5分钟辣椒英语-商业故事精读-欧洲准备干翻美国互联网五大金刚
To understand the future of Silicon Valley, cross the Atlantic 要理解未来的硅谷，请望到大西洋彼岸
“THE BIRTHDAY of a new world is at hand.” Ever since Thomas Paine penned those words in 1776, America has seen itself as the land of the new—and Europe as a continent stuck in the past. Nowhere is that truer than in the tech industry. America is home to 15 of the world’s 20 most valuable tech firms; Europe has one. Silicon Valley is where the brainiest ideas meet the smartest money. America is also where the debate rages loudly over how to tame the tech giants, so that they act in the public interest. Tech tycoons face roastings by Congress for their firms’ privacy lapses. Elizabeth Warren, a senator who is running for president in 2020, wants Facebook to be broken up.“新世界的诞生即将到来。”自从托马斯·潘恩于1776年写下这些话以来，美国已将自己视为新大陆而欧洲只是尘封的历史。 这点没有比科技行业诠释得更真实的了。 美国拥有全球20家最有价值的科技公司中的15家; 欧洲有一个。 硅谷是最聪明的想法遇到最聪明的钱的地方。 美国也是如何驯服科技巨头让他们为公共利益行事这种争论最白热化的地方。 科技巨头面临国会对其公司隐私失误的抨击。 在2020年竞选总统的参议员伊丽莎白沃伦希望Facebook被分拆。
词【roast：criticize lampoon】【lapse: backsliding mistakes]
析【这一段写得精彩，目不暇给。"The birthday of a new world is at hand. " 一个新世界的诞生已经在手上。用pen而不是write，一种历史感和力量感。a continent stuck in the past描述 塞在过去灰尘中旧旧大陆；nowhere is that true than in the... 没有什么比新技术行业更真实反映这一个事实。brainiest ideas meet the smartest money 聪明的头脑与聪明的钱会于硅谷 where the debate rages loudly 争议发生得最多和最响亮的地方tame the tech giants "tame" 用于驯服野兽，此处用于科技巨头公司。act in the public interest 代表公众利益而行动 face roasting 面对质疑 privacy lapse 隐私泄露】
注 [托马斯·潘恩（Thomas Paine）：英裔美国思想家、作家、政治活动家、理论家、革命家、激进民主主义者。生于英国诺福克郡，曾继承父业做过裁缝，后来做过教师、税务官员，后来投身欧美革命运动。1792年他被选入法国国民公会。1802年在杰斐逊总统的邀请下，潘恩返回美国。1809年6月8日在纽约格林尼治村林苑路59号去世，享年72岁。美国独立战争期间，他撰写了铿锵有力并广为流传的小册子《常识》极大地鼓舞了北美民众的独立情绪，也被广泛视为美国开国元勋之一。后来受到法国大革命影响，潘恩撰写了《人的权利》，成为启蒙运动的指导作品之一。]
Yet if you want to understand where the world’s most powerful industry is heading, look not to Washington and California, but to Brussels and Berlin. In an inversion of the rule of thumb, while America dithers the European Union is acting. This week Google was fined $1.7bn for strangling competition in the advertising market. Europe could soon pass new digital copyright laws. Spotify has complained to the EU about Apple’s alleged antitrust abuses. And, as our briefing explains, the EU is pioneering a distinct tech doctrine that aims to give individuals control over their own information and the profits from it, and to prise open tech firms to competition. If the doctrine works, it could benefit millions of users, boost the economy and constrain tech giants that have gathered immense power without a commensurate sense of responsibility. 然而，如果你想了解这个世界上最强大的行业的发展方向，那么不要选择华盛顿和加利福尼亚州，而应该关注布鲁塞尔和柏林。 在经验法则倒置的同时，当美国在左右为难时欧洲联盟中在行动。 本周谷歌因扼杀广告市场竞争而被罚款17亿美元。 欧洲可能很快就会通过新的数字版权法。 Spotify向欧盟抱怨苹果涉嫌反垄断滥用。 而且，正如我们的简报所解释的那样，欧盟正在推进一种独特的技术法律原则，旨在让个人控制自己的信息和随之而来的利益，并促使科技公司参与竞争。 如果该原则有效，它可以使数百万用户受益，促进经济发展并限制那些在没有相应责任感的情况下聚集了巨大力量的科技巨头。
词【dither: upset] [strangle: choke stifle]【prise：leverage】【constrain: limit restrict]
析【look not to.. but to..., 不是从A而是从B发现答案 inversion of the rule of thumb经验法则相反 strangle competition把竞争扼杀 give individuals control over还控制权于民 constrain tech giants to gather immense power without a commensurate sense of responsibility 限制技术巨头获取巨大利益而惘顾责任】
Western regulators have had showdowns over antitrust with tech firms before, including IBM in the 1960s and Microsoft in the 1990s. But today’s giants are accused not just of capturing huge rents and stifling competition, but also of worse sins, such as destabilising democracy (through misinformation) and abusing individual rights (by invading privacy). As AI takes off, demand for information is exploding, making data a new and valuable resource. Yet vital questions remain: who controls the data? How should the profits be distributed? The only thing almost everyone can agree on is that the person deciding cannot be Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s scandal-swamped boss.西方监管机构之前已经对科技公司的反托拉斯进行过摊牌，包括20世纪60年代的IBM和20世纪90年代的微软。 但今天的巨人们不仅被指责夺取巨额租金和扼杀竞争，而且还被指责为更糟糕的罪恶，例如破坏民主（通过错误信息）和滥用个人权利（通过侵犯隐私）。 随着AI的兴起，对信息的需求正在爆炸式增长，使数据成为一种新的有价值的资源。 然而至关重要的问题依然存在：谁控制数据？ 如何分配利润？ 几乎每个人都能达成一致意见的唯一事情就是决定者不能是Facebook丑闻猖獗的老板马克扎克伯格。
词 [showdown:clash crisis]【swamp: mud bog]
析【一寸短一寸险，精炼的词有时比长句更加直抵人心。IBM and Microsoft 曾经被showdowned，如今科技巨头五宗罪 capture huge rents获取巨大利益 stifle competition让竞争者哑火destablish democracy拆毁民主根基abuse individual rights滥用私人权利invade privacy侵犯隐私 scandal-swamped 深陷丑闻泥潭】
The idea of the EU taking the lead on these questions will seem bizarre to many executives who view it as an entrepreneurial wasteland and the spiritual home of bureaucracy. In fact, Europe has clout and new ideas. The big five tech giants, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, make on average a quarter of their sales there. And as the world’s biggest economic bloc, the EU’s standards are often copied in the emerging world. Europe’s experience of dictatorship makes it vigilant about privacy. Its regulators are less captured by lobbying than America’s and its courts have a more up-to-date view of the economy. Europe’s lack of tech firms helps it take a more objective stance. A key part of Europe’s approach is deciding what not to do. For now it has dismissed the option of capping tech firms’ profits and regulating them like utilities, which would make them stodgy, permanent monopolies. It has also rejected break-ups: thanks to network effects, one of the Facebabies or Googlettes might simply become dominant again. Instead the EU’s doctrine marries two approaches. One draws on its members’ cultures, which, for all their differences, tend to protect individual privacy. The other uses the EU’s legal powers to boost competition. 欧盟在这些问题上起带头作用的想法对许多将其视为创业荒地和官僚主义精神家园的高管来说似乎很奇怪。事实上，欧洲有影响力和新想法。五大科技巨头，Alphabet，亚马逊，苹果，Facebook和微软，平均销售额的四分之一。作为世界上最大的经济集团，欧盟的标准经常被复制到新兴世界。欧洲的独裁经历使其对隐私保持警惕。它的监管机构不像美国那样通过游说获取，其法院对经济有更新的看法。欧洲缺乏技术公司有助于它采取更客观的立场。欧洲方法的一个关键部分是决定不该做什么。就目前而言，它已经驳回了限制科技公司利润并将其作为公用事业进行监管的选择，这将使它们变得低效笨拙以及永久垄断。它也拒绝拆分：由于网络效应，其中一个Facebabies或Googlettes可能会再次成为主导。相反，欧盟的原则结合了两种方法。一种利用其成员国倾向于保护个人隐私的文化。另一种利用欧盟的法律权力来促进竞争。
词【clout: power]【bloc: coalition]【vigilant: careful][stodgy: boring dull]
析【欧洲已然沦为entrepreneurial wasteland and the spiritual home of bureaucracy创业荒地和官僚主义的孕育温床，这个词把欧洲骂得。。。dismiss the option of doing sth打发掉做某事的念头 marries two approaches 结婚这个词可以有很多延伸用法】
The first leads to the assertion that you have sovereignty over data about you: you should have the right to access them, amend them and determine who can use them. This is the essence of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), whose principles are already being copied by many countries across the world. The next step is to allow interoperability between services, so that users can easily switch between providers, shifting to firms that offer better financial terms or treat customers more ethically. (Imagine if you could move all your friends and posts to Acebook, a firm with higher privacy standards than Facebook and which gave you a cut of its advertising revenues.) One model is a scheme in Britain called Open Banking, which lets bank customers share their data on their spending habits, regular payments and so on with other providers. A new report for Britain’s government says that tech firms must open up in the same way. 第一个方法支持你对你的数据拥有主权：你应该有权访问它们，修改它们并确定谁可以使用它们。 这是通用数据保护条例（GDPR）的精髓，其原则已被世界上许多国家复制。 下一步是允许服务之间的互操作性，以便用户可以轻松地在提供商之间切换，转向提供更好财务条款的公司或更符合道德规范的客户。 （想象一下，如果你可以将你的所有朋友和帖子转移到Acebook，这是一家隐私标准比Facebook更高的公司，并且能分你一些广告收入。）一种模式是英国的一项名为Open Banking的计划，它允许银行客户分享 他们与其他供应商的消费习惯，定期付款等数据。 英国政府的一份新报告称，科技公司必须以同样的方式开放。
词【sovereignty:domination】
析【have sovereignty over data用户对数据有绝对主权包括access取用amend修改 and determine who can use决定谁能用 allow interoperability between service不能有门户之见switch between providers用户可以自由穿越treat customers more ethically对某人好用treat sb well 对某人有操守用ethically，真是好词】
Europe’s second principle is that firms cannot lock out competition. That means equal treatment for rivals who use their platforms. The EU has blocked Google from competing unfairly with shopping sites that appear in its search results or with rival browsers that use its Android operating system. A German proposal says that a dominant firm must share bulk, anonymised data with competitors, so that the economy can function properly instead of being ruled by a few data-hoarding giants. (For example, all transport firms should have access to Uber’s information about traffic patterns.) Germany has changed its laws to stop tech giants buying up scores of startups that might one day pose a threat.欧洲的第二个原则是企业不能扼杀竞争者。 这意味着对使用他们平台的竞争对手享有平等待遇。 欧盟阻止谷歌与其搜索结果中出现的购物网站或使用其Android操作系统的竞争对手浏览器进行不公平竞争。 一项德国提案称，一家占主导地位的公司必须与竞争对手分享大量的匿名数据，以便经济能够正常运作，而不是被一些数据囤积巨头所统治。 （例如，所有运输公司都应该可以访问优步的交通模式信息。）德国已经改变其法律，以阻止科技巨头购买可能有一天构成威胁的大量创业公司。
词【hoarding：acumulate amass】
析【想起了抖音腾讯马桶的闹剧equal treatment for rivals to use their platform竞争对手能够分享大平台数据data hoarding giants收集数据可能用以作恶的巨龙】
Europe’s approach offers a new vision, in which consumers control their privacy and how their data are monetised. Their ability to switch creates competition that should boost choice and raise standards. The result should be an economy in which consumers are king and information and power are dispersed. It would be less cosy for the tech giants. They might have to offer a slice of their profits (the big five made $150bn last year) to their users, invest more or lose market share.欧洲的方法提供了一种新的愿景，即消费者控制他们的隐私以及他们的数据如何被货币化。 他们的转换平台能力会产生竞争，从而促进选择并提高标准。 结果应该是一个消费者为王，信息和权力分散的经济。 对于科技巨头而言，这将不那么舒适。 他们可能不得不向他们的用户提供一部分利润（去年的五大科技巨头营收为1500亿美元），投入更多或失去市场份额。
词【monetise：become money】
析【5大巨头2018年收入1500亿！！！ consumer are king and information and power are dispersed消费者是王数据和权力分散】
The European approach has risks. It may prove hard to achieve true interoperability between firms. So far, GDPR has proved clunky. The open flow of data should not cut across the concern for privacy. Here Europe’s bureaucrats will have to rely on entrepreneurs, many of them American, to come up with answers. The other big risk is that Europe’s approach is not adopted elsewhere, and the continent becomes a tech Galapagos, cut off from the mainstream. But the big firms will be loth to split their businesses into two continental silos. And there are signs that America is turning more European on tech: California has adopted a law that is similar to GDPR. Europe is edging towards cracking the big-tech puzzle in a way that empowers consumers, not the state or secretive monopolies. If it finds the answer, Americans should not hesitate to copy it—even if that means looking to the lands their ancestors left behind. 欧洲方法存在风险。 可能很难在公司之间实现真正的互操作性。 到目前为止，GDPR已经证明了笨重。 开放的数据流不应该涉及对隐私的关注。 在这里，欧洲的官僚将不得不依靠企业家，其中许多是美国人，来提出答案。 另一个巨大的风险是欧洲的方法没有在其他地方采用，成为了技术世界的加拉帕戈斯群岛，与主流隔绝。 但是大公司不情愿把他们的业务分成两个大陆孤岛。 并且有迹象表明，美国在对待科技公司上正在越来越像欧洲：加利福尼亚州已经采用了类似于GDPR的法律。 欧洲正试图以一种赋予消费者权力的方式解决大科技难题，而不是国家或秘密垄断。 如果它找到答案，美国人应该毫不犹豫地复制它 - 即使这意味着他们在努力回望他们的先辈当年决绝离开的土地。
词【clunky: cumbersome ungainly][cut across: traverse bisect][silos:storeroom][secretive: in the dark]
析【最后一句总是耐人寻味looking to the lands their ancestors left behind大英帝国与美国，剪不断理还乱】
注 [Galapagos群岛，意为“大龟群岛”，是厄瓜多尔位于太平洋、距陆地本土1200公里的一个省， 由十几个火山岩岛屿组成，人口不足2万。该群岛以海洋动植物物种繁多、保护良好而闻名于世，著名科学家达尔文曾在该岛为他的“进化论”找到论证的依据。加拉帕戈斯群岛，就是Charles Darwin发展进化论的源头]
