Government & Policy
25 March 2013
Google's Wi-Fi Snooping Settlement is Really, Really Awful Electronic Frontier Foundation
The recent settlement between 38 states and Google over the company's Wi-Fi snooping fiasco sure is puzzling. While the settlement, called an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, does little to punish Google for accidentally slurping up massive amounts of content from wireless networks using its roaming Street View vehicles, it does require the company to carry out a gratuitous and poorly thought out song and dance.
22 March 2013
Europe Weighs iPhone Sale Deals With Carriers for Antitrust Abuse New York Times
European Union regulators are examining the contracts Apple strikes with cellphone carriers that sell its iPhone for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that the deals throttled competition.
Microsoft Releases Report on Law Enforcement Requests New York Times
Microsoft disclosed for the first time on Thursday the number of requests it had received from government law enforcement agencies for data on its hundreds of millions of customers around the world, joining the ranks of Google, Twitter and other Web businesses that publish so-called transparency reports.
Executives Press European Antitrust Chief on Google New York Times
With the European antitrust inquiry into Google's search engine practices entering a third year, a group of 11 Web companies sent a joint letter to the top antitrust official in Europe on Thursday, asking him to compel Google to change its business practices to ensure that smaller rivals are not unfairly harmed.
20 March 2013
UK press regulation: Internet concerns expressed BBC News
Concerns have been raised that bloggers may face stiff libel fines under rules imposed by a new press watchdog.
14 March 2013
France Proposes New Rules for Internet Equal Access New York Times
The French government on Tuesday called for a law requiring Internet service providers to give all the traffic on their networks equal priority, saying existing rules were insufficient for protecting free speech online and ensuring fair competition among Web publishers.
13 March 2013
Is Skype a Telephone Operator? France to Investigate New York Times
French regulators said Tuesday that they had asked prosecutors to investigate Microsoft's Skype unit over its failure to register as a telecommunications operator in accordance with local law, raising the question of what constitutes a telephone company in the age of Internet-based communications.
Internet Freedom Advocates Pleased with European Parliament Backtrack on Porn Ban CIO
Internet freedom advocates celebrated a victory Tuesday after the European Parliament decided against calling for a ban on Internet pornography.
Google Pays US Fine Over Street View Privacy Breach New York Times
Google has agreed to pay $7 million as a result of an investigation brought by a coalition of state attorneys general, officials said Tuesday, in one of the largest fines for violating privacy in the digital age.
08 March 2013
UK joins US in lobbying Brussels over data protection The Guardian
The UK is among nine countries lobbying Brussels to ease proposed rules on data protection - in a move that will come as a relief to US technology companies including Google and Facebook which have been increasingly concerned about potential effects on their business.
07 March 2013
European Regulators Fine Microsoft, Then Promise to Do Better New York Times
The European Union fined Microsoft $732 million on Wednesday for failing to respect an antitrust settlement with regulators. But in a highly unusual mea culpa, the European Union's top antitrust regulator said that his department bore some of the responsibility for Microsoft's failure to respect a settlement that caused the fine.
06 March 2013
Microsoft fined by European Commission over web browser BBC News
Microsoft has been fined €561 million ($731m; £484m) for failing to promote a range of web browsers, rather than just Internet Explorer program, to users in the European Union.
Google, Apple and Microsoft may be exempt from Obama's cybersecurity order Washington Post
Telecommunications companies want President Barack Obama's administration to rethink a decision that may exempt Google Inc.'s Gmail, Apple Inc.'s iPhone software and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows from an executive order on cybersecurity.
02 March 2013
German lawmakers back Internet copyright, Google critical Reuters
German lawmakers approved a bill on Friday that aims to protect publishers' copyright on the Internet but critics branded it too weak for failing to make search engines such as Google pay for displaying news snippets.
27 February 2013
Google and Spain wrestle over EU privacy law Reuters
Google did battle with Spain's data protection authority in Europe's highest court on Tuesday, in a case with global implications that poses one of the toughest questions of the Internet age: When is information really private?
23 February 2013
German copyright law protecting news sites from search engines delayed by constitutional concerns Computerworld
New concerns about whether a controversial German online copyright bill is constitutional are likely to delay voting on the measure that would have allowed publishers to charge search engines such as Google for reproducing short snippets from news articles.
EU sees Google competition deal after August Reuters
EU regulators hope to resolve a two-year investigation into U.S. internet company Google in the latter half of the year, the EU's antitrust chief said on Friday, although a rival expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of any solution.
19 February 2013
EU privacy regulators take aim at Google privacy policy Reuters
European data watchdogs said on Monday they plan to take action against Google by this summer for its privacy policy, which allows the search engine to pool user data from across all its services ranging from YouTube to Gmail.
US Tech Industry Sets Its Sights on Gambling New York Times
Look out Las Vegas, here comes FarmVille. Silicon Valley is betting that online gambling is its next billion-dollar business, with developers across the industry turning casual games into occasions for adults to wager.
A New Chance to Organize the E.U. Telecommunications Industry New York Times
Imagine that the U.S. market for telecommunications was carved up by 200 operators owned by 45 rival companies, each able to sell phone and broadband Internet service only in individual states or, at best, small regions.
18 February 2013
A First Step on Continent for Google on Use of Content New York Times
Publishers in France say they have struck an innovative agreement with Google on the use of their content online. Their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, however, say the French gave in too easily to the Internet giant.
16 February 2013
Australian technology pricing inquiry has geoblocking in its sights Australian Financial Review
Australians could gain easier legal access to films and television shows under proposals being considered by a federal parliamentary committee.
15 February 2013
Privacy groups protest CISPA bill; lawmakers, business execs defend Computerworld
In what is turning out to be a repeat of last year, privacy rights groups launched an assault against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), barely a day after the controversial legislation was reintroduced in Congress on Wednesday.
13 February 2013
Broadband campaigners criticise EU over billion-euro budget cuts The Guardian
Broadband campaigners say EU budget cuts hammered out last week will kill high-speed connections needed by rural homes and businesses, after it emerged the budget for rural broadband - seen as vital to creating new businesses - has been cut by €8.2bn (£7bn) to just €1bn.
Waste Is Seen in Program to Give Internet Access to Rural U.S. New York Times
The bank is gone from this once-thriving ranching and farming community on Colorado's windblown eastern plain, as are the dairies, the hotel and the Union Pacific depot. The post office remains, at the corner of Main Street and First Avenue, the intersection of the town's two paved streets.
