The UK Government's Plan to Rein in Big Tech (bbc.com) 24
The BBC reports:
Large tech companies such as Google and Facebook will have to abide by new competition rules in the UK or risk facing huge fines, the government said. The new Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be given powers to clamp down on "predatory practices" of some firms.
The regulator will also have the power to fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover if they fail to comply.... The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said as well as large fines, tech firms could be handed additional penalties of 5% of daily global turnover for each day an offence continues. For companies like Apple that could be tens of billions of US dollars. "Senior managers will face civil penalties if their firms fail to engage properly with requests for information," the government said. However, it is unclear when exactly the changes will come into force, as the government has said the necessary legislation will be introduced "in due course...."
Google's search engine, which is currently the default search engine on Apple products, will also be looked at by the regulator, the government said.
It added it wants news publishers to be paid fairly for their content — and will give the regulator power to resolve conflicts.
The BBC reports the new rules also "aim to give users more control over their data," and that the new regulator "will also make it easier for people to switch between phone operating systems such as Apple iOS or Android and social media accounts, without losing data and messages."
The regulator will also have the power to fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover if they fail to comply.... The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said as well as large fines, tech firms could be handed additional penalties of 5% of daily global turnover for each day an offence continues. For companies like Apple that could be tens of billions of US dollars. "Senior managers will face civil penalties if their firms fail to engage properly with requests for information," the government said. However, it is unclear when exactly the changes will come into force, as the government has said the necessary legislation will be introduced "in due course...."
Google's search engine, which is currently the default search engine on Apple products, will also be looked at by the regulator, the government said.
It added it wants news publishers to be paid fairly for their content — and will give the regulator power to resolve conflicts.
The BBC reports the new rules also "aim to give users more control over their data," and that the new regulator "will also make it easier for people to switch between phone operating systems such as Apple iOS or Android and social media accounts, without losing data and messages."
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Good thing then that this isn't coming from any of them :)
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If the fines are too small, they are just seen as a cost of doing business and paid without the undesirable behavior changing.
If you make them large enough, then the company faces a choice of complying with the demands or ceasing to do business in the country.
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So the government is trying to exercise board-level powers on companies but without actually buying shares to have any deciding power? Seems very much like mafia standover tactics to me. "That's a nice business you've got there, be a shame if anything bad happened to it!"
HAHAHA
What's the difference between the government and organized crime?
Organized crime at least thinks of you as a customer.
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Well at least in theory, companies exist and are allowed to operate by the goodwill of the government, they have no inherent rights and the government could close them down or deny their ability to operate at any time.
The government can (and should but usually doesnt) put the interest of their people first, above those of companies, and this would include controlling or shutting down companies that are acting in ways that are overall detrimental to the good of the country and its people.
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Exploitative fines
You mean *efficient* fines, right?
Globalization hangover (Score:2)
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East India wanted the people to buy salt instead of just getting sea water and letting it si
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About time (Score:1)
About time for me to open a LLC in the UK and then claim I cannot compete with the giants, so I can scam them money, all backed by the government. A perfectly balanced competition mechanism.
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"misinformation board"... Do you hear yourself? How does this fit into government mandate? Just another ill-considered knee jerk reaction that will be blocked by the courts.
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To recycle an old sports car joke... (Score:2)
The way Britain can rein in Big Tech is to require social media companies to use Lucas power supplies in every server room.
UK has overstepped (Score:2)
The UK alone is too small for such large demands.
10% of global revenue? go fuck yourself.
The EU as a whole is a large enough market to set regulations like this and make them stick -globally. If UK simply restates the EU regulations as UK regulations then there will be no extra cost to accommodate them. If the UK makes unique demands that are larger than it's value it will be dropped.
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The UK alone is too small for such large demands.
They're a nation. They can decide what doing business in their nation is like. If corporations don't like it, they can not do business there. Social media does nothing to improve the UK, so there's no reason why they should coddle social media corporations.