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Comment by jbigelow76 | Hacker News Reader

    >Facebook will do just fine, they had years to prepare and an army of lawyers.

Microsoft had years to prepare and an army of lawyers too.

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Hmm? Microsoft went through some pain, but their valuation looks fine and they are on the rise again.

https://qz.com/300946/microsoft-at-its-peak-would-have-crush...

And they're doing just fine now... I don't get the point?

If somebody says "X has money and an army of lawyers" the implication is they are going to beat the case, Microsoft didn't, they were slapped with the largest fine ever at the time ($794 million USD). They are fine despite the inability of lawyers and prep time to deliver victory, not because of it. No guarantees FB will fare better (or worse).

Parent claims that Facebook will not "ever be compliant" and "in the worst case the withdraw from these markets".

the whole EU? Too big to withdraw from.

Which is the whole point of the subsequent thread. FB is not just gonna ditch EU, nor are they going to be destroyed by a new regulation.

They got out of China which is also quite big. I just wonder what would replace it if they withdraw.

They're not going to withdraw. Best-case scenario, they stay in the EU but stop abusing users' data there so much, but still make a profic. Worst-case scenario, they're able to weasle their way out of having to change anything.

The worst case would be FB never being compliant. Withdrawing from the markets would be the best case scenario, given non-compliance.

Oh did Microsoft stop having users and stop making insane profits?

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