Stripe, Mozilla, Dropbox, Spotify, Others Form Tech 'Challenger Group' To Sway European Policy

Mark Di Stefano, reporting for The Information (paywalled): A few years back, two Brussels-based lobbyists from midsize tech companies were out for drinks, and in the course of the conversation they realized they had a common problem. Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook were sucking all of the oxygen out of European debates about regulating the internet, leaving out the voices of smaller companies -- despite the fact that those policies can have a very different impact on them. The European lobbyists and policy officers from other companies -- a motley array that included Mozilla, Stripe, Transferwise, Etsy, Dropbox and Spotify -- began meeting regularly in Brussels, often in bars and restaurants, to share their experiences, according to two people familiar with the matter. Some of them jokingly referred to the outings, which haven't been previously reported, as "whine and dines." The companies, which have continued to gather during the pandemic over video calls, even have a name for their informal network, the two people said: the challenger group. "It was really soothing to meet up with other companies doing the same thing," Raegan MacDonald, policy chief of Mozilla, said during an interview with The Information. "We finally said, let's do stuff together.... The work together has been helpful and fruitful, not just cathartic."

While members of the group won't say much about what that "stuff" is exactly, one of their priorities is having a voice in the upcoming overhaul of internet regulations in Europe, the biggest since the early 2000s. The European Commission -- the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for its legislation and policies -- plans to release the first drafts of this overhaul in the coming weeks, which will introduce sweeping new powers for competition regulators to intervene in tech markets.

Listen

[fluffernutter]

Yes companies are there to make money but they don't have a fundamental right to do so. If a large number of people have spoken they should just listen.

Lobbying Should Be Illegal

[ytene]

It is entirely reasonable to expect governments to need to consult with industry in order to ensure that policies that directly relate to industry are implemented sensibly. But there is NO REASON for that consultation to take place via lobbying.

Put simply, the best thing to do would be to mandate that all such consultations must by law take place through a public meeting. If these companies want to speak with their regulator, then have them call for a hearing. Have them invite the public to attend. Mandate that the transcripts be recorded by law. Make it a criminal offence for people to attempt to lobby a public servant privately.

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[slack_justyb]

Mandate that the transcripts be recorded by law. Make it a criminal offence for people to attempt to lobby a public servant privately.

Yes, the people who write laws... We ought to indicate to them, that they should write a law that prevents people from giving them money. Bravo. I'm sure they'll get right on it.

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[ytene]

If the people we elect are not willing to play by the same rules that they expect us to follow, then it's on us to vote them out and replace them with people who do play by the rules.

Actually, a better solution would be to scale back representative government and shift towards direct democracy - where issues that come before the nation get decided by the nation. We have the technology to do this now and cutting down on the amount of governance that is transacted by elected representatives would help to r

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[bjwest]

As good as that sounds, we have enough problems getting people to vote every two years. Do you really think they'll come out every week or so to vote on things that matter?

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[ytene]

Actually, I think it might help.

One of the "problems" that we see with the infrequent voting we're actually invited to participate in today is that, all too often, it can make little to no difference. One of the challenges that democracy faces is that even after you elect a representative to government, that person may well vote contrary to your wishes - and there's nothing you can do about it except vote them back out again after their four years are up.

Here's a topical example: earlier this year, Pr

I see

[nospam007]

The small fry wants to get sued too, just to stroke their ego.

So, lobbyist group.

[SuricouRaven]

Nothing wrong with an industry association repsenting their interests to government. So long as it's all done in the open and above-board, and not through the tacit 'support our policies and there's a campaign contribution coming your way' agreements.

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[lessSockMorePuppet]

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