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Comment by bostand | Hacker News Reader

Telia is paying billions to US for conducting business in Uzbekistan in the only way it can be done.

please remember this next time EU fines Google.

If that is the only way business can be done in Uzbekistan then Telia had no business case in Uzbekistan. It's a no-brainer.

And if you are going to argue with China taking the business, well, let China do the bribery and take the business. The free, open economy will outperform closed corrupted systems in the long run.

Agreed. Add to that fines for any company / executives involved in US / countries that don't ignore corruption.

With the minor caveat that the "free, open economy" (which is really neither free nor open, but I digress) contains strong incentives to prioritize growth and short term profits over other considerations. From the perspective of most shareholders, the only thing Telia did wrong was getting caught. I'm sure they'll do better next time.

how are the situations at all comparable, and is anyone even trying to defend Telia here except you?

Google is being fined by EU for their business practices in EU.

Telia is being fined for their business practices in a third country.

Not defending anyone, but can't you see this is a dangerous path? What would happen if Saudi Arabia fined Coca Cola for an "indecent" commercial they televised in Delaware?

That's probably one of the risks of doing business in Saudi Arabia.

Doing business in EU or US is not risk-free either.

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