Amazon once again beat analysts’ revenue forecasts as it announced its latest quarterly results. Over $600bn-worth of goods passed through its online market last year - more than most countries’ entire gross domestic product. It collected far more money in marketplace and logistics infrastructure fees than most governments earn as taxes. Apple, Google, and Microsoft likewise further entrenched their positions.
How did we end up here? According to internet visionaries and Silicon Valley technologists, the internet was supposed to free us from powerful institutions. It was supposed to cut out the middlemen and overcome the gatekeepers - to make states obsolete and supersede gigantic corporations. This is what we were promised. And for a while, publishers celebrated how Amazon freed them from bricks-and-mortar gatekeepers like Barnes & Noble.
But then Amazon started turning the screws on its publishers and third-party merchants. “Amazon is really predatory...