5 ms·

Ask HN: Why is Europe doing a lot to penalize the Big Five with taxes and laws?

5 points by rblion 8y ago

Looking at the 'Digital Europe' website, I get the feeling this is as much about Europe 'getting some of the pie' as much as it as about ethics.

dClauzel 8y ago
Given that Apple, Amazon, and Google together pay less taxes than a middle size company thanks to their "fiscal optimisation", the answer is pretty simple ;)
- rblion 8y ago
  I sometimes wonder why they are penalized for being that innovative and forward thinking. They followed the paradigm of capitalism and they mostly play by the rules. A few grey areas but I don't be embarrassed to say that I respect and trust Apple, Google, and Amazon.
DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
FAANG is a cancer on society (ask the Rohinga) and they don't pay their taxes. The same is true for IKEA & Starbucks but their damage is at least limited to loss of tax revenues (double Irish with a Dutch sandwich etc). The damage FAANG does (and how their toxic business-model is copied by EU start-ups) deserves imo this intervention by regulation. But yes it's not disputable that this is also an attempt to level the playing field for local companies. I think EU is more technophobic than the US (and Asia) because there are many that still remember the horrors of the Stasi. Many don't want to embrace the Silicon Valley & Asian surveillance capitalism. Disruption (by moving fast and breaking things) is quite a disgusting to many of us ... and the rise of right-wing populism (globally) sure is rooted in this ignorance by technologists (to a large extent).
- metildaa 8y ago
  I think much of this technophobia is limited to Germany, same with the banning of neo-Nazis.
- romantsegelskyi 8y ago
  How is Netflix a cancer though?
  - DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
    I've been using netflix for a bit over a year, just cancelled it this fall. From what I can see the content is mostly shallow (Hollywood over TCP). Despite them being a global player they totally lack local content. There is a total lack of great French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean content (not there would be a lack of good local conent) and hardly anything that is critical of the US. So it's just another US propaganda channel to make the hypocritical US come across as a country with great values (when they're the most vile and terrorist country in the world today). Also, there is no way of knowing who Netflix shares my search/watch history with. And I have 0 doubt that this info is in the hands of multiple entities we've no idea about.

5 points by rblion 8y ago

Looking at the 'Digital Europe' website, I get the feeling this is as much about Europe 'getting some of the pie' as much as it as about ethics.

dClauzel 8y ago

Given that Apple, Amazon, and Google together pay less taxes than a middle size company thanks to their "fiscal optimisation", the answer is pretty simple ;)

rblion 8y ago
I sometimes wonder why they are penalized for being that innovative and forward thinking. They followed the paradigm of capitalism and they mostly play by the rules. A few grey areas but I don't be embarrassed to say that I respect and trust Apple, Google, and Amazon.

DyslexicAtheist 8y ago

FAANG is a cancer on society (ask the Rohinga) and they don't pay their taxes. The same is true for IKEA & Starbucks but their damage is at least limited to loss of tax revenues (double Irish with a Dutch sandwich etc). The damage FAANG does (and how their toxic business-model is copied by EU start-ups) deserves imo this intervention by regulation. But yes it's not disputable that this is also an attempt to level the playing field for local companies. I think EU is more technophobic than the US (and Asia) because there are many that still remember the horrors of the Stasi. Many don't want to embrace the Silicon Valley & Asian surveillance capitalism. Disruption (by moving fast and breaking things) is quite a disgusting to many of us ... and the rise of right-wing populism (globally) sure is rooted in this ignorance by technologists (to a large extent).

metildaa 8y ago
I think much of this technophobia is limited to Germany, same with the banning of neo-Nazis.
romantsegelskyi 8y ago
How is Netflix a cancer though?
- DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
  I've been using netflix for a bit over a year, just cancelled it this fall. From what I can see the content is mostly shallow (Hollywood over TCP). Despite them being a global player they totally lack local content. There is a total lack of great French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean content (not there would be a lack of good local conent) and hardly anything that is critical of the US. So it's just another US propaganda channel to make the hypocritical US come across as a country with great values (when they're the most vile and terrorist country in the world today). Also, there is no way of knowing who Netflix shares my search/watch history with. And I have 0 doubt that this info is in the hands of multiple entities we've no idea about.