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tatterdemalion ,
@tatterdemalion@programming.dev avatar

I love that the EU is cracking down on tech, but I also wish the US government could get in on that awesome rake.

cm0002 ,

Google: $2.7 billion

Apple: $14.34 billion

WalrusDragonOnABike ,

Google 2024 Revenue: $328.28B

Apple 2024 Revenue: $385.60B

I’m sure they’ll behave in the future thanks to these Big fines…

crystenn ,

Revenue doesn’t equal profit. Apple’s 2023 net profit was 96b, so a 14b fine is a substantial portion of their overall profits (~15%).

Of course, they’re not hurting by any stretch of the imagination, 82b is still a STUPID amount of money, but we should be getting the facts and numbers correct

shelf ,

Still less than the lowest tax bracket in the US

explore_broaden ,

Yeah but also this is only for their EU profit, so it’s really an even higher percentage.

It doesn’t really make sense to talk about money they made in other countries when talking about these fines, as if they make 5 billion in profit in country X and get fined 6 billion, they would still have lost money for operating in the country regardless of how much money they made other places. Since they lost money in the country, that fine would be high enough for them to want to fix their law breaking or totally pull out of the country, and so the fine accomplishes its purpose.

Fester ,

And in Apple’s case they’re just being forced to pay back taxes, not even any fines. They’re basically undoing an illegal tax break from Ireland, which has spent $10 million in legal fees to fight against receiving it. Technically the Irish government is the one that fucked up here. Apple will have to pay and move forward paying a normal tax rate.

Sprokes ,

Revenue doesn’t equal profit but many companies are using multiple schemes to show that they are not profitable. So we also need to check the revenue. A company can just increase the CEO salary to eat up all the profit.

illi ,

I’m sure fines are under “other expenses” in their financials…

rand_alpha19 , (edited )

I'm glad that corporations are actually receiving fines that are commensurate with their earnings and scale. Hopefully it's enough to get them to not do this shit.

Lost_My_Mind ,

Ok…but now what forces these companies to actually pay? What happens if they just DON’T pay?

ANIMATEK ,

BAN HAMMER

Lost_My_Mind ,

Ban from what exactly?

kambusha ,

Operating in the EU?

Lost_My_Mind ,

But what if they keep doing it anyways?

needanke ,

Police?

Katzastrophe ,
@Katzastrophe@feddit.org avatar

Those who continue to do business with them will be punished

JordanZ ,

They lose their business license. Shut down the retail locations. Customs will seize all imports of their goods into the country. They can do a lot to make it so trying to circumvent the system just isn’t worth the hassle. Their income from that country will plummet regardless.

kambusha ,

They could force ISPs to block, not allow physical hardware sales in stores, take over any assets (offices), confiscate their server farms. There’s lots that can be done.

Kazumara ,

They have offices and datacenters in the EU. So forced physical entry and interruption to their operations would be the next escalation step.

tee900 ,

But what if they hire mercenaries to force access to their physical locations?

PlexSheep ,

At that point it’s an act of rebellion against that nations authority over its territory, and the police/armed forces may step in.

I see what you’re doing but that chain of thought doesn’t lead anywhere.

MurrayL ,

Additional fines and, if necessary, sanctions. If you refuse to pay a fine imposed by the EU then guess what? You can’t do business in the EU any more.

Honytawk ,

The removal of all of their products in the EU, and the blockage of their services, including all those datacenters being closed down and sold.

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