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10% of global revenue is practically unenforceable and would result in major tech companies simply ignoring the fine and pulling out of the EU. "Forcing" compa

10% of global revenue is practically unenforceable and would result in major tech companies simply ignoring the fine and pulling out of the EU. "Forcing" companies to pull out in this manner would instantly ignite a trade war between the US and the EU. This is a no-win situation for the EU - if WhatsApp is shut down in the EU, for instance, it will cause massive problems, loss of life and money, etc. Whatever new solution arrives on the scene will struggle to turn a profit and probably be even less compliant with regulations for many years due to the sheer amount of regulation that has slowly accumulated.

EMIRELADERO 2y ago
So what do you think the solution is then? If the fines are small, people complain that they have no teeth and that corporations just see them as a cost of doing business. If the fines do actually have teeth, we have your comment here. What would you consider acceptable?
- xvector 2y ago
  "Acceptable" is debatable. Is the company genuinely trying to fix the issue? Can they demonstrate it (provide PRs, resourcing information, updates, etc?) The real solution is not over-regulating the internet. This is how we end up with the comparatively barren tech landscape of the EU, or the trend towards authoritarianism in Brazil, where a massive platform was banned simply because some small and questionable rulings were ignored. The innovation aspect really bothers me. As a SWE you definitely feel the development burden of so much regulation, it is huge, and that's with the might of a large company and all that brings to support you. I can't imagine startups will ever even attempt to meet these regulations. My own experience dealing with regulation in big tech makes me believe this is one of the chief reasons the EU has experienced technological stagnation. Maybe good in the short term, very bad for humanity in the long term.
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
    > I can't imagine startups will ever even attempt to meet these regulations. Most of DMA targets only "gatekeepers" (i.e. big tech), not small startups.
tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
> if WhatsApp is shut down in the EU, for instance, it will cause massive problems, loss of life and money, etc. Please explain how WhatsApp shutting down in the EU would cause "massive problems, loss of life and money" rather than e.g. Signal having two weeks of instability due to 200M new users and that being the end of it?
- xvector 2y ago
  Countless people rely on WhatsApp. Historically, when we have seen WhatsApp go down even for a short amount of time we have seen massive disruption and some loss of life. Emergency services in some locations rely on WhatsApp, most businesses use WhatsApp to communicate with customers. You'd have to re-build your whole network on another app. Signal may be that app or the ecosystem might simply fracture.

EMIRELADERO 2y ago

So what do you think the solution is then? If the fines are small, people complain that they have no teeth and that corporations just see them as a cost of doing business. If the fines do actually have teeth, we have your comment here. What would you consider acceptable?

xvector 2y ago
"Acceptable" is debatable. Is the company genuinely trying to fix the issue? Can they demonstrate it (provide PRs, resourcing information, updates, etc?) The real solution is not over-regulating the internet. This is how we end up with the comparatively barren tech landscape of the EU, or the trend towards authoritarianism in Brazil, where a massive platform was banned simply because some small and questionable rulings were ignored. The innovation aspect really bothers me. As a SWE you definitely feel the development burden of so much regulation, it is huge, and that's with the might of a large company and all that brings to support you. I can't imagine startups will ever even attempt to meet these regulations. My own experience dealing with regulation in big tech makes me believe this is one of the chief reasons the EU has experienced technological stagnation. Maybe good in the short term, very bad for humanity in the long term.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
  > I can't imagine startups will ever even attempt to meet these regulations. Most of DMA targets only "gatekeepers" (i.e. big tech), not small startups.

tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago

> if WhatsApp is shut down in the EU, for instance, it will cause massive problems, loss of life and money, etc. Please explain how WhatsApp shutting down in the EU would cause "massive problems, loss of life and money" rather than e.g. Signal having two weeks of instability due to 200M new users and that being the end of it?

xvector 2y ago
Countless people rely on WhatsApp. Historically, when we have seen WhatsApp go down even for a short amount of time we have seen massive disruption and some loss of life. Emergency services in some locations rely on WhatsApp, most businesses use WhatsApp to communicate with customers. You'd have to re-build your whole network on another app. Signal may be that app or the ecosystem might simply fracture.