US blogger fined 8,000 Euros by France for criticizing Société Générale

Post by doe88 » Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 5:22 PM UTC

witek wrote: post #19

Hilarious. It baffles me how this country continues to operate given the massive public spending/benefits, delightful reforms (e.g. proposed 80% tax rate for high-earners) and pretty xenophobic view on immigration. ALL of my (highly-skilled) French friends do not plan to return in the foreseeable future.

Post by declan » Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

Xylakant wrote: post #18

HeXetic wrote: post #3

I don't understand how this court system can be so silly as to fail to recognize that it has no jurisdiction over someone. Isn't the question of jurisdiction one of the first steps in any court case?

What do you mean by "no jurisdiction over someone?" If a crime was committed in france they can ask for extradition. That would probably not result in anything in this case, but as long as it's a crime by french law committed in france the case may as well be valid. So all the court will check whether a punishable crime was committed in france. They could collect the fine when the blogger enters france or maybe, depe…

Post by witek » Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 5:27 PM UTC

bru wrote: post #98

witek wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't live in the US, I'm much closer - in London (apparently, the sixth largest French city). I'm not arguing the fact that it can be a lovely country for a French citizen and that you may want to retire there, given the generous benefits you'd be receiving. However, I know from a few of my friends, who were settling in France for personal reasons, how painful the immigration process can be, especially if you're n…

>you may want to retire there Having kids and retiring usually do not happen at the same time. >a few of my friends, who were settling in France for personal reasons So they're not French. Your first comment is definitely wrong then. I believe they were referencing the circulaire Guéant[0], which comes from the previous government, wronged many skilled workers & French companies as well -- it sets a 'national prefere…

Post by baby » Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 5:28 PM UTC

marknutter wrote: post #102

epsylon wrote: post #47

The comments here are atrocious. I expected more from HN than senseless French-bashing and 'Murica flag-waving. A few informations for context: - Two bloggers were fined, one French, and the American one for quoting the French. - The fine emanated from the Commission des Sanctions (sanction committee) of the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers), the French stock market regulator. - It's supposed to be independent, b…

Funny, I expected more from HN than people using the term "Murica". Also, before complaining about the quality of comments one should give the system time to correct itself as people vote on them. Otherwise you may end up with a highly visible comment that refers to outdated information..

Post by doe88 » Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 5:29 PM UTC

camus2 wrote: post #32

Not surprising, there is no free speech in France. Especially when it comes to crooked banks or politicians. France is a strange country that likes to give lessons about democracy to the rest of the world, but when you look at things closer, France is closer to a monarchy than a democracy. Everything is so centralised that information usually comes from an single source of truth, that journalist dont even bother ques…