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I really hope they actually issue a hefty fine here, instead of just a "now stop doing that". Not issuing a fine would send a signal that simply ignoring the l

I really hope they actually issue a hefty fine here, instead of just a "now stop doing that". Not issuing a fine would send a signal that simply ignoring the law until you're told to follow it pays off, since the companies involved certainly made much more profit in that time than they would have made had they followed the law. Also, the fines should be issued to everyone involved in this mess - middlemen and library providers like IAB, the ad companies actually collecting the data, and most importantly the publishers that sent their visitor's data to them.

justapassenger 5y ago
> Not issuing a fine would send a signal that simply ignoring the law until you're told to follow it pays off That’s how capitalism works. For better or worse. If as a person you break the law, you are prosecuted and punished, without consideration who you are and what you contribute to the society. It's very easy to be erased from society (lifetime sentence) and/or lose lifetime earnings (via huge fines, compared to your income potential). For corporations it's totally different. Consideration of who they are is a huge part of punishment. Countries don’t want to kill/severely injure companies, especially big ones, as they worry about fallout effects to their whole economy. As a corporation you can commit much much bigger crimes and get and equivalent of a parking ticket in terms of impact.