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Comment by jlpcsl | Hacker News Reader

No, it is shameful that US allows such huge monopolies in the first place. These should not exist at all and should be broken up before becoming so huge.

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Umm none of these companies are monopolies. For everyone in the list there is another option

Europe just doesn't have any companies at all

10 of the world's largest 50 companies by revenue are European.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_r...

This list actually surprised me. The European companies on the list fall into 3 categories: commodities (e.g. petroleum or mining), utilities, and automakers.

Interesting list. The only European companies I recognize are car companies; Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler, and Mercedes-Benz. The rest are all energy or mining companies, with the exception of Schwarz Gruppe which is apparently a retail chain? It's also surprising how many of the American companies are healthcare-related, and how the relative ordering changes to favor tech and oil companies when you sort by profit instead of revenue.

> For everyone in the list there is another option

Yep. WhatsApp and FB Messenger. Two options. Except that they seem to be owned by the same company.

Signal, iMessage, Telegram, Line, WeChat, Element, SMS ...the list goes on n on

Yeah and if you put it that way Brave or Opera are viable browser alternatives that should be regulated :)

Only ubiquitous thing in that list is SMS. Which is crap and that's why no one uses it any more, and no one ever liked to use it.

They are viable options. I dont know about regulated, but them not being used is their problem. IE6 was king and then phoenix unseated them, followed by firefox. So people have options, them not using the other option is their issue

none of these are options when the only way to talk to my landlord or my customer is whatsapp.

Europe's definition of monopoly is one that actually makes sense, unlike the US's bafflingly stupid version. You do not need over 50% to be a monopoly.

More like, no other financial and investment markets are as liquid and stable as America’s, which attracts the world’s innovators and investors. The US should not replicate the failure and incompetence at the helm of the EU and other major bureaucracies.

> The US should not replicate the failure and incompetence at the helm of the EU and other major bureaucracies.

Yeah, protecting consumers and allowing fair competition, what a shame.

I like that entirely vibes-based reddit discourse has made its way onto this platform.

Fair competition from who? Certainly not the EU.

You missed the point. It doesn't matter where competition comes from, this whole campaign is about loosening the grip a handful of companies ("gatekeepers") have over de facto monopolies.

In short, this would benefit smaller players everywhere.

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