After years of moving fast and breaking things, governments around the world are waking up to the dangers of uncontrolled tech platforms and starting to think of ways to rein in those platforms. Sometimes, that means data privacy measures like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or more recent measures passed in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. On the smaller side, it takes the form of specific ad restrictions, transparency measures, or anti-tracking protocols. With such a broad problem, nearly any solution is on the table. It’s still too early to say whether those measures will be focused on Facebook, Google, or the tech industry at large. At the same time, conservative lawmakers are eager to use accusations of bias as a way to influence moderation policy, making the specter of strong regulation all the more controversial. Whatever next steps Congress and the courts decide to take, you can track the latest updates here.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
From AOL Time Warner to DirecTV and Dish: 20 years of media mergers
Here’s how we got to a $1 deal combining DirecTV and Dish, with a few other stops along the way.
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.
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.
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.
Closing arguments in their ad tech antitrust trial will start at 10AM that day. But for now, it’s a wrap.
The final day saw a couple of depositions from Google — including testimony from Ryan Pauley, chief revenue officer at Verge parent company Vox Media — plus a Daily Mail executive who returned in a short but heated DOJ rebuttal.
A new regulation drafted this month aims to legally enforce a similar system to voluntary global initiatives like C2PA Authentication.
If enacted, AI providers in China must add explicit labels and metadata encryption to AI content, or face government penalties. Social media companies will also need to scan for these watermarks to label content on their platforms, and add more information to help track its journey online.
The AI Act came into law on August 1st, but some rules for “high risk” systems won’t be enforced until August 2027. Now, companies like Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and Samsung are promising to make a head start.
Meta and Apple (which have been critical of the EU’s AI stance) are notably absent, but OpenAI has signed the pledge despite previous grumblings.
[European Commission - European Commission]
How Google made the ad tech industry revolve around itself
‘All roads lead back to Google,’ the government argued in the first two weeks of its ad tech antitrust trial.
Bloomberg reports that “a formal chargesheet” is being prepared by EU officials, taking issue with how it presents rivals on search services like Google Flights and Google Hotels.
Search is already under antitrust fire in the US, and those findings could lead to a big financial penalty under the DMA, although things could change before a final decision is due before April 2025.
I’ve been going to this extremely wonky and jargon-y trial almost every day, and I joined Decoder to translate the highlights so far. The trial — which is only accessible in-person from an Alexandria, VA courtroom — is in its second week. Google is expected to start calling witnesses any day now, once the Justice Department wraps its chief case.
Google employees’ attempts to hide messages from investigators might backfire
The DOJ is trying to show that Google deliberately destroyed evidence that might have looked bad for it.
In 2019, three years after the case began, the European Commission fined Google €1.5 billion after determining that it forced customers of its AdSense business to sign anticompetitive contracts. On appeal, the EU’s second highest court said it “upholds the majority of the findings” but annuls the fine. But don’t worry! The Commission can still appeal the decision ensuring another year or two of legal fees.
In US v. Google, YouTube’s CEO defends the Google way
Neal Mohan had a long career on the ad team at Google, and the government had lots of questions about how he did business.
