6 ms·

It amazes me that the EU can be so forward thinking on Data Privacy. Yet so draconian when it comes to copyright laws.

mkirklions 9y ago
I dont know how to think of the EU. I think the US government is sick, but the EU is new and needs to be a benefit for it to survive. My assumption is that they are entirely incentivized by niche groups in each country that are pushing for reform to help their own goals. I dont see how many of their policies are beneficial to the masses.
- jonballant 9y ago
  The biggest incentive for them to work together rather than pushing for reforms specific to an individual country is to match the power of the US government on the world stage. This was one of the main reasons for the creation of the EU to begin with, to compete with the US. As powerful as a strong economic country like Germany can become, they still pale in comparison in size to the US. Working together cohesively with other EU nations could create a superpower to rival China, USA, Japan, etc.
- TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
  Why do you think the US government is sick? It's certainly not perfect, but would you really prefer any previous or existing government over what we have?
  - mkirklions 9y ago
    Every country over a long enough time-span becomes sick and corrupt IMO. I think when you are the world's only superpower, the worst of the world has gotten involved in the US's affairs. Prior to my birth, the president's role was limited and congress wasnt as paid for by lobbyists.
    - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
      I'm not an expert on history, but I don't think that holds true, at least based on my limited knowledge. As I understand it, we've always had a government partially beholden to certain large interests, but it's offset by having to maintain some level of restraint on behalf the public interest. If we look back at our government's founding, we have large interest groups pushing to maintain horrible things such as slavery. But eventually we moved past that. I won't claim that things couldn't be better; we certainly have a lot of room for improvement. But I don't think we're doing as poorly as many people would like to believe.
  - namlem 9y ago
    Are you kidding? I would jump at the chance to implement New Zealand's system in the US and throw ours in the trash where it belongs.
    - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
      No, I'm quite serious. Can you explain why you think that? What aspects of New Zealand's government do you favor over the US? And to maintain a balanced view, are there any aspects of it that you'd criticize?
      - namlem 9y ago
        New Zealand has mixed member proportional representation, which is explained well in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU The US's political system is extremely antiquated, and is not at all appropriate for a post-industrial economy. We do have a few nice things though, like a very strong protection for speech. Arguably too strong right now though, as it gives corporations nearly unlimited rights to influence elections.
gmueckl 9y ago
This is the latest outcrop of news publishers fighting Google News in Europe. Previous results have been for example the creation of additional rights for news outlets in Germany where quoting even headlines of news stories in links might now require a (paid) license from the publisher. Of course, that law has been boldly worked around by Google (they dropped news sites from the index that didn't offer free licenses) and is now entirely useless.
- gkya 9y ago
  What a disgusting shady move is that... Glad that I don't use a search engine that uses such mobbish predatory ways to extort newspapers so that it can make money off of the stories they write, and mandate what I can access or not in the meantime.
  - Thiez 9y ago
    Is it disgusting and shady not to buy and use something when it is more expensive than you are prepared to pay? What obligation does Google have to drive visitors to newspapers' websites and pay the newspapers for doing so?
dranov 9y ago
The link is that both these policies hurt US tech companies. With that lens, there is no inconsistency.

I dont know how to think of the EU. I think the US government is sick, but the EU is new and needs to be a benefit for it to survive. My assumption is that they are entirely incentivized by niche groups in each country that are pushing for reform to help their own goals. I dont see how many of their policies are beneficial to the masses.

jonballant 9y ago
The biggest incentive for them to work together rather than pushing for reforms specific to an individual country is to match the power of the US government on the world stage. This was one of the main reasons for the creation of the EU to begin with, to compete with the US. As powerful as a strong economic country like Germany can become, they still pale in comparison in size to the US. Working together cohesively with other EU nations could create a superpower to rival China, USA, Japan, etc.
TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
Why do you think the US government is sick? It's certainly not perfect, but would you really prefer any previous or existing government over what we have?
- mkirklions 9y ago
  Every country over a long enough time-span becomes sick and corrupt IMO. I think when you are the world's only superpower, the worst of the world has gotten involved in the US's affairs. Prior to my birth, the president's role was limited and congress wasnt as paid for by lobbyists.
  - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
    I'm not an expert on history, but I don't think that holds true, at least based on my limited knowledge. As I understand it, we've always had a government partially beholden to certain large interests, but it's offset by having to maintain some level of restraint on behalf the public interest. If we look back at our government's founding, we have large interest groups pushing to maintain horrible things such as slavery. But eventually we moved past that. I won't claim that things couldn't be better; we certainly have a lot of room for improvement. But I don't think we're doing as poorly as many people would like to believe.
- namlem 9y ago
  Are you kidding? I would jump at the chance to implement New Zealand's system in the US and throw ours in the trash where it belongs.
  - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
    No, I'm quite serious. Can you explain why you think that? What aspects of New Zealand's government do you favor over the US? And to maintain a balanced view, are there any aspects of it that you'd criticize?
    - namlem 9y ago
      New Zealand has mixed member proportional representation, which is explained well in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU The US's political system is extremely antiquated, and is not at all appropriate for a post-industrial economy. We do have a few nice things though, like a very strong protection for speech. Arguably too strong right now though, as it gives corporations nearly unlimited rights to influence elections.

gmueckl 9y ago

This is the latest outcrop of news publishers fighting Google News in Europe. Previous results have been for example the creation of additional rights for news outlets in Germany where quoting even headlines of news stories in links might now require a (paid) license from the publisher. Of course, that law has been boldly worked around by Google (they dropped news sites from the index that didn't offer free licenses) and is now entirely useless.

gkya 9y ago
What a disgusting shady move is that... Glad that I don't use a search engine that uses such mobbish predatory ways to extort newspapers so that it can make money off of the stories they write, and mandate what I can access or not in the meantime.
- Thiez 9y ago
  Is it disgusting and shady not to buy and use something when it is more expensive than you are prepared to pay? What obligation does Google have to drive visitors to newspapers' websites and pay the newspapers for doing so?

dranov 9y ago

The link is that both these policies hurt US tech companies. With that lens, there is no inconsistency.