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Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

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Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#51

Post by mrweasel »

kernal wrote: post #13
bee_rider wrote: post #8

The EU will win this if they want. Their trump card is that, actually, making the EU not a viable market for the most annoying US tech companies would be a huge win for many of their constituents.

Apple should play their Trump card and threaten to pull out of the EU. The EU would blink first because the public backlash would be career ending.

They can't, Apple management have a responsibility to its shareholders and pull out of the EU or even threatening to do so would hurt the stock price.

Also imaging the marketing spin you'd have to create: No no, we can't do business in the EU do to it's consumer protection laws. China is fine, they just execute or forcefully re-educate people, much easier people to do business with.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#52

Post by qp11 »

_the_inflator wrote: post #3

Very valid points. In my view they miss the mark however. Blaming Apple for optimizing their platform model isn’t the problem, it became a problem. Imagine 2007 and the following years already with the EU act in full effect. AppStore would be dead on arrival. In my view Apple’s AppStore went from feature some people have when they buy a smartphone to necessity. 2007 and even 2016 was a perfect time to opt for a live…

Apple and Google are not the same thing.

Google is a ponzi scheme propped up by trapping everyone in a War for finite Attention. They tell content creators/advertisers+marketers(corporations that pay)/politicians we can get you eyeballs, no matter how much content explodes, not matter how many people are competing for finite attention. Its basically Fraud. People will work it out in their own sweet time cause its the largest ponzi scheme of all time. (Google subprime attention crisis)

Apple benefits from the Attention War just like anyone who has more cash benefits, cause they can outspend anyone to capture Attention.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#53

Post by mtts »

pheggs wrote: post #29
userbinator wrote: post #22

I'm in favour of opening up platforms and interoperability, but not the GDPR. Maybe in this case, "an enemy is an enemy of a friend".

I feel the same. The GDPR appears super difficult to comply with, even impossible in some cases, and very restricting. I just hope negative effects of (in my opinion) overregulation wont hurt the EUs economy too badly, but that wont be visible for another couple of decades

Not only is the GDPR not difficult to comply with (just use only the personal data you need to provide your service - and don’t share it with others), it’s also nothing new: it’s just a bunch of previously existing privacy laws bundled together.

Not all those laws applied to all EU countries before, but, basically, if you were doing business across the entire EU all the laws that you had to conform to together looked a lot like the GDPR.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#54

Post by refactor_master »

yard2010 wrote: post #47
viraptor wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, get rid of their 2nd largest market, at size ~⅔ of the US one. Yes, that will definitely show the EU who's the boss. /s

But what if they will though? Won't china happily replace the EU market? It's much bigger too and Winnie the Pooh doesn't care about ppl privacy that much

I think it’s much more likely that China sees this as “Apple refuses to bend to local laws”, and in turn kick them out. Remember, China has its own online universe and Apple is just desperately trying to be part of it.

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/apple/china-forces-apple-to-...

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#55

Post by mackwic »

pheggs wrote: post #29
userbinator wrote: post #22

I'm in favour of opening up platforms and interoperability, but not the GDPR. Maybe in this case, "an enemy is an enemy of a friend".

I feel the same. The GDPR appears super difficult to comply with, even impossible in some cases, and very restricting. I just hope negative effects of (in my opinion) overregulation wont hurt the EUs economy too badly, but that wont be visible for another couple of decades

It's not that hard for any competent organization: document what PII you store, who has access to it, and what you do with it. Also have an internal procedure to scramble someone's PII on request.

If you have a direct or indirect contractual relationship with the person whose PII you are storing, there is nothing more to do. If you don't, ask for permission and store the timestamp of the authorization.

That's all. Really it's that simple.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#56

Post by petre »

viraptor wrote: post #16
petre wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the argument that they made enough money with these monopolistic practices and it's now time to stop or share their stash with the EU. How could have the legislator forseen all of these practices in order to codify them into laws? Regulation usually comes after abuse.

What do you even mean? There's no payments to EU in this case. How would they share the stash?

Through the huge fines they are subject to if they violate the the law.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#57

Post by Sharlin »

nroets wrote: post #41
Caligatio wrote: post #28

I always scratch my head about articles that lump Meta, Apple, and Google together when it comes to regulations. They all have different problems that require different solutions. Apple - consumers give the company for hardware which is locked into a closed ecosystem. Apple extracts extra revenue by enforcing this closed ecosystem. There can be no competition other than not purchasing their hardware in the first plac…

I, on the other hand, have a lot more sympathy for Apple: Many highly successful people and many businesses have never owned any of there products. They are not a monopoly. Why can't market forces just regulate them ??

Because personal computer market (let’s face it: the primary or only personal computing device of most people today is a phone or a tablet) are a duopoly, with the other actor also being one of the monopolistic tech giants.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#58

Post by mtts »

pheggs wrote: post #50
aebtebeten wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The GDPR is trivial to comply with: don't track (let alone process) personal data.

Yes I agree its a good idea to not track personal data, but thats by far not the only rule in GDPR

Correct, but “not tracking personal data” is in fact not a rule in the GDPR. “Only store personal data you really need” is, qualified with “and don’t share it with others”.

Cookie walls exist because companies insist on handing over their visitor data to external ad networks.

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#59

Post by raverbashing »

drivebyhooting wrote: post #35
MrDresden wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are taking the side of a 3 trillion dollor consumer goods company's bottom line, rather than 500 million people's right to choice and privacy. You do realise that, don't you?

[flagged]

> And the side of American prosperity and hegemony.

An argument that was often used to justify things like no limit to working hours, no worker's rights, etc

Re: Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

#60

Post by LAC-Tech »

Imagine a world in which the EU instead funded research & implementation of public protocols to undermine US big tech? IE, they mention chat clients in the text, why not create something in the spirit of XMPP (or even revive it if the technical merits remain relevant?) I can almost feel it in my bones that there's a protocol behind "feed" websites like twitter & linkedin. Break the walled garden with open standards.

I mean we know the real answer is. The EU hates innovating especially when it could be regulating. But it's a fun thought experiment.

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