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> "It's pretty much a fight between David and Goliath", [the prosecutor] said. Really? France, a sovereign G8 nation, calling Google Goliath? How are they me

> "It's pretty much a fight between David and Goliath", [the prosecutor] said. Really? France, a sovereign G8 nation, calling Google Goliath? How are they measuring size? Google's market capitalization is $500 billion, is this more valuable than the country of France?

ljf 10y ago
Do you think the French Tax office has 500 billion in resources? Or 5? Likely to have a relatively tiny budget and teams compared to even just the legal teams at Google.
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  Do you think Google has the ability to send armed men to engage in violence against the French tax office?
  - ohyes 10y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_militar... Technically, yes they could. And if the private sector really is more efficient, they shouldn't need the whole 50 billion. I guess what I'm saying is it would be an interesting novel that I hope never happens in real life.
    - abiox 10y ago
      this seems nonsequitur. i doubt they were suggesting that google was literally incapable of hiring mercenaries or whatever.
      - ohyes 10y ago
        Yes, it was intended that way. The entire digression is. :) Google wouldn't hire mercs anyway, they'd probably use drones and robotics and AI.
        eru 10y ago
        Our bosses at Google told us specifically they have no intention of creating an army of killer robots. Repeatedly.
- JohnTHaller 10y ago
  Do you think Google's French office has 500 billion in resources? You can't compare the worth/resources of the entire company of Google worldwide to a branch of the French government. You either compare the local Google office to the French tax office or the country of France to the worldwide company of Google. Otherwise it's just designed to be deceitful. Additionally, Google doesn't get to show up with armed men and take things out of the offices of the French government.
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    Google can't fine anyone, they can't deport and they can't put you in jail - a government can.

ljf 10y ago

Do you think the French Tax office has 500 billion in resources? Or 5? Likely to have a relatively tiny budget and teams compared to even just the legal teams at Google.

yummyfajitas 10y ago
Do you think Google has the ability to send armed men to engage in violence against the French tax office?
- ohyes 10y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_militar... Technically, yes they could. And if the private sector really is more efficient, they shouldn't need the whole 50 billion. I guess what I'm saying is it would be an interesting novel that I hope never happens in real life.
  - abiox 10y ago
    this seems nonsequitur. i doubt they were suggesting that google was literally incapable of hiring mercenaries or whatever.
    - ohyes 10y ago
      Yes, it was intended that way. The entire digression is. :) Google wouldn't hire mercs anyway, they'd probably use drones and robotics and AI.
      - eru 10y ago
        Our bosses at Google told us specifically they have no intention of creating an army of killer robots. Repeatedly.
JohnTHaller 10y ago
Do you think Google's French office has 500 billion in resources? You can't compare the worth/resources of the entire company of Google worldwide to a branch of the French government. You either compare the local Google office to the French tax office or the country of France to the worldwide company of Google. Otherwise it's just designed to be deceitful. Additionally, Google doesn't get to show up with armed men and take things out of the offices of the French government.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Google can't fine anyone, they can't deport and they can't put you in jail - a government can.