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[–] 158 points 6 months ago (4 children)

When fines are set numbers and not percentages of profit, fines just become part of the business model.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Capital punishment for C-suite level executives. People make these decisions and then hide behind the concept of corporations. Hold people accountable.

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  • [–] 17 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    I would settle for capital punishment for the corporation. Board dissolved. All assets sold at public auction with a pure lottery, so asshats can't depend on buying any key asset. All stock voided.

    Could really get everyone on the same page about respecting the rule of law.

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  • [–] 32 points 6 months ago

    In addition to percentage based fines levied against the business, I feel that executives, board members, and major voting shareholders also need to face legal consequences.

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  • [–] 55 points 6 months ago (13 children)

    GDPR sets the example:

    20 million euros

    Or

    4% of your revenue

    Whichever is higher

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  • [–] 22 points 6 months ago (10 children)

    4%? Nah, set it to 20% at the bare minimum. First one who gets hit with one fifth of their revenue getting yoinked away by the government would get everyone else in line.

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    4% of your revenue is a lot for a low-margin business, which is most of them. google's margin is like 40% though.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    Then set the percentage based on the margin? Something that would genuinely hurt without simply dismantling the business, so there’s still something left to correct itself?

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago*

    Creative accounting would just make the margin zero for the purposes of the calculation. It's a lot harder to magic away total revenue

    Also the purpose of the fine is not intended to be a slap on the wrist, it's intended to be a strong deterrent to ensure companies do everything they can to ensure the law is followed. Most companies won't take the risk of skipping compliance on something that could wipe the business out

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Why don't we want to dismantle the business?

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (1 child)

    It's always fun when you run into a neoliberal in the wild. They can condone a lot of things like mass incarceration, crippling poverty, corrupt Justice systems, and of course genocide. Hurting a business though? That they can't imagine.

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  • [–] 19 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Fines need to be a percentage of gross income, so there's no artificially suppressing the fine like they do their taxes.

    Lets see how long it takes to fix them if they're paying 1% of their yearly intake daily as long as they're out of compliance.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Fines for corporations should be a percentage of their revenue. Google getting fined 25% of their total net worth would get them complying real fucking quick.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    I've never understood why the same hasn't happened to Apple, who are just as bad (if not worse)

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  • [–] -2 points 6 months ago

    Even with the small fines, constant fines could add up. Why else did Google and other tech companies support Trump? They are pissed during the Biden administration of the aggressive antitrust cases by the FTC under Lina Khan.

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