> And yet, we do no such thing when it comes to home and property security, financial security or medical records security. So, why when it comes to a phone which clearly has less overall value than these items, is it suddenly necessary to throw in the towel and allow an unnatural monopoly to form?
I think that there's a practical reason. For all your examples, the companies operating the solutions can be held to US laws and regulations. But purchasing (or downloading for free!) software from anywhere in the world cannot be regulated effectively (at all?).
So as a consumer, there is base level trust I have in companies providing me home & property security, financial security, and medical records security because they can be constrained by US laws & regulations, such as minimum standards. Not so for random software that I download for free or buy from some overseas (or basement somewhere in the US) location.
I think that there's a practical reason. For all your examples, the companies operating the solutions can be held to US laws and regulations. But purchasing (or downloading for free!) software from anywhere in the world cannot be regulated effectively (at all?).
So as a consumer, there is base level trust I have in companies providing me home & property security, financial security, and medical records security because they can be constrained by US laws & regulations, such as minimum standards. Not so for random software that I download for free or buy from some overseas (or basement somewhere in the US) location.