4 ms·

There is a lot to like about the EU, but its restrictions on speech (Google is NOT convicted of antitrust violations, this is not a structured settlement, this

There is a lot to like about the EU, but its restrictions on speech (Google is NOT convicted of antitrust violations, this is not a structured settlement, this is extortion) and its censorious libel laws are not among them.

bjelkeman-again 13y ago
In this case do you mean "restrictions on speech" to mean restrictions on how advertising is being sold and displayed or something else?
magicalist 13y ago
That seems like a stretch. It's very possible they wouldn't have been able to prove an antitrust case against Google, but isn't this a settlement to avoid them even starting? I guess you could argue any deal to settle is a form of extortion (and you see it in offers to settle on lawsuits all the time), but not spending years embroiled in a very public case seems like it could easily be worth it.
captainmuon 13y ago
I don't know, having lived in Germany and the US, I feel I have more practical freedom of speach in Germany (or Europe). Over here, kids don't get thrown into jail because they made a bad joke on Facebook. I also find the gamut of acceptable political positions to be much wider here. Someone with a fairly regular middle-left point of view in Europe would be considered a socialist crackpot in parts of the US. There are restrictions on what you might call "hate speach" which I appreciate. Saying you want the Nazi party back, or want to kill the Jews, or wearing a Swastika is not covered by free speach. One thing I also like is the strong protection of customers. Decieving your customers is also never covered as free speach. There are some laws that seem silly, governing the way products are advertized. E.g. you must use metric units, if you use imperial units (mainly for screens), the metric units must be displayed more prominently, you must have certain package sizes, you have to display the price for 100g / 1kg beneath goods in shops, etc.. I never appreciated these laws until I noticed how confusing and customer-deciving pricing is in the US. Like Mac & Cheese, 20 cents a package, but in the fine print it says only if you buy 10, otherwise its 80 cents. It's a silly example, but I feel more confident in Germany that I'm not going to get screwed over by a company then elsewhere.

bjelkeman-again 13y ago

In this case do you mean "restrictions on speech" to mean restrictions on how advertising is being sold and displayed or something else?

magicalist 13y ago

That seems like a stretch. It's very possible they wouldn't have been able to prove an antitrust case against Google, but isn't this a settlement to avoid them even starting? I guess you could argue any deal to settle is a form of extortion (and you see it in offers to settle on lawsuits all the time), but not spending years embroiled in a very public case seems like it could easily be worth it.

captainmuon 13y ago

I don't know, having lived in Germany and the US, I feel I have more practical freedom of speach in Germany (or Europe). Over here, kids don't get thrown into jail because they made a bad joke on Facebook. I also find the gamut of acceptable political positions to be much wider here. Someone with a fairly regular middle-left point of view in Europe would be considered a socialist crackpot in parts of the US. There are restrictions on what you might call "hate speach" which I appreciate. Saying you want the Nazi party back, or want to kill the Jews, or wearing a Swastika is not covered by free speach. One thing I also like is the strong protection of customers. Decieving your customers is also never covered as free speach. There are some laws that seem silly, governing the way products are advertized. E.g. you must use metric units, if you use imperial units (mainly for screens), the metric units must be displayed more prominently, you must have certain package sizes, you have to display the price for 100g / 1kg beneath goods in shops, etc.. I never appreciated these laws until I noticed how confusing and customer-deciving pricing is in the US. Like Mac & Cheese, 20 cents a package, but in the fine print it says only if you buy 10, otherwise its 80 cents. It's a silly example, but I feel more confident in Germany that I'm not going to get screwed over by a company then elsewhere.