Why does evidence held inside a platform raise the cost of leaving it?
From MCC-001, an essay: a hypothesis, not a measurement.
The short answer
Because the history that improves a platform's decisions is held by the platform. The essay argues that a buyer who leaves loses usable access to the evidence that justified delegating discretion, and may restore human approval until that basis has been rebuilt.
As published in the issue
The same history that makes a platform’s decisions better can make leaving it expensive.
The sentence above is quoted from the essay as published and is not re-written here. The essay, its date and the address it was published at are below.
Why it matters
Lock-in is usually argued about file formats and portability rights. If the binding constraint is whether evidence stays interpretable outside the environment that produced it, a rival has to overcome an informational loss as well as compete on price.
Source
- Issue
- Machine Commerce Conditions: MCC-001 — September 2026
- Published
The terms
The terms this question uses are defined in the glossary.
Corrections and disputes
Corrections to this issue are on the corrections register, and this answer reads from the record rather than from a copy.