Disconnected from the Hercules Constellation
Luke Watts looked out the window of the sleek conference room at the majestic Alps that stretched beyond the low-lying clouds. Though he was inside, with the room’s temperature perfectly regulated, he felt an unusal chill.
“Director Volz, I appreciate having the chance to meet with you. The flight from SFO was very smooth, and watching the plane descend in the middle of the Alps was a breathtaking sight,” he said, attempting to break the ice with a smile.
Director Volz remained stoic and kept her posture rigid. She adjusted her glasses and pushed them up with her middle finger in a way that caught Luke off-guard, not sure if it was a habit or an intentional gesture.
“Mr. Watts, the purpose of our meeting is not to discuss topography,” she replied sharply. “You are here in your position as VP of Global Policy for SonicSnap.”
She connected her laptop to the conference room’s display system. With a swipe on her touchscreen, the windows dimmed and a thin slab of glass on the wall transformed into a digital representation of the globe, overlaid with a complex network of blue lines and nodes. Thousands of tiny pulsing nodes circled the planet, connecting to each other with thin beams of light like a spiderweb.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the Hercules Constellation,” she began. “We have twelve thousand satellites in low-Earth orbit which are able to provide free, high-bandwidth Internet access to three-quarters of the planet’s population. Our public agency’s mission to connect the unconnected has been a success.”
Luke nodded, already familiar with the EU’s grand humanitarian project.
“It’s a remarkable achievement, Director,” he replied cordially, keeping his hands folded together. “As you know, SonicSnap was one of the first companies to focus first on emerging markets. Though we have different organizational structures, private versus public, I do think together we have done a lot of good.”
“However, doing good must also mean following the rules,” she continued, somehow more serious than before. “You are currently in violation of the Global Digital Rights and Responsibilities Act. Specifically, there is a lack of transparency in your content curation algorithm. Additionally, you are not localizing user data for non-EU citizens.”
“We are working out the compliance issues. We are a large organization, and these things take time,” he tried to explain patiently.
“The time for negotiation is over, Mr. Watts,” she said firmly. “The law is the law.”
“Our engagement algorithms are not simple lines of code that you can read or audit. We use a self-optimizing neural network in order to ensure each of our five billion users has a personalized experience. We deal with data on the order of petabytes. It is not something we can just move without breaking. These things need to be done slowly.”
“You’ve been given ample time to comply.”
“And localizing user data is a good goal, and one we’re working on, but telling us how to operate in non-EU markets is a large imposition beyond your jurisdiction.”
“Keep in mind that your connection to your customers is not independent of our infrastructure,” she reminded him. “Your customers connect through our satellites. As such, we have the authority to enforce these regulations wherever they live.”
“Are you going to enforce rules related to non-EU citizens?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, and we will take action against every company that fails to comply,” she affirmed. “And if you do not, connections to your service in certain regions will be temporarily disabled.”
“That’s drastic censorship,” he said, trying to keep his tone measured.
“Censorship is not the right word,” she replied evenly. “We are simply enforcing the law.”
“You can’t do this!” he exclaimed.
“You are free to take your case to court, or to tell your customers to connect through alternate means. But for now, we will block all IPs related to SonicSnap in the affected regions.”
“I cannot allow this to happen,” he insisted.
“Then you will need to comply today. And then pay the fine. The payment will increase daily with each customer whose rights are being violated.”
“You’ll bankrupt us!”
“It is not our fault you choose to ignore the law, Mr. Watts. Now, this meeting is over.”
With that she disconnected her laptop. The windows brightened again, and the digital globe disappeared. Luke sat back in his chair, stunned. She left the room without another word, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
The Hercules Constellation seemed like a gift to the world, but now he realized it was a Trojan horse for bureaucrats to build the connections all businesses depended on. By offering it for free, they had quietly managed to gain leverage over every major tech company on the planet. Hanna Volz was like a European military general than bureaucrat, and had managed to defeat him in a war he didn’t even know he was fighting.
With a faint buzz, he unlocked his phone. He had to start typing out an urgent email to the CEO. SonicSnap needed to find a way to comply with the EU’s demands, or else.