this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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150
EU fines Apple, Meta millions for breaching tech competition rules (techcrunch.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
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[โ€“] the_q@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

gasp millions?! They're done for now!

[โ€“] Sorse@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 days ago

500 million euro for apple and 200 million for meta

[โ€“] ninthant@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Metaโ€™s chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan accused the Commission of trying to โ€œhandicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards

We all see where this is going, right? Anti-competitive behaviour now being framed as โ€œUSA #1โ€ patriotism and actively defended by MAGA via tariffs and trade policy.

People outside the US need to stop using American platforms.

[โ€“] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Drop in the bucket

[โ€“] huppakee@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Actually, this was news was posted earlier today (here) and someone commented the following:

EU fines generally have a bad track record when it comes to stopping companies from trying to get away with stuff, but they do have an excellent track record when it comes to making them stop.

Differently put: You won't see the EU levy another fine against Apple for this because Apple doesn't fancy getting slapped with a 40bn fine. If your main armament is big enough all you'll ever need is shots before the bow.

Can't say for sure it is true, but if it is it would definitely have a serious effect.

[โ€“] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't understand. "It doesn't make them stop, but it makes them stop?" Where are these $40 BN fines?

[โ€“] huppakee@lemm.ee 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Maybe i should have copy and pasted their follow-up comment as well:

Well, it's sufficient. Using larger calibres for the opening salvo would increase the risk of companies succeeding in fighting fines before court, and companies generally have some kind of creative interpretation of the law at the ready to justify what they're doing. Fining companies into bankruptcy or out of competition for a first offence is rather hard to justify, for repeat offenders, though? Companies continuing their behaviour after having received a warning fine have no excuse, now the gloves come off otherwise you're perceived as a paper tiger.

I think their point is that giving a small fine the first time is enough reason for them to change their behaviour because they know they could get a much higher fine (for example $40 Bn). I don't know how true this is, didn't research it, but it sounds plausible.

[โ€“] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 days ago

That's pretty much it. At first you get slapped on the wrist and if you just treat it as a cost of doing business without any changes you'll soon find out that it's not a one time fee, nor that it stays the same. I think with GPDR the maximum (one time) fee was up to 10% of companys turnover (not gross profit). With Apples ~390 billion revenue that would roughly round up to 40 billion per fine.

And even if you have endless supply of money there's still options to shut the whole business down if it's deemed illegal. It might be a damn slow process, but if you just stubbornly try to fight it with lawyers and money it just doesn't work.

[โ€“] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And yet we keep seeing the same headlines over and over. Maybe putting one's head on a pike would be a more effective deterrent - it's worth a shot.

[โ€“] Szewek@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The heads are outside the EU's jurisdiction. But I would like to see the EU showing it has the power to limit a company's activities on the common market if they do not follow the rules (idk how exactly, I guess hard bans would be very, very difficult to implement in this case).

[โ€“] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Or maybe just one of those ~~$4~~ $40 BN fines

[โ€“] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

Millions for companies worth TRILLIONS is like fining ordinary people a few pennies.

If the fine doesn't HURT, then it's not going to be effective.

Corporations should be fined at least the value of 50% of the profits from the timeframe they were committing those crimes. If they've been breaking the law for years, then the fine will likely be tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.

If the law doesn't compel these companies to act ethically, they simply won't.