Ars Technica
Judge rules against users suing Google and Apple over “annoying” search results
While the world awaits closing arguments later this year in the US government's antitrust case over Google's search dominance, a California judge has dismissed a lawsuit from 26 Google users who claimed that Google's default search agreement with Apple violates antitrust law and has ruined everyone's search results. Users had argued that Google struck a deal making its search engine the default on Apple's Safari web browser specifically to keep Apple from competi
Cable TV companies tell FCC: Early termination fees are good, actually
Cable and satellite TV companies are defending their early termination fees (ETFs) in hopes of avoiding a ban proposed by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC voted to propose the ban in December, kicking off a public comment period that has drawn responses from those for and against the rules.
Google will no longer back up the Internet: Cached webpages are dead
Google will no longer be keeping a backup of the entire Internet. Google Search's "cached" links have long been an alternative way to load a website that was down or had changed, but now the company is killing them off. Google "Search Liaison" Danny Sullivan confirmed the feature removal in an X post, saying the feature "was meant for helping people access pages when way back, you often couldn't depend on a page loading. These days, things have greatly improved.
CEOs say generative AI will result in job cuts in 2024 (Ars Technica)
Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 01/16/2024 - 09:44Criminals are covering their tracks with better use of crypto (Ars Technica)
Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Fri, 01/12/2024 - 12:36All Science journals will now do an AI-powered check for image fraud (Ars Technica)
Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 15:402024 may be a year of reckoning for Apple’s $85 billion services business (Ars Technica)
Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 01/02/2024 - 11:51Cable lobby and Republicans fight proposed ban on early termination fees
The Federal Communications Commission has taken a step toward prohibiting early termination fees charged by cable and satellite TV providers. If given final approval, the FCC action would also require cable and satellite providers to provide a prorated credit or rebate to customers who cancel before a billing period ends. The new rules are being floated in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that the FCC voted to approve in a 3–2 vote, with both Republicans dissenting.