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by Footnote73417 hours ago |
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upvoteby Solololo5 hours ago|
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> Isn't the EU making more money from fining US tech companies than their own tech companies are paying in taxes at this point?

No, this is a common piece of Trump era propaganda. The EU does not levy such a general corporate tax, fines are not recurring as taxes are, fines like this one are done by a single member state (Italy in this case) and do nothing for the EU's budget, and the big tech companies within the EU are private companies whereas this misleading stat picks the rare public ones for its comparison

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upvoteby dmix6 hours ago|
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After a few big payouts it will be difficult for these governments to stop putting their hand in the cookie jar. They will find something new every year.
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upvoteby qubex6 hours ago|
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It’s entirely possible to operate in accordance with local laws, or they can leave the market entirely. As an Italian I’d be delighted if Meta upped and left, heaven knows it’s not done any good to society.
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upvoteby Footnote73416 hours ago|
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They are being fined over the normal android gallery permissions flow, it doesn't make any sense at all. Fines aren't the same thing as taxes you aren't supposed to just randomly fine people for no reason.
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upvoteby qubex6 hours ago|
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If they were being fined over ordinary Android gallery permissions flow, it would’ve been Google and not Meta on the hook. The fact that that isn’t the case (and that if they made that argument in their defence, it failed to hold sway) strongly suggests otherwise.
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upvoteby cowlevel2 hours ago|
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They aren't being fined over a permissions flow, they are being fined over using user data. I don't know how many fines it will take before the programming community realises that you can't weasel out of breaking the law by abusing a technical measure.

"Your honour, I did not break into this man's house. Last week he gave me his key ring so I could copy his car keys, so I took the liberty to write down all his bitting codes and made a copy of his keyring later. Since he gave me his key, I was authorised to be there and did not break in."

... is literally the excuse Meta is trying to use, except it's about photos.

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upvoteby loeg4 hours ago|
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I'm not sure it is actually possible to operate in accordance with Euro zone laws. There's always some insane thing.
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