And I don't know of a single example where regulation created more competition. The more barrier of entry you add to a market (of course for good intentions, to protect customers etc) the less competition you'll have and the fewer startups.
Only incumbents love regulation. Paradoxically, Apple will gain more from DMA on the long term, even if everybody is cheering they got slapped.
Does antitrust fall under regulation? If yes, Standard Oil is a perfect example. If they had their way there would only oil company. Microsoft is another example. You still want to use Internet Explorer?
The regulation game is always a careful balance and govs should err on the less regulation side but regulation is a powerful instrument that protects customers and competition. It’s there to prevent a single company snowballing everyone else.
Common example (dug from over 100 years ago), quite flawed one too. By the time of the anti-trust regulation the free market was already pushing Standard Oil out - healthy competition evolved. Read up on it.
I can easily believe this being repeated for most of the Big Tech firms.
Copyrights and trademarks are important though to prevent fraud and deception. The government has the role of upholding the rule of law and gentlemanly competition - I am not advocating for anarchy.
I haven't heard of an ISP startup in ages. Only multinational Telecom providers, well protected by regulation.
It's how the founder's mind works, sorry. This is (one of the reasons) why Europe gets fewer startups than freer places like the US.