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I'm not worried about Facebook or Google, because they spend millions on lawyers, but this seems potentially terrifying for startups. Any U.S. state can make a

by ipsum2 8y ago

I'm not worried about Facebook or Google, because they spend millions on lawyers, but this seems potentially terrifying for startups. Any U.S. state can make a law making some part of their service illegal, and someone can sue the startup even if their company wasn't operating in that state. A startup would need to know and obey all laws in all states, and have enough money to fight legal cases. I wonder if the golden age of startups is over. It would be impossible to navigate through these regulations if you just wanted to create a side project for fun.

blackbrokkoli 8y ago
While I see your point, as a EU citizen it baffles me how anyone is allowed to generate and store biometric data without consent and face no legal trouble - it's not like this is some nitpicking on a highly specific legal detail...
- ghaff 8y ago
  To the degree a photo is biometric data--and it's hard to see how it wouldn't be by any reasonable definition--how can that be reasonably prohibited at this point in history?
- frockington 8y ago
  As an American it baffles me that the EU has regulated themselves out of the growth that is occurring almost everywhere else. It's just a difference in cultural beliefs and preferences
  - _o_ 8y ago
    Well actually this is the whole problem, US is obsessed with growth and I have seen great projects beeing shut down as there was no growth. They had steady flow of few millions of revenue but still were shut down. Development team and whole department could live for years but someone was looking at growth trough toilet paper tube. Same with Facebook, they could have a very decent product without beeing creepy but, again, "we need growth". I could argue that this will destroy the planet and its resources, it works like a cancer, consuming more and more resources untill the organism can no longer stand the pressure. My opinion is that US is using wrong metrics, the EU is still having the old school "... but do we live better" beside the "growth" (less than we had but it is still there). US lost that part and most of people live far worse than in EU (I have tasted your vegetables... not the one that are meant for the rich, the every-grocery-store ones. Yep, someone had growth, but you are eating tastless food).
  - TomVDB 8y ago
    How much growth can be attributed to something like this? And what's the total impact on overall growth of the economy? It's probably a rounding error, and a pretty reasonable trade-off to make.
    - frockington 8y ago
      Considering GDP growth is the normal metric for economic health, growth is the economy. And while you can't assign a number for each policy the EU has, the Q1 differences between America and the EU can paint the picture
      - TomVDB 8y ago
        Exactly: it’s impossible to quantify such a minor policy in the context of vastly different kinds of economies.
iamtew 8y ago
What's with this negative attitude against regulations with regards to startups? "Move fast and break things" should be applied to your technology, not the laws where you operate!

by ipsum2 8y ago

blackbrokkoli 8y ago

While I see your point, as a EU citizen it baffles me how anyone is allowed to generate and store biometric data without consent and face no legal trouble - it's not like this is some nitpicking on a highly specific legal detail...

ghaff 8y ago
To the degree a photo is biometric data--and it's hard to see how it wouldn't be by any reasonable definition--how can that be reasonably prohibited at this point in history?
frockington 8y ago
As an American it baffles me that the EU has regulated themselves out of the growth that is occurring almost everywhere else. It's just a difference in cultural beliefs and preferences
- _o_ 8y ago
  Well actually this is the whole problem, US is obsessed with growth and I have seen great projects beeing shut down as there was no growth. They had steady flow of few millions of revenue but still were shut down. Development team and whole department could live for years but someone was looking at growth trough toilet paper tube. Same with Facebook, they could have a very decent product without beeing creepy but, again, "we need growth". I could argue that this will destroy the planet and its resources, it works like a cancer, consuming more and more resources untill the organism can no longer stand the pressure. My opinion is that US is using wrong metrics, the EU is still having the old school "... but do we live better" beside the "growth" (less than we had but it is still there). US lost that part and most of people live far worse than in EU (I have tasted your vegetables... not the one that are meant for the rich, the every-grocery-store ones. Yep, someone had growth, but you are eating tastless food).
- TomVDB 8y ago
  How much growth can be attributed to something like this? And what's the total impact on overall growth of the economy? It's probably a rounding error, and a pretty reasonable trade-off to make.
  - frockington 8y ago
    Considering GDP growth is the normal metric for economic health, growth is the economy. And while you can't assign a number for each policy the EU has, the Q1 differences between America and the EU can paint the picture
    - TomVDB 8y ago
      Exactly: it’s impossible to quantify such a minor policy in the context of vastly different kinds of economies.

iamtew 8y ago

What's with this negative attitude against regulations with regards to startups? "Move fast and break things" should be applied to your technology, not the laws where you operate!