5 ms·

The EU’s antitrust policy at this point effectively boils down to: if a large American tech company does something, it must be bad.

relueeuler 4y ago
+1. Let’s regulate all the things!
dzhiurgis 4y ago
At this point it's investigation, why can't we wait for conclusion. Also, people in EU trust EU wayyy more than US tech companies.
- iasay 4y ago
  I distrust their motivations. I don't know anyone who doesn't either. Their regulatory and privacy stance is actively harmful at the moment.
  - Kbelicius 4y ago
    > Their regulatory and privacy stance is actively harmful at the moment. What makes you say that? I like having privacy and don't see how the EU is being harmful to me with its stance on it.
    - iasay 4y ago
      EU proposed mandatory CSAM scanning in private messaging is about as harmful as it gets.
      - dzhiurgis 4y ago
        There must be some massive cognitive dissonance here. Do you oppose all laws that protect children as being too oppressive?
        iasay 4y ago
        Oh c'mon be serious. This is a technical forum. Don't play that line. I thought better of HN. I oppose non-retractable technical measures which can be repurposed for total surveillance and information control.
    - MagnumOpus 4y ago
      He owns shares in those companies and thinks antitrust action is actively harmful for his pocketbook. Which it legitimately might be. He didn't say anything caring about other people's privacy or business competitiveness or other such lofty ideals.
      - iasay 4y ago
        No I just don’t want my private messages scanned.
  - pornel 4y ago
    EU citizen here. I trust the EU, my elected representatives, more than the adtech sleazebags and the patent cartels. I prefer to vote with my votes than with my wallet. There's a long list of consumer-friendly EU regulations that I like. I'm also very supportive of EU privacy protections. I think the only problem with them is that they're not aggressive enough.
    - iasay 4y ago
      I completely agree with what the EU have done so far on a mostly positive front. But at the same time all governments and unions seem to regress to measures which lead to worse consumer protection and a worse security and privacy outcome in the long term. I can't possibly support a union that wants technical censorship measures introduced while crowing that they are privacy focused. And then there's the removal of the control point on the Apple App Store, which is admittedly bad for business but the best outcome for consumers as it allows them to control over billing in once place. The proposed outcome of opening the billing is corporate interest focused rather than customer focused and will only harm the latter. And of course there's what they didn't bother to do. No one is perfect but some of the recent shifts are stupid and force an EU centric view on technology. This is the region that sold out all of its technical capacity (Philips, Nokia etc) without even blinking an eye on the regulation front and is now complaining when US tech companies step into the gap in the market they created. Hypocrisy is what it is. I can't support a singular organisation which does so much good and so much stupid at the same time. It needs to be broken down into separate bodies as it's a monopoly itself.
  - heisenbit 4y ago
    They are following US pioneered anti-trust practices that went against IBM and Microsoft and allowed an ecosystem of diverse computers and browsers to develop. Limiting the exercise of power moves of monopolies is essential for innovation and landmark cases are vital to establish the boundaries of the rules. This motivates corporate lawyers to advise their clients accordingly before they do damage. Markets where the main rule is pre-established power are in the long run destructive to society.
    - iasay 4y ago
      What about Philips and Nokia who sold out a vast chunk of European business and leverage. Where were the EU then?
hnbad 4y ago
Sure, and you can argue this is bad, but the US dosn't have a good record of policing anti-competitive behavior (especially in foreign markets for obvious reasons) so that heuristic probably works better than you make it sound. Of course not everything large American tech companies do is bad, but if a large American tech company does something that seems even remotely fishy, it's safer to first assume that it's bad until proven otherwise.

relueeuler 4y ago

+1. Let’s regulate all the things!

dzhiurgis 4y ago

At this point it's investigation, why can't we wait for conclusion. Also, people in EU trust EU wayyy more than US tech companies.

iasay 4y ago
I distrust their motivations. I don't know anyone who doesn't either. Their regulatory and privacy stance is actively harmful at the moment.
- Kbelicius 4y ago
  > Their regulatory and privacy stance is actively harmful at the moment. What makes you say that? I like having privacy and don't see how the EU is being harmful to me with its stance on it.
  - iasay 4y ago
    EU proposed mandatory CSAM scanning in private messaging is about as harmful as it gets.
    - dzhiurgis 4y ago
      There must be some massive cognitive dissonance here. Do you oppose all laws that protect children as being too oppressive?
      - iasay 4y ago
        Oh c'mon be serious. This is a technical forum. Don't play that line. I thought better of HN. I oppose non-retractable technical measures which can be repurposed for total surveillance and information control.
  - MagnumOpus 4y ago
    He owns shares in those companies and thinks antitrust action is actively harmful for his pocketbook. Which it legitimately might be. He didn't say anything caring about other people's privacy or business competitiveness or other such lofty ideals.
    - iasay 4y ago
      No I just don’t want my private messages scanned.
- pornel 4y ago
  EU citizen here. I trust the EU, my elected representatives, more than the adtech sleazebags and the patent cartels. I prefer to vote with my votes than with my wallet. There's a long list of consumer-friendly EU regulations that I like. I'm also very supportive of EU privacy protections. I think the only problem with them is that they're not aggressive enough.
  - iasay 4y ago
    I completely agree with what the EU have done so far on a mostly positive front. But at the same time all governments and unions seem to regress to measures which lead to worse consumer protection and a worse security and privacy outcome in the long term. I can't possibly support a union that wants technical censorship measures introduced while crowing that they are privacy focused. And then there's the removal of the control point on the Apple App Store, which is admittedly bad for business but the best outcome for consumers as it allows them to control over billing in once place. The proposed outcome of opening the billing is corporate interest focused rather than customer focused and will only harm the latter. And of course there's what they didn't bother to do. No one is perfect but some of the recent shifts are stupid and force an EU centric view on technology. This is the region that sold out all of its technical capacity (Philips, Nokia etc) without even blinking an eye on the regulation front and is now complaining when US tech companies step into the gap in the market they created. Hypocrisy is what it is. I can't support a singular organisation which does so much good and so much stupid at the same time. It needs to be broken down into separate bodies as it's a monopoly itself.
- heisenbit 4y ago
  They are following US pioneered anti-trust practices that went against IBM and Microsoft and allowed an ecosystem of diverse computers and browsers to develop. Limiting the exercise of power moves of monopolies is essential for innovation and landmark cases are vital to establish the boundaries of the rules. This motivates corporate lawyers to advise their clients accordingly before they do damage. Markets where the main rule is pre-established power are in the long run destructive to society.
  - iasay 4y ago
    What about Philips and Nokia who sold out a vast chunk of European business and leverage. Where were the EU then?

hnbad 4y ago

Sure, and you can argue this is bad, but the US dosn't have a good record of policing anti-competitive behavior (especially in foreign markets for obvious reasons) so that heuristic probably works better than you make it sound. Of course not everything large American tech companies do is bad, but if a large American tech company does something that seems even remotely fishy, it's safer to first assume that it's bad until proven otherwise.