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I don't own a safe, I rent a safe. It's fine. If ever these corporations cause trouble, our government (well, maybe not the US government, but most sensible go

I don't own a safe, I rent a safe. It's fine. If ever these corporations cause trouble, our government (well, maybe not the US government, but most sensible governments) will step in to remedy the situation. We've done so with privacy laws, we've done it with non-compete laws, we're going to do it with other companies as well.

_bxg1 8y ago
One can hope. But the U.S. government is so deep in the pockets of corporations - hiding behind America's blind worship of the free market - that I question if we'll ever get back to a place where it's willing to intervene. Europe has been doing a great job of picking up our slack lately, but there's only so much they can do. Most of these companies are based in America, and most of the world's market is in Asia. There's a ceiling on how much the EU can fine companies before it's easier to just stop operating there. I'm sure those numbers have been crunched and that they're walking that line.
- _bxg1 8y ago
  Brexit will not help the situation, either.
- ppeetteerr 8y ago
  Cities and states pick up where federal governments do not. Airbnb is being restricted by the cities (not federally) and so is Uber in a lot of places. > I'm sure those numbers have been crunched and that they're walking that line. A large company is not going to leave a market because it doesn't want to comply with regulation, esp. one the size of the US, the EU, or China.
  - _bxg1 8y ago
    They do a little bit, but in some cases the federal government has overruled them. They would if it became unprofitable, between the fines and the costs of compliance. Google was recently fined $5 billion; that's a significant chunk of their annual revenue, of which Europe is probably a minority. Add onto that the cost of updating for GDPR, and the EU is pushing about as hard as they can afford to. I'm not saying this is a reason for Europe not to take a strong position. I'm just saying their leverage is finite, and less than that of the U.S. government.

_bxg1 8y ago

One can hope. But the U.S. government is so deep in the pockets of corporations - hiding behind America's blind worship of the free market - that I question if we'll ever get back to a place where it's willing to intervene. Europe has been doing a great job of picking up our slack lately, but there's only so much they can do. Most of these companies are based in America, and most of the world's market is in Asia. There's a ceiling on how much the EU can fine companies before it's easier to just stop operating there. I'm sure those numbers have been crunched and that they're walking that line.

_bxg1 8y ago
Brexit will not help the situation, either.
ppeetteerr 8y ago
Cities and states pick up where federal governments do not. Airbnb is being restricted by the cities (not federally) and so is Uber in a lot of places. > I'm sure those numbers have been crunched and that they're walking that line. A large company is not going to leave a market because it doesn't want to comply with regulation, esp. one the size of the US, the EU, or China.
- _bxg1 8y ago
  They do a little bit, but in some cases the federal government has overruled them. They would if it became unprofitable, between the fines and the costs of compliance. Google was recently fined $5 billion; that's a significant chunk of their annual revenue, of which Europe is probably a minority. Add onto that the cost of updating for GDPR, and the EU is pushing about as hard as they can afford to. I'm not saying this is a reason for Europe not to take a strong position. I'm just saying their leverage is finite, and less than that of the U.S. government.