> Net neutrality IS a government assisted monopoly but in the favor of consumer instead of provider
Can you explain how that works? Who, exactly, is the monopoly referenced in that sentence?
It sounds like you mean that whatever is being referenced by the identifier "net neutrality" (guessing recent FCC decisions, but it is not clear) tilts the market towards consumers in ways that you believe are anti-free-market, but that has nothing to do with monopolies or antitrust.
If that is what is meant, I completely disagree - it is the legacy telco/cable companies who need a refresher in antitrust issues. They are the only ones I see using the government to restrict competition. Putting a floor on baseline requirements offered by market participants (such as actually offering the service advertised, or not extorting cash from third-party internet ventures) has nothing to do with restricting competition, any more that mandating lead-free paints in cribs or seatbelts in cars. (Yeah, I know some people still rant about seatbelts, but not on antitrust grounds.)
It has to do with constraining market participants who have already had a long history of preferential government treatment to not leveraging that into yet more ways to extract rent.
Can you explain how that works? Who, exactly, is the monopoly referenced in that sentence?
It sounds like you mean that whatever is being referenced by the identifier "net neutrality" (guessing recent FCC decisions, but it is not clear) tilts the market towards consumers in ways that you believe are anti-free-market, but that has nothing to do with monopolies or antitrust.
If that is what is meant, I completely disagree - it is the legacy telco/cable companies who need a refresher in antitrust issues. They are the only ones I see using the government to restrict competition. Putting a floor on baseline requirements offered by market participants (such as actually offering the service advertised, or not extorting cash from third-party internet ventures) has nothing to do with restricting competition, any more that mandating lead-free paints in cribs or seatbelts in cars. (Yeah, I know some people still rant about seatbelts, but not on antitrust grounds.)
It has to do with constraining market participants who have already had a long history of preferential government treatment to not leveraging that into yet more ways to extract rent.