Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook should be broken up

[CobraCommander]

On 4/30/2023 at 12:03 PM, TheGreatBuzz said:

Are people doing this?

I am.

 

Both my wife and I got 300 dollar checks for a classaction lawsuit against Facebook when we lived in Illinois for a biometrics violation. I'll be taking every penny I can from META. 

[China]

Amazon to pay over $30 million in FTC settlements over Ring, Alexa privacy violations

 

Amazon
 will pay the Federal Trade Commission more than $30 million to settle allegations of privacy lapses in its Alexa and Ring divisions, according to filings on Wednesday.

 

The agency filed a lawsuit alleging Amazon’s Ring doorbell unit violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices, which Amazon settled by agreeing to pay $5.8 million.

 

As part of the proposed settlement, Ring is required to delete any customer videos and data collected from an individual’s face, referred to as “face embeddings,” that it obtained prior to 2018. It must also delete any work products it derived from those videos.

 

A separate suit alleges Amazon violated the FTC Act and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by illegally retaining thousands of children’s information through their profiles with the Alexa voice assistant. Amazon paid $25 million to settle that suit.

 

The Department of Justice filed the Alexa complaint and proposed settlement on behalf of the FTC. The government alleged that Amazon kept voice and geolocation information associated with young users for years while preventing parents from using their rights to delete their kids’ data under the COPPA Rule.

 

Under the proposed settlement, Amazon will have to delete inactive child accounts as well as some voice recordings and geolocation information. It also would be prohibited from using that information to train its algorithms.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[ixcuincle]

In order to inflate their IPO Reddit is shutting down access to all third party apps through their API.

 

As a very casual Reddit lurker (/u/ixcuincle) this is absolute bull**** and will shut down any third party apps which make Reddit somewhat usable.

 

Hope more reddits participate in the pending blackout / lockdown.

[China]

Judge Rejects F.T.C. Delay of $70 Billion Microsoft-Activision Deal

 

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to delay Microsoft’s $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, setting the stage for the tech giant and the video game publisher to merge as soon as this month.

 

In a 53-page decision, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said the F.T.C. had failed to show it was likely to prove the merger would result in a substantial reduction in competition that would harm consumers.

 

She denied the F.T.C.’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would have delayed the deal’s closing until after the agency could fight it in an internal court.

 

The ruling is a significant blow to the F.T.C.’s efforts to police blockbuster tech mergers more aggressively. That strategy is spearheaded by the agency’s chair, Lina Khan, who has argued that Big Tech’s vast influence over commerce and communications has led to anticompetitive behavior. The F.T.C. has sued Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, but it walked away from one of its cases against Meta and has had little to show for its efforts so far.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

Google sued for negligence after man drove off collapsed bridge while following map directions

 

The family of a North Carolina man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions is suing the technology giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system.

 

Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned Sept. 30, 2022, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court. Paxson was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighborhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and was never repaired.

 

“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” his wife, Alicia Paxson, said.

 

State troopers who found Paxton’s body in his overturned and partially submerged truck had said there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. He had driven off an unguarded edge and crashed about 20 feet below, according to the lawsuit.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

I think if the bridge collapsed 9 years ago and there's still no signs or barriers, I'd likely also sue whomever is responsible for road maintenance/signage.

[China]

A monopoly-busting Amazon lawsuit might be Biden’s boldest move yet to tame tech

 

A long-awaited antitrust case against Amazon’s massive online retail operations is expected to be filed in federal court as soon as Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

 

The Federal Trade Commission has been preparing a complaint since at least the start of this year targeting an array of Amazon’s business practices. The exact details of the lawsuit are not known, and changes to the final complaint are possible until it’s officially submitted. But personnel throughout the agency, including FTC Chair Lina Khan herself, have homed in on several of Amazon’s business practices, POLITICO has previously reported.

 

That includes challenges to Amazon Prime, Amazon rules that the FTC says block lower prices on competing websites and actions regulators believe force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services.

 

The lawsuit would be one of the most aggressive and high-profile moves in the Biden administration’s rocky effort to tame the power of tech giants. If successful, it could lead to a court-ordered restructuring of the $1.35 trillion empire and define the legacy of Khan, who rose to prominence after authoring an article as a law student outlining the antitrust case against Amazon.

 

One of the final hurdles before the FTC sues Amazon is to get as many states as possible to sign on to the complaint, said two of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential matter. A large, bipartisan group of states would be a strong signal of support for the case, especially since there are no Republican appointees confirmed to the agency, two of the people said. A Senate hearing was held earlier this week for the nominees for those two vacancies.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

FTC Sues Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power

 

Amazon’s ongoing pattern of illegal conduct blocks competition, allowing it to wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle innovation for consumers and businesses
 

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general today sued Amazon.com, Inc. alleging that the online retail and technology company is a monopolist that uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power. The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon.  

 

The complaint alleges that Amazon violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging. By stifling competition on price, product selection, quality, and by preventing its current or future rivals from attracting a critical mass of shoppers and sellers, Amazon ensures that no current or future rival can threaten its dominance. Amazon’s far-reaching schemes impact hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales every year, touch hundreds of thousands of products sold by businesses big and small and affect over a hundred million shoppers. 

 

Click on the link for the full press release

[Cooked Crack]

Quote

But Mr. Stewart and Apple executives had disagreements over some of the topics and guests on “The Problem,” two of the people said. Mr. Stewart told members of his staff on Thursday that potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence were causing concern among Apple executives, a person with knowledge of the meeting said. As the 2024 presidential campaign begins to heat up, there was potential for further creative disagreements, one of the people said.

 

[China]

House lawmakers press Apple CEO on reports Jon Stewart’s show was canceled over China concerns

 

Did Apple and Jon Stewart part ways over China? Members of Congress would like to know.

 

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday sent a letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook asking that he explain why the company will no longer produce “The Problem With Jon Stewart” for its streaming service — AppleTV+.

 

The bipartisan letter — signed by Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, and Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois — asked that Apple provide the committee with a briefing by Dec. 15, 2023, so that they can better understand the reason for the show’s cancelation. The letter also asked Apple to make a public commitment that content potentially viewed as critical of the Chinese Communist Party would be welcome on the company’s services.

 

CNN previously reported that Stewart was approached by Apple executives who were concerned about the show’s discussion of China and artificial intelligence, according to multiple show staff members with whom Stewart discussed the matter. Apple executives told Stewart they both needed to be aligned regarding the topics, which he declined, instead saying that he wanted full creative control over his show. Apple then threatened to cancel the show, after which Stewart walked away.

 

“If these reports are accurate, it potentially speaks to broader concerns about indirect Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence over the creative expression of American artists and companies on CCP-related topics,” the committee said in the letter. “It also highlights an additional reason, beyond the traditionally-cited national security rationales, why we encourage Apple to accelerate its efforts to reduce its dependence on the [People’s Republic of China] in its core business.”

 

“While companies have the right to determine what content is appropriate for their streaming service, the coercive tactics of a foreign power should not be directly or indirectly influencing these determinations,” the lawmakers added.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[ixcuincle]

No news link but CBS News just aired an exclusive about New Mexico AG suing Meta because it enables child predators. They made a 13 year old through AI and that account was bombarded with inappropriate material.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/new-mexico-lawsuit-accuses-meta-of-creating-breeding-ground-for-child-predators/ar-AA1l7229

[Corcaigh]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:42 PM, China said:

House lawmakers press Apple CEO on reports Jon Stewart’s show was canceled over China concerns

 

 

Reminds me of Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly

 

The Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government’s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people.

 

The government argued that Apple violated antitrust laws by preventing other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products like its digital wallets, which could diminish the value of the iPhone. Apple’s policies hurt consumers and smaller companies that compete with some of Apple’s services, according to excerpts from the lawsuit released by the government, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

 

“Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” the government said in the lawsuit.

 

The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $2.75 trillion public company that was for years the most valuable on the planet. It takes direct aim at the iPhone, Apple’s most popular device and most powerful business, and attacks the way the company has turned the billions of smartphones it has sold since 2007 into the centerpiece of its empire.

 

By tightly controlling the user experience on iPhones and other devices, Apple has created what critics call an uneven playing field, where it grants its own products and services access to core features that it denies rivals. Over the years, it has limited finance companies’ access to the phone’s payment chip and Bluetooth trackers from tapping into its location-service feature. It’s also easier for users to connect Apple products, like smar****ches and laptops, to the iPhone than to those made by other manufacturers.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[DCSaints_fan]

On 6/5/2023 at 7:45 AM, ixcuincle said:

In order to inflate their IPO Reddit is shutting down access to all third party apps through their API.

 

As a very casual Reddit lurker (/u/ixcuincle) this is absolute bull**** and will shut down any third party apps which make Reddit somewhat usable.

 

Hope more reddits participate in the pending blackout / lockdown.

What I hate more was "you must use the app to use this site on mobile" garbage.  Both from a consumer and a developer perspective.

 

Prior to the to WWW becoming popular, this is how things used to work.  Every company/organization/entity that provided a network service, had to define their own client/server protocol, and their own custom rendering code for each platform.  It was a big ****show, as any developer who worked during that era will attest.  Don't get me started on CORBA 💩

 

The beauty of the WWW was in part, you don't need that anymore.  We're going to define standards (HTTP, and HTML) where anyone with this thing called a "user agent" (aka "web browser"), can access our service.  And from a developer perspective, you just follow the standards and it worked* on any platform

 

* Yes, this was only partially true depending on what you wanted to do, in practice the competing browsers did not all implement everything the same (looking at you IE!)

 

Yet the trend now has recently been, let's go back to the mess of the 90s and before where everyone was silo'd off into their own custom runtimes and sometimes even protocols

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Lol US government 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[ixcuincle]

 

[PleaseBlitz]

The full report can be downloaded here:  https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/youth-social-media-2024

 

A summary is here:  https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2024/04/social-media-companies-protect-youth

 

Quote

WASHINGTON — Almost a year after the American Psychological Association issued a landmark health advisory on social media use in adolescence, technology companies and policymakers still have made few meaningful changes, forcing society to continue to search for ways to maximize the benefits of these platforms while protecting youth from their harms.

 

“Social media platforms know that the answer is to structurally correct harmful design features and functions. Most children and adolescents lack the experience, judgment and self-control to manage their behaviors on these platforms, which is why we see over 50% reporting at least one symptom of clinical dependency on social media today,” said Mitch Prinstein, PhD, APA’s chief science officer. “Age restrictions alone are not the answer, since kids find ways around them. And putting the responsibility solely on parents is not fair either. The developers must address the dangers inherent in these platforms and make their products safe for youth.”

 

APA has issued a new report as a follow-up to its 2023 health advisory focusing on social media design features and functions built into these platforms that are inherently unsafe for youth. The new report points to the psychological threats these features and functions introduce and the developmental vulnerabilities they exploit.

 

“Policies will not protect youth unless technology companies are required to reduce the risks embedded within the platforms themselves,” the report says. “As policymakers at every level assess their approach to this complex issue, it is important to note the limitations of frequently proposed policies, which are often misreported and fall far short of comprehensive safety solutions that will achieve meaningful change.”

 

APA calls for comprehensive design improvements to social media platforms to inform safety standards for at least four reasons:

• Creating a bright line age limit ignores individual differences in adolescents’ maturity and competency;
• Such proposals fail to mitigate the harms for those above the age limit and can lead to a perception that social media is safe for adolescents above the threshold age, although neurological changes may continue until age 25;
• Limiting access to social media may disadvantage those who get psychological benefits from social media platforms, such as peer support and access to science-based resources, which particularly impact those in marginalized populations;
• Age verification must also ensure that the storage of official identification documents does not exclude subsets of youth, create risks for leaks, or circumvent the ability of young people to maintain anonymity on social platforms.

Addressing the role of parents, it says: “More robust and easy-to-use parental controls would help some younger age groups, but as a sole strategy, this approach ignores the complexities of adolescent development, the importance of childhood autonomy and privacy, and disparities in time or resources available for monitoring across communities.”

 

“Delegating responsibility to parents, to app stores or to youth themselves does not address the vulnerabilities and harms built into the platforms,” said Mary Ann McCabe, PhD, co-chair of the expert panel that put together the 2023 health advisory. “That responsibility sits with the creators and purveyors of these technologies—the platform developers themselves.”

 

[China]

And nothing will be done.

[Cooked Crack]