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Google should leave the EU. Drop an IP block and be done with it.
by cavisne 8y ago
Google should leave the EU. Drop an IP block and be done with it.
- ekianjo 8y agoThey would probably still find a way to fine Google even if they did that. The WHY is just an excuse.
- zlynx 8y agoIf Google had no physical presence in the EU then Google can just ignore the fines. The US won't force them to pay fines levied by a different country. They'd have to win a US court case. Just like China can be upset with Wikipedia. Wikipedia can tell them to pound sand.
- chillacy 8y agoAnd then China blocks Wikipedia’s IP addresses?
- thefounder 8y agoAnd then what? Loose almost 50% of its value?
- adventured 8y agoAll of Europe is about 1/3 of Google's sales. The US is close to 50%. The EU minus the UK is probably more like 25%. They could certainly rationally abandon the EU market if the fines continue to outpace what the entire EU search market is worth in profit. If you're Google and you can stay somewhere close to break-even on the fines, it's worth staying in the market just to suppress potential competition. The ideal solution however is the for the US to respond by targeting EU companies, for example Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank (soon to be nationalized as it's collapsing) as two they've already very clearly gone after.
- thefounder 8y agoI wouldn't mind having some competition even if it's at the expense of VW or D-bank, albeit not on merit.
- xanipher 8y agoDeutsche Bank and especially VW are already targeted by the US. Just compare the fines for VW in Europe and the US.
- pgeorgi 8y ago> Just compare the fines for VW in Europe and the US. The fines for VW were at the country level, and besides the usual protectionism going on (one of the German states holds a blocking minority in VW by law, go figure) Germany also has a different approach to fines than the US, with much less emphasis on punitive damages.
- xanipher 8y agoI'm aware, but "has a different approach to fines" is not really relevant, otherwise this just boils down to "The EU has a different approach to Anti-Trust-Law".
- cuban-frisbee 8y agoYou really think a company like google could see a 33% drop in revenue and not experience a free fall in the stockmarket? The mere notion of losing that much revenue indefinetly due to their own fault no less would not shake up the market significantly is laughable.
- ehsankia 8y agoThese fines are quickly adding up to more than their profit in Europe anyways. Once they reach the point of running profit negative in Europe, wouldn't it actually a better business move to pull out?
- repsilat 8y agoThey make changes to address each of the issues as they crop up, so the question they need to ask is whether the EU will keep finding reasons to hand out record fines. I guess that boils down to the degree to which they attribute the fines to their own behaviour, and the degree to which they attribute them to European/Vestagerian animus.
- thomasz 8y agoThe best move would be to start following the laws and regulations governing that market.
- dazc 8y agoUntil it becomes clear those laws and regulations are nothing more than a vehicle for extracting revenue?
- thefounder 8y agoOr rather a tool to break up monopolies? I think they should have acted long time ago. I particulary like the changes they are compelled to make on Android.
- thomasz 8y agoThere is zero evidence for this accusation. The regulations against monopolies are neither new, nor are they enforced in a discriminatory manner against foreign companies. The EU administration is just doing a better job than it’s American counterpart. Which is a shame because historically, the US was pretty good at reigning into anticompetitive monopolies.
- 8y ago
- rtomanek 8y agoWhy, pray tell?
- AnaniasAnanas 8y ago> Drop an IP block Why? They can leave the EU without IP blocks.