To the established owners of IP. If you're not an established creator, you're going to be on the side that gets hurt by the IP. Some IP claims are gonna hit you sooner or later, and even if they're complete bullshit, you won't be able to do anything about them.
Established owners can generate enough of a fuss that they could cause an outrage big enough for some actual human to look into your issues, but if you're not big enough for that... tough luck. Try again from scratch once Google cuts you out. This happens regularly across their products, be it Google Play, YouTube, or Chrome's extensions store.
Systems fucked. The little guy should have the advantage, not the already rich one.
Replace companies with nobility or aristocracy and you're talking about a problem as old as civilization itself. The fact is, small groups with control over a lot of resource (elites) will always work to consolidate and secure their power. Barring some radical, unforeseen technology, the masses of people will always have a more difficult time coordinating their actions to prevent this. This is the class struggle narrative of history.
When was that?
Some of it has been overturned recently but limits have existed for periods of time.
Meanwhile, mainstream television is waning in influence for political advertising. Now it's all about Facebook. Think of the micro-targeting turnout power they have. It's obscene!
I have no interest in a fallacious debate.
The problems with democracy that were described _still_ exist today. One can dislike communism and still acknowledge the criticisms of capitalism as valid and in need of address.
Communism was never actually executed true to the image. The state of the proleteriat was supposed to wither away - instead it became a dictatorship with secret police.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withering_away_of_the_state
However, based on that premise they've instituted rules to "protect" intellectual property, but unfortunately they're so weighted toward the "owner" of the IP that they do (IMHO serious) harm to regular users and consumers. It seems to me that regardless of which political side you fall under, we should agree that governments exist to protect the rights and interests of everyone, not just a select few.
Something is really wrong here, and getting mad at Google or Widevine or some other company is a red herring. The real problem is what we've allowed our government(s) to do. We need to fight back there. Once the government isn't propping up the companies anymore, their abuse will disappear.