3 ms·
In the US a company wouldn't be fined $9 billion for "antitrust violations" simply because they may have tweaked their search results to favor their own product
by strictnein 9y ago
In the US a company wouldn't be fined $9 billion for "antitrust violations" simply because they may have tweaked their search results to favor their own products.
The US fined VW $2.8 billion for falsifying their emissions testing, a far more serious thing. That's less than 2% of global revenue.
- pulse7 9y agoLet's see if GM will be fined as well after latest findings... Destroying many other businesses with "antitrust violations" is also serious for many people loosing their jobs...
- burkaman 9y agoThe fine is not $9 billion, that was a complete guess by Reuters. It's the classic "the max penalty in theory could be this", like reporting that a criminal "could face" life in prison even though in reality they'll get a couple years. I don't understand your comparison to the US. Obviously EU courts do not follow US laws, they follow EU laws. If the laws are unfair, don't open a business there. For example, I think the blasphemy laws in Iran are unfair. The logical conclusion is to not go to Iran or at least not commit blasphemy there, not to go break the law and then complain that "this would never happen in America".
- eropple 9y agoSounds like the US should fine companies more for doing bad things, too, then. That sounds like a pretty straightforward solution to this terrible injustice. (And besides: Google isn't an "American company" any more than any multinational. The EU is fining the European-incorporated arm of the company.)
- pyrale 9y agoThe US already does this (one could say the US justice system is tailored for this, as foreign companies fall under jurisdiction without representation). There were calls for the EU to boost its fines as a consequence of this.
- eropple 9y agoI was being a touch sarcastic. Everyone does this to enforce the laws in their jurisdiction.