[alanwatts]

>So this is really lots of big US companies negotiating with themselves on how to screw over Europe.

What exactly do you mean by US companies? Corporations like Apple and Google are not sovereign to any nation, they are super-sovereign, hence their ability to do what you are saying.

[tommyman]

They are american companies based in the US, with ties to US government (ie. susceptible to US secret courts, gag orders yadda yadda).

They operate internationally. ymmv.