🚀 go-pugleaf

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.  Basically, if you have two competing software packages each with
50% of the market, it will make sense for a producer to slash his price
50% to capture the remaining 50% of the market, since production costs
(but not development costs!) are essentially zero.

<Outrageous.Claim> In real life, you don't find software that are
strictly equivalent.</>

~kzm
-- 
If I haven't seen further, it is by standing in the footprints of giants