The U.S. government has readied an antitrust lawsuit against Google’s search engine, accusing the company of “crushing competition to protect and extend monopoly,” according to news reports: The move comes after a 14-month long investigation, where the U.S. Department of Justice probed whether Google distorts search results to favour its own products and shuts off access to competitors, sources told Bloomberg….
Tag: regulators
Boeing Whistle-Blower Says Proposed 737 Max Fixes Aren’t Enough
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: A whistle-blower at Boeing Co. is urging aviation regulators to add additional protections to the grounded 737 Max. Curtis Ewbank, who has previously raised concerns about the plane’s design with congressional investigators, said in comments filed with the Federal Aviation Administration that a proposal to mandate fixes to the jet didn’t address multiple…
Chinese Leaders Split Over Releasing Blacklist of US Companies
Beijing has sped up development of a blacklist that could be used to punish American technology firms, but officials say leaders are hesitating to pull the trigger, with some arguing a decision on the list should wait till after the U.S. election. From a report: The debate highlights Beijing’s continued grappling with how to respond to the Trump administration without driving…
Another Source of Greenhouse Gas: Abandoned Oil Wells
The Sacramento Bee published a video showing dozens of oil tankers anchored off California’s coast as the current demand for oil plummets. But looking toward the future, they’ve also published along with it a special warning from the director of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute: California Resources Corporation, the state’s largest oil and gas producer, is the…
AstraZeneca Resumes Coronavirus Vaccine Study
“Oxford University announced Saturday it was resuming a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a move that comes days after the study was suspended following a reported side-effect in a U.K. patient,” reports the Associated Press: In a statement, the university confirmed the restart across all of its U.K. clinical trial sites after regulators gave…
Is Boeing’s ‘737 Max’ Safe Now?
America’s Federal Aviation Administration “laid out the proposed fixes for the design flaws in the MAX’s automated flight controls,” reports the Seattle Times, “starting a clock that could see Boeing get the green light sometime next month — with U.S. airlines then scrambling to get a few MAXs flying by year end.” But the newspaper also asks two big questions. “Is…
Production Problems at Boeing Factory Prompt Regulators to Review Lapses
Long-time Slashdot reader phalse phace writes: The FAA has begun looking into quality-control problems at Boeing for their wide-body jet Dreamliner that go back almost a decade. The Wall Street Journal reports that “the plane maker has told U.S. aviation regulators that it produced certain parts at its South Carolina facilities that failed to meet its own design and manufacturing standards,…
DJI Promises ‘Local Data Mode’ To Fend Off US Government’s Mooted Ban
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Chinese drone maker DJI has commissioned yet another security audit with FTI Consulting that’s given it a clean bill of health, as the US government reportedly prepares to ban its remote controlled aircraft from American skies. DJI, whose headquarters are in the Chinese city of Shenzhen (the firm’s full name is Shenzhen…
Facebook Fights Irish Privacy Watchdog’s Data-Transfer Curbs
Facebook sought to derail proposals by the Irish data protection watchdog that the tech giant warns could curb transfers of vast amounts of commercial data across the Atlantic. From a report: The social network giant said it sought a judicial review of the Irish Data Protection Commission’s preliminary decision that the company may have to halt trans-Atlantic data transfers using the…
Dozens of Amazon’s Own Products Have Been Reported as Dangerous — Melting, Exploding or Even Bursting Into Flames. Many Are Still on the Market.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Launched in 2009, AmazonBasics has grown to offer more than 5,000 products, according to the retailer. Its mission: identifying everyday items that Amazon can create at a similar or higher quality and lower price point when compared to existing name brands — a strategy also employed by companies such as Costco and Target. A growing…