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Big Tech generated billions in fines but didn't pay them
(m.economictimes.com)
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this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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I always wondered what recourse these governments have to enforce these fines.
It’s not like these companies are just refusing to pay their fines, as this article falsely implies. There are ongoing legal disputes. Most of Meta’s “unpaid” fines, for example, are from just six months ago and there are legitimate disagreements on them that are subject to appeal.
Hmm, with some lawsuits going years and years, seems like postponing decisions could save a lot because of the time value of money. Maybe one could make a law to account for a standard opportunity cost per industry to increase the fine amount from the date committed to the date paid.
The specifics vary depending on exactly what is owed to whom and why, but in many of these cases the amount owed is subject to interest if, ultimately, it must be paid, or the money has actually already been provided but is held in escrow.
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They should do what happens to parking fines here in Finland. If you want to dispute it you can, but you need to pay the original fine or you get interest and late fees added on. As far as I know if you win, you get the original fine returned, not the interest or fees.
I like this idea
In the Meta case from earlier this year, the Irish regulator that imposed the fines did not think it warranted fines at all but they were overruled by a European organization. When the national regulator who investigated the offenses disagrees with the punishment, I think we can at the very least consider it a legitimate subject of dispute.
The article also says that Apple has fought for years against a 1.1 billion Euro fine in France. What the article leaves out is that Apple has been successful. Courts have already agreed with Apple and eliminated roughly 2/3 of that fine. Again, clearly there is a legitimate legal dispute over a fine if the legal system determines the regulators were, indeed, wrong.
Of course, that's understood, but what I wonder about is how would they enforce it? Does Ireland have the capabilities to block all of Meta's IPs nationwide? If so, what about VPNs? Can they get Apple and Google to delist Meta for Irish citizens? Essentially, I'm wondering about the logistics of enforcement.
If they really wanted to, they could completely kick Meta and Google out of the country. They won't do that, however, because it will be deeply unpopular with the electorate.
They can do a lot in-between, however. They can, for example, halt all payments from resident accounts to Meta/Google
For one I don't think it would be wise to piss off an EU member
Even GDPR fines are rarely paid in full. We hear about the levied fine since that’s public, but not the actual payment deal.
Guillotine?
Banning product?
They should. But many of these companies also control news flow.
Imagine the narrative of "Ireland blocks speech by banning Facebook". Not to mention all the power that other tech companies that rely on those sites for ads have. Taylor Swift traveling there would immediately force Ireland to reopen that social media platform, easily.
Country looks bad. Tech company gets to lol. Fines still get unpaid.
It's a shit situation.
Well, they can seize company property.
But the Irish Government and therefore their Data Protection Entity don’t actually want Data Privacy because they earn quite a lot of money with the actual lack thereof.
So they are not going to do anything about it unless they are forced by European Institutions or other European governments.
In places like Ireland, where it was notoriously used as a tax haven loophole, do many large multinationals using it for that purpose have any real company presence there? Genuine question.
They usually have a decent office in Dublin but that's about it.
Apple has several thousand employees in Ireland. Ireland wanted to lure foreign investment by offering lower taxes and it worked. Ireland was happy. Apple was happy. Decades later, the EU decided it wasn’t happy.