Berlin-based Langdock moves its parent company from the US to Germany
54 points by jethronethro a day ago | 22 comments
  • booi a day ago |
    let me guess.. regulatory capture?
    • fakedang a day ago |
      Maybe don't guess and read the article? European data sovereignty and CLOUD act.
      • dalemhurley a day ago |
        Same thought I had.
      • guywithahat 21 hours ago |
        But "European data sovereignty" is regulatory capture, although it sort of reads like they had a US parent company to attend y combinator and raise money, but are now moving fully to Berlin, which is what they intended from the start.
        • 1718627440 21 hours ago |
          Isn't regulatory capture when a company shapes regulation to achieve business interests? How is this the case here?
          • nickff 21 hours ago |
            Excluding foreign competitors is a classic ‘regulatory capture’-style approach. Regulatory capture is (typically) a ‘bootleggers and baptists’ scenario where there are both good and bad reasons to enact the rules.
        • greggoB 21 hours ago |
          > But "European data sovereignty" is regulatory capture

          This doesn't match my understanding of regulatory capture [0] - is there any evidence that this company specifically orchestrated the EU's data protection laws in order to benefit from by blocking out competitors? Would be unexpected, since laws like GDPR predate its founding.

          [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

          • guywithahat 3 hours ago |
            > is there any evidence that this company specifically orchestrated the EU's data protection laws

            Companies don't write laws. All regulatory capture requires is for the company to be benefiting from laws and/or policy designed to exclude foreign companies and/or other competition. The point is that type of economic productivity is useless and derived from corruption in a free market. For years the EU has attempted to exclude US tech companies from competing and this is a continuation of that.

            And for what its worth your wiki link seems to agree with me, I'm not sure why you posted it.

        • fakedang 20 hours ago |
          The difference between data sovereignty and regulatory capture is that the populace generally wants data sovereignty. The populace does not want big corporations dictating the rules of the trade.
  • vrganj a day ago |
    > US laws, including the Cloud Act, have created concerns across the market that American authorities could seek access to customer data.

    The CLOUD Act is becoming a bigger and bigger deal here in Europe. It definitely kills deals.

    • leonidasrup a day ago |
      "Is the CLOUD Act only applicable to U.S. cloud service providers?"

      "No. The CLOUD Act applies to all electronic communication service or remote computing service providers that operate or have a legal presence in the U.S. For example, the CLOUD Act is also applicable to a cloud service provider that is headquartered in the EU and has operations in the United State"

      https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/cloud-act/

      • buildfocus a day ago |
        Seems intentionally misleading. While I agree exposure to US surveillance in non-US providers likely isn't zero, it's significantly harder for the US to do this internationally for legal, practical & political reasons. AWS is not a neutral voice on their competitor's limitations.
      • 1718627440 21 hours ago |
        > also applicable to a cloud service provider that is headquartered in the EU and has operations in the United State(sic)

        As if any company isn't going to create a subsidiary for that.

      • bananzamba 20 hours ago |
        The difference is with European data stored by American companies
  • dalemhurley a day ago |
    Sovereign AI is going to be the next frontier. It’s apparent that all nations need to prepare themselves for possible challenges from foreign hyperscalers facing laws that are being rushed through to alleviate fear caused by fear mongers.
    • cyanydeez 21 hours ago |
      dont you mean laws being completed ignored by hyperscalers?
  • thih9 21 hours ago |
    It’s not surprising. With abrupt changes regarding tariffs, policies and AI in particular, US became increasingly unstable.

    Perhaps trust could be regained if the country was renamed to Lower Canada by popular vote. I’m not sure anything else would help at this point.

    • alfiedotwtf 20 hours ago |
      Unstable? I think you mean actively hostile… unless of course you’re Russia or North Korea
      • Georgelemental 18 hours ago |
        Amazes me that, after the events of the past 3 years, so many people still think Russia is the major foreign influence on American politics.
        • techgnosis 17 hours ago |
          Who are you implying it is? China? Iran? NK? Someone else?
          • ahf8Aithaex7Nai 13 hours ago |
            Well, there's a pretty obvious answer that doesn't require a conspiracy theory, because the influence is well documented and, in many cases, isn't even denied or concealed by those being influenced.
          • Georgelemental 3 hours ago |
            I'll give you a hint: many of our most prominent politicians openly proclaim that it is a religious Commandment from God Himself to do whatever that country's leaders want.