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> too large fines are bankruptcy events so companies gamble on polluting and then shut down after making a few years of profit It didn't happened like that. An
by Hokusai 6y ago
> too large fines are bankruptcy events so companies gamble on polluting and then shut down after making a few years of profit
It didn't happened like that. And it was not a fine, big or small. It just has to shutdown operations until the problem is fixed. So, it auto-scales with the size of the factory.
It works, it's proven, why not use it for tech ?
- alkonaut 6y agoI meant that’s what has happened a lot in the world with e.g. mines so it’s not a perfect solution for environmental problems, because bankrupt companies are handled by the public. For tech there is obviously no environmental “cleanup” after bankruptcy.
- marcus_holmes 6y agoThis is common practice in the mining industry - create a company for the specific mining operation, funnel the profits back into the parent company, and then let the cleanup costs bankrupt the operational company when the mine runs out. It'd be interesting to see if the tech giants could use the same approach - create a child company in Europe, funnel the profits and user data back to the parent (offshore, of course), then let the regulatory fines bankrupt the child company. Repeat at will.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Filligree 6y agoThat form of shenanigans works only so long as the government is willing to play along, and depends on part on opaque corporate structures. The EU doesn't seem willing to play along, and branding is important for tech companies. We'll never see a search engine that's secretly Google.
- pkaye 6y agoYou probably need to fix the international tax treaties to really fix it. Even with the EU, they have a tough time getting Ireland in agreement not to help Apple and Google evade taxes.