Monopoly, in itself, is not wrong; patent protection is a form of monopoly protection.
Anti-monopoly laws in countries worldwide primarily aim to prevent monopolistic enterprises from using their technological and market advantages to suppress competitors. In other words, monopoly is not the problem; abusing that monopoly to stifle competition is.
However, in practice, the standards for defining monopoly are often elusive.
This vagueness turns anti-monopoly regulations into tools for political and economic maneuvering among enterprises, capital, and even nations.
Igrette, or rather the entire Westeros system, has created a new internet era through its comprehensive investment in World Wide Web technology.
To achieve this goal, companies like Cisco, AOL, and Igrette have collectively invested billions of dollars over the past few years. Logically, the Westeros system deserves to enjoy the fruits of the internet industry.
The current issue is that the interests involved in the internet industry are too vast. The scope is so extensive that the Westeros system can't consume it all alone, and many won't allow it to monopolize this massive pie.
Even Tim Berners-Lee, usually focused on technology and less savvy about human intricacies, recognized the potential problems upon seeing Igrette's 1992 annual report.
Having memories from two lifetimes, Simon was even more acutely aware of the challenges Igrette would face.
In the original 1990s timeline, Microsoft was heavily targeted by US antitrust authorities, largely not because of its operating system monopoly but because key shareholders like Gates and Allen held too much of the company's stock.
As Gates and Allen gradually divested, integrating Microsoft into the broader US economy, the company ceased to face significant antitrust investigations.
After the morning's financial report meeting, Simon spent the afternoon discussing how to navigate Igrette's future challenges with Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos, and Carol Bartz.
Microsoft has Apple, Intel has AMD, IBM has SUN; the problem for Igrette is that it has no significant competitor in the new internet era it has pioneered.
Even though Microsoft and AOL are preparing their own portal businesses after obtaining email technology licenses and commercial operation permits, they are still perceived as being in the same camp as Igrette.
The US Sherman Antitrust Act clearly defines that market control by affiliated enterprises also constitutes a monopoly.
Igrette has already released a significant number of World Wide Web patents for free and cannot further relinquish its core patents in the short term.
Creating a competitor out of thin air isn't feasible either. Even powerful companies like Microsoft and AOL cannot pose a significant threat to Igrette in the short term, let alone creating a new competitor from scratch.
Therefore, to avoid potential antitrust pressure on Igrette, there are only two viable options: voluntarily splitting the company or seeking external financing and going public to share sufficient equity with other capital forces.
The first option is merely a temporary fix.
The second option, selling equity and integrating Igrette into the broader US economy, is the most thorough solution.
Simon had planned for this long ago. For companies like Cisco, AOL, and Igrette, he intended to retain only about 30% of their shares after gradually reducing his holdings.
Given the potentially massive future market values of these enterprises, even holding 30% would still represent an enormous fortune.
By the time the small meeting with the core management team concluded, the preliminary plan was set.
Igrette would undertake its first round of external financing, aiming to sell 10% of its shares to raise $1.5 billion.
Considering Igrette's nearly $2 billion in revenue in 1992 and its near 400% growth rate, the company's market value should match that of Cisco and AOL.
Thus, a $15 billion valuation for Igrette remains conservative.
Anyone familiar with Igrette's dominant position in the burgeoning internet field and its 1992 financial data would understand that $1.5 billion for 10% of its shares is a bargain.
If someone thinks Igrette is being greedy with this offer, they are clearly not a suitable partner.
Despite the high price, this 10% share won't be sold to just anyone. For instance, if approached by wealthy Arabs or Japanese conglomerates, the response would be, "Sorry, not interested."
This portion of equity would only be sold to US-based capital forces that wield significant influence over federal politics and economics, to provide support against antitrust pressures.
Human nature is inherently greedy.
Simon also knew that 10% of the shares wouldn't satisfy external demands. This financing round was merely a prelude.
Igrette would soon proceed with its IPO plans.
Including the stock incentives promised to Tim Berners-Lee and other executives and the stock options for numerous employees, the Westeros Company's stake in Igrette would quickly drop below 70% in the coming years.
San Francisco, Palo Alto.
At Igrette's headquarters, as the financing plan was finalized, Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos, and Carol Bartz couldn't help but think about their stock reward plans.
According to their initial agreement, with a five-year contract, each of them could receive up to 5% of Igrette's shares.
Given Igrette's current trajectory, unless Simon reneged on the deal, the 5% share was almost guaranteed.
Even at the conservative valuation of $15 billion from the financing plan, 5% of the shares would be worth $750 million.
$750 million!
This alone would secure them a notable spot on Forbes' list of America's 400 wealthiest individuals.
None of them had imagined gaining so much when they first joined the company.
Thus, throughout the afternoon, Simon noticed Jeff Bezos's heightened enthusiasm as he discussed the upcoming Igrette Advertising Alliance plan.
No one can foresee their future.
At the moment, the $750 million prospect was more than enough to satisfy the Cuban immigrant descendant who came from humble beginnings.
If Jeff Bezos knew he would become the world's richest man with a fortune exceeding hundreds of billions in another timeline, one can only wonder what he would think.
Of course, "if" remains just that.
"We have tested the ad distribution system on over 20 partner websites. I believe that precise automatic ad placement isn't the best solution at this stage. Instead, we should adopt a customized advertising strategy, tailoring specific ad packages for different clients."
In another conference room at Igrette's headquarters, Jeff Bezos continued explaining the technical details and execution plan for the Ad Alliance.
The Ad Alliance plan was, of course, based on Simon's recollection of similar plans by major internet giants.
When first proposed, not every Igrette executive supported the plan, with many fearing it might create a multitude of Igrette competitors. Consequently, some thought Igrette should focus more on expanding its own content.
Currently, Igrette Portal's rapid growth in news, forums, microblogs, and email services provides substantial content support for its advertising business. Given the company's strong content position, some executives felt that Igrette alone could sustain the entire internet content supply.
This perspective clearly conflicted with Simon's vision for Igrette.
Simon envisioned Igrette as a tech company focused on building internet platforms rather than becoming an internet media company producing content.
With the proliferation of the internet, the diverse content demands of billions of users can't be met by a single media company.
Providing a platform for content display through search engines, microblogs, and forums, allowing content providers and users to generate their own content, is the path for Igrette's survival.
In the initial internet 1.0 era, companies like Yahoo and AOL thrived in content creation but quickly declined with the advent of the internet 2.0 era.
Currently, Igrette Portal is just a transitional phase for Igrette.
The independent operations of the Google search engine and Facebook microblog, along with the rapidly emerging Amazon Online Mall, represent Igrette's core future as a tech giant.
However, Simon wouldn't openly disclose these fundamental strategies.
Only a few core executives within Igrette understood his exact plans. Hence, there were inevitable disagreements during the rollout of the Ad Alliance.
With absolute control over Igrette, Simon wouldn't be swayed by such objections and insisted on implementing the plan. Jeff Bezos and others, understanding Simon's long-term vision, fully supported the proposal.
Through the Ad Alliance, many websites that couldn't independently commercialize could find a clear path to profitability, fostering a more vibrant internet content landscape. This mutual benefit would accelerate the development of Igrette's businesses.
Finishing the day's agenda at Igrette, it was already 4 PM.
Simon's workday was far from over. Leaving Igrette's headquarters, he headed to Claire Gain's Tinkervale company.
According to Simon's vision, Tinkervale had recently completed the prototype of its first digital music player. With some time to spare, Simon planned to personally inspect it.
Arriving at Tinkervale's headquarters, not far from Igrette, Claire and her partner Neil Brantley awaited Simon, alongside the petite Jennifer Bure standing behind Claire.
After greeting Claire and the team, Simon couldn't resist ruffling Jennifer's hair, smiling, "No classes today?"
With her height only reaching Simon's chest, she was irresistibly suited for a head pat.
Jennifer didn't resist; instead, she playfully retracted her neck, her long lashes fluttering as she replied, "No classes this afternoon."
Even though Simon was aware of her age, he couldn't shake the feeling of teasing a minor.
Glancing around, Simon noticed Claire and Neil in professional attire while Jennifer wore a casual yellow hoodie and jeans with white sneakers, making her look out of place, like a child brought to the office by a parent.
Simon understood Jennifer was enrolled at Stanford thanks to Janet's arrangements. Since the concert incident, Claire and others naturally treated her as one of their own, leading to such "indulgence."
With a smile, Simon said no more and joined the group as they walked inside the office building.
Jennifer trailed behind, her bright eyes discreetly observing.
She
had noticed something unusual.
This time, it was Allison Knowles who accompanied Simon as his assistant, with the typically vigilant "Big Jenny" absent.
Though unclear on the reasons, Jennifer sensed it was a good opportunity.
Simon, however, wasn't concerned with her thoughts. In an office lab, he soon saw the newly developed digital music player prototype.
According to a series of trademarks registered by Tinkervale, this device would be named the iPlayer.
Simon thought iPlayer was a more fitting name for a digital music player than iPod. As for the iPod trademark, it could be used for other electronic products in the future.
Neil Brantley began by showing Simon the prototype's basic structure.
The prototype, the size of a current cassette Walkman, was far from Simon's memory of a matchbox-sized standard but was the best current technology could achieve.
The core storage device, a 1.5-inch micro hard drive, was already matchbox-sized.
The term "1.5-inch, 2.5-inch, and 3.5-inch hard drives" refers to the size of the internal disks, with the entire drive often being larger.
In Simon's memory, the 1.5-inch microdrive could be as small as a "piece of gum," not its current "matchbox" size, due to the lack of maximum optimization of its internal mechanics. Similarly, today's 3.5-inch drives are much larger than those in his memory.
Despite its large size, the current microdrive had a very small capacity.
The prototype used an IBM microdrive, not yet in mass production, with a capacity of only 20MB. Given the high compression rate of the MP3 format developed by Igrette, with each song averaging around 3MB, the drive could hold only six or seven songs, less than an entire album.
However, with the rapid growth of the computer industry, it was only a matter of time before hard drive capacities increased exponentially.
Neil Brantley noted that as long as there was sufficient market demand, established hard drive manufacturers with years of technical accumulation could swiftly boost microdrive capacities.
In the short term, capacities of 100-200MB would be sufficient for current digital music players.
Regarding storage media, Simon had also considered flash memory.
However, current flash memory chips, limited by semiconductor technology and market demand, typically had capacities of only a few hundred KB.
Though flash memory offered numerous advantages over mechanical drives in terms of stability, speed, and power consumption, their tiny capacities meant that, for the next five to ten years, microdrives would be the only feasible solution for digital music players.
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