emergent monopoly

An emergent monopoly is where network effects mean that a particular piece of software becomes dominant, with few effective competitors. For physical products, monopolies (that is where one or a small number of companies control a large proportion of a product or service) may occur due to rare natural resources or anti-competitive practices. Monopolies mean that free markets do not function well, with higher costs for consumers, hence many countries have laws to ensure open competition. Emergent monopolies of digital prodcuts are harder to regulate, in part becasue network effects are intrinsic to the nature of many kinds of digital products, including AI, and in part because of the transnational nature of digtal services.