[buran77]

> Put like that, it sounds reasonable to me if fines start at a low level (regardless of the public's opinion of the offender).

The real reason fines are never crippling is because they would not be paid, there would be endless back and forth in courts for what could be decades, with the authorities always being less prepared and less funded for such a battle. So they take what they can get away with. Then there's the aspect of giving a large fine and hitting vital interests of a major company from another country... You're inviting some form of nation level retaliation sooner or later.

All the calculated proceeds resulting from an illegal activity should be clawed back if this is to ever solve anything. Keep in mind that we're not talking about actions that are suddenly declared illegal, we're talking about actions that were illegal all along and the company was officially found guilty of that. Not guaranteeing an overall loss for the company if they're caught means the worst that can happen is they lose some of the profit. This is literally just "the cost of doing business" and proliferates.

[Aeolun]

> The real reason fines are never crippling is because they would not be paid

And then Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram cease to be a thing in Germany.

At least, that would be nice, but the politicians that would impose that are probably too attached to their instagram dog photos.

[buran77]

A crippling kind of fine would have to be applied by the EU, not by one country. The EU is a big enough market that withdrawing would do even more damage since the company still has to pay the fine but without a good chink of their market, which they now handed off to rivals or newcomers. Look at VW who hasn't withdrawn from the US market despite the absolutely massive fines.

The difference is the US never shies away from leveraging their top position in a way the EU is simply not able to. So while the EU will leave VW out to dry when they're caught with their hand in the cookie jar, the US is all but guaranteed to apply as much pressure as it takes to protect their interests. I have seen the process repeatedly and nobody will ever be allowed to hit any US interest without massive retaliation. The proof is in front of you, there's no single instance of a major fine payed by a US company in the EU. The largest fine was the one applied to Apple (~$15bn), it's still being contested, and Apple pretty much just agreed to pay a part of the taxes they owed instead (not all, and not the fine).

The fine FB got for the way they lied about the WhatsApp deal was... $122m.