Context :
How
Big Tech Generated Billions In Fines... Then Didn't Pay Them ………… 18 Nov
2023
Extract :
Rarely a month goes by without big
tech companies getting fined for price fixing, squashing competitors or
misusing data, but it can take years before they pay a penny.
Ireland's data regulator confirmed to
AFP that :
Meta has not paid any
of the two billion euros ($2.2 billion) in fines issued since last September. TikTok also owes
hundreds of millions.
Amazon is still appealing against a 746 million euro
fine from 2021, Luxembourg's data
regulator told AFP.
Google is still disputing EU fines worth more than eight billion euros for abusing its market position between
2017 and 2019.
Apple has fought for years against a French antitrust fine of 1.1 billion euros and an order to pay 13 billion euros of
tax to Ireland.
The problem is
constant, global and involves tech companies of all sizes, not just the big
four.
This week Australia confirmed that X (formerly Twitter) had not paid a fine
imposed for failing to outline its plans to stamp out content depicting child
sexual abuse -- though X is now counter-suing.
Critics say fining tech companies
does not stop their bad behaviour and it
is time for more drastic action.
Margarida Silva, a researcher at
Dutch NGO the Centre for Research on Multinationals, pointed out that tech
firms have long revelled in their reputation for "disruption".
"Not
paying the fines fits in with the way we've seen big tech companies challenge
pretty much any enforcement of rules against them,"
said Silva.
"Even if the
company ultimately loses, by that point they
will have dragged the administration through years and years of
expenditure."
This sets tech apart from industries
like finance, she argued, where there is still an incentive to pay to reassure
the public and investors.
But Romain Rard, a lawyer at Gide
Loyrette Nouel in Paris, said it was common sense that firms would look to
appeal big penalties.
"It's not as if companies can
just ignore the fine, challenge decisions and hope for the best that they can
get away without having to pay anything," he told AFP.
And there have been notable successes
for the companies -- chip firms Intel
and Qualcomm have both recently had billion-dollar EU antitrust fines overturned or
dramatically reduced on appeal.
Europe's system is different to
jurisdictions like China or the United States, where fines often come at the
end of a lengthy process and are announced as settlements.
In 2019, Facebook paid a record $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the
Cambridge Analytica scandal.
And e-commerce giant Alibaba told investors in 2021 it
immediately paid a record almost $3 billion fine to Chinese regulators in 2021.
Activists argue that these companies are simply too rich for financial penalties to have much
impact.
Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, who has
campaigned vigorously for data rights in Europe, said the issue was exacerbated
by uneven application of the rules.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, he said, allowed the companies
too much leeway with their appeals processes and issued fines that were far too small.
In an interview with AFP, Ireland's
deputy data protection commissioner Graham Doyle defended his office's record
and said fines were only one part of the story.
"With the vast majority of these
investigations that we've finalised, whilst the fines tend to generate the most
publicity, we have also imposed corrective measures," he said.
He highlighted an investigation into
Instagram for their handling of children's data.
A 405 million euro fine is currently
under appeal, but Doyle stressed that the platform had already fixed the
initial problem.
Activists agree that fines can only be a part of the solution.
Silva argued that rather than
noodling around with financial penalties, it was time for competition regulators
to step up.
She urged them to halt future
takeovers and mergers in the sector and undo the damage of the past,
potentially even breaking up the companies.
"The problem of Meta would be
entirely different if it hadn't been allowed to buy Instagram and
WhatsApp," she said.
Key Take-Aways :
# …. the problem is constant,
global and involves tech companies of all sizes
# … by that point they will have dragged the administration through years and
years of expenditure."
# ….. these companies are simply too rich for financial penalties to have much
impact
# …..issued fines that were far too small
# ……fines can only be a part
of the solution
# …. it
is time for more drastic action
# ….. it was time for competition regulators
to step up.
My Take :
Dear Shri
Ashwini Vaishnawji – Rajeev Chandrasekharji
:
In Data Protection Law , you have provided a fine of Rs 250 Cr ( Approx. $ 30
million ) for
various kinds of
( entities which hold User Personal / Non-personal Data , on their
computers )
This amount is too
small
And it will take YEARS – and a cost of much more than Rs 250 Cr – to collect this
fine ( if ever
! )
But that is now “
Water under the Bridge “ !
Like a theosophist
, let us ask ourselves :
“ What else can I do now to
help those USERS to MONETIZE their
personal data ?
How can I ensure that those BIG ( FAT ) TECH , compensate the users for their
data ?
( by selling which, they have managed to raise their MARKET CAP to more than
TWICE of India’s GDP ? “)
For a DEFINITIVE ANSWER , please implement :
Only Answer : a
Statutory Warning ……………………………………………[ 10 Nov 2018 ]
SARAL ( Single Authentic Registration
for Anywhere Login )….[ 10 Feb 2019 ]
Digital
Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ]…………
…………….[ 14 Feb 2019 ]
Privacy for
Sale ………………………………………………………………………….[ 26 Aug 2017]
If DEPA =
Foundation , then SARAL = Superstructure ………………[ 08 May 2022 ]
Meta
falls in line : It was either Comply or Quit.. …………………………01 Aug 2023
India
Dataset Platform .. ………………………………………………………………….17 Nov 2023
With Regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.hemenparekh.ai / 20
Nov 2023
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