[menno-sh]

Oh I LOVE this, we can't have enough of these privacy-focused non-profits making tech companies' lives difficult. They have such a strong argument here, too. I can imagine that whoever came up with this is very pleased with theirselves, and rightfully so.

[theturtlemoves]

[flagged]

[dang]

Please don't post national/regional slurs to HN. I agree that it's different when you're part of the group, but from a moderation point of view the effect on the threads ends up being bad anyway.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[theturtlemoves]

Thank you for pointing that out. Fair point. Sorry for spoiling the atmosphere.

[dang]

Don't worry! it happens naturally because it's the way people speak in small conversations, and in that context perfectly ok.

The unnatural part is us trying to steer this large/public conversation away from the standards of small/private conversation, which is basically impossible but also a must, if HN isn't to self-destruct.

Edit: there's an additional twist, too, which is that HN's form factor feels like a smaller and more intimate conversation than it really is. That's great in many ways! But it obscures the fact that when people post here, they're really broadcasting to a large audience.

[isodev]

Correction, we hate making money at the expense of other peoples rights and liberties. It's kind of frustrating to have to explain that to US folks over and over again... all that "freedom" in their things is apparently very decorative.

[theturtlemoves]

Depends on what you mean by right. Oftentimes it's rephrased as "The other guy's obligation".

[elric]

Care to elaborate on that?

[xboxnolifes]

You have the obligation to not do things at the expense of others' freedoms.

[Anonbrit]

I'd say instead that we value the commons and don't like companies making money by externalising all their problems to the general public.

If company Foo leaks my personal data, I suffer, they don't, so without regulation there's no reason for them to invest in protecting it. Same with pollution and similar

[weezing]

Being an European doesn't make your arguments less ridiculous.

[Snow_Falls]

It must be rememebered that this is the forum of an American investment company. There are far too many here who would love to be the corprate boot crushing us underfood.

[Snow_Falls]

I'm european (what a vague term...) and I disagree completely. I have never seen this attitude you apparently have. I've seen lots of celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship, I've seen less appreciation for the american style "anything goes as long as the stock price goes up" business environment.

[lmf4lol]

I don’t agree. I run a startup in Europe for a couple of years. I never had once someone hating in me because we are successful. Literally everyone I talked with abiut it thinks its super cool what we do and supported the efforts and wished us best of luck or offered actual help.

The Europeans are very aware of the externalities of businesses. This translates to more bureacracy and often also into pretty dumb “solutions” (cookie banner). Gdpr is not one of those dumb solutions btw. Its annoying to implement, true, and it puts EU business at a disadvantage compared to US businesses, but it gives also power to the people. And that is what counts in the end.

Ask yourself: do you really want to live in a Jarvinian techno-monarchy, where companies are the ultimate power holders? I am not so sure I want that.

My hope for the future is that Europeans will eventually build proper alternatives to US companies and escape the chokehold. Then we all play by our own rules and no one is at a disadvantage. Seems like a pipe dream now, but then I remember that England ruled the world not so long ago and China was a third world country nit worth mentioning. Things can turn quickly!

One more thing: Brussel really goes too far, too often. So I am always crossing my fingers for more market liberal parties to gain influence. I dont like a huge government. Not at all. But i dont believe in the nightwatch government idea either.

[micromacrofoot]

"In Ireland, people have an interesting attitude toward success—they look down on it. In America, you look at the mansion on the hill and think, 'One day that will be me.' In Ireland, people say, 'One day, I'm going to get that bastard!'"