EU continues it's war on US tech companies

[parochial boy]

Is it a coincidence that the US produces a disproportionate number of monopolistic giants that that think the laws don't apply to them? Probably not

Is it a good thing that the EU, one of the few organisations with the ability to take them on, is actually willing to? Absolutely

[parochial boy]

You really think google/windows/facebook haven't exploited their market position? (Which is what the fine is about - not whether they actually  are monopolies or not)

[parochial boy]

You really think google/windows/facebook haven't exploited their market position? (Which is what the fine is about - not whether they actually  are monopolies or not)

I think every company ever tries to exploit their market position.  You don't think <___insert your favorite Europen company here____> tries to exploit there market position?  And if it's about that, why did you bring up monopolies first?

Monopolistic behaviour and "being a monopoly" are not the same thing; and regardless of whether "almost all companies" try to exploit their market position, whether or not they are able to is a reflection of their power within the market place - which is why it is absolutely right to go after tech giants like google/facebook/microsoft.

Part of the reason that these giants tend to emerge in the US is that the US has weaker antitrust law than the EU.  Remember that the EU also imposed mandatory audit rotation on the big 4 accountancy firms, three of which are European.

tax cheats?  How can a group that has Greece as a member bitch about somebody else being a tax cheat?

tbh, attacking Ireland, the UK, Luxembourg or the Netherlands as enablers of tax cheating would be a fair enough criticism too. To which the answer is that it is about time the EU does something about them (especially Luxembourg).