I really respect the EU for having the guts to hold corporations accountable.
Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
411–420 of 458 posts
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be clear, while the fines might make operating in the EU unprofitable, they could just...follow EU regulations...and remain profitable, albeit at a likely lower margin
To be fair, it's often very unclear how regulations relating to markets apply. Which is why lawsuits around them often get reversed on appeal, re-reversed on another appeal, and so on. It's often very open to interpretation what constitutes a market, what constitutes bundling, what constitutes dominance, what constitutes monopoly, what even constitutes a product. There's neither such a thing as clear-cut definitions,…
> What's the difference between Sony requiring you to buy headphones together with the tape player, or Android requiring Google to be the default search?
Because of the tying of third-parties, I don't think that this is an equivalent comparison. This is more like going into the record store (since we're going back to the 80s with our Walkman) and finding that you think the Walkman comes with garbage headphones. So you pick up a Panasonic player and the headphones you want. Then you pick up a couple of tapes that you wanted to listen to, get to the counter, and the store owner explains that those albums are on the BMG label, so he can't sell them to you. In fact, he can't sell any Sony Music group cassettes unless you own those shitty Sony headphones, because if he does, Sony Music won't let him sell any more Sony Music albums in his store.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think three-strikes laws exist anywhere other than in the US to be honest.
New Zealand had one until last month, when it was repealed. Their ACT and National parties have said they will bring it back if they ever get a chance. I don't know enough about New Zealand politics to know if those parties have a chance of actually doing so.
They're sleepwalking to a win in the next election, sadly[1].
[1] I say sadly, less because I like the current government, and more because they seem desperate to import Bannon-esque culture war nonsense like attacking women's rights.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
How far do you think a 5W USB C cable will get charging a 16 inch laptop? The USB standard is fine until the unsuspecting consumer who left the USB C cord to his MacBook Pro 16 goes to a random drug store to pick up a standard “USB C” cable and wonders why their laptop is still going dead after a few hours of heavy use not knowing the cord is incapable of delivering 100W of power. Or the hypothetical iPhone 16 user g…
Once again, you're letting perfect be the enemy of good. A 5W USB C cable will charge faster than the perfect universal cable standard that doesn't exist.
For all intents and purposes, charging at 5W is basically useless on the iPad Pro (which does have USB C) or a MacBook.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#415EU has decided to make a living out of fining the tech companies regularly.
No, they're not fined regularly, only when they knowingly violate the law.
And it's $4B after 4 years since the beginning of the investigation, a tiny increase to an already massive EU budget.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#416It's interesting how the two continents are keeping each other in check when it comes to major abuses. The EU fining big US tech and the US fining VW are the prominent examples. In each case the home country has big incentives to keep the status quo fully aware that it's bad for consumers.
I can't help but roll my eyes at the hypocrisy of the EU. One prime example is French websites forcing you to pay 3 euros when you refuse cookies.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#417A summary of the original findings by the European Commission (1): "By decision of 18 July 2018, the Commission fined Google for having abused its dominant position by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on manufacturers of mobile devices and on mobile network operators, in some cases since 1 January 2011. Three types of restriction were identified: 1. those contained in ‘distribution agreements’, requi…
The irony is that if Google had not licensed Android and only manufactured its own devices, like Apple does, it could restrict consumer options much more harshly without EU fines and restrictions.
I don't think we would still be talking about Android today if Google went down that path.
I think in this alternate universe, Windows Phone may have actually succeeded.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
The irony is that if Google had not licensed Android and only manufactured its own devices, like Apple does, it could restrict consumer options much more harshly without EU fines and restrictions.
If Google chose that path, other manufacturers would still need an OS to put on their phones - and it's likely Windows Phone would be the contender. So maybe we'd live in a world with 3 mobile OS's and more competition. The point is, the alternative scenario involves more actors making different choices.
I think Google would have killed off Android before it could really take off if they went that route. Early Android was very rough compared to iPhoneOS, and one of its biggest selling points was the variety of hardware you could get it on. Early successful devices like the Motorola Droid and HTC Evo 4G were important to solidifying Android as a serious smartphone platform. This strategy allowed Google to focus on improving the software while experienced hardware manufacturers did what they already do best.
Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#419Re: Google loses EU appeal and is fined a record $4B
#420Earlier quoted context omitted.
We would live in a world with 2 mobile OS's iOS and Windows Phone. Android would land in Google Graveyard.
Windows Phone was always destined to fall. There is no scenario in which Windows Phone would not been beaten into irrelevance by Google and by Microsoft's own actions in undermining their underwhelming and unpopular mobile OS.
Windows phone was destined to fail mainly because they were the third to show up to a two-man race. If Android never showed up, or completely biffed it at the starting line, then Windows Phone probably could have succeeded with enough time.
The other possible alternative is Palm WebOS, but I think they were too Apple-like for their own good. The key differentiators that helped Android succeed as an iPhone alternative (wide device variety, more "open" platform) apply much more easily to Windows Phone.