71–80 of 107 posts
We seriously need a (law compatible) system to punish lawmakers, in a way that they would never even think to touch basic rights like freedom of speech. Having a constitution or a democracy is clearly not enough. That's the next step for a just world.
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I never understood the lamentation of Europe not having an internet giant and I mean it as a question. Does it matter whether the companies are American ? I mean their economic contribution are taxes and jobs. Companies would pay as little taxes as is possible no matter where they are and regarding jobs if these companies find sufficient talent in Europe they would setup offices here (like Google is doing in Berlin).…
"Does it matter whether the companies are American ? " Yes, a lot. Taxes, industrial base, spin off jobs, etc. so many reasons.
They also throw their weight around to get local tax concessions when they do open offices internationally, so I'm not sure it's that great a loss in any case.
I could also see it hurting the greater industrial base, a lot of companies need software but can't afford to compete with silicon valley style salaries.
Same for Polish one ( pl.wikipedia.org )
This is a very important comment, as it means the initiative is "snowballing". It's a shame it's buried behind pointless discussion on whether the EU has internet giants.
We seriously need a (law compatible) system to punish lawmakers, in a way that they would never even think to touch basic rights like freedom of speech. Having a constitution or a democracy is clearly not enough. That's the next step for a just world.
It is arguable whether this impacts freedom of speech, and it would be argued differently in different jurisdictions.
The web is becoming more and more fragmented. I wonder where this will lead to. Europe seems to fall behind the US at an accelerating pace. During the last two decades, Europe already failed to take part in building the internet. Now Europeans all use US services. Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Dropbox, AirBnB, Uber... This was due to the culture of Europes entrepreneurs which is often "bureaucracy first, product la…
Years ago, I said (both quip and serious observation), "China is the prototype."
Now, every political entity has the ability to lock down and survey its piece. Perhaps by purchasing a system, configuration, and support from China.
That might feel like fragmentation. But, a lot of those capabilities are working more and more in concert, particularly when it comes to IP rights and the influence, including coercive as well as incentive, of IP rights maximalists (as in, "the most for me").
As the old saw goes: "Follow the money."
That's why I keep telling people to focus on creating other, independent physical layers.
For a long time, I tried to live with the legal rules. To find that really, they only let those same powers screw me sooner, longer, and harder.
I'm all for compensating creators. Not so much, the ever more monopolistic and perpetual rent-seekers, nor their authoritarian facilitators.
The web is becoming more and more fragmented. I wonder where this will lead to. Europe seems to fall behind the US at an accelerating pace. During the last two decades, Europe already failed to take part in building the internet. Now Europeans all use US services. Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Dropbox, AirBnB, Uber... This was due to the culture of Europes entrepreneurs which is often "bureaucracy first, product la…
It's easy to blame European lawmakers. However, Europe is a much harder market to operate in with our without laws that add bureaucratic overhead. Europe is really several much smaller markets. If you want to launch your startup in Europe you are likely only going to initially launch in let's say the French or German market. To get to the other markets you have not only to translate your product, but redo marketing,…
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It's easy to blame European lawmakers. However, Europe is a much harder market to operate in with our without laws that add bureaucratic overhead. Europe is really several much smaller markets. If you want to launch your startup in Europe you are likely only going to initially launch in let's say the French or German market. To get to the other markets you have not only to translate your product, but redo marketing,…
How can you explain that most Europeans use US services: Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Dropbox, AirBnB, Uber?
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The EU says sorry for making Linux
To be fair, there wouldn't be any Linux without Unix & C, but there would definitely exist many other "Linux", e.g the __superior__ FreeBSD. Not diminishing Linux's achievements in any way. :-)
https://www.google.com/doodles/gottfried-wilhelm-leibnizs-37...
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How can you explain that most Europeans use US services: Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Dropbox, AirBnB, Uber?
Every single company you named targets for European markets, thus Europeans use them.
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You get a GDPR interstitial allowing you to opt out of tracking. I'm not sure how you could adblock your way out of Foursquare selling your location to advertisers.
I already opted out of tracking by blocking the vast majority of trackers. All that without clicking through a single warning or receiving a single email. I have also opted out of Foursquare (and Facebook, and many other services of very dubious value) by not using it. The main obstacle that stops Foursquare from selling my location history is not having anything to sell. If, on the other hand, that opting out requir…
Governments are just as out of touch, judging by a UK cyber-security report that the BBC reported on a few months ago, or by the way Zuckerberg and the US Congress interacted.