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Big tech companies tend to make a lot of enemies — but there are none more powerful than the US government. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta are regularly called in front of Congress to fend off monopoly accusations — and lawmakers bring up bills to rein in the companies just as often. The Federal Trade Commission has taken a particularly central role, leading a lawsuit to sever Facebook and Instagram while blocking new acquisitions for Oculus and the company’s virtual reality wing. Like it or not, these regulatory fights will play a huge role in deciding the future of tech — and neither side is playing nice.

On Friday, we’ll hear whether Google can delay cracking open Android.

Last week, Judge Donato ruled that Google would have to open up Android to third-party app stores starting November 1st — but Google immediately filed an appeal and asked for an emergency stay.

Now, the judge will hear Google’s motion on October 18th. If he grants it, it could be years until Google makes changes, even if higher courts agree with his ruling.


“A hearing... is set for October 18, 2024.”
The judge’s latest order in Epic v. Google.
Image: CourtListener
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Donald Trump’s campaign is allegedly getting sandbagged by bad internet.

A bandwidth-hungry tracking app is apparently kicking users with slow internet into a barely functional offline mode. Maybe rural broadband access matters after all:

The Trump campaign and America Pac then have little way to know whether canvassers are actually knocking on doors or whether they are cheating – for instance, by “speed-running” routes where they literally throw campaign materials at doors as they drive past.


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MOC.ECNAVDJ.

While campaigning for the US Senate in 2021, Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance filmed a Facebook Live using his smartphone’s selfie camera, which mirrored the image, and therefore his campaign signs.

That can be fixed, but Vance’s idea — rotating the phone — is not it. (I recommend waiting a moment to turn on the volume, unless you’re a fan of TikTok’s text-to-speech voices.)


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Trump: we’re going to stop autonomous cars.

In a speech in Detroit, former President Donald Trump seemed to suggest that he would “stop [self-driving cars] from operating” if he was elected in November. Not exactly the message his pal Elon Musk wants to hear on the eve of his big Tesla robotaxi event in Hollywood. Maybe Trump’s invitation was lost in the mail.


WoW, that’s a novel way to attract young Democratic voters.

The latest tactic in Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign feels directly inspired by TikTok’s Subway Surfers attention stimulation gimmick.

Tim Walz’s Arizona rally yesterday was broadcast on the campaign’s Twitch account in a split-screen view, with commentary and live World of Warcraft gameplay provided by streamer Preheat playing alongside it.


A screenshot taken of Tim Walz’s Arizona rally being livestreamed to Twitch.
For folks who want some raids to accompany their rallies.
Image: Twitch / Kamala Harris Campaign
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Meteorologists are getting misinformation-fueled death threats.

Rolling Stone reports that just like FEMA, meteorologists are dealing with more pushback than they’re used to — one is quoted saying “ideas that once would have been ridiculed as very fringe, outlandish viewpoints are suddenly becoming mainstream.”

CBS Morning meteorologist Katie Nickolaou also tweeted one example of what she’s seeing (below).


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AOC vs Mark Cuban: fight.

Couple things here: It’s the DOJ, not Lina Khan’s FTC, that is currently pursuing a breakup of Google and in the middle of a giant Apple antitrust case, so it’s not even clear Cuban has pointed his ire at the correct target with this comment. And what a wild political re-alignment when AOC and JD Vance agree that Khan is doing a good job!


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GOP-led House Committee looks into why the FCC rejected Starlink’s funding request.

The House Oversight Committee will investigate the FCC’s decision to deny the Elon Musk-owned Starlink $885.5 million in federal subsidies through the Rural Digital Opportunity fund in 2022.

Last week, Musk claimed the satellite internet company “would probably have saved lives” in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina if the FCC didn’t “illegally” revoke Starlink’s funding.


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Google wants to block Epic’s requested changes while it appeals antitrust verdict.

Following a final ruling that says Google will have to open up the Play Store to third-party marketplaces, Google reaffirmed its plans to appeal the decision.

At the same time, Google is also asking the court to pause Epic Games’ requests to distribute rival app stores and adjust its payment system. Apple was granted a reprieve during its Epic legal battle last year.


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X paid its fines to the wrong bank, says Brazil’s Supreme Court.

On Friday, the social media company once again asked Brazil to lift its ban on X, saying it had paid the roughly $5 million in fines it owed from its tiff with the nation’s Supreme Court.

But the court said that will have to wait until the money is transferred to the correct bank, reports Reuters.


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The US is investigating Fisker’s liquidation plan.

In a filing yesterday spotted by TechCrunch, the US Securities and Exchange Commission objects to the company’s “use of an opt-out process to attempt to bind shareholders to a third-party release.” It also worries the plan doesn’t “adequately preserve” the SEC’s ability to investigate the company for securities violations.

Fisker filed for bankruptcy in June after years of trying to best Tesla.


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When is a retweet an official act?

Earlier this summer, SCOTUS ruled that Trump is “absolutely immune” for any official acts on January 6. In an October Non-Surprise, prosecutors are arguing that Trump is being charged for unofficial acts.

A partly-unsealed brief asserts, among other things, that Trump used his Twitter in a personal capacity while attempting to overturn the 2020 election, by tweeting and retweeting conspiracy theories and attacks on public officials. Although Trump sometimes tweeted about official White House business,

... he also regularly used the account to post on unambiguously private matters — for example, when he posted a picture of himself golfing with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, and re-tweeted a Trump Organization post about the Trump New York hotel being “named the # 1 ‘Best Hotel in the World!’”


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Lina Khan is acting as Democrats’ celeb campaign guest.

The Federal Trade Commission chair is scheduled to appear at events with candidates including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), according to Punchbowl News. It’s an interesting statement, as Khan’s progressive enforcement — especially when it comes to tech — has ruffled feathers even within the Democratic party. Donors like Reid Hoffman have urged Vice President Kamala Harris to oust her, if elected.


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Look how they yassified my boy.

This obviously digitally altered photo of Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), posted the morning after the vice presidential debate, is supposed to signify... masculinity? Strength? I don’t know, honestly.

It’d be a little more convincing if we hadn’t spent two hours looking at the man’s face — and listening to his lies — last night.


“You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. That’s the test, that’s the Supreme Court test,” said Tim Walz in tonight’s debate.

It is not the Supreme Court test. The SCOTUS case the quote is from was overturned in 1969, when the court replaced the “clear and present danger” test with the Brandenburg test.

Perhaps most incredibly, Yale Law School graduate JD Vance followed up and uncritically repeated the “fire in a crowded theater” phrase.


We got our first mic mute of the vice presidential debate.

Impressively, it took nearly 30 minutes to actually happen. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) tried to respond to additional context moderator Margaret Brennan gave on Haitian immigrants’ legal status in Springfield, Ohio, accusing her of breaking the rules about fact-checking. “Thank you for describing the legal process,” Brennan told Vance before moving on after producers cut the candidates’ volume.


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How will Hurricane Helene affect voting access?

The monstrous storm devastated North Carolina, a key swing state in the presidential election. Communities face a long recovery ahead after Helene leveled towns. With so many people displaced and polling locations flooded, officials are worried about how much harder it could be now for people to cast their votes.


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Russia wants Discord to take down nearly 1,000 “illegal” posts.

The country’s communications regulator ordered Discord to remove 947 posts it claims contain child sexual abuse material, drug-related content, and calls for extremism, as reported by Reuters.

Russia, which is considering a ban on Discord, fined the platform on Monday for failing to remove content that’s restricted in the country.


Amazon gets part of the FTC’s antitrust suit dismissed.

In a sealed order, a federal judge granted part of Amazon’s motion to dismiss, but gave the Federal Trade Commission a chance to re-file at least some of those charges by the end of the month. Like Google’s antitrust trials, the judge said this one will be split up into a liability and remedy phase, if the court finds for the FTC.


How Google tried to unravel the DOJ’s ad tech case

To wrap up its case, Google tried to fit it into a Supreme Court precedent that could undermine the government’s argument.

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Brazil orders X to pay one more fine before it can go live.

Following X’s request to come back to the country, Brazil’s Supreme Court said it won’t lift its ban on the social media platform until X agrees to pay “just over $5 million in pending fines,” writes Reuters.

That reportedly includes a new $1.8 million fine for X having briefly gone live for some users in the country last week.


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The Apple Watch gets clearance for sleep apnea detection in Canada.

Health Canada published its approval of the feature this week, MacRumors reports. Apple Watch sleep apnea detection was also recently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.

However, Apple hasn’t added Canada to the list of regions where the feature is available quite yet.