Australia’s law forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news is ready to take effect, though the laws’ architect said it will take time for the digital giants to strike media deals. From a report: The Parliament on Thursday passed the final amendments to the so-called News Media Bargaining Code agreed between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg…
Tag: Parliament
France Found Guilty of Failing To Meet Its Paris Climate Accord Commitments
“Four environmental groups are crying victory after France was found guilty of failing to meet climate change goals it committed to in a historic accord signed in and named after its own capital city,” reports CBS News: The Administrative Tribunal in Paris ruled Wednesday that France had fallen short of its promise to reduce greenhouse gases under commitments made in the…
Myanmar Blocks Facebook as Resistance Grows To Coup
Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. From a report: Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and is how most people access the internet. The military seized power shortly before a new session of…
EU Must ‘Move At Speed’ On Space Broadband Network
The European Commission says it wants its newly proposed satellite mega-constellation to be offering some sort of initial service in 2024. The BBC reports: The first priority is to fill in gaps in broadband coverage where ground infrastructure cannot reach, but later it will power services such as self-driving cars. The project will in some ways mirror America’s Starlink and the…
Singapore Police Can Access COVID-19 Contact Tracing Data For Criminal Investigations
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Singapore has confirmed its law enforcers will be able to access the country’s COVID-19 contact tracing data to aid in their criminal investigations. To date, more than 4.2 million residents or 78% of the local population have adopted the TraceTogether contact tracing app and wearable token, which is one of the world’s highest…
Finland Says Hackers Accessed MPs’ Emails Accounts
The Finnish Parliament said on Monday that hackers gained entry to its internal IT system and accessed email accounts for some members of Parliament (MPs)fin. From a report: Government officials said the attack took place in the fall of 2020 and was discovered this month by the Parliament’s IT staff. The matter is currently being investigated by the Finnish Central Criminal…
UK Politicians Call For ‘Making the Resale of Goods Purchased Using An Automated Bot an Illegal Activity’
Six Scottish National Party (SNP) politicians have put forward a motion for consideration in the UK parliament to prohibit the resale of games consoles and PC components at prices “greatly above” MSRP, and the resale of goods purchased using automated bots to be made illegal in these fair isles. PC Gamer reports: A motion on the “Resale of gaming consoles and…
EU Pushes for ‘Right To Disconnect’ From Work at Home
An anonymous reader shares a report: The coronavirus pandemic has not only upended social life across Europe but dramatically changed the way people work. With ever more people working from home — roughly a third of all employees within the bloc according to the Associated Press (AP) — and needing to be constantly reachable, the boundaries between work and private life…
Tasmania Is Now 100% Powered By Renewable Electricity
Tasmania consists of the 26th-largest island in the world and its surrounding 334 islands — an island state of Australia with a population around 540,000 people, according to Wikipedia. Friday the Tasmanian government “declared that it has become the first Australian state, and one of just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide, to be powered entirely by renewable electricity,” according to one…
Russia Wants To Ban Social Media Sites Discriminating Against Russian News Outlets
The Russian government is working on a new law to block foreign social media sites inside Russia’s territory as repercussions for “discriminating” against Russian news outlets operating abroad. From a report: Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are specifically mentioned in “explanatory notes” (Word document) accompanying the new draft bill, submitted last week for debate in the Russian Duma (state parliament)….