Facebook does not already have money from future ad revenue, therefore Apple cannot have “taken” it.
> that is so unsympathetic that it can’t appeal to a greater authority for redress.
Facebook cannot appeal to a greater authority for redress because no crimes were committed against them.
The rest of the quote is also hyperbolic nonsense. “[Apple] fled the scene” does not make the slightest bit of sense.
Suuuuuure they can... This is a thing!
There was a recent financial scandal where a company started out by buying accounts receivable at a small discount and ended up loaning money for hypothetical accounts receivable from hypothetical customers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-06/greens...
It sounds like you are trying to interpret it very literally?
The utility of an analogy that compares every business offering a better product to consumers as a thief robbing another thief is pretty useless to me.
I guess the internet came in and robbed all the travel agents, secretaries, map makers, and other obviated middlemen too. And Facebook and Google robbed all the ad agencies. And then “fled the scene”.
The analogy is not "robbery" but "rob the mob". Namely, the idea that if your target is reprehensible enough, you can get away with things that you otherwise couldn't.