“Politicians in both parties broadly agree that a handful of tech companies hold too much power.” Those are the words of former U.S. attorney general, William P. Barr, from an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal. That they won’t age well is a waste of words, but online writing allows for a little bit of waste.
Unfortunately for Barr, but happily for the rest of us, truth isn’t arrived at by counting heads. Time was when most politicians “in both parties” felt AOL was so dominant that its tie-up with Time Warner had to be delayed so that the combined entity wouldn’t control all of 21st century communication and entertainment. Missed by those formerly fearful of AOL, along with the Apple-fearful Barr, is that when politicians and government types more broadly stare at the commercial present, they’re unwittingly staring at the past.
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