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A comment on Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed EU copyright law. Parent comment

Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by thecleaner on Wednesday July 04, 2018 @06:20PM (#17459720)
I never understood the lamentation of Europe not having an internet giant and I mean it as a question. Does it matter whether the companies are American ? I mean their economic contribution are taxes and jobs. Companies would pay as little taxes as is possible no matter where they are and regarding jobs if these companies find sufficient talent in Europe they would setup offices here (like Google is doing in Berlin). Regarding why there arent internet giants here, who knows and who cares. In this day and age there arent many internet companies being creafed anyway. Would appreciate a counter point.
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Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by sonnyblarney on Thursday July 05, 2018 @12:29AM (#17460859)
"Does it matter whether the companies are American ? "

Yes, a lot.

Taxes, industrial base, spin off jobs, etc. so many reasons.

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Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by flukus on Thursday July 05, 2018 @12:46AM (#17460905)
In terms of taxes a lot of these tech giants (facebook, apple) technically European already, with Ireland used as a tax haven.

They also throw their weight around to get local tax concessions when they do open offices internationally, so I'm not sure it's that great a loss in any case.

I could also see it hurting the greater industrial base, a lot of companies need software but can't afford to compete with silicon valley style salaries.

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Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by ivan_gammel on Wednesday July 04, 2018 @06:21PM (#17459730)
I think Google has bigger presence in Munich - at least, they are hiring engineers there, not in Berlin. But, of course, this proves your point even better :)
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Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by jononor on Wednesday July 04, 2018 @06:57PM (#17459877)
The Google campus in Berlin is under construction still. So right now the presence is naturally quite small.
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Re:Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed ... by ma2rten on Wednesday July 04, 2018 @07:05PM (#17459914)
That's true, but the office is still relatively small. Zurich, London and Dublin are the biggest European locations.
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