[chunsj]

Neither, this should not be an example/a cautionary tale against government regulation. This is an example of wrong/invalid kind of regulation which other countries should not follow. We, SK, could not fixed this problem because the private sector (companies who pursuit their private interest and against public interest) depending on the wrong/invalid regulation has lobbied and prevented several attempts to fix the regulation. So, this is not a problem of regulation or motivation or even knowledge; this is more of the problem of capitalism.

[kragen]

the clueless regulation is the problem, not capitalism

once you're competing by lobbying for regulation what you're doing isn't capitalism anymore

[franga2000]

So the US isn't doing capitalism anymore? If your system is based on the idea that "those with more money have more power", then those people using that power to stop competitors sounds like an entirely logical outcome to me. "Doing capitalism" means running your company with profit as your goal, and if the best way to profit is lying, bribing, preventing competition, exploiting workers and destroying the environment, that's what a capitalist will do.

That's not to say that capitalism can't be, to some extent, prevented from doing those harms by strong regulation. But as long as those writing the regulation live in and benefit from that same system, that regulation will never be particularly strong - and that's by design.

[kragen]

nobody has ever done pure capitalism; social systems are always a messy mix of modalities

but some societies are more capitalist than others, like those where markets rather than regulators make collective choices, and those tend to be the more prosperous and competent societies

'running your company with profit as your goal' predates capitalism by several millennia, and for that reason among others it is totally inadequate as a definition of capitalism

quoting wikipedia:

Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[1][2][3][4] Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.[5][6] In a market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by owners of wealth, property, or ability to maneuver capital or production ability in capital and financial markets—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.

market competition is fundamental to capitalism. calling a competition-prohibiting government decree like this 'capitalist' because private companies presumably lobbied for it last millennium is like calling iran or venezuela today 'democratic' because their dictatorships were voted in by their citizens many years ago

you say, 'capitalism [can] be, to some extent, prevented from doing those harms by strong regulation' but in fact in this case the strong regulation is what is doing the harm, not whatever vestiges of capitalism remain after the regulators removed competitive markets, voluntary exchange, price signals, and private-sector decision-making