Live data from Hacker News

EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

theguardian.com

41–50 of 199 posts

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#41
post #4

For Google this is just like parking tickets to UPS. A cost of doing business in town.

well, Meta[0] is getting sued for a 1.4 Trillion$ by many US states combined if that interests you.

[0]: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/meta-says-it-s-staring-...

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#42
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The maximum fine the EU can impose with the DMA is "10 % of its total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year". I think this would hurt even Google. And I think a billion dollars is not nothing.

EU is just 1/20 of world population, why 10%? Seems dishonest. EU human valued 2x more of other human?

[deleted]

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#43
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The maximum fine the EU can impose with the DMA is "10 % of its total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year". I think this would hurt even Google. And I think a billion dollars is not nothing.

EU is just 1/20 of world population, why 10%? Seems dishonest. EU human valued 2x more of other human?

The damages done that caused the fine are usually spread over multiple years.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#44
post #21

EU just killed all hardware startups with Cyber Resilience Act. It killed all the SMEs There is Wikipedia article about this topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Resilience_Act

I'm not familiar with the Act. Can you explain how it would kill theses startups?

So basically you need 3 persons writing compliance documentation and taking care of cybersecurity. Basically another 200000€ personal cost year in low cost area. 250000€ or more in bigger cities. You have a microprocessor in your product and it’s done deal.

No big deal for corporations though. Buddy’s workplace hired new compliance department for this topic with 30 persons. That’s competition european way.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost increases, but given the revenue Google generates how is that not just a tax? I've never received a dollar from the EU as a victim. If the fines are moderate and big co keeps paying that's steady revenue for the EU institutions.

It‘s nice to have such revenue to fund EU programs on digital sovereignty. European institutions give plenty of money to startups. You need an entry to the program, but when you are in, it can account for 50-70% or more in your early stage funding. And that‘s nice, because you keep more equity.

> You need an entry to the program, but when you are in, it can account for 50-70% or more in your early stage funding.

It is almost entirely unsurprising that the EU tech industry is such a disaster area when people say things like this as if they are a good thing.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this comment always comes up and it's _wrong_. The goal of the regulation is to get the operators to comply, which they usually do after fines (EDIT: and litigations and whining, of course), because the costs of infractions are increased if they don't comply.

The cost increases, but given the revenue Google generates how is that not just a tax? I've never received a dollar from the EU as a victim. If the fines are moderate and big co keeps paying that's steady revenue for the EU institutions.

> I've never received a dollar from the EU as a victim.

This isn't a class action.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#47
post #4

For Google this is just like parking tickets to UPS. A cost of doing business in town.

Yep. If a train ticket costs 100 euro and the fine for freeloading is 5 euro, you'd be a fool to buy a ticket. Don't blame Google for pushing boundaries. That's what people (and corpos) do in any competitive activity. Do blame our politicians for being incompetent and ill-meaning.

Even if a train ticket costs 9 Euros and a fine is 60 Euros but you are almost never checked it quickly becomes cheaper to eat the fines.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#48
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The maximum fine the EU can impose with the DMA is "10 % of its total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year". I think this would hurt even Google. And I think a billion dollars is not nothing.

EU is just 1/20 of world population, why 10%? Seems dishonest. EU human valued 2x more of other human?

Because they decided that way. Any other country in the world can decide the same thing but they don't have the same leverage as the EU. Google makes a lot of money in the EU.

Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps

#50
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not familiar with the Act. Can you explain how it would kill theses startups?

So basically you need 3 persons writing compliance documentation and taking care of cybersecurity. Basically another 200000€ personal cost year in low cost area. 250000€ or more in bigger cities. You have a microprocessor in your product and it’s done deal. No big deal for corporations though. Buddy’s workplace hired new compliance department for this topic with 30 persons. That’s competition european way.

I'd rather have that than insecure hardware. It seems like it forces security to be a first class priority instead of an afterthought.
Post reply on HN