Is it illegal to own a monopoly?

[J.B.]

Some monopolies are natural. For example the company that provides electricity to your home probably monopolizes electricity production in your area - simply because it doesn't make sense to have two separate electric utility companies running their lines all over town. Thus, these types of monopolies are allowed to exist, but are subject to federal regulations so that the consumer is not harmed.

Monopolies in other industries - companies that take up too much of the market share of an industry are likely to be broken up in anti trust suits if found to be harmful to consumer interest.

The government wants to prevent monopolies to encourage competition between companies which in the end aims to increase product quality and decrease prices for consumers.