The debate over whether Rupert Murdoch should be allowed total control of Sky is far too simplistic in an age where Google, Apple – or some techies from California – can achieve greater dominance in a globalised mediaWe’ve been here before. Murdoch the Magnificent Monopolist, a power-crazed mogul, seeks to dominate the world. Only a few gallant competitors, ideological opponents and an overwhelming weight of public opinion stand in his way as a frail coalition government flails back and forth. It all seems like brute politics as usual. But, in truth, it’s much more important – and complex – than that.The commission’s recommendation on News Corp’s bid for total control of BSkyB, long after winter is over, has to sort out arguments that have been used, these past three years, to sweep away many of the old anti-monopoly controls: arguments for greater freedom, not greater restriction, in a topsy-turvy digital world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/09/murdoch-monopolist-not-in-digital-future