I want to see discussion here on HN as this is a special community that has participation from some of the brightest and most influential engineers, lawyers, -- many disciplines and backgrounds -- in the world.
This should absolutely be a topic of discussion amongst us.
Do we, as individuals with leverage and influence, support these actions? And if not, what can we do to help change the status quo and insure this doesn't happen again so easily?
Crafting a response or opinion piece to submit to lawmakers and the FTC could hold a lot of power, especially if it is undersigned by many of us in the field.
In my mind this is how these companies see their platforms plucked from their hands and spun off as independent companies.
This is incredibly unfair to users. It's a sign that these platforms have become a mafia protection racket.
It's not just as if they're saying "If you consider the competition, you'll lose everything." They're actually doing this.
Wow.