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>Wanting to be profitable doesn't make a company intrinsically evil, that's what companies are for. But they increased profits by intentionally misleading peop

>Wanting to be profitable doesn't make a company intrinsically evil, that's what companies are for. But they increased profits by intentionally misleading people and getting them hooked on unhealthy food. They helped themselves by hurting others. In plain English, we'd call that evil. Let's admit that legal, profit seeking behavior, can sometimes be evil. Furthermore, there's nothing ridiculous with going after bad actors in the past. I agree the main focus should be on companies doing harm in the present. But holding past actions to account sends the message that you can't get away with harming customers forever. It's a deterrent.

FussyZeus 9y ago
> Let's admit that legal, profit seeking behavior, can sometimes be evil. Obviously. That's why we have Government regulations and various protection agencies, and why I get headaches when free market types whine about having to meet them and how we're "constraining" businesses by making them do things like not store toxic product in break rooms, allow workers enough rest to function whilst operating 20 ton machinery, etc. > Furthermore, there's nothing ridiculous with going after bad actors in the past. I agree the main focus should be on companies doing harm in the present. But holding past actions to account sends the message that you can't get away with harming customers forever. It's a deterrent. In it's current state, I'd argue those deterrents barely qualify as such. Fines, especially in the tech sector are a bad joke. They're so low that the companies could just add them as a budget line item and still be massively profitable.
dylan604 9y ago
>Let's admit that legal, profit seeking behavior, can sometimes be evil. So, how does the HN crowd apply this statement to tech companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, AT&T, Comcast, etc?
- noxToken 9y ago
  I personally think that some of the actions that they take are evil. A few examples: Facebook - the emotional manipulation experiment that they ran with non-consenting users was evil. Technically speaking, users agreed to it via the fine print regarding internal testing, and to me, that makes it even more evil. Internal testing typically means A/B testing, and it is not unreasonable to think that internal testing does not include intentional emotional manipulation. TelCos - their (United States) relentless push, subterfuge and lobbying to continue to rule the laid lines with an iron fist in spite of the government subsidies to help provide fast connectivity to most Americans. Not only did the telcos not upgrade the lines like they were supposed to, but US customers still pay taxes and fees that should go towards these upgrades that most users don't see. Some quick searching shows that the average download speed last year was below 25 Mb/s. I admit that this is actually an adequate speed for every day use in a cable household that only does light browsing. However the plan was to deliver much faster symmetric speeds. The net neutrality decision is just insult to injury (though that's an FCC decision).

FussyZeus 9y ago

> Let's admit that legal, profit seeking behavior, can sometimes be evil. Obviously. That's why we have Government regulations and various protection agencies, and why I get headaches when free market types whine about having to meet them and how we're "constraining" businesses by making them do things like not store toxic product in break rooms, allow workers enough rest to function whilst operating 20 ton machinery, etc. > Furthermore, there's nothing ridiculous with going after bad actors in the past. I agree the main focus should be on companies doing harm in the present. But holding past actions to account sends the message that you can't get away with harming customers forever. It's a deterrent. In it's current state, I'd argue those deterrents barely qualify as such. Fines, especially in the tech sector are a bad joke. They're so low that the companies could just add them as a budget line item and still be massively profitable.

dylan604 9y ago

>Let's admit that legal, profit seeking behavior, can sometimes be evil. So, how does the HN crowd apply this statement to tech companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, AT&T, Comcast, etc?

noxToken 9y ago
I personally think that some of the actions that they take are evil. A few examples: Facebook - the emotional manipulation experiment that they ran with non-consenting users was evil. Technically speaking, users agreed to it via the fine print regarding internal testing, and to me, that makes it even more evil. Internal testing typically means A/B testing, and it is not unreasonable to think that internal testing does not include intentional emotional manipulation. TelCos - their (United States) relentless push, subterfuge and lobbying to continue to rule the laid lines with an iron fist in spite of the government subsidies to help provide fast connectivity to most Americans. Not only did the telcos not upgrade the lines like they were supposed to, but US customers still pay taxes and fees that should go towards these upgrades that most users don't see. Some quick searching shows that the average download speed last year was below 25 Mb/s. I admit that this is actually an adequate speed for every day use in a cable household that only does light browsing. However the plan was to deliver much faster symmetric speeds. The net neutrality decision is just insult to injury (though that's an FCC decision).