IDG Contributor Network: Breaking up is hard to do: Why the Bell System breakup isn’t a model for tech

Recent discussions of tech antitrust such as those in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times  often refer to the breakup of the Bell System in the 1980s as an attractive example of successful antitrust action.  Readers are encouraged to think, well if it worked so well for telephones why not for tech? It’s true that many people think the Bell System breakup was a great success, spurring innovation and competition in long distance cell service and internet access.&nb