Just enforcing the law. Happens all the time
https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/24/google-of...
https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/24/google-of...
There are scant few details available, but this might be something more serious than just plain old tax evasion.
Now, because this is Huawei, I don't disagree per se, but that's a different matter. This company should just be outright banned from Europe.
You don't even need a tangible reason! Just because you want to!
For this reason it's impossible for any multinational to compete against Huawei while following the laws. (at least it was all the way until 2015 and by then the ship has sailed).
The idea that Huawei was just better at innovation etc isn't true either since how much of these (5G) patents came to be created is another horror story.
Eventually Huawei gobbled up all the R&D in France, Italy and Germany that previously belonged to us. Lot of people that got laid off from their previous employer simply switched to Huawei working on the same thing. You could work on cutting edge tech for Siemens in Milan one day, and a few months later worked for Huawei on the same topic.
In no other place was the IP theft so visible as in the ETSI standards workgroups (based in france). At ETSI workshops Huawei was "shining" with their active participation and with European based engineers from Italy, France, and Germany - while the other players were slowly dying and could barely afford sending people to these workshops or put them on full-time job for standards ... The reason they could do it is because they simply didn't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us.
the biggest criminals of course aren't Huawei execs but Telecom CxO's that knew how their companies got ripped off but still decided it was a great idea to create a site in China to off-shore some of the work. They sold out not just their companies in exchange for a fat bonus but an entire industry.
[1] https://www.dw.com/en/siemens-chief-promises-full-explanatio...
Move fast, break the law and buy your way out of the consequences is as much a Silicon Valley play as it is Chinese.
Uber implemented a kill switch to prevent government law enforcement from accessing (potentially) incriminating or sensitive information during onsite investigations. When activated, the kill switch would effectively cut off access to Uber's data for the location being raided.
Expecting companies to fully cooperate with state agencies might not always be realistic... I understand why authorities might prefer to directly seize materials or data. It eliminates any potential delay or non-compliance: they basically cut the bullshit.
https://civilprocedure.uslegal.com/discovery/spoliation-of-e...
Would they do it as soon as polite dudes in suits walk in? Would chaos ensue if the switch were pulled in a false alarm? If not, then it's "reversible" and an employee could be coerced into flipping it back, right?
France authorities also recently ransacked Nvidias office in France: https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidias-french-offices-ra...
More and more is it so, that European governments see successful companies as a threat to their power and control.
Politicians on the other hand, like Mr. Trump, are usually born-rich buffoons who do anything to win, and after they win, many of them exercise their power with intolerance and arrogance. Politicians climb the ranks using their money and power, not by developing technical skills, or learning important crafts.
The Great Man theory is trumped by the "Went to the right schools and my parents have connections" theory. For both C-suite and politicians.
In the face of politicians vs C-suite business men, you know, it's the politicians that have the authority and power, and they are at the crux to yield it responsibly. C-suite business men are like ants to the politicians - powerless in comparison with the powers of the lawmakers.
As a result, it's not so much of C-suite business men being just, as it's about politicians being unjust.
Usually these discussions get end with everything being miraculously cured if we all go libertarian.
Well, going more libertarian would be a great start.
At least in our neoliberal system all these assholes are counter-powers to each other. Too bad for the environment, though.
> These C-suite successful companies were at least built and designed by successful people, who succeeded by being moral human beings at least more moral
Ah yes, the famous morality of big tobacco, as well as big oil, big pharma, big agrochemestry and now big tech.
Big anything?
This is the kind of things police will do if they have a warrant (or the local equivalent) in any sane democracy. Democracy does not mean that we have to let companies get away with crime or nicely tell them before a search so they can destroy evidence.
> ransacked
Search, that’s the word you’re looking for.
> More and more is it so, that European governments see successful companies as a threat to their power and control.
How’s the US government handling Huawei again? Did the Atlantic Ocean close overnight?
Also, what makes you think that police investigations are more common than they used to be?
There is not a single sentence that makes sense in your post.
Democracy also doesn't mean that the authorities should ransack successful companies on a mere whim. Democracy also doesn't mean that the states and government should exercise their power limitlessly, nor turn their power into oppressing the people.
> How’s the US government handling Huawei again? Did the Atlantic Ocean close overnight?
This isn't about Huawei. The OP above me wrote about Google, and I included Nividia.
> Also, what makes you think that police investigations are more common than they used to be?
Obviously, this isn't something I'm going to be able to prove. Not all my arguments need to be backed by some sort of a sourceable evidence. If you don't want to believe this part of my statement, then don't, it's up to the reader to form their own opinion - that by no means discredits my post, since I'm obviously giving my opinion and you don't have to agree.
> Search, that’s the word you’re looking for.
Ransacked: search through (a place or receptacle) to find something, especially in such a way as to cause disorder and damage.
^ Yup, that's the one.
Furthermore, the European elite hate the successful american companies with a passion, and they purposely undermine them to help their own companies instead.
There have been plenty of scandals where the US has engineered spying to help US companies [1]. Corruption is corruption except when it’s international and in your own nations interest.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/business/us-snooping-on-c...
Criminal versus civil. This sounds like sanctions suspicions.
Is it because Google's mantra is "Don't be evil", therefore they will be truthful with their records and companies not employing such a mantra might destroy evindence therefore can to be raided?
You can destroy things fairly quickly. The Stasi destroyed more than a million records in less than a night. And in 2024 it takes a button click. https://www.stasi-unterlagen-archiv.de/en/archives/the-recon...
1) steal legitimate and legal intellectual property
2) while they perform the raid, they search for other reasons to find them guilty of something
3) make good companies look bad to the public
4) it's not that unusual for them to accidentally destroy or cause damage to property while they perform the raid
5) maintain oppression that they might at anytime be raided for anything