On: Prison time, hefty fines for data privacy violatio...

[TazeTSchnitzel]

Of course, Europe has had no startups at all since the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) was passed in 1995. /s

[manigandham → TazeTSchnitzel]

Europe does not have anything comparable to Silicon Valley, and heavy regulations are often cited as making it hard to do business there.

[elliekelly → manigandham]

Yet they still seem to find a way. That tells me the regulations aren't as onerous as some businesses would have you believe.

[manigandham → elliekelly]

Who is "they"? Sure there are some companies, but clearly nothing like SV.

[twtw → manigandham]

I'd be A-ok if it had been impossible for Google, Facebook, etc to build advertising empires.

[alexS → TazeTSchnitzel]

Exactly.

[tareqak → alexS]

There are plenty of startups in Europe.