European Commission fines Google €2.95B over abusive ad tech practices

Wouldn't it be something if the EU focused on fostering a tech scene rather than attacking it. This is like the 4th time they have gone to the Google bank demanding a $1B+ ransom.

And before we "Just don't break the laws" take note of the fact the the EU has a dead tech scene. I don't know how they expect competition to grow when they block all the sunlight in their tech fields.

If you don't want Google dominating your populations technology, try creating conditions to grow a replacement.

> take note of the fact the the EU has a dead tech scene

Because American megacorps are killing it with their monopolistic actions?

Haha, no. The EU tech scene was dead (and has stayed dead) long before American megacorps even existed.

Why do you think Silicon Valley was in… Silicon Valley? It certainly isn’t because it monopolistically killed EU chip fabs!

They just didn’t exist, and went out of their way to be a huge hassle to exist, and the EU still doesn’t have decent chip fabrication abilities.

It’s the same for software.

Maybe it was a real EU fault at that time, but now the monopolies definitely affect the market, as proven by the court.

Even if you nuked every one of them, the EU tech scene would still be dead. It’s a cultural problem. The EU would rather be comfortable than competitive.

And they are.

How do you know that?

Americans work 500 hours a year more than their German counterparts. 300 more than the EU average.

Americans are working 14.5 months a year while Europeans are working 12!

These numbers would be admirable if they had something to show for it, instead: illiteracy below level 1 28% [0]; life expectancy 79.5 years (as opposed to - for example Italy 83.9 [1]; rank 13 when it comes to cost of living [2]... I could go on with health etc. So, what exactly do you get out of all that additional labour?

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_State... [1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/life-expe... [2]https://www.worlddata.info/cost-of-living.php

I think you’re just reinforcing the point?

No, working 500 hours a week is unsustainable and likely doesn't lead to better overall outcomes, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45149049#45151336

Are you for real/?

1) 500 hours a week isn’t just unsustainable, it’s impossible? There are only 168 hours in a week. I’m assuming you mean 50.

2) You’re just agreeing with the point again. Europe cares more about being comfortable. The US cares more about making money and being competitive (well, used to until recently anyway). People do all sorts of unsustainable things for money, all the time.

So what point do you think you’re making?

> Europe cares more about being comfortable. The US cares more about making money and being competitive

I think that you can't be competitive long-term without being comfortable.