Walker argues that the market moves faster than legislation and warns that regulatory friction will only leave European consumers and businesses behind in what he calls “the most competitive technological transition we have ever seen.” … Kent Walker suggested that this initiative would stifle innovation and deny people access to the “best digital tools.”

The irony. Is the EU going to fall for this? Or does the EU realise that copyright is in fact the “regulatory friction” that “stifles innovation”?

According to Google, the idea of replacing current tools with open-source programs would not contribute to economic growth.

Does Europe need growth?

And either way, how does making public service more costly by way of licensing fees increase growth in Europe? The license costs could instead be spent funding more European public workers. That’s growth, no?

Google is advocating for US growth at Europe’s expense.

Walker suggested that American companies could collaborate with European firms to implement measures ensuring data protection.

Closed-source software processes data non-transparently, thus compromising GDPR art.5. It’s also a shitty loophole around the GDPR, because when you run a closed-source app, you are technically the one processing the data.

It’s a hole in the GDPR that FOSS fixes.

Looks like a couple good finds there. The 2nd one put me off at 1st w/an apparent dependency on Google drive, but after clicking forward it’s clear that we can skip Google and do a direct upload.

Thanks for the links!

It last worked in 2024. Throughout 2025 it presents the forms, accepts the document, then gives an instant permission denied when sending. Tried creating a new acct and same problem.

It’s something boycotters of Microsoft use to communicate to MS-hosted agencies to avoid supplying recipients with an email address. It gives us control over what MS is allowed to see.

It also channels money better. The recipient who needs to respond is forced to support the postal service instead of Microsoft.

How will they know the difference between an HTTPS connection to a website and a corkscrew (VPN nested inside of HTTPS)?

There is also a human rights issue here. Some servers discriminate depending on where vistors come from, which is determined by IP address. Getting equal treatment sometimes requires us to appear as the unmarginalised group by using a VPN.