For Google this is just like parking tickets to UPS. A cost of doing business in town.
I suggest that whenever Google get fined less than. $1B, they get an instructional booklet reminding them of how to count that low.
EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
101–110 of 199 posts
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#102Earlier 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.
It's a tariff on noncompliance, designed to make it cheaper to comply than to not comply.
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
I find it more interesting that US Americans think letting their companies do whatever they want everywhere (as they currently do) is the better "strategy".
“Everyone opposed to EU policy is a US American” fallacy in play.
As is the “letting their companies do whatever they want everywhere (as they currently do) is the better "strategy"” when this wasn’t said or even implied anywhere.
It is amazing how HN has descended into arguing against people making points by saying they are someone else and saying something completely different.
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Looking at the ivan_gammel's startups now and chuckling.
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#105[flagged]
Google knowingly and _intentionally_ breached the law.
A fundamental rule for capitalism to work well long term is that oligopoly and similar should not exist and must be rained in or outright split up if they exist. If that rule isn't followed capitalism turns from a tool which can support democracy to one which will sooner or later tear it apart. It's basically the economic version of the number one rule of democracy: "never concentrate too much power into two few people".
This also isn't just some theoretical thing, if you look through history having too much money/power in to few entities(1) always sooner or later lead to suffering of people, injustice and collapse.
Lastly it's worth noting that historically companies often do challenge such fines and managed to cut them down by quite a bit, that is iff they actually started being compliant by then. Sadly the end result is often still that, the economically benefit of huge companies systematic breaking the law, outweighs their penalties. I mean they often do calculate the most likely level of penalties into their cost-benefit analysis.
(1): Through it should be noted that this is about effective power, not theoretic power. It isn't rare through history to have people which theoretically are autocrats with absolute power, but practically the power is spread quite widely and in turn them having a brain fart, mental decline, megalomaniac, irrational hate against some groups of people etc. didn't lead directly to atrocities being committed.
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#106Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#107For Google this is just like parking tickets to UPS. A cost of doing business in town.
This fine is more of a warning shot. The DMA allows for fines of up to 10% of global revenue or 20% in the case of repeat offenders.
These 890M are a first warning. Now Google has some time to react, but if they don't implement what is required of them, another, higher, fine will be issued.
20% of global revenue is not just cost of doing business, to any business.
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#108EU source release: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_...
Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US was lucky to have Musk and DOGE fix that bureaucratic behemoth, if only the EU had the same luck. How long have you been working inside the behemoth? Can you tell us more about the inner workings, where the money goes, how much, etc?
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Re: EU fines Google €890M for competition breaches over search and apps
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
Looking at the ivan_gammel's startups now and chuckling.
Looking at the state of the EU tech industry and chuckling.
The point of the EU subsidies is, surely, not to enrich a few people with the right connections but to stimulate a productive ecosystem that supports well paid skilled employment, right? Right?