🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <KETIL-87ems155li.fsf_-_@tosca.infotek.no>,
    Ketil Z Malde  <ketil@ii.uib.no> wrote:
>Chris Fischer <cfischer@frontiernet.net> writes:
>
>> But the reason for Public Service Commissions is because it is stupid to
>> run 2 sets of phone lines down every street.  It's a natural monopoly.
>
>> What reason would there be for them to regulate a software company?
>
>Because software, to some extent, is a common good and a natural
>monopoly. 
>
>It's a common good in the sense that my consumption of software doesn't
>affect your consumption of the same - like air, police or whatever.
>
>It's a natural monopoly, according to the textbook definition, since the 
>marginal cost curve is monotonically decreasing.  Meaning that producing 
>the n+1th copy of some software package is cheaper than producing the
>nth.  [...]

    You can say the same thing about movies. It would also be
ridiculous to claim that they should be regulated to prevent
monopolies.

--
John Bayko (Tau).
bayko@cs.uregina.ca
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~bayko