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EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

bbc.com

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Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#281

Post by petre »

Tainnor wrote: post #195
SllX wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that Apple is not a government. That means they are not an organization which can legally stop, detain, arrest, charge, prosecute, convict, imprison, and kill you.

> The difference is that Apple is not a government Yes, and this is a key difference between Europeans and (at least the libertarian/SV type of) Americans. We trust governments more than corporations because governments were elected by us. It's really a difference in culture.

Please do not generalise the "we". The yellow vests definitely did not trust their government and took it to the streets. If one doesn't trust a corporation they should not work for/with them.

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#282

Post by coddle-hark »

Aerroon wrote: post #272
coddle-hark wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t comment on why Europe isn’t the world leader in tech... but are we really missing out on much? The head counts (=jobs) of these companies are low compared to other sectors. Most (all?) have a strong European presence. Anyone can buy their stocks and share their wealth. It’s not like we don’t have strong engineering talent, either. Is there something I’m missing?

The problem is the future. Automation is undoubtedly going to be the key technology in the future. You want to have as healthy of a tech industry as possible to not miss the point when the balance starts shifting heavily towards automation. You can't expect to always be able to buy from China/the US.

I guess, but it’s not like the European tech sector is falling behind in terms of engineering. We have a healthy tech industry, just not a lot of world-dominating unicorns.

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#283

Post by Jonanin »

avianlyric wrote: post #38
ksec wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Another interesting tidbit is the answer to the common trope that 'private platform can act as they wish since they are private' : Now the EU is saying the same thing to Apple. It is their market, and they dictate the rules. Which is perhaps a taste of Apple's own medicine? I wonder what those people who keep saying it is Apple's platform they can do what ever they want had to say? I sometimes wonder had Apple not b…

> I sometimes wonder had Apple not been such an arse with its App Store and monopolistic rules. Would these regulations ever come up. Nah these regulations were always coming. Everyone always likes to pick on Apple and the App Store, but quite frankly in the EU (where iPhones market share is only 24% compared to 49% in the US) Apple is small fries compared to companies like Facebook which basically owns 100% of socia…

Facebook owns 100% of social media? Do you not consider any of Twitter, Snapchat, Tiktok, Reddit to be social media?

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#284

Post by dmitriid »

jariel wrote: post #229
dmitriid wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's mesmerizing to watch legions of young people defend an undemocratic system that their ancestors literally fought for 2000 years to overcome, with literally millions dead. It's mesmerizing to watch legions of young people defend a Union they grew up in with no wars, with relative economic stability, with open borders and unencumbered travel. Compared to their ancestors who literally sacrificed millions of peopl…

"It's mesmerizing to watch legions of young people defend a Union they grew up in with no wars, with relative economic stability, with open borders and unencumbered travel." A little bit like a Chinese citizen, defending their lack of democracy 'because 7% growth every year and stability!'. Not only are things things 1) possible without the EU, 2) they were mostly put in place long before the body politic existed (th…

> A little bit like a Chinese citizen

Yes, a bit. A very tiny bit. And your inability to empathise with these people is telling.

> The UK has not 'severed all ties' ... but, are you truly asking how it's possible for a sovereign nation to function without the EU?

By spending decades building relationships with other countries.

The EU is UK's largest trading partner. It is a huge common market with no borders, barriers, or tariffs. The EU has trade agreements with over a hundred countries that all members benefit from. Including, yes, Australia and Japan.

By severing ties the UK establishes a barrier between itself and EU common market, it exits all trade agreements between EU and other countries, and so on and so forth. It will be decades before the UK re-establishes similar deals.

> EU citizens are denied the right to vet, or vote for the leaders and their platforms

Just a few years ago I voted in EU parliamentary elections. That doesn't sound like "denied the right to vet or vote".

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#285

Post by newsgourmet »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #121
jariel wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have the FB issue upside down. Do you think the EU is interested in 'free speech'? No, the EU want to make sure that they able to suppress language they don't like. In some cases, it's probably for the common good, but in many others ... not so much. The EU, US and other actors definitely want FB et. al. to suppress information which they deem as 'factually innacurate' (things that can sway elections, sca…

I didn't mention Facebook at all...? My comment certainly wasn't intended to be subtext about any particular Facebook drama.

Facebook is an example of the type of big company you were talking about.

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#286

Post by newsgourmet »

Veedrac wrote: post #88
throwaway894345 wrote: post #7

> The operators of online platforms - such as social media apps and video-sharing sites of any size - must prioritise complaints raised by "trusted flaggers", who have a track record of highlighting valid problems. Who determines which problems are valid? Unless I overlooked something, this article seems really vague. > Likewise, all online stores must be able to trace traders selling goods via their platforms, in ca…

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/proposal_for_a_re... --- Article 19, Trusted flaggers 2. The status of trusted flaggers under this Regulation shall be awarded, upon application by any entities, by the Digital Services Coordinator of the Member State in which the applicant is established, where the applicant has demonstrated to meet all of the following conditions: (a) it has particular expertise and compet…

In Germany Facebook has already given power to "trusted fact checkers" who happen to be extremely left leaning. None of this is a good thing.

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#288

Post by znpy »

dcolkitt wrote: post #182
an_opabinia wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Small fries" and 24%... Anyway you're right but it's like, how would any of this concretely improve competition? In my experience, the problem is that giant companies steal your stuff, whether it's your code or your users, and that even when you want to enforce something like that, they can afford better lawyers than you. Like nobody here is working on social networks, cellphones or web browsers. I bet you interact…

> And then a giant company sues you for IP violations and you go bankrupt Is this an issue with the FAANG giants? My sense is initiating IP litigation is more the province of legacy tech companies like IBM and Oracle. (Who aren’t being targeted by these EU laws) I’ve seen very little examples of Apple, Google, or Amazon initiating patent lawsuits. Especially against small players. If anything most of their lobbying a…

> My sense is initiating IP litigation is more the province of legacy tech companies like IBM and Oracle.

«Apple Sues Small Business With Pear Logo Because 'People Can Get Confused'» -- https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/354644

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#289

Post by znpy »

coliveira wrote: post #233
Grimm1 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is weird to me, the argument is not just that company X is a private platform so they should be able to do what they want it is that they're a private US platform and in the US they can do what they want because that's generally the law and social understanding of companies in the US. At least for me it was never that company X can do what they want globally. That's silly they're subject to the laws of the juris…

Corporations cannot do "what they want" in the US, they're subject to regulations and to anti-trust laws. The problem is that the government (both parties) has been very lax about anti-trust enforcement. So now we have companies that are virtual monopolies and oligopolies trying to remove whatever regulations still remain in the books.

> they're subject to regulations and to anti-trust laws

they're SUPPOSED TO BE subject to regulations and to anti-trust laws.

Quite frankly we've all seen US companies dodge anti-trust and regulations bullets left and right in the last 10-15 years.

Re: EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

#290

Post by imiric »

0xfaded wrote: post #280

One consequence is that this will continue to keep European tech valuations low. Silicon valley startup valuations allow some crazy and amazing ideas to be tried, but it's all based a premise that startups may one day become a unicorns. This also supports Silicon Valley level wages, which are almost non existent in Europe. Now not only has the EU declared unicorns unwelcome, but also European users will be discounted…

As a consumer I can't see that as anything but positive.

Most SV unicorns are overvalued and their technology is not nearly as important to the world as they think it is. Once they reach a certain scale it can easily do more harm than good.

The endless pursuit to "disrupt" and grow to please shareholders is the wrong dangling carrot for entrepreneurs. It only promotes "growth hacking" and other shady get-rich-quick schemes.

I'm not a fan of more government oversight, but it's a good thing if it can control some of these tech giants.

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