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Data protection rules are this century's equivalent of pollution regulation. The online ecosystem has trashed the global commons with huge amounts of everyone's

Data protection rules are this century's equivalent of pollution regulation. The online ecosystem has trashed the global commons with huge amounts of everyone's personal data, with no meaningful control or consent to how it is used, and now it needs to be cleaned up. There are companies that will go out of business, or have to pivot heavily, as a result of GDPR. If this doesn't happen, it's is not doing its job. More mainstream companies will grumble about this, just like they do about environmental regulations now. But, then as now, we've done the experiment. As an industry, we were left to self-regulate for 2.5 decades, and look what we did. I am not looking forward to finishing our GDPR compliance. Anvil doesn't rely on personal data for its business model, so it's not a big deal, just a bit tedious - it's a textbook frictional loss from regulation. But I am looking forward to living in a world where everyone has to comply.

meredydd 9y ago
PS: This is GDPR, not the EU VAT thing (also referred to by the OP). The former is painful but necessary; the latter is a straight-up unmanageable mess created by people with no understanding of the Internet. This is not a monolithic "all regulation good"/"all regulation bad" thing.
peoplewindow 9y ago
There is a third option beyond go bankrupt or pivot, as this story shows very clearly - cease trading with the EU or citizens of its member states entirely. Like the effect of FATCA but in reverse. That's the decision this small training firm has taken. It's a loss of 5% of revenue, they say. That's not bankruptcy or pivoting. This seems to be the unsurprising outcome of the EU's modern "obey us or we crush you" mentality. The UK is walking away. This small company is walking away. Apparently Microsoft is at least thinking about it for some products (the connect site is back now but looks semi abandoned). How many others will look at this and conclude the risks are too high to justify the costs? GDPR does not seem like a well thought out law. I have always been satisfied with my ability to delete things from the cloud. If I end up being banned from useful services because the costs of complying with the EU's very transparent attempts to bulk up their budget by repeatedly fining tech firms, I will not be happy.
- revmoo 9y ago
  To me the worst part of the law is that it oversteps the borders of the EU. I don't think US laws should apply to non-US citizens outside of the US and I feel the exact same way about the EU. It's a massive global overreach.
- YeGoblynQueenne 9y ago
  >> This seems to be the unsurprising outcome of the EU's modern "obey us or we crush you" mentality. The UK is walking away. When did the EU try to crush the UK? And is the UK really walking away because it doesn't like EU trading regulations? I thought they're trying their damnedest to continue benefiting from those regulations.
  - peoplewindow 9y ago
    Things said by various EU/French/German/British officials at various times about leaving the EU: Leaving the EU is suicide. It's self harm. There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price for leaving (Hollande) "Welcome to hell", said to the UK's negotiator on reaching the negotiation table. "Brexit itself is already punishment enough" (Tusk) Voting to leave will destroy 500,000-800,000 jobs due to "uncertainty" over how the EU will react (this claimed turned out to be false in the end). The UK financial industry will be forced by the EU to move tens of thousands of people/jobs to the EU. Also all flights will be grounded. This is the "price" of leaving. -- It is fair to say that in general everything said and done by the EU is designed to cause maximum damage, always with the caveat that continued automatic obedience to EU law and courts will make the "pain" go away (as they put it). And is the UK really walking away because it doesn't like EU trading regulations? I thought they're trying their damnedest to continue benefiting from those regulations The primary "benefit" of complying with those regulations is the EU does not impose bans on your products. The regulations themselves are often badly thought out - that's what this whole thread is about, badly thought out GDPR regulations causing US businesses to give up trying to sell to the EU (effectively the EU has created massive new trade barriers with the rest of the world).
    - 9y ago
zeveb 9y ago
> But I am looking forward to living in a world where everyone has to comply. I'm not: the so-called 'right' to be forgotten is terrible: it means that data immutability is essentially illegal, and it means that anyone can demand to rewrite history. That's just wrong.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

meredydd 9y ago

PS: This is GDPR, not the EU VAT thing (also referred to by the OP). The former is painful but necessary; the latter is a straight-up unmanageable mess created by people with no understanding of the Internet. This is not a monolithic "all regulation good"/"all regulation bad" thing.

peoplewindow 9y ago

There is a third option beyond go bankrupt or pivot, as this story shows very clearly - cease trading with the EU or citizens of its member states entirely. Like the effect of FATCA but in reverse. That's the decision this small training firm has taken. It's a loss of 5% of revenue, they say. That's not bankruptcy or pivoting. This seems to be the unsurprising outcome of the EU's modern "obey us or we crush you" mentality. The UK is walking away. This small company is walking away. Apparently Microsoft is at least thinking about it for some products (the connect site is back now but looks semi abandoned). How many others will look at this and conclude the risks are too high to justify the costs? GDPR does not seem like a well thought out law. I have always been satisfied with my ability to delete things from the cloud. If I end up being banned from useful services because the costs of complying with the EU's very transparent attempts to bulk up their budget by repeatedly fining tech firms, I will not be happy.

revmoo 9y ago
To me the worst part of the law is that it oversteps the borders of the EU. I don't think US laws should apply to non-US citizens outside of the US and I feel the exact same way about the EU. It's a massive global overreach.
YeGoblynQueenne 9y ago
>> This seems to be the unsurprising outcome of the EU's modern "obey us or we crush you" mentality. The UK is walking away. When did the EU try to crush the UK? And is the UK really walking away because it doesn't like EU trading regulations? I thought they're trying their damnedest to continue benefiting from those regulations.
- peoplewindow 9y ago
  Things said by various EU/French/German/British officials at various times about leaving the EU: Leaving the EU is suicide. It's self harm. There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price for leaving (Hollande) "Welcome to hell", said to the UK's negotiator on reaching the negotiation table. "Brexit itself is already punishment enough" (Tusk) Voting to leave will destroy 500,000-800,000 jobs due to "uncertainty" over how the EU will react (this claimed turned out to be false in the end). The UK financial industry will be forced by the EU to move tens of thousands of people/jobs to the EU. Also all flights will be grounded. This is the "price" of leaving. -- It is fair to say that in general everything said and done by the EU is designed to cause maximum damage, always with the caveat that continued automatic obedience to EU law and courts will make the "pain" go away (as they put it). And is the UK really walking away because it doesn't like EU trading regulations? I thought they're trying their damnedest to continue benefiting from those regulations The primary "benefit" of complying with those regulations is the EU does not impose bans on your products. The regulations themselves are often badly thought out - that's what this whole thread is about, badly thought out GDPR regulations causing US businesses to give up trying to sell to the EU (effectively the EU has created massive new trade barriers with the rest of the world).
  - 9y ago

zeveb 9y ago

> But I am looking forward to living in a world where everyone has to comply. I'm not: the so-called 'right' to be forgotten is terrible: it means that data immutability is essentially illegal, and it means that anyone can demand to rewrite history. That's just wrong.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]