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Comment by askonomm | Hacker News Reader

Because companies here actively want to avoid breaking the law, as opposed to the U.S where breaking the law is just a matter of paying some $ to the grifter in chief? I always find it funny when Europeans being proactive about that sort of stuff is somehow a bad thing from Americans point of view. Like wanting decent human rights and not having to bend over to megacorps is something we should not have.

Though, if the Americans in question just want to do their grifting in EU, it makes sense why they are upset at that, I guess, because it limits their grifting opportunities.

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> companies here actively want to avoid breaking the law

This is hilarious. This reminds me of Soviet propaganda. "No, there was no Chernobyl disaster. Please disregard the corpses. Yes, the centrally-planned economy is doing fantastically, better than expected. Reports of famines and shortages are imperialist propaganda."

(Mind you, the Soviets are not alone here, but the blatant chutzpah of Soviet propaganda is perhaps more conspicuous to the Western eye than the Western varieties of PR and psychological manipulation.)

>Because companies here actively want to avoid breaking the law

Haha, yeah sure. What other fairy tales you gonna tells us next?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens#2005_and_continuing:_w...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirecard_scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmalat_bankruptcy_timeline

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus#Bribery_allegations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CumEx-Files

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafarge_scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizergate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ING_Group#Money_laundering_cas...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Holdings#Corruptio...

Yes, European companies break the law too. However, the comment this was about literally mocked the companies that are actively trying to follow the law.

So yes, such companies exist and plenty of people see their existence as a good thing rather then something to mock.

That comment mocked German customers; it didn't mention companies at all.

I read it like the customers where German based companies.

Obviously B2B given the context

Law has no virtue in and of itself.

It also ultimately a expression of might makes right (sad as this is) and as the current culture supports a decline of western might, it also undoes the law - first international, than domestic. We simply decided to burden our might with these restriction fictions, others feel not at all compelled to follow.

I expect to see further selling out of these laws, as the economic prosperity declines. I can perfectly see german law limiting german companies from developing and selling AI products, while at the same time allowing us companies for a "pay our retires and pension-plans" kickback.

In Europe, those are scandals. In the US, it's another Tuesday.

If we keep moving the goalposts you can make any argument

What goalposts? Your sitting president, himself a conman is pardoning fraudsters left and right while he and his family enrich themselves with public money and extortion.

Shhhh, don't tell them, it'll be funnier at the end.

What's "the end"?

> Your sitting president, himself a conman

Joke's on you, I'm European not American, so "your president" in this case would be the unelected Ursula and she would technically be a con-woman, not a con-man.

Not sure what your argument was supposed to prove with this cheap jab though.

Ursula Van der Leyen was elected. Trump too.

If you argue she wasn't elected by the European population, well, Trump technically isn't too.

Let me rephrase this: companies want to avoid breaking the law unknowingly, because their US providers are going to break the law without notice, willingly or unwillingly.

Plenty of corporations are willing to break the rules, but never for free.

> because their US providers are going to break the law without notice, willingly or unwillingly

This is a weird hill to die on because it's not true. I can't find anything to support your world view and if anything evidence points to the contrary. Europe has a deliberately more complex legal framework, usually in the hopes of keeping out foreign competition (although it's dubious whether or not that actually works).

> I can't find anything to support your world view

Just look at US laws pertaining to data that goes through US companies.

Thank you for your brilliant demonstration of survivorship bias.

How many people were punished for Enron? For the subprime crisis? Etc.

In the US, you just give a little money for the president's ballroom and you are pardoned. Or you settle out of court because your justice system is crap.

The CEO of Enron was convicted and died two months before sentencing and the COO got 12 years.

Interestingly the chief accountant of Enron ended up getting a job in Europe after he got out of prison.

>Interestingly the chief accountant of Enron ended up getting a job in Europe after he got out of prison.

But, but ..Europeans here said they don't tolerate crooks.

The parent poster is implying things that aren't:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Fastow

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