Isn't the fine of violation 20mil Euro or 4% annual rev, whichever is higher? That could put any side projects (or even small startups) out of business, no?
Sure, and I welcome an attempt to collect that. I'm not going to hold my breath though.
Oh, so you don't use services of a company which has to comply with EU authorities? I am pretty sure, they can freeze your AWS/GCP account.
Nope. I do everything on bare metal, local to me. I guess they could squeeze my ISP, but that wouldn't be a significant business continuity problem for me. If they come after my utility/energy provider I'll be concerned.
Does anyone abduct the poorest boy in the village and then demand a massive ransom? The parents can't pay even if they want to and the whole endeavor would be a waste of time. Unless your revenue is high enough where you would even be able to pay a fine of a million here or there I don't wouldn't let that put off any side projects or small startups because of this.