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Re: OT: rants about governtment/beurocracy...
guy keren <choo@actcom.co.il> writes:
> i am actually quite glad that the ministry of finance demands that the
> cable companies pay something for all the wealth they're earning from
> their monopoly.
I am not taking any side in this, as a matter of fact I don't even
understand what this particular argument is about (I think I missed
David's posting).
I'd just like to make one simple, important, and general point
here. Whatever the cable communications providers will pay to the
government (license fees, taxes, etc) will be passed on to consumers,
like you and me. I seriously doubt that license fees will reduce the
providers' profit margins significantly - we'll just pay more for the
service. That's *all* it boils down to. The government bureaucrats may
not understand the technical issues involved, but they won't miss an
opportunity to squeeze each of us for a few more mites.
Moreover, I will not be surprised if things turn out so that the major
cable providers will become such significant sources of revenue for
the bureaucracy that the latter will not be interested in lowering the
profit margins by issuing more licenses and increasing the competition
in this market. Of course, this will not necessarily make much
economic sense, and in fact will probably constitute a fallacy, but
who says the bureacracy understands economics better than technology
[I am sure there are exceptions, in economics, technology, and
everything else, exceptions being the key word]?
But I promised to make just one simple and general point, and I
have already broken the promise. Shutting up.
--
Oleg Goldshmidt | BLOOMBERG L.P. (BFM) | oleg@NOSPAM.bfr.co.il
"... We work by wit, and not by witchcraft;
And wit depends on dilatory time." - W. Shakespeare.
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