The current era of exploitative digital platforms was made possible by a multi-decade failure to enforce antitrust laws. This policy shift allowed companies to buy rivals (e.g., Facebook buying Instagram) and engage in predatory pricing (e.g., Uber), creating the monopolies that can now extract value without competitive consequence.

Franchisors argue they are a single entity to avoid antitrust conspiracy charges. Simultaneously, they claim franchisees are separate businesses to shield themselves from labor laws, unionization, and wage liability, creating a powerful, contradictory legal shield.

Platforms grew dominant by acquiring competitors, a direct result of failed antitrust enforcement. Cory Doctorow argues debates over intermediary liability (e.g., Section 230) are a distraction from the core issue: a decades-long drawdown of anti-monopoly law.

Platform decay isn't inevitable; it occurred because four historical checks and balances were removed. These were: robust antitrust enforcement preventing monopolies, regulation imposing penalties for bad behavior, a powerful tech workforce that could refuse unethical tasks, and technical interoperability that gave users control via third-party tools.

Before the 1970s, antitrust law was used to prevent large corporations from exerting excessive control over small businesses. A franchisor dictating prices or suppliers to a franchisee was considered an illegal restraint of trade, a stark contrast to today's legal landscape.

Technology like broadband-connected POS systems gives modern franchisors a real-time data stream and surveillance capability over their "independent" locations. This allows a degree of centralized control that exceeds what was possible for classically integrated corporations like U.S. Steel.

While a direct no-hire agreement between two franchisees is illegal, a franchisor can impose the same rule "vertically" from headquarters. This legal distinction allows them to create a system-wide cartel that limits worker mobility and suppresses wages across the entire brand.

Many laws were written before technological shifts like the smartphone or AI. Companies like Uber and OpenAI found massive opportunities by operating in legal gray areas where old regulations no longer made sense and their service provided immense consumer value.

Ad-tech startup Lumix provides ad-displaying delivery boxes to gig workers. Their business model is protected by labor laws that prevent platforms like DoorDash from providing such equipment themselves, as it would risk classifying their drivers as employees. This legal nuance creates a durable competitive advantage.