"The Political Economy of Digital Monopolies: Contradictions and Alternatives to Data Commodification"

Digital platforms have come under intense scrutiny from scholars, policy makers, regulators, and the general public for their immense and yet largely opaque influence on the social and economic sphere. This book advances value-form and social-form directions in Marxian theory, moving beyond mainstream economic reasoning that informs much of the debate. Digital monopoly platforms such as Google and Facebook are analysed in light of their profit seeking behaviour and monetary flows generated primarily through advertising and data commodification. Considering the unity of production and circulation the book argues that outputs are better understood as a collection of different types of social forms shaped by capital (pre, intermediate and final commodities) and as forms of public wealth (Copyleft Free Software, publicly financed science and research). The authors critically engage with Marxian theories that conceptualise user activities as forms of digital labour, with zero-price markets and critical legal theories, as well as with ‘internet exceptionalism’ in various forms. The role of regulation of production, especially of financial markets and monopolies is critically discussed with an empirical analysis of the development of GAFAM companies, Google’s mandatory reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and of digital advertising of Google and Facebook. The book discusses contradictions of the capitalist mode of production, limits of ongoing reform initiatives, and alternatives to the logic of capital and commodity production on digital platforms. Contents 5 List of Figures and Tables 6 Preface 7 1. Introduction: The Context of Digital Monopolies 9 On related Marxian approaches 15 Which capitalism? 18 Chapter structure 23 2. Production, Circulation, and the Science of Forms: Theoretical Foundations 29 The value-form and the Marxian research programme 30 Internal association if value and money 32 Various approaches to the unity of production and circulation 34 Abstractions, social forms, and modes of production 36 Scientific methodology of Marx's approach 37 Development of determinate abstractions through social forms 39 Modes and social forms of production 41 Simple abstractions: determined, but not fully 44 Synthesis, categories, and levels of abstraction 46 Technological form and the experiential dimension 48 Commodity form ,fetishism, and reification 49 Rationalization and the technological form 51 Production on digital platforms 55 Free Software and the production of public wealth 55 Open Source as a bridge to capitalist production 57 Pre-, intermediate, and final commodities 60 The business model as a whole and its abstractions 64 3. Marxian Perspectives on Monopolies 67 Revisiting competition and monopoly 68 Marx on competition and monopoly 71 Property form determination and intellectual monopoly 75 4. Platforms, Advertising, and Users 83 Platforms and zero-price markets 84 Platform capitalism and imperialism 85 Contributions and limits of legal critical theory to understanding platforms 88 The role of advertising in production and circulation 91 Advertising as a sales effort 91 Consumption of advertising as commodity production 93 Advertising as circulation 96 User activities in capitalist production 99 From Smythe's audience labour to digital labour 101 5. Financialization and Regulation 107 Labour, financial profits, and technological forms 108 Research and development expenditures 110 Composition and division of tech labour 111 Shareholder value and financial profits 115 Risks and rewards in Google's path to monopoly 118 Scaling technical infrastructure 119 Corporate growth and organizational changes 119 Post-IPO competition with Microsoft, Yahoo, and traditional media 121 Advertising risks between 2005 and 2019 124 Reward distribution through stock performance 125 Legal and regulatory risks between 2005 and 2019 126 The role of state(s) and regulation in the expansion of GAFAM 129 Pitfalls and interpretations of antitrust regulation 130 Capital accumulation on a world scale 134 6. Controlling, Processing, and Commercializing Data 137 Privatizing openness and knowledge 138 Capital and Free Sciftware as different social forms of production and regulation 141 The egalitarian illusions resulting from the lack of adequated eterminate abstractions 145 Privatizing knowledge and securing ownership 147 Setting the rules of data engagement 150 Watching, sorting, and reselling data 151 Erecting tollbooths and managing access points 155 Realization of value in advertising markets 158 Digital advertising dominance, user habits, and disinformation 159 Reluctant public interventionism 1 7. Conclusion: Contradictions and Alternatives to Data Commodification 165 The capture and commercialization of FLOSS 167 Transnational capital and taxation 169 Beyond capital, data commodification, and surplus value extraction 173 Reigning monopolies in 174 Re-imagining technological forms 175 Public wealth and value: recognition, advocacy,and public policy 178 Data, democracy, and development 181 Notes 185 Chapter 2 186 Chapter 3 190 Chapter 4 191 Chapter 5 192 Chapter 6 193 Chapter 7 194 References 197 Index 227 At a time when the practices of technology companies continue to attract fierce criticism, this book asks what it actually means to hold a 'monopoly' in the tech world and how it might affect the way in which an organization operates. Combining new and traditional Marxian perspectives, the authors offer an in-depth analysis of how these technology giants are produced, financialized, and regulated. As technology firms continue to shape our political and socio-economic landscape, this book will be an invaluable resource for scholars and students who seek to understand the function of technological monopolies in contemporary capitalism. As outrage over the socially damaging practices of technology companies intensifies, this book asks what it actually means to hold a "monopoly" in the tech world and offers an in-depth analysis of how these corporate giants are produced, financialised, and regulated. As technology companies' practices attract criticism, this book asks what it actually means to hold a 'monopoly' in the tech world, and how it might affect the way in which the companies operate. Combining new and traditional Marxian perspectives, the authors offer an in-depth analysis of how these technology giants are produced, financialized, and regulated