Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Sadly that mess had a political component, any attempt to regulate US big tech results in howls from over the Atlantic.

Frankly, I'd prefer it if we just let them howl and said fuck it more but it's probably a good job I'm not making those decisions (and in honesty the picture is complex for companies that size/the politics).

 help



Ironically the fact that the howls need to come from the other side of the Atlantic, rather than having any domestically, should tell anyone all they need to know about the situation.

Don't disagree but the results are impossible to know from the US side, politicians have to balance everything and decide whether it's worth the political capital.

Not like it's the only issue in US/UK relations these days either.

That's the situation whether we like it or not.


this is the first time ive heard the europeans indicted over not wanting ai child porn, and that the US is better than Europe for trying to tackle it

privacy rights, standardization of cables, and monopoly busting are also pretty good things.

the real question is why americans havent pushed back against their new feudal lords to carve out the same rights they did against the old ones


Might as well ban computers then, no?

Child porn is an unavoidable consequence of having computers? Is that what you meant to say? I doubt it but can't find another reading of your comment.

Right, I'm just as confused about it as the person I was replying to. The connection is so detached it doesn't make sense..

It's relevant because the thing X was getting punished for was releasing huge quantities of AI child porn of real children.

> Ironically the fact that the howls need to come from the other side of the Atlantic, rather than having any domestically, should tell anyone all they need to know about the situation.

Europeans by and large don't care about American companies these days. They use American software products because frequently there are no alternatives. And most of the news about them are negative.


They also totally don't care bout Chinese companies, they use those products because there are really no alternatives. Apple and Samsung (reluctantly) comply. I guess we know which other companies don't?

>They use American software products because frequently there are no alternatives

Hint hint


Hint hint to what?

South Korea is a very dynamic, tech heavy country and it hasn't managed to push any software product as a market leader.

The EU is bigger, but it's fractured, so functionally it's basically 2-3x South Korea in terms of "software power". And that's not enough to compete with the much larger US juggernaut. Only China has managed to hold its own by simply banning US software all together.

I'm actually all in favor of the EU banning all American software. Fairly sure that after a huge initial tumble a healthy EU software market would thrive.

Edit: I need to brace myself, the Americans are waking up :-)))


Hint hint, if you're European, wake up and make some good software!

The EU needs a real single digital market with single patents, copyright, IP licensing.

The EU also needs easier financing of risky ventures, probably with tax incentives associated.

The EU needs specific regulation to facilitate accelerated scaling across all its countries. This last part is the hardest to do because by definition startups are challenges to big and rich incumbents.

I would just ban US software companies like China did (I'd obviously also ban Chinese software companies, too). The resulting chaos would end up with some pretty solid EU software companies, the know how is there.


You can't have good regulations and also have all the world's evil billionaires pouring their money in. You get to pick one of those.

Shockingly Europe had and still has a lot of money.

Estimated GDPs for 2026:

US $32tn.

EU $23tn.

It's not like the EU only has couch cushion money for investments.


Europe had the opportunity to create a silicon valley 30 years ago. They fumbled it so badly that most euro tech talent went to the US and worked or even founded their companies there. They still have not (and likely never will) implement the general reforms needed to create fertile grounds for tech to compete with the US.

If the current EU mindset existed 150 years ago, they would have banned steam engines because they are too loud and annoying. That's the level of shortsighted immediate gratification we are dealing with.

I don't know what SK has to do with this, they are basically still close to an emerging economy. Europe had a roaring economy when SK was still mostly farming.


You will actually find European HN users who will unironically say that we should have never started using fossil fuel engines at all.

starting was okay but it got way out of control.

The environment can absorb pollution, just not as quickly as we're currently polluting. It's okay to emit pollution sometimes. I'm totally in favor of heritage railways running their ancient smoke-belching steam trains on the third Sunday of every month so we can see them go. Just not every day.


Let's assess that opinion in a hundred years. Maybe they're just Michael Burrys.

Both of you, have fun fighting non existant 0.001% strawmen.

We shouldn't really want a silicon valley. See how much trouble the US has trying to get meta to stop abusive practices to minors.

Not having a silicon valley is a good thing.


The US isn't totally dependant on foreign states to have a modern economy.

Delete the US and China and all Europe has left is 6 weeks vacation.


That's just the world now. Delete China and the US has no more electronics and raw materials either. You wanted globalization and well that's what you got.

Besides, 6 weeks vacation is great. Also we don't need to have so much stuff, I don't even own or want a car, something that's very hard to do without in America. We don't have this exhausting desire to make things a race and to be number 1.


LOL :-)))

Ever heard of China? The US probably imports 50% of its industrial parts, machinery, finished products from China.

Europe also has plenty of big industrial companies, BASF, Bayer, German auto companies, pharma companies, French and Dutch agriculture, etc.

What do you think we all do over here? Wear wooden clogs, eat baguettes with wursts?


> What do you think we all do over here? Wear wooden clogs, eat baguettes with wursts?

Personally I have done both <3

In fact I really feel like a baguette with bratwurst now :P And a 6-week holiday come to think of it.


> Europe had the opportunity to create a silicon valley 30 years ago.

I really like history but nothing like this come to mind, I'd be happy to read about it, what exactly did they do/not do?


Not exactly that, but one thing that comes to mind: Germany was about to switch the phone network to fiber with data service in the late 80s(!), but then Helmut Kohl (CDU chancellor) decided to build TV cable instead. He wanted to promote private TV stations because the public ones weren't conservative enough for him. Spoiler: Private TV stations ended up doing barely any political programming anyway.

Technical note: For some years, the few regions that got the OPAL optical network had the worst internet, but that problem would not have occurred with OPAL everywhere: Fiber can always be upgraded at the endpoints, the numbers were just too small to develop the technology.


From the article, it seems more about chinese brands, no?

> Some records even refer customers to Temu or AliExpress for spare parts and repair instructions.

> But even for products that are technically compliant, the listed weblink still rarely offers a direct path to parts prices. For major brands such as Apple and Samsung, it can take some clicking around before you find what you need, Right to Repair says.


There seems to be a very common idea why the EU is failing dramatically with these ideas that I didnt seem to understand. Knowing it has a US political context suddenly makes everything a little less weird.

Would that happen before or after weaning Europeans off American tech dopamine?



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: