Vendor Lock-In
From MapbenderWiki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_in
In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in, or more simply, lock-in, is a situation in which a customer is dependent on a vendor for products and services and cannot move to another vendor without substantial switching costs, real and/or perceived.
By the creation of these costs to the customer, lock-in favors the company (vendor) at the expense of the consumer. Lock in costs may create a barrier to entry in a market that if great enough to result in an effective monopoly, may result in antitrust actions from the relevant authorities (the FTC in the US).
The spatial software industry seems to be too small to trigger any antitrust actions from the relevant authorities.
