Verge, The
Will regulators approve the massive T-Mobile-Sprint merger?
As the two smaller players in a wireless industry dominated by four companies, T-Mobile and Sprint argue that they need to link up to effectively challenge Verizon and AT&T, and the creation of a new wireless behemoth — with nearly 100 million customers — will allow them to build out a national 5G network. T-Mobile CEO John Legere has already raised the specter of Chinese competition on the next-generation network technology. And although that argument will be thoroughly questioned by critics, it’s one that could get some play in the Trump administration.
Apple’s purchase of Shazam is now under investigation by the EU (Verge, The)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Mon, 04/23/2018 - 12:40The Disney-21st Century Fox deal: a timeline (Verge, The)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Fri, 04/20/2018 - 17:31AI is an excuse for Facebook to keep messing up (Verge, The)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Fri, 04/13/2018 - 16:31'Information Fiduciary' would regulate Facebook without going through Congress
We’re trusting services like Facebook with our data, and that trust should come with concrete legal responsibilities. To make that happen, Yale Law professor Jack Balkin proposes designating cloud providers as “information fiduciaries,” binding them an industry-wide code of conduct modeled after similar designations in law, medicine, and finance. In the abstract, the rule would require Facebook and other companies to not act against user’s interest, leaving courts to decide the penalties when they do.
President Trump signs anti-trafficking law that weakens online free speech protections (Verge, The)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Wed, 04/11/2018 - 12:56Facebook-backed lawmakers are pushing to gut privacy law
As Mark Zuckerberg prepares to testify before Congress, Facebook is quietly fighting a crucial privacy measure in the Illinois Statehouse. Starting April 11, state legislators will consider a new amendment to the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) that could neuter one of the strongest privacy laws in the US, giving Facebook free rein to run facial recognition scans without users’ consent.