| ▲ | sourcecodeplz 2 days ago |
| there is a whole campaign online about hating on the EU & its regulations. |
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| ▲ | ponector a day ago | parent | next [-] |
| People are hating it untill goes abroad to the countries where no such regulations exists. Like in Switzerland it's okay to charge double for the car insurance simply because you carry "unlucky" citizenship. Or EU law about mandatory 14-day return policy for internet order. Ordered recently something in Switzerland and turns out it was a special sale where standard rules does not apply and items could not be returned. Or mandatory USB-C charge socket. God bless EU regulations! |
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| ▲ | gman83 a day ago | parent [-] | | You're right that the EU has much stricter baseline consumer protections than Switzerland, but none of the examples you gave are actually part of the GDPR. Insurance pricing rules come from EU equal treatment directives, the 14-day online return window is the EU Consumer Rights Directive, and the USB-C mandate is the Common Charger Directive (which Switzerland actually adopted into law in 2024 anyway). The GDPR is strictly about data privacy, and it deserves defense on its real merits: it made data collection illegal by default without an explicit legal basis, banned deceptive tracking patterns, and introduced turnover-based fines large enough that tech companies actually had to re-engineer their systems around privacy by design. EU consumer protection directives are great, but it's worth crediting the right ones. |
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| ▲ | leokennis 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Especially Gruber is getting really tiresome. Almost devolving into a “look at them there fruity Yuropeeans with their healthcare and holidays”-level of tech commentary about any minor roadbump big-US-tech encounters in the EU. |
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| ▲ | unsupp0rted 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I dunno, recently traveling through Europe I mentally “joined” the campaign by seeing the ridiculousness for myself. I very much support their ideals and their people-centered mindset. But in execution it’s that meme: US rocket lands in slow motion on reusable pad, Chinese rocket lands in slow motion on reusable pad, European hand in slow motion closes a water bottle cap that is permanently attached to the bottle and always hits you in the nose. |
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| ▲ | haizhung a day ago | parent | next [-] | | Does the slowly landing rocket in any way improve live for ordinary people? | | |
| ▲ | apexalpha a day ago | parent [-] | | Yeah: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink Billions of people are getting access to information through it. | | |
| ▲ | happymellon 15 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Billions? You mean millions. As in 12 million subscribers. Which includes people who have it as a backup. Thats a lot of taxes for a few cities worth of people. Especially since Americans already paid for fibre to be laid to everyone in to US' home until the fund was embezzled. | | |
| ▲ | SR2Z 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | It also includes Ukrainian drone operators, for whom this service is the difference between life and death. Not much tax money was spent on it either. | | |
| ▲ | happymellon 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | They've had $100 million in government subsidies. And then all the government contracts. Their entire business plan is based off taxes. He is the biggest leach on state benefits. > Not much tax money was spent on it either. A lot of tax money has been given to him. |
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| ▲ | M95D a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | Good for them! We, europeans, already have fiber everywhere and unlimited 5G mobile internet for 2 euro/month. | | |
| ▲ | unsupp0rted a day ago | parent [-] | | “2 euro/month” is what you pay directly out of pocket. Your taxes pay the rest. | | |
| ▲ | M95D 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I can't be absolutely sure, but I don't think this is true. This company [1] I'm paying 2euro/month to, AFAIK is not subsidized and never was. They already spread fiber and cable long before we joined EU (in 2007) and I had this 2euro plan since 2006. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi_Communications On the other hand, SpaceX did receive a lot of money from the state. | |
| ▲ | gls2ro 18 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The same goes for landing rockets on the moon. You pay from your taxes. |
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| ▲ | latexr a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | > But in execution it’s that meme: (…) If you agree with that meme, you’ve fallen for the manipulative narrative of lobbyists¹. Bottle caps are a massive problem (as is plastic in general) on the environment (you know, the thing we all live in) and the regulation is already having an impact. There will be more regulating the uses of plastic. If you don’t know why the bottle caps are so problematic, you live a privileged life and are being shielded from the reality your fellow human beings have to endure (but will eventually feel the effects just the same). We don’t fucking need rockets right now, what we need is to stop poisoning ourselves. True progress is not inventing new technology, it’s understanding how to properly use what we have and reject what is harmful. ¹ Which is not a dig on you; we’re all susceptible to be tricked by these massive corporations whose only goal is to extract value from us. I’m on your side. | | |
| ▲ | unsupp0rted a day ago | parent [-] | | I've had the bottle cap in my nose multiple times... nobody's tricking me into not liking it. Yes: I have the privilege of living in a developed 21st century world where I don't need to deal with stuff like this. Proud of it. I'm well past being told to eat my vegetables because children in Africa are starving. The solution is to expand the pie for everybody, not to throw our arms up and return to living in caves in harmony with "nature". Technology and progress solve this. | | |
| ▲ | torlok a day ago | parent | next [-] | | Nobody's forcing you to buy products in plastic bottles. It would actually be better if you didn't. "Technology and progress" are so far producing mountains of trash and pollution that you're privileged to not have to see, unlike those children in Africa, and other impoverished places where your garbage washes up. You're proud of winning the lottery. Have some self-awareness. | | |
| ▲ | unsupp0rted a day ago | parent [-] | | I’m proud of living in a world of comfort that every generation before me has suffered through hell to accomplish. The solution to children in Africa suffering isn’t me living worse or even me beating myself up for “my privilege”. |
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| ▲ | seba_dos1 a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | > I've had the bottle cap in my nose multiple times... Are you unfamiliar with the concept of rotating an object? |
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| ▲ | whatsThisBtn4 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I made a physical product and upon learning European regulations, I quickly decided I was going to spend 0 time designing it for Europe. If I made millions, sure, pay someone to figure it out. But I was not going to waste design time early on. I can't imagine how much this affects small business in Europe. |
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| ▲ | foldr 2 days ago | parent [-] | | These are just general barriers to international trade, though. Small manufacturers in Europe may likewise decide not to design for US regulations. | | |
| ▲ | WA 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Relative of mine is Swiss. They produce cookies for the US market. Every few years, an FDA-adjacent regulator comes to Switzerland, inspects the place in person, expects dinner, entertainment and whatnot, gives his signature and off he goes. My relative says that no other country they export to overseas is this far-reaching (not to say over-reaching) regulatory-wise. | |
| ▲ | mft_ 2 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | No (what I’m fairly sure is being referred to is that) there are (very recent) significant additional barriers to trade between EU member states, which disproportionately impact small businesses. | | |
| ▲ | foldr a day ago | parent [-] | | I don't think so. The most natural reading of OP's post is that they are outside Europe. You wouldn't say "I can't imagine how much this affects small business in Europe" if you were yourself running a small business in Europe. | | |
| ▲ | setsewerd a day ago | parent [-] | | Unless you were in Europe and didn't run a small business | | |
| ▲ | foldr a day ago | parent [-] | | Ok, but their post talks about making a product in small volumes. It doesn't explicitly say that it's a small business, but together with the first person singular language, that's definitely the impression given. Also, their other posts suggest they are in the US: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477186 |
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| ▲ | seydor a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Are you sure about it? In fact,eu commission and parliament are Meta's biggest political spenders in most EU countries. https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/report/?source=onboardi... Personally i find this type of knee-jerk reaction to any discussion about the EU suspicious |
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| ▲ | Sharlin 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| There are many powerful actors in whose interests it is to spread FUD about the EU, and none of those entities have the average citizen’s best interests in mind. |
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| ▲ | gman83 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I mean this isn't some hidden agenda. The Heritage Foundation has an active plan to dismantle the EU from within. |
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| ▲ | mft_ 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Maybe it’s all a misinformation campaign… or maybe even people who live in, recognise and benefit from the good sides of the European experience, can also legitimately criticise bad aspects? It’s not binary - there are shades of grey. |
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| ▲ | 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
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| ▲ | on_the_train a day ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I'm a European citizen. I hate the EU. |
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| ▲ | torlok a day ago | parent [-] | | Europeans were blowing each other up 80 years ago. Now we have complete freedom of movement and trade. You're missing the forest for the trees. The EU is the greatest achievement of our parents' generation. |
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