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Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by drtz on Thursday November 05, 2020 @12:56PM (#25000335)
Wouldn't you want power to stay with elected officials who can be removed from office by the public rather than a private business that's primarily motivated by profit and only answers to shareholders.
Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by cle on Thursday November 05, 2020 @01:18PM (#25000535)
That sounds good in theory but I think in practice, at least in the relatively broken representative system in the US, I'm not so sure.

Consider that politicians often operate against the will of ~49% of their constituents. As long as they can maintain a majority, they don't care as much about the minority. I don't think a company, operating in a healthy non-monopolized marketplace, would be as willing to lose 49% of their customers.

Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by closeparen on Thursday November 05, 2020 @02:46PM (#25001281)
Depends on which kind of accountability is more necessary. In the same way that people buy good cheap stuff that works well from Satan himself, they also vote for their ideological allies whether or not public services are within a thousand miles of functioning.
Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by Nasrudith on Friday November 06, 2020 @04:09AM (#25006207)
When it is over what is a means of accountability for them (it is the media and not the tech which draws the aggro)? Fuck no - they already forget they are servants and not masters.
Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by leetcrew on Thursday November 05, 2020 @01:57PM (#25000862)
in theory, yes. in practice, I'd rather be a customer than a constituent.
Re:U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid by ausbah on Thursday November 05, 2020 @01:00PM (#25000375)
comments like above are reminders of how strong libertarianism is in tech circles, for better or worse