Report from Bloomberg In Brief – In its first major merger action since the beginning of the second Donald Trump Administration, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has sued to block the $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)....
First EU AI Act Rules Come into Force Banning Unacceptable AI Uses
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – The first regulatory compliance deadline of the EU AI Act went into effect on February 2, 2025, with companies required to comply with the rules related to AI applications that are prohibited under the law except with very limited...
Google Faces Skeptical Judges in Appeal of Antitrust Loss to Epic Games
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – Lawyers for Google and Epic Games faced off in front of a panel of US Ninth District Court of Appeals in Google’s challenge of its antitrust loss to Epic Games and the subsequent remedies crafted by Federal Judge James Donato. A jury...
Apple Criticizes New EU DMA Regime that Allows iPhone Porn Apps
Report from The Verge In Brief – Apple reacted to the public introduction of Hot Tub, an iOS pornography app that will be available to iPhone users in the EU through the alternative app store AltStore PAL, by criticizing the European Commission’s regulatory decisions....
DeepSeek Blocked in Italy by Data Protection Authorities
Report from EuroNews In Brief – Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, has ordered China-based chatbot phenom DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the company failed to address the regulator’s concerns over its privacy policy and data practices....
China’s Response to New Trump Tariffs Includes Threat to Google
Report from the New York Times In Brief – China has included an antitrust investigation of Google in its trade retaliation package responding to the United States’ new 10% across-the-board tariff on Chinese exports to the country. The announcement simply said that the...
UK Kicks Encryption Hornets’ Nest by Demanding Apple iCloud Backdoor
Report from the Washington Post In Brief – The UK Government has reportedly issued secret orders to Apple demanding that the company provide a backdoor for security authorities to access users’ encrypted iCloud data. The unprecedented demand, made in January, was...
Judge Tersely Rejects Apple Efforts to Join the Google Search Antitrust Case
Report from The Verge In Brief – US District Court Judge Amit Mehta has summarily denied Apple’s emergency request to stay his recent decision rejecting their effort to halt the Google Search monopoly trial and join the litigation directly to protect their interests,...
Ending De Minimis for China Paused While US Works on Compliance Plan
Report from the Washington Post In Brief – The Trump Administration has amended its executive order that imposed new tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, and ended the “de minimis” exemption for packages from those countries, by delaying the de minimis change until...
Microsoft Continues Trying to Settle EU Antitrust Concerns with Teams
Report from Reuters In Brief – Microsoft has reportedly offered to widen the price differential between its Office 365 product sold with its chat and video app Teams and its version of the software sold without the Teams as part of its ongoing negotiation to avoid an...
Apple Loses UK Class Action Arguing Its Fees Were Too High
Report from Financial Times In Brief – The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled that Apple violated competition law by imposing excessive App Store commissions on developers, leading to overcharges being passed on to consumers. The decision requires Apple...
Apple Says It May Disable App Tracking Transparency Rules in Europe
Report from DPA International In Brief – Apple is saying that it might turn off its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature in Europe due to regulatory pressure that the iPhone giant attributes to lobbying from the advertising industry. ATT is the Apple policy that...
Character.AI Setting an 18-Year-Old Age Limit for Its Companion Chatbots
Report from New York Times In Brief – AI “companion” company Character.AI has announced that they will bar users under 18 from its chatbots in a sweeping move to address concerns over teen safety. The move follows mounting scrutiny over how AI chatbot companions can...
Google and Epic Games Settle Federal Antitrust Battle Over the Play Store
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – Google and Epic Games have agreed to settle their long-running antitrust battle over the rules and fees of the Android Play Store, with Google agreeing to implement changes both sides say will lower fees and expand choices for...
Reddit and Kick Added to Social Media Platforms Facing Aussie Age Limit
Report from BBC In Brief – The Australian eSafety Commissioner has announced that nine digital platforms will be required to comply with the country’s new threshold of 16 years of age for individuals to have an account on social media platforms when the mandate goes...
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