> It would seem both easy and reasonable to craft a law that bans advertising without banning listings of products and companies, product search engines, etc.
I can't help noticing that you haven't ventured to attempt it in your comment. Why not?
> Most companies do not want to break the rules
This line makes me wonder if you have ever worked for a company. This is occasionally true of some rule, but only when it's the companies that break the rules that go out of business. In environments where the only survivors are the ones that break the rules, eventually most of the remaining companies do want to break the rules. Since enforcement is never perfect, in competitive markets, most companies want to break the rules just slightly: enough to compete effectively but not enough that enforcement makes them unprofitable.
I can't help noticing that you haven't ventured to attempt it in your comment. Why not?
> Most companies do not want to break the rules
This line makes me wonder if you have ever worked for a company. This is occasionally true of some rule, but only when it's the companies that break the rules that go out of business. In environments where the only survivors are the ones that break the rules, eventually most of the remaining companies do want to break the rules. Since enforcement is never perfect, in competitive markets, most companies want to break the rules just slightly: enough to compete effectively but not enough that enforcement makes them unprofitable.