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The only major market only served by US companies at the moment is search and possibly videochats, in all other markets, there are already European service prov

The only major market only served by US companies at the moment is search and possibly videochats, in all other markets, there are already European service providers (think United Internet or even DailyMotion). But then search is also a field where it takes considerable investments to build an independent solution – nevertheless it will be interesting to see how long it takes for one to pop up.

mtgx 13y ago
You reminded me that Skype was an European company until it was bought by eBay. Now I'm depressed. On the other hand, maybe WebRTC will save the day. If only W3C would make it completely decentralized, and without having to depend on a central server.
- claudius 13y ago
  Well, some (read: United Internet aka GMX, Web.de, 1&1…) providers offer a XMPP-based IM solution[0], but I have to admit that I never used it so far, preferring to host my own ejabberds. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Multi_Messenger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Multi_Messenger
goostavos 13y ago
Cloud storage is likely something that could make a dent into the US market now. Surely they've got big players in Europe that would be happy to expand to a new customer base. Give me something that has Dropbox's cross-platform functionality, and throw in a fun tag line informing me that they _don't_ hand over my data to the NSA, and yeah, I'd happily make the switch. If only to feel .01% like I 'stuck it to the man.'
- jauer 13y ago
  Ultimately any sufficiently popular platform will attract the attention of the local security services. The question is who do you fear most, NSA or GHCQ, DGSE etc?
  - anonyfuss 13y ago
    The EU (and Germany in particular) have data protection laws ... so, yeah: I fear the NSA the most.
- claudius 13y ago
  There are various cloud storage companies, TUB apparently just installed ownCloud[0], aforementioned GMX[1] has some storage thing with iPhone, Android and Windows clients and then there is always git-annex which you can run against basically anything. But you are right, there is not quite a EUDropbox, yes. There’s even a ‘Internet made in Germany’ initiative, promising, apart from others just that[2]. [0] http://www.tubit.tu-berlin.de/?131359 http://www.tubit.tu-berlin.de/?131359 (though given my experience with tubIT, I would be a little wary…) [1] http://www.gmx.net/produkte/mediacenter&#x2F http://www.gmx.net/produkte/mediacenter/ [2] http://www.1und1.de/internetmadeingermany&#x2F http://www.1und1.de/internetmadeingermany/ (Curious logo…)

mtgx 13y ago

You reminded me that Skype was an European company until it was bought by eBay. Now I'm depressed. On the other hand, maybe WebRTC will save the day. If only W3C would make it completely decentralized, and without having to depend on a central server.

claudius 13y ago
Well, some (read: United Internet aka GMX, Web.de, 1&1…) providers offer a XMPP-based IM solution[0], but I have to admit that I never used it so far, preferring to host my own ejabberds. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Multi_Messenger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Multi_Messenger

goostavos 13y ago

Cloud storage is likely something that could make a dent into the US market now. Surely they've got big players in Europe that would be happy to expand to a new customer base. Give me something that has Dropbox's cross-platform functionality, and throw in a fun tag line informing me that they _don't_ hand over my data to the NSA, and yeah, I'd happily make the switch. If only to feel .01% like I 'stuck it to the man.'

jauer 13y ago
Ultimately any sufficiently popular platform will attract the attention of the local security services. The question is who do you fear most, NSA or GHCQ, DGSE etc?
- anonyfuss 13y ago
  The EU (and Germany in particular) have data protection laws ... so, yeah: I fear the NSA the most.
claudius 13y ago
There are various cloud storage companies, TUB apparently just installed ownCloud[0], aforementioned GMX[1] has some storage thing with iPhone, Android and Windows clients and then there is always git-annex which you can run against basically anything. But you are right, there is not quite a EUDropbox, yes. There’s even a ‘Internet made in Germany’ initiative, promising, apart from others just that[2]. [0] http://www.tubit.tu-berlin.de/?131359 http://www.tubit.tu-berlin.de/?131359 (though given my experience with tubIT, I would be a little wary…) [1] http://www.gmx.net/produkte/mediacenter&#x2F http://www.gmx.net/produkte/mediacenter/ [2] http://www.1und1.de/internetmadeingermany&#x2F http://www.1und1.de/internetmadeingermany/ (Curious logo…)