The European Union will seek to overhaul the system for key patents such as those that have fueled legal battles between car makers and technology companies, the EU’s technology chief said Wednesday. From a report: Margrethe Vestager promised that regulators will weigh reforms to improve the framework in place for so-called standard-essential patents and work on industry-led initiatives “to reduce frictions…
Tag: regulators
Google Plans Fiber-Optic Network To Connect Via Saudi Arabia and Israel for First Time
Google is laying the groundwork for a fiber-optic network that for the first time will connect through historical enemies Saudi Arabia and Israel while opening a new corridor for global internet traffic, according to people familiar with the plans. From a report: The project linking India to Europe is Google’s latest globe-crossing internet construction effort. The Alphabet subsidiary is vying with…
China Requires Real Names, Bans Spending By Teens In New Curbs On Livestreaming
New submitter SirKveldulv shares a report from Nikkei Asia: Livestreaming platforms now must limit the amount of money a user can give hosts as a tip. Users must register their real names to buy the virtual gifts, in addition to the ban on teens giving such gifts. The [National Radio and Television Administration, China’s media watchdog] also asked the platforms to…
Google, Facebook and Twitter Threaten To Leave Pakistan Over Censorship Law
Global internet companies Facebook, Google and Twitter and others have banded together and threatened to leave Pakistan after the South Asian nation granted blanket powers to local regulators to censor digital content. From a report: Earlier this week, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan granted the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority the power to remove and block digital content that pose “harms, intimidates or…
Apple To Pay $113 Million Settlement Over Its iPhone ‘Batterygate’ Slowdowns
Apple is paying $113 million to settle an investigation by 34 states and the District of Columbia over the company’s practice of slowing down the performance of older iPhones when their batteries degrade. From a report: Apple’s moves weren’t announced by the company, but rather proven by internet sleuths. That led regulators and customers alike to criticize the company for not…
Apple Hits Back at European Activist Complaints Against Tracking Tool
An Austrian privacy advocacy group drew a strongly critical response from Apple on Monday after it said an online tracking tool used in its devices breached European law. From a report: The group, led by campaigner Max Schrems, filed complaints with data protection watchdogs in Germany and Spain alleging that the tracking tool illegally enabled the $2 trillion U.S. tech giant…
Google Will Make It Slightly Easier To Turn Off Smart Features
“[I]n the coming weeks,” Google will show a new blanket setting to “turn off smart features” which will disable features like Smart Compose, Smart Reply, in apps like Gmail; the second half of the same prompt will disable whether additional Google products — like Maps or Assistant, for example — are allowed to be personalized based on data from Gmail, Meet,…
Moderna Becomes Second Firm To Reveal Positive Results With Nearly 95% Protection In Trials
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: More than 1 billion people could be immunized against coronavirus by the end of next year with shots from the first two companies to reveal positive results, after the latest vaccine was shown to be nearly 95% effective in trials. With the US’s top infectious diseases official, Anthony Fauci, hailing “the light…
China’s President Xi Jinping Personally Pulled Plug on Jack Ma’s Ant IPO
Chinese President Xi Jinping personally made the decision to halt the initial public offering of Ant Group, which would have been the world’s biggest, after controlling shareholder Jack Ma infuriated government leaders, WSJ reported Thursday, citing Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter. From the report: The rebuke was the culmination of years of tense relations between China’s most celebrated entrepreneur…
Stripe, Mozilla, Dropbox, Spotify, Others Form Tech ‘Challenger Group’ To Sway European Policy
Mark Di Stefano, reporting for The Information (paywalled): A few years back, two Brussels-based lobbyists from midsize tech companies were out for drinks, and in the course of the conversation they realized they had a common problem. Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook were sucking all of the oxygen out of European debates about regulating the internet, leaving out the voices of…