What is the policy then? Can no large company integrate any product with the fediverse for fear of EEE? Is there a certain size company where it is acceptable, or is there a list of companies that are on a blacklist?

I don't understand the point of doing so preemptively. Just make a standard set of rules. Defederate when someone breaks the rules. Keep it simple. No point of sending the message of "there is no value in integrating with the fediverse if you're a large corporation". Much better to send a message of "if you continue to be a bad actor, you'll lose out on the benefits of the fediverse"

Operating for extended periods at a loss is no longer really an option though. Zero interest rates made it not a big deal to be unprofitable. Companies could afford to operate in the red by taking on debt. Now that taking on debt means large interest payments, having a down quarter or year could be a death spiral of ever increasing interest payments that make it harder and harder to become profitable.

Basically, the business models that work with zero interest rates do not work when interest rates are constantly rising.

Possibly unpopular opinion: Fragmentation is good, as it means there are options for leaving a community behind. Fragmentation and competition are synonyms, and generally competition is good.

Lemmy definitely won't kill reddit the same way mastodon won't kill twitter, but I don't want it to. I just want it them to be successful enough to be a viable alternative when someone like Spez or Elon think they don't need to listen to their users.

Stardew Valley would be my pick.