This is a foot-in-mouth interview and does not reflect my views of the EU tech community whatsoever. Anyone who's been a programmer for enough time knows to never disrespect the contributions of EU tech expertise. I've been a programmer since I was 14, moved from Kentucky to Silicon Valley at 18, went through the first dot-com crash, and I continue to this day to work in the US tech industry.

Although the US plays a significant role regarding the Internet it is very clear that the Internet would not be what it is today without working side-by-side with EU colleagues. HTTP and HTML, C++, and Linux are just a couple technologies made by Europeans that I use on a daily basis. The list is a mile long. Another fact is that many of our (the US) largest tech companies were founded by immigrants or are transplants from Europe/Asia that wanted to focus on a singular large market.

I do think some of the European laws are a bit stifling but that's because the US has a different culture. To me the right to be forgotten law muffles free speech but obviously many in the EU have a completely valid opinion that it is for the protection of individual privacy. I'm not a fan of breaking up Google in Europe but also I can understand how it could be considered a monopoly, and like many monopolies it may have to be segmented to allow growth and competition. I don't necessarily agree with this opinion but it is a logical position to take.

I think what really bugs me about this interview is that it is divisive to the tech community, a community which works very well across borders. I think we can have the debate without being disrespectful to the EU tech community, a community that is 100% capable of competing on a global level. Even from a business perspective this is unwise because nothing gets entrepreneurs motivated than being told they're not good enough.