Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like a patent troll

Re:Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like ... by michaelt on Tuesday June 15, 2021 @06:22AM (#27513273)

I've got some sympathy for this in the case of countries other than the US and China.

After all, if Stanford does research funded by the US taxpayer, develops a new ML technology and gives it away for free, Google/Facebook will make a bunch of money from it, which they'll pay US taxes on.

But if École Polytechnique does research funded by the French taxpayer, develops a new ML technology and gives it away for free? Google/Facebook will make a bunch of money from it, which they'll pay US taxes on - while the French economy will see a much smaller upside.

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Re:Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like ... by marcus_holmes on Tuesday June 15, 2021 @06:35AM (#27513344)

> Google/Facebook will make a bunch of money from it, which they'll pay US taxes on.

hahahhaahhaaa. Um no. Possibly some Irish taxes? Maybe some Virgin Islands taxes?

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Re:Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like ... by kortilla on Wednesday June 16, 2021 @02:29AM (#27525495)

You’re confusing federal income tax with federal taxes in general. Google pays significant federal taxes any time they grant out stock or pay cash to employees/execs via payroll taxes.

There isn’t a way to avoid the taxation when that excess profit leaves the company somehow to shareholders. Even buybacks that cause stock appreciation lead to significant fed revenue when people sell.

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Re:Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like ... by emodendroket on Tuesday June 15, 2021 @09:38AM (#27515337)

At the very least they're going to be doing payroll taxes.

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Re:Universities have formed a company that looks a lot like ... by marcus_holmes on Tuesday June 15, 2021 @01:53PM (#27518964)

Google and Facebook are both multinational companies, employing people in many different countries. I guess there's probably a majority of their payroll expenses in the USA, but I have no idea.

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