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A comment on Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility. Parent comment

Re:Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a... by justbored123 on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @05:55PM (#27441456)
That is a terrible argument. "Go sh*t in a chemical toiled" is not a reasonable alternative, the cost alone is ludicrous. Just have the decency and maturity to admit when you are wrong instead of arguing that you should "go dig a well" in the middle of the city. This is why we can't have reasonable conversations anymore.
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Re:Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a... by throwaway0a5e on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @07:19PM (#27442338)
You completely misunderstood the comment you're replying to. He's saying that the mere existence of alternatives does not preclude something from being a utility.
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Re:Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a... by pcmoney on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @07:29PM (#27442409)
Thank you! I am also not even saying Google _should_ be a utility just that the standards for what makes something a utility candidate are not standard but rather arbitrary. Most utilities came about through lobbying one way or another not through some clinical application of rules.

I am concerned with Google's search dominance and its ability to use that to suppress and manipulate even if it is just to get me to buy something.

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Re:Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a... by anders_p on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @07:35PM (#27442453)
I pretty sure that you completely missed the point of the comment. - Woosh.

He wasn't arguing that building your own toilet is a good option - just that it exists as an option.

And the fact of options merely existing, doesn't automatically exclude something from being recognized as a utility.

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Re:Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a... by Dah00n on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @06:28AM (#27446314)
>"Go sh*t in a chemical toiled" is not a reasonable alternative, the cost alone is ludicrous.

"Go buy an iPhone" is not a reasonable alternative, the cost alone is ludicrous.

Same situation, different words.

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