and buy a car)?

Clearly it's not just about revenue numbers here.

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Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by kiliantics on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @10:28AM (#15132371)

I think nationalising Walmart is a perfectly reasonable idea. Considering issues like the level of access to quality food in poor neighbourhoods in the US and the fact that US government subsidises much of Walmart's labour cost already, it would be a much better deal for the American people on average.

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Re:We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon by zild3d on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @02:11PM (#15134535)

Not really relevant, it's not the revenue that is a problem. It's their massive network effects that are, as the author puts it, platform monopolies.

Walmart, Toyota, Apple, do not have entrenching networks that lead to a monopoly. You can just as easily go to Target, buy a Honda, or get an Android phone

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