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This is stupid, if they wanted to give the finger to American tech firms they could have wrote the GDPR as affecting only foreign firms using EU citizen data wi

by yulaow 8y ago

This is stupid, if they wanted to give the finger to American tech firms they could have wrote the GDPR as affecting only foreign firms using EU citizen data without requiring the same level of control over the EU-based tech firms, far easier.

Xeoncross 8y ago
Fining everyone makes sense to me. Why limit income? Cities do the same non-discriminate ticketing/fining as well.
frockington 8y ago
Are there any EU based tech firms? As an American I honestly can't think of any besides Nokia and that's more manufacturing
- Vogtinator 8y ago
  Quite a lot. Most sell software and support and not cloud services or similiar though.
- chunkyslink 8y ago
  Some music based ones that I use daily - spotify.com - soundcloud.com - mixcloud.com Others - Raspberry Pi - Wix.com
- diggan 8y ago
  Makes sense, as Americans tend to live in a bubble :) Some of them from the top of my head, that you might or might not recognize: Asos, JustEat, Skyscanner, SoundCloud, LastFM, DailyMotion, Raspberry PI (foundation more than company though), Shazam, Mojang, Skype, King, Spotify, Klarna, Trivago, Xing and BlaBlaCar. I'm pretty sure some of these are quite popular in even the US. (maybe some of them are not having their HQ in EU anymore, but they certainly had at one point)
  - orf 8y ago
    And SAP, with 22 billion Euros in revenue
  - repolfx 8y ago
    You probably shouldn't insult Americans and then make statements you already know to be erroneous. As you are apparently well aware, Skype is owned by Microsoft. It's an American product now (from the perspective of who pays any fines). Mojang sold to Microsoft. It and Minecraft are owned by the Americans now. Asos is an online fashion and beauty retailer. Having a website doesn't make you a tech firm. Ditto for JustEat. Raspberry Pi - as you note - isn't even a firm at all, let alone a tech firm. Shazam is in the process of being bought by Apple, although the EU appear to be trying to block it. You tried to name tech firms that are based inside the EU and mostly ended up listing firms that either aren't tech firms by any conventional definition, or are now owned by US companies. I think that proves the original point.
    - diggan 8y ago
      The companies started out being non-american, then they ended up being bought up by US companies. I don't think that says "there is no EU based tech firms" but rather "There are EU based tech firms! But some of them get bought up by US companies and some stay, but at one point they were all EU based". So doesn't at all prove the original point.
      - repolfx 8y ago
        In context it is equivalent. This thread is about why the EU wouldn't write a law that only affects US based tech firms, if that was the intention. Someone answered that there's no need because there are no EU based tech firms worth anything (no significant employment or tax revenue). That point was correct. The responses all ended up naming either firms that are tiny, or which aren't any longer based in the EU (so there's no need to protect them from the effects of bad laws that primarily affect tech firms). Where they started is irrelevant to the discussion because what matters is who pays fines today.
- emptyfile 8y ago
  No, not a single one.
- swebs 8y ago
  Spotify Skype (Before it was bought and killed by Microsoft) Rovio Supercell Those are all of the big ones off the top of my head. Most founders opt to start in the US since there are less taxes and greater profits.
- marbu 8y ago
  For example few major anti virus companies are founded in europe, eg. avast, avg, avira, f-secure ...
- summermix 8y ago
  That's because they use English company/product names for the most part. You probably have heard of some of them unknowingly: AVG, Jetbrains, F-Secure, Suse, Last.fm, Dailymotion, Yubico, Raspberry Pi and many more.
  - repolfx 8y ago
    JetBrains is a Russian company (albeit with subsidiaries and offices in various parts of the world). It isn't an "EU firm" by any stretch.
    - droidist2 8y ago
      I thought JetBrains was Czech.
- schoenobates 8y ago
  ARM was formed in Cambridge UK
menacingly 8y ago
That's not at all how these things work in the west. You define them as broadly as possible, then arbitrarily enforce them, because that gives you both plausible deniability and the widest potential application of your political power.
- midasz 8y ago
  It HAS to be broad. The courts will narrow it down (jurisprudence). And why do you think it will be arbitrarily enforced? It isn't even the 25th of may and people are already feeling violated.
  - menacingly 8y ago
    Oh, I don't have a strong opinion on the GDPR and its intent, I was addressing yulaow's simplistic dismissal of what is actually a well-trodden political playbook

by yulaow 8y ago

Xeoncross 8y ago

Fining everyone makes sense to me. Why limit income? Cities do the same non-discriminate ticketing/fining as well.

frockington 8y ago

Are there any EU based tech firms? As an American I honestly can't think of any besides Nokia and that's more manufacturing

Vogtinator 8y ago
Quite a lot. Most sell software and support and not cloud services or similiar though.
chunkyslink 8y ago
Some music based ones that I use daily - spotify.com - soundcloud.com - mixcloud.com Others - Raspberry Pi - Wix.com
diggan 8y ago
Makes sense, as Americans tend to live in a bubble :) Some of them from the top of my head, that you might or might not recognize: Asos, JustEat, Skyscanner, SoundCloud, LastFM, DailyMotion, Raspberry PI (foundation more than company though), Shazam, Mojang, Skype, King, Spotify, Klarna, Trivago, Xing and BlaBlaCar. I'm pretty sure some of these are quite popular in even the US. (maybe some of them are not having their HQ in EU anymore, but they certainly had at one point)
- orf 8y ago
  And SAP, with 22 billion Euros in revenue
- repolfx 8y ago
  You probably shouldn't insult Americans and then make statements you already know to be erroneous. As you are apparently well aware, Skype is owned by Microsoft. It's an American product now (from the perspective of who pays any fines). Mojang sold to Microsoft. It and Minecraft are owned by the Americans now. Asos is an online fashion and beauty retailer. Having a website doesn't make you a tech firm. Ditto for JustEat. Raspberry Pi - as you note - isn't even a firm at all, let alone a tech firm. Shazam is in the process of being bought by Apple, although the EU appear to be trying to block it. You tried to name tech firms that are based inside the EU and mostly ended up listing firms that either aren't tech firms by any conventional definition, or are now owned by US companies. I think that proves the original point.
  - diggan 8y ago
    The companies started out being non-american, then they ended up being bought up by US companies. I don't think that says "there is no EU based tech firms" but rather "There are EU based tech firms! But some of them get bought up by US companies and some stay, but at one point they were all EU based". So doesn't at all prove the original point.
    - repolfx 8y ago
      In context it is equivalent. This thread is about why the EU wouldn't write a law that only affects US based tech firms, if that was the intention. Someone answered that there's no need because there are no EU based tech firms worth anything (no significant employment or tax revenue). That point was correct. The responses all ended up naming either firms that are tiny, or which aren't any longer based in the EU (so there's no need to protect them from the effects of bad laws that primarily affect tech firms). Where they started is irrelevant to the discussion because what matters is who pays fines today.
emptyfile 8y ago
No, not a single one.
swebs 8y ago
Spotify Skype (Before it was bought and killed by Microsoft) Rovio Supercell Those are all of the big ones off the top of my head. Most founders opt to start in the US since there are less taxes and greater profits.
marbu 8y ago
For example few major anti virus companies are founded in europe, eg. avast, avg, avira, f-secure ...
summermix 8y ago
That's because they use English company/product names for the most part. You probably have heard of some of them unknowingly: AVG, Jetbrains, F-Secure, Suse, Last.fm, Dailymotion, Yubico, Raspberry Pi and many more.
- repolfx 8y ago
  JetBrains is a Russian company (albeit with subsidiaries and offices in various parts of the world). It isn't an "EU firm" by any stretch.
  - droidist2 8y ago
    I thought JetBrains was Czech.
schoenobates 8y ago
ARM was formed in Cambridge UK

menacingly 8y ago

That's not at all how these things work in the west. You define them as broadly as possible, then arbitrarily enforce them, because that gives you both plausible deniability and the widest potential application of your political power.

midasz 8y ago
It HAS to be broad. The courts will narrow it down (jurisprudence). And why do you think it will be arbitrarily enforced? It isn't even the 25th of may and people are already feeling violated.
- menacingly 8y ago
  Oh, I don't have a strong opinion on the GDPR and its intent, I was addressing yulaow's simplistic dismissal of what is actually a well-trodden political playbook