Netflix’ Days of Monopoly Price Premiums Are Over

“Netflix was basically a monopoly in the streaming business until about six months ago, and the effect was that content providers were underpricing their products,” said Charlie Wolf, an analyst who covers the company at Needham. On February 22nd, Amazon announced that it would stream 5,000 movies and television shows at no additional charge to customers who signed up for a Prime membership, which costs $79 a year.

via NFLX Tumbles On Qwikster Announcement; Are Netflixs Best Days Behind It?.

Hospitals Buy Back-Door Drugs Due to Shortages

Fifty-two percent of hospital purchasing agents and pharmacists reported they’d bought drugs from so-called “gray market” vendors during the previous two years, according to a just-released survey of 549 hospitals by the Institute for Safe Medication practices, an advocacy group.

Gray-market suppliers are those that operate outside official channels, often buying drugs from uncertain sources and reselling them at a steep profit. A report issued last week by a one hospital association found their average mark-up was 650 percent.

via Half of hospitals buy back-door drugs – Health – Health care – msnbc.com.

$100,000 for New Cancer Drug

Seattle Genetics Monday said the drug will cost $4,500 per vial. In its clinical trials, the company said, patients on average received three vials per dose and between seven and nine doses per treatment.

via $100,000 price tag for new cancer drug – Health – Cancer – msnbc.com.

Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents

The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the worlds 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.

via Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents – Health – Health care – msnbc.com.

Its Time to Break Up AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and the Rest of the Telecoms

Today’s telecoms provide overpriced and inferior service, and are systematically overcharging the hapless American consumer.

Alternet Article: Its Time to Break Up AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and the Rest of the Telecoms.

5 Despicable Things About AT&Ts Mega-Merger With T-Mobile

The merger hands two companies, AT&T and Verizon, control over nearly 80 percent of the wireless market. That translates to widespread abuses of market power, something AT&T is already known for.

5 Despicable Things About AT&Ts Mega-Merger With T-Mobile.

Would Shakespeare Have Survived US Copyright Law?

Shakespeare’s classics Romeo and Juliet, Othello, As You Like It and Measure for Measure, among others, were based on works of fiction published in the decades before Shakespeare’s career. They thus would have been illegal under current U.S. copyright law, which keeps works out of the public domain for 70 years after the death of the author, or a total of 95 years for works for hire. Copyright protection for decades after Shakespeare’s death would have had no impact on his ability to produce work and limited impact on his incentive to do so–while the inability to retell contemporary stories would have directly restricted his creativity.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Would the Bard Have Survived U.S. Copyright Law?

Also reference Would the Bard Have Survived the Web?

Meet the New Media Monopoly – OtherWords

For more than a century, American law has recognized the destructive power of corporate monopolies. When one company controls an entire resource, means of production, or delivery system for products, it gets an unfair advantage over competitors. It can overcharge them out of existence or drive them into bankruptcy. Since Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, our government has tried to ensure that monopolistic business practices don’t destroy fair pricing and consumer choice.

Meet the New Media Monopoly – OtherWords.

Firefighters Let House Burn Because Owner Didn’t Pay $75 Fee

A homeowner in Tennessee did not pay his fire insurance—insurance to pay for the service of extinguishing a fire should his house catch fire—, so the firefighters stodo and watched as his house burned, despite his pleas to  pay “whatever  it takes” to extinguish the flames.

Is this story an example of the need for social goods, or a testimate to private good? Clearly, this is a showcase for market failure. It is also relates to the policies undertaken by the insurance industry to exempt people from coverage due to a pre-existing condition. In this case, the house was on fire and the requisite $75 premium had not been paid.

I’d like to understand the pricing model of the fire department. On the one hand, fire protection was offered as a subscription service, but on the other hand the property owner had offered to remunerate the department. Given the situation, the fire department could have more than covered their marginal costs, even extracting some monopoly profits in the process. This did not happen, so what was happening?