Hacker News Reader

What % of global revenue or profit do you think an appropriate fine is?

That is for courts, but it should be enough to produce correct behavior by eliminating incentive to violate. If the fine is too small, it becomes operating expense, as is usual in the US.

Probably any fine should accompany (but not depend on results from) criminal charges for a company officer.

So you believe Google made more than $4B with their Android licensing practices in the EU?

I think that is unlikely, and I think it is likely we will see Google change the illegal licensing.

I am more than happy to see a Google exec get charged for a crime if you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed that crime.

If it takes a $4B fine to get Google to behave, then a $4B fine is the right amount, regardless of revenue. Revenue hints at the fine that would get their attention.

We charge people with a crime to see if their part in it can be proved. Second-guessing the court produces often bad results.

> I think that is unlikely, and I think it is likely we will see Google change the illegal licensing.

According to another comment, they even already changed their practices in response, a few years ago

Reply on news.ycombinator.com