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Google could be facing new antitrust lawsuits before the year's out
The company is facing increased scrutiny over search and advertising practices
Google has always toed the line between respecting user privacy and making money off targeted ads, but things came to a head last month when the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the company due to antitrust allegations. Now it looks like more litigation is on the horizon from state attorneys hoping to add fuel to the fire — and Google isn't the only company under scrutiny.
Department of Justice sues Google over search and advertising monopoly, following year-long investigation
This lawsuit could change the internet forever
Google is no stranger to legal trouble, but 2020 may be bringing the most pressure the company has faced yet. The US Justice Department has been investigating Google's business practices for a while now, and we learned that a lawsuit was in the works last month. Today, the DOJ and eleven state attorneys filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of anticompetitive behavior to maintain its monopoly.
Google could be forced to sell Chrome if the Justice Department gets its way
A potential path to curbing Google's advertising dominance
Google has been in hot water with government authorities time and time again, most recently when it comes to its acquisition of Fitbit in the EU. Now it looks like Google might have more tough times ahead in its home territory as the US Justice Department is reportedly considering forcing Google to sell the Chrome browser along with parts of its advertising business.
Huawei charged with racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets in the US
The company is indicted on 16 counts in all, with CFO Meng Wanzhou named as a defendant
The Huawei drama here in the 'states isn't over yet. A grand jury in the US has just charged Huawei with racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets, all among 16 charges included in its indictment. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, still undergoing the slow process of extradition to the US from Canada, is specifically named as a defendant in the indictment.
Today US President Donald J. Trump has signed into effect the TRACED (or Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) Act, aimed to prevent unwanted spam/robocalls, authorizing fines up to $10,000 per illegal call with no advance warning, extending the statute of limitations for violations to four years, and imposing a requirement that carriers implement call authentication solutions, like the existing SHAKEN/STIR verification tech.
Following the recent news that Dish was willing to pick up some leftover spectrum and superfluous prepaid businesses, the US Department of Justice has just announced its support for the long-awaited $26 billion merger that will join T-Mobile and Sprint into a single carrier. Objections raised by the Attorneys General for five states — previously expected to cause additional delays for the merger — have also been settled.
Back in 2012, the FBI, Department of Justice, and other domestic and foreign entities teamed up to seize three sites that pirated Android apps: Applanet, AppBucket, and SnappzMarket. The fallout for some of the operators of those sites was known within about 18 months of the unprecedented crackdown. For the then-teenager behind Applanet, the largest of the three offending sites, the consequences were not determined until this week: He'll avoid prison time but will be placed under probation with some special conditions.
If you've been following the Applanet/Appbucket criminal case, you know that the Department of Justice and the FBI have been working on bringing charges against a number of high-profile Android app pirates for the last eighteen months. Earlier this month the investigations and arrests paid off, as two of the men responsible for large-scale Android app piracy in the United States pled guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The DOJ reported the news on its official public affairs portal.
Software piracy sucks. Ask any developer: app piracy is a major problem on Android, and more so on Android than on other mobile platforms, thanks to the relative ease of installing applications outside of the Google Play Store. But the United States Department of Justice is not turning a blind eye to mobile piracy. The Department charged four men with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement earlier this week in Georgia's northern federal district court.
One small and two major sites that have a long history of distributing pirated Android apps have been seized in a first of its kind operation conducted by the FBI, DoJ, and a variety of U.S. and foreign governments. These sites are:
Editorial: The $3.6 Billion Spectrum Sale To Verizon That Was Just Approved Is Kind Of Really Shady
The US Department of Justice approved a sale of unused wireless spectrum to Verizon today, marking one of the largest spectrum sales to a single corporate
The US Department of Justice approved a sale of unused wireless spectrum to Verizon today, marking one of the largest spectrum sales to a single corporate entity in history. The unused portion of the AWS spectrum is owned by a number of cable companies (known collectively as "SpectrumCo") that bought it during the FCC AWS auction back in 2008.
It's official: AT&T-Mobile will not be happening any time soon. AT&T, the US's second-largest wireless carrier and all-around communications mega-corporation, after months of attempting to convince consumers and federal agencies alike that the deal was going to be good for everyone, has given up its plans to purchase T-Mobile, a division of Deutsche Telekom.
Over at Google's Public Policy Blog (yes, that really exists) today, Senior VP Dennis Woodside issued a statement that the U.S. Department of Justice was taking a "second look" at certain potential antitrust issues in the Google-Motorola deal. What's it mean?