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submitted 10 months ago by nave@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] TheRaven@lemmy.ca 201 points 10 months ago

It would be pretty funny for a court to actually determine that a “just business” is synonymous with “doing evil”

[-] doublejay1999@lemmy.world 49 points 10 months ago

/r/selfawarewolves

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[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 126 points 10 months ago

Can’t fool me, they gave it away when they removed “Don’t be evil” from their motto back in 2015.

[-] FrostyTrichs@lemmy.world 36 points 10 months ago

Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.

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[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago

The first time I saw the slogan all I could think is "a normal not-evil person doesn't need to make such a disclaimer".

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[-] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 102 points 10 months ago

These are not mutually exclusive statements.

[-] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 63 points 10 months ago

That venn diagram would make a functional wheel.

[-] alonely0@programming.dev 74 points 10 months ago

A publicly traded company is legally obligated to be evil.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 19 points 10 months ago

Are you perhaps referring to the myth that the law requires companies to maximize shareholder profits above all else?

[-] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 18 points 10 months ago

Ok I was ready to disparage your link since the domain ends in .ai, but actually that was a decent read and a pretty good argument. I'm glad to have better knowledge of the actual court rulings.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 7 points 10 months ago

I didn't even look at the URL, to be honest; it was the most layman-friendly and succinct article that was from the last few years that popped up in a quick search, but there's plenty of similar articles from other sources if anyone doubts this one.

[-] Eldritch@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

There is no law that says they must. But shareholders are justified to fire C suite who don't. And realistically shareholders only care about profits. Therefore they effectively must. Regardless of it not being "law".

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[-] Boogiepop@lemmy.world 69 points 10 months ago

Is profit at any cost morally irresponsible?

No, it's the consumers who are wrong.

[-] Paradachshund@lemmy.today 58 points 10 months ago

We can and should no longer accept "it's just good business" as justification for morally reprehensible actions.

[-] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 13 points 10 months ago

Accepting it is what makes it good business. We stop accepting it, it costs money and then it's no longer good business.

Business is purely profit driven. We need to make morally wrong things costly. Orders of magnitude more costly than doing the right thing.

Blame the ayer AND fix the game.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 44 points 10 months ago

Ah, so that's why they changed their slogan from "don't be evil" to "don't not be a business."

[-] warmaster@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

"Google - Business with electrolytes"

[-] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 10 months ago

It's what shareholders crave

[-] the_q@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago

Does he not know that business IS evil?

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[-] kaibae@lemmy.world 40 points 10 months ago

Okay. Google isn’t evil, business is.

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[-] Befernafardofo@feddit.it 39 points 10 months ago

Slavery was just business at some point, what kind of justification is this?!

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[-] Veraxus@kbin.social 38 points 10 months ago

So… evil.

“That’s not a shit, it’s a doodie!”

[-] m13@lemmy.world 36 points 10 months ago

Capitalism is a curse that instills the most evil traits in all of humanity.

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Worse; it rewards them.

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago

No, businesses are people. Corporations have fought to make that a distinction. So therefore it can be evil. Can’t have it both ways.

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[-] RedDoozer@lemmy.zip 28 points 10 months ago

Business are soulless evils

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[-] Gabu@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

Good argument for dismantling Google and any other company of similar size.

[-] crusa187@lemmy.ml 26 points 10 months ago

“Hey man, just doing our job to maximize shareholder value”

[-] spudwart@spudwart.com 24 points 10 months ago

"Nothing ~~Personal~~ evil, Kid"

"Just Business"

[-] nomecks@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

A business is only as moral as its least moral shareholder. Shareholder Primacy is the law.

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

It can be two things, jackass.

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[-] Gingerlegs@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

You can see how one could easily be confused…

[-] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 10 points 10 months ago
[-] Orioz@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Don't. Be evil.

Ifify

[-] Starkstruck@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

No one thinks they're the bad guy. That doesn't change the fact that their actions speak for themselves.

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[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


You might not expect an antitrust trial focused on Google’s overwhelming dominance in the year 2023 to spend a lot of time talking about Internet Explorer circa 2005.

One exhibit proved particularly interesting: a letter from Google’s then-top lawyer David Drummond, sent on July 22nd, 2005, to Microsoft’s then-general counsel Brad Smith.

Microsoft was tech’s dominant player and a ruthless competitor, Pichai argued, and it was doing an acceptable thing — prioritizing its own products — in a uniquely shady way.

“I realized for the first time the internet would touch most of humanity and it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity.” He quoted Google’s original mission without missing a beat, and said that “if anything, it’s more timeless and relevant than ever before.”

Google uses the rev-share structure to incentivize Android OEMs like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola to promote their devices, he said, and even maintain them better over time.

(When Judge Amit Mehta asked how that worked, Pichai said Google makes some of its rev-share money dependent on devices getting security updates.


The original article contains 1,280 words, the summary contains 171 words. Saved 87%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
487 points (97.8% liked)

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