What regulators should mostly do is provide rulings in 2 weeks. Monopoly lawsuits have been threatening for 5 years and are still in limbo, our entire West is in threadlock: Slow justice, slow regulators, slow administrations, fast market grabs…
Slow justice and slow regulation are a feature, not a bug. Premature either is more dangerous than delayed action.
In hindsight, the correct time for regulation was probably 2008 for Google (DoubleClick purchase and Android shipping with "Android Market") and Apple (App Store).
It should have been a clear line from hardware control -> distribution control. And if regulators hadn't seen it, then Congress should have drawn it for them in updated laws.
Unfortunately, the world had a bit more going on that year.
Android was effectively launched in 2008, per Wikipedia: "It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream, being launched in September 2008."
In this case, I'm not sure how to square new innovation (smart phones first launching in 2008) with slow regulation.
