
Is it possible that Tencent can save Snapchat? - bypasmwat
http://yattell.ca/index/article/read/id/160
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Canada
US regulators should block such a sale. No Chinese firm should be permitted to
own a controlling interest in any communication system widely used in the US.

China doesn't allow US companies to do so in China, so why should Chinese
companies be permitted?

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SurrealSoul
How far would this extend to? For example Tencent owns League of Legends, a
widely used video game in the US (or even, globally) with a communication
tool?

What if WeChat just suddenly gets popular in the US? What should the US do in
that situation?

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komali2
WeChat is enormously popular in the US. Every Chinese person here uses it.
That means a huge number of US students and employees.

I think the US should pass and aggressively enforce anti-snooping laws. No
company allowed to monitor communication of customers over whatever platform
that company is selling (unless the product requires it or that IS the service
- some sort of Mood Analysis API or whatever). Would also conveniently take
care of a key net neutrality point :)

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mi_lk
As popular as Chinese community in the US. I still don't know of anyone who
doesn't speak Chinese use WeChat.

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komali2
But that's still a lot of Americans, regardless of the language they speak.

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baldfat
I don't think people realize that Tencent is is even bigger than Facebook.This
is a big deal if they make this deal.

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seanmcdirmid
Most people don’t realize it because their market share is almost completely
limited to one country. Also, Chinese tech companies are known for being
traded at multiples greater than western ones given...investor enthusiasm.

I’m not sure what Tencent hopes to accomplish here. Western users are less
interested in platforms and prefer apps.

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killjoywashere
Keep in mind the Ministry of State Security may have asked the Organization
Department to suggest Tencent do this to acquire the social graph. The fact
that there is investor enthusiasm only makes it easier. This is potentially
equivalent to Yuri Milner's investment actions to launder Putin's money
through YCombinator and get intel along the way.

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paganel
FB’s advisor on the WhatsApp acquisition was a boutique investment firm headed
at the time by former CIA director George Tenet. To this day I think that
Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype (which was quite expensive at the time) was
also made under the same auspices, i.e. to bring an entire social network
under the control of a country’s intelligence services (in this case the US
services). What I’m trying to say it’s that this is a well-known game that
everyone is playing.

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mtgx
If Tencent buys Snapchat, you can say goodbye to the "privacy" aspect of
Snapchat. I think the privacy aspect is what made Snapchat the "anti-
Facebook." So I wonder what will be left of Snapchat if Tencent acquires it.

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teen
maybe they just want the real estate

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mankash666
This is Tencent parking cash outside the purview of Chinese regulators and
market exposure. All other explanations are bogus.

