Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by tivert 842 days ago
> I thought the function of fines WAS the deterrent effect? or is some aspect of this restitution? I thought this was payable to the EU itself, not spotify.

Maybe it's something akin to punative damages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_damages), where the "fine" component is assessed according to the actual harm measured and the "deterrent" amount is meant to make it sting as a punishment.

The law always needs a little something extra to deal with people like the guy who parks in handicap spaces because he can afford the fines.

1 comments

Would be nice if fines like that were earmarked as probationary in the sense that if the bad behavior continues, they actually have to pay the fines plus a penalty, otherwise they get a diminished amount.
They could pay nothing by not doing it in the first place, right?