Nothing about that article actually describes any harm done. It's often called the Golden Age of Hollywood, and many of the greatest movies of all time were made under the studio system. It's not even clear that the collusion increased ticket prices.
Recently, in fact, the decrees have been reversed. Studios are allowed to own movie theaters again.
I'm just curious why you picked that one. There are many better cases illustrating the dangers of monopolies.
I pick that one because there's always arguments that Apple is not a monopoly (just switch to Android) therefore other examples of dangers of monopolies don't apply. The studio system was multiple oligopolies and not a monopoly. I think it parallels the current smartphone app market more.
The decrees were reversed because they served their purpose and studios no longer have oligopolies, not because there were new findings or research that suggested the decrees were not worth doing.
The case documented that they violated the law, to be sure. There was certainly the potential for harm. But how much harm was actually done?
As far as I can tell the ones who objected most to the studio system were the actors, not the audiences. It's why the Screen Actors Guild was created; the abuses were well documented.
This case illustrates that an oligopoly can be broken up if it acts as a cartel. Do Apple and Google do that?
Sorry; I don't mean to sound like I'm "Just Asking Questions". I'm not a lawyer, but I am an actor with a bit of understanding of the studio system history so I'm interested in the lessons.
I’m old enough to remember the Microsoft monopoly. 2022 Apple isn’t like that at all.
Back in the 90s, telling someone to just buy a Mac, was a joke. No one had macs, besides schools, but even those went away. Apps simply didn’t exist on Mac. Files couldn’t even be transferred between machines because the floppies were formatted differently. To not use a windows PC, was an actual burden.
Now let’s compare to 2022 Apple. You don’t want an iPhone, get an android. They’re literally everywhere phones are sold, and you can even egg them for free with a service contract. So what do you lose if switch to it? FaceTime? Um… okay. What popular apps aren’t on android? I honestly don’t know. Even the built in iOS apps, have equivalents that are often even installed on iPhones. Everything else is the web.
Recently, in fact, the decrees have been reversed. Studios are allowed to own movie theaters again.
I'm just curious why you picked that one. There are many better cases illustrating the dangers of monopolies.