In other words; basic research is absolutely critical to scientific advancement, and those that have to ask why are ignorant of how we got to where we are now.

This makes as much sense as Facebook announcing they're going to build a PC.

Actually, when you put it that way, as strange as it seems, it sounds less insane. The phone market is already twisted beyond belief; many people buy their handheld PCs from their ISPs. Why not buy phones from an advertising middleman .. or from a cement mixing company or from a haberdasher or from religious iconography and spell component shop? Those are some bizarre and senseless ideas, I'll admit, yet they are no more bizarre than the status quo! Phones are a fucked-up market which can't possibly get worse.

+5 "Funny", BTW... :-)

Stop living in the past.

This was a week ago.

aren't you happy now that you didn't forget to hit that "Post Anonymously" check box?

Copyrighted works (well, some of them at least) are not particularly fungible so they do not compete against eachother to any large extent.

Yes, retail price cooperation is illegal, but short term collaboration on prices isn't the driving price factor on monopoly goods. For the pricing curve It doesn't really matter if they sit in the same room or not; they'll see the same demand curve and decide on similar revenue maximization points over the longer term, and you'll still get the same rising price until demand fails (through falling disposable income, lack of interest or time, etc).

For a real in-your-face example, note Sony's action on Whitney Houstons death. An expected increase in demand leads to practically real-time raising of prices. The players in the field know exactly how to set prices to exact maximum revenue, and competitive pressure has nothing to do with it.

That's entirely possible, but in that case it's because Apple brought a higher end market with them. Revenue with monopoly pricing is maximized by setting prices in relation to what the market can bear. Copyright is not a free market and filing antitrust suits over pricing or price collusion is specious; there is no free market pricing, there is no competition and that is by design.

If the DOJ was at all interested in competition they'd work to abolish copyright and let the Pirate Bay put some competetive pressure on the market.

Ahmahdinajad has only titular power.

He's much like the elected mayor of London.