[rcbdev]

This kind of support should be mandated for any digital utilities company such as Google.

The difference between small business success and insolvency was based on the shier luck of being graced with the presence of someone in contact with the priesthood of Google, where no real contact from the plebian citizenry is allowed.

Exactly this kind of thing is why the EU feels the need to regulate the shit out of U.S. big tech.

[inigyou]

I think in the EU this is mandated. Every algorithmic profiling decision must come with an explanation and human appeal, under GDPR?

[vovavili]

Legislating costly support for a free and accessible service is how that service stops being free and accessible.

[rcbdev]

You need to legislate effectively.

This is something U.S.-Americans often do not (want to) understand. The misconception often is that just because their legislative efforts are an ineffective, lobby-ridden crapshoot, that the free market is automatically the best answer to everything.

You can affect really good and positive change through lawmaking, the entire point of it is to regulate and intervene when the wellbeing of the populous and fair competition is in jeopardy.

[inigyou]

If you can't afford to run the service without shitting all over everyone, then you can't afford to run the service.

Same argument for the living wage.

[lurkerforawhile]

they have four trillion dollars buddy they'll be okay.

[lotsofpulp]

The price of the most recent transaction of a share times the number of outstanding shares is not equal to spendable cash.

[vovavili]

These are exactly the kind of companies that have enough data and analysis to avoid bleeding money.

[lurkerforawhile]

so externalizing environmental and social costs is fine, as long as the numbers are big enough?

[vovavili]

I am not sure how any of this follows.

[stackskipton]

They became big enough because they were free and had massive cash behind them to destroy all competition (Mapquest, Garmin and others)

Now they are this big, they have become quasi public record for many other organizations who rely on this data.

Since they want to keep costs low, if their data is wrong, it can have significant impacts on your life and getting someone to correct it is almost impossible.