The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether Google is using its dominance in Web search to give its own services an unfair advantage. The FTC is also looking into whether Twitter is abusing its position to lock out competitors. But government intervention here is misguided. These investigations, and whatever results from them, wonâ??t level the playing field. They will only stifle innovation and yank lawyers out of unemployment lines.
The technology sector moves so quickly that when a company becomes obsessed with defending and abusing its dominant market position, countervailing forces cause it to get left behind. Consider: The FTC spent years investigating IBM and Microsoftâ??s anti-competitive practices, yet it wasnâ??t government that saved the day; their monopolies became irrelevant because both companies could not keep pace with rapid changes in technology â?? changes the rest of the industry embraced. The personal-computer revolution did IBM in; Microsoftâ??s Waterloo was the Internet. This â?? not punishment from Uncle Sam â?? is the real threat to Google and Twitter if they behave as IBM and Microsoft did in their heydays.
Read Full Article »
