Government & Policy
19 January 2013
All You Need to Know about the EU Privacy Debate Der Spiegel
The European Union is seeking to increase the private sphere of its citizens by strengthening data protection laws for the web. Large Internet firms and lobbyists are fighting the plans. Here's an overview of the debate in Brussels.
France studies new tax measures on web giants Reuters
France plans to study different measures to collect more tax from global Internet companies, including a new type of levy on the personal data of web surfers that the likes of Google and Facebook use to make money.
18 January 2013
France to pass law on new taxes for web giants by year-end Reuters
The French government will propose a law by year-end to change the way global Internet companies are taxed in France in a bid to counter what it sees as tax avoidance by Web giants like Google and Amazon, according to a newspaper.
Net neutrality? Let the market decide, says Europe's digital chief ZDNet
ISPs should not be barred from selling tiered web, according to Europe's digital commissioner Neelie Kroes.
17 January 2013
France delays move to make Web giants pay for networks Reuters
France backed away from legislation to make Internet companies including Google pay for the burden they place on telecommunications networks, opting instead to ask a commission to study the controversial issue.
Europe Weighs Requiring Firms to Disclose Data Breaches New York Times
To combat a rise in cybercrime, the European Commission is considering a plan to require companies that store data on the Internet -- like Microsoft, Apple, Google and I.B.M. -- to report the loss or theft of personal information in the 27-nation bloc or risk sanctions and fines.
16 January 2013
Calls for internet law reform and open access after activist suicide H-Online
The funeral of Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old internet activist who killed himself last week, is taking place today. The activist's death has led to calls for reform of internet law and more open access to publicly held information. Swartz was due to go to court in April to face thirteen charges including wire fraud and computer fraud after he downloaded 4.8 million scientific and literary papers from the subscription service JSTOR via MIT's open campus network and MIT's JSTOR subscription.
13 January 2013
FCC, stakeholders align on communications policy -- for now CNET
Peace appears to be breaking out between mobile Internet users and regulators. During the three-day Innovation Policy Summit here at CES, members of Congress, FCC commissioners, industry representatives, and consumer groups found little to disagree on, whether the topic was incentive auctions for more broadband spectrum, retiring legacy copper networks in favor of native IP, sharing government spectrum in the 5 GHz band for high-speed Wi-Fi, or the continuing threat of international efforts to turn Internet governance over to repressive national governments so they can destroy it.
12 January 2013
An ad-block shock - France v Google: Xavier Niel is playing rough with the internet giant The Economist
In 2011 Google spent over €100m ($130m) on grand 19th-century digs in Paris which look a little like the Elysée Palace, the official home of the president. That may have been a mistake. The firm's deep coffers have now attracted the attention of Xavier Niel, an entrepreneur who delights in making pots of money at the expense of the establishment.
11 January 2013
Google set for Brussels showdown: accused of giving undue prominence to its own services following complaints from rivals The Guardian
Brussels is moving towards a regulatory showdown with Google after the European commission's competition chief accused the company of diverting internet users to its own services.
10 January 2013
EU lawmakers seek to limit use of data by internet firms Reuters
Internet companies such as Facebook and Google may have to get more permission to use information if European Union lawmakers give users more control over their personal data.
European telecom firms play down single network idea Reuters
European telecoms operators want more consolidation in a crowded market, industry sources said on Wednesday, but have not discussed creating a single network for the continent with competition authorities in Brussels.
09 January 2013
France tells internet service provider to end ads block BBC News
A major French ISP has agreed to abandon its ad-blocking policy - seen as a swipe against Google - after a minister intervened.
Facebook, Google, Microsoft May Face More Data-Use Limits, EU Lawmaker Says Bloomberg
Facebook Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. may face stricter privacy rules requiring them to let users shift data to rivals in the European Union under proposed changes to a draft law.
US Justice Department and Patent Office Issue Policy Statement on Patents New York Times
The consensus among policy makers on the perils of using standard patents as competitive weapons continues to build.
08 January 2013
Australian police can't get data on how long it needs data ZDNet
One of the strongest backers for Australian telecommunications companies to hold customer data for access by government agencies can't itself provide data on how long it usually requires that data for crime investigation to be stored.
07 January 2013
Critics of Google Antitrust Ruling Fault the Focus New York Times
One of the more surprising conclusions drawn by the Federal Trade Commission when it dropped its nearly two-year antitrust investigation into Google last week was that Google, far from harming consumers, had actually helped them.
06 January 2013
Behind Google's Antitrust Escape Wall Street Journal
After early hopes for a sweeping antitrust case against Google Inc., it became clear to the Federal Trade Commission last fall that no such lawsuit was in the offing.
05 January 2013
On Google, F.T.C. Set Rules of War Over Patents New York Times
The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust investigation of Google focused mainly on the company's lucrative search business, while its inquiry into the tech giant's handling of patents seemed an afterthought.
Europe Likely to Be Harder on Google Over Search New York Times
By some accounts, the United States let Google off the hook when it found that the technology giant had not abused its dominance in the Internet search market.
Google: The Line Between 'Aggressive' and 'Evil' New York Times
"Don't Be Evil," the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, proclaimed in their 2004 "Owner's Manual" for prospective investors in the company. Despite widespread cynicism, criticism and even mockery, the company has never backed down on this core premise, reiterating in its most recent list of the "things we know to be true" that "you can make money without doing evil."
Microsoft vents over FTC Google antitrust ruling ZDNet
Microsoft isn't best pleased with the FTC's decision concerning Google's "anti-competitive" business practices, and has released its frustration by means of a lengthy complaint.
04 January 2013
Inquiry Into Tech Giants' Tax Strategies Nears End New York Times
Congressional investigators are wrapping up an inquiry into the accounting practices of Apple and other technology companies that allocate revenue and intellectual property offshore to lower the taxes they pay in the United States.
Google Pushed Hard Behind the Scenes to Convince Regulators New York Times
For 19 months, Google pressed its case with antitrust regulators investigating the company. Working relentlessly behind the scenes, executives made frequent flights to Washington, laying out their legal arguments and shrewdly applying lessons learned from Microsoft's bruising antitrust battle in the 1990s.
A Victory for Google as F.T.C. Takes No Formal Steps New York Times
The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday handed Google a major victory by declaring, after an investigation of nearly two years, that the company had not violated antitrust or anticompetition statutes in the way it arranges its Web search results.
