Should anti-trust laws be dusted off to deal with the tech giants? One of those giants, Amazon, is looking to become a sports broadcaster. And if you thought FOMO was bad, just wait until you suffer from FONK.
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Trending on Reddit, the second gilded age has arrived, and its gilded in silicon. That’s the argument of former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich, who argues in a column published in The Guardian that it’s time to break up the tech giants. Namely Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google. These firms have created monopolies that discourage new entrants to the market, he argues, and hold too much political clout that can be easily abused. It’s time to make use of the antitrust laws that stopped the original robber barons and dismantle these new corporate powers. To me, it seems there’s not much political appetite for such a controversial approach in the U.S. Perhaps Reich knows that, publishing this column in a U.K. based newspaper.
Speaking of monopolies, and trending on LinkedIn, Amazon wants to become a sports broadcaster. According to CNBC, Amazon is making a bid for 22 regional sports TV networks owned by Disney. Disney recently acquired these networks from 21st Century Fox in a larger deal. The U.S. Justice Department is forcing it to sell these regional networks. Amazon already has broadcast rights for soccer in the U.K. after making a deal with the Premier League. Clearly, it’s very interested in streaming live sports over Amazon Prime. But to win these rights in the U.S., it will have to outbid several other players. And another round of bidding is scheduled for later this year.
We’re all familiar with FOMO – that is, the fear of missing out. Generally, it’s associated with all the fun we see our friends having on social media. But Twitter Canada suggests there’s another fear driving social media use – FONK. That’s “fear of not knowing.” Two-thirds of Canadian Twitter users say they suffer from this affliction. That’s twice as many that will say they experience FOMO. Nine out of 10 said it’s important to have different perspectives on news and events. Three out of four said they always stay up to date with the latest headlines. No wonder so many people are constantly refreshing those social media feeds.