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Facebook provides a lot of value to a lot of people: many of us find their products useful and enjoyable. Facebook is operated the same way and other countries

by jefftk 6y ago

Facebook provides a lot of value to a lot of people: many of us find their products useful and enjoyable. Facebook is operated the same way and other countries as their home country, they don't employ many people anywhere, because the products they offer are far more efficient than the products they are replacing, and don't need many people to operate. In terms of taxes, if Facebook were avoiding taxes why wouldn't France have updated their rules already? Facebook has been operating there for over a decade. Unless you are claiming that Facebook is violating French tax law? It's not clear to me what you think Facebook should do differently. It's sort of sounds to me like you think they should have put government ministers or their relatives on payroll to win favor, but you can't mean that? They should have hired a lot of French workers to do jobs that could instead be automated?

chmod775 6y ago
> Facebook provides a lot of value to a lot of people: many of us find their products useful and enjoyable. People enjoy alcohol too and alcohol isn't a net positive to society either. > It's not clear to me what you think Facebook should do differently. Not trying to avoid taxation by incorporating in tax havens would be a pretty clear start.
- jefftk 6y ago
  There's a distinction between the product and the company. I think France regulating the product is totally reasonable. I think France targeting something against the company in particular, because it is "extractive" is not. To extend your alcohol example, I think regulating alcohol content, labeling, distribution, advertising, are all reasonable. On the other hand, penalizing a company for manufacturing its alcohol in an automated way that employs far fewer people would not be. Are you talking about how they have their EU headquarters in Ireland? Ireland is an EU country, following EU regulations. If France or the EU want this to work differently, that's entirely within their power.
michaelt 6y ago
> It's not clear to me what you think Facebook should do differently. The traditional trick to stopping the government regulating you is to figure out roughly what problems the government is considering regulation to solve, form an industry body with your competitors, then come up with a code of conduct that addresses the problems but without draconian enforcement. That way you don't have to follow rules written by politicians, get your house 100% in order, and have a regulator breathing down your neck: You've just got to follow rules you've written yourself, and get your house well enough in order that legislators have more pressing things to focus on than you. That might sound difficult - but if it was easy to run a $700 billion company, everyone would be doing it.

by jefftk 6y ago

chmod775 6y ago

> Facebook provides a lot of value to a lot of people: many of us find their products useful and enjoyable. People enjoy alcohol too and alcohol isn't a net positive to society either. > It's not clear to me what you think Facebook should do differently. Not trying to avoid taxation by incorporating in tax havens would be a pretty clear start.

jefftk 6y ago
There's a distinction between the product and the company. I think France regulating the product is totally reasonable. I think France targeting something against the company in particular, because it is "extractive" is not. To extend your alcohol example, I think regulating alcohol content, labeling, distribution, advertising, are all reasonable. On the other hand, penalizing a company for manufacturing its alcohol in an automated way that employs far fewer people would not be. Are you talking about how they have their EU headquarters in Ireland? Ireland is an EU country, following EU regulations. If France or the EU want this to work differently, that's entirely within their power.

michaelt 6y ago

> It's not clear to me what you think Facebook should do differently. The traditional trick to stopping the government regulating you is to figure out roughly what problems the government is considering regulation to solve, form an industry body with your competitors, then come up with a code of conduct that addresses the problems but without draconian enforcement. That way you don't have to follow rules written by politicians, get your house 100% in order, and have a regulator breathing down your neck: You've just got to follow rules you've written yourself, and get your house well enough in order that legislators have more pressing things to focus on than you. That might sound difficult - but if it was easy to run a $700 billion company, everyone would be doing it.