Tag Archives: European Union

News, Observation, Politics, Tech

Consumer Rights Groups Applaud EU Passage of Law to Rein in Tech Titans

Tech Roundup Graphic

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Adobe Stock

The new law “will put an end to some of the most harmful practices of Big Tech and narrow the power imbalance between people and online platforms.”

Digital and consumer rights advocates on Friday hailed a landmark European Union law aimed at curbing Big Tech’s monopolistic behavior.

“This is a big moment for consumers and businesses who have suffered from Big Tech’s harmful practices.”

Negotiators from the European Parliament and European Council agreed late Thursday on the language of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to prevent major tech companies from anti-competitive practices by threatening large fines or possible breakup.

Ursula Pachl, deputy director-general at the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), an umbrella advocacy group, said in a statement that “this is a big moment for consumers and businesses who have suffered from Big Tech’s harmful practices.”

“This legislation will rebalance digital markets, increase consumer choice, and put an end to many of the worst practices that Big Tech has engaged in over the years,” she added. “It is a landmark law for the E.U.’s digital transformation.”

Cédric O, the French minister of state with responsibility for digital, said in a statement that “the European Union has had to impose record fines over the past 10 years for certain harmful business practices by very large digital players. The DMA will directly ban these practices and create a fairer and more competitive economic space for new players and European businesses.”

“These rules are key to stimulating and unlocking digital markets, enhancing consumer choice, enabling better value sharing in the digital economy, and boosting innovation,” he added.

Andreas Schwab, a member of the European Parliament from Germany, said that “the Digital Markets Act puts an end to the ever-increasing dominance of Big Tech companies. From now on, Big Tech companies must show that they also allow for fair competition on the internet. The new rules will help enforce that basic principle.”

BEUC’s Pachl offered examples of the new law’s benefits:

Google must stop promoting its own local, travel, or job services over those of competitors in Google Search results, while Apple will be unable to force users to use its payment service for app purchases. Consumers will also be able to collectively enforce their rights if a company breaks the rules in the Digital Markets Act.

Companies are also barred from pre-installing certain software and reusing certain private data collected “during a service for the purposes of another service.”

The DMA applies to companies deemed both “platforms” and “gatekeepers”—those with market capitalization greater than €75 billion ($82.4 billion), 45 million or more monthly end-users, and at least 10,000 E.U. business users. Companies that violate the law can be fined up to 10% of their total annual worldwide turnover, with repeat offenders subject to a doubling of the penalty.

“The DMA is a major step towards limiting the tremendous market power that today’s gatekeeper tech firms have.”

Diego Naranjo, head of policy at the advocacy group European Digital Rights (EDRi), said in a statement that “the DMA will put an end to some of the most harmful practices of Big Tech and narrow the power imbalance between people and online platforms. If correctly implemented, the new agreement will empower individuals to choose more freely the type of online experience and society we want to build in the digital era.”

To ensure effective implementation, BEUC’s Pachl called on E.U. member states to “now also provide the [European] Commission with the necessary enforcement resources to step in the moment there is foul play.”

EDRi senior policy adviser Jan Penfrat said that while “the DMA is a major step towards limiting the tremendous market power that today’s gatekeeper tech firms have,” policymakers “must now make sure that the new obligations not to reuse personal data and the prohibition of using sensitive data for surveillance advertising are respected and properly enforced by the European Commission.”

“Only then will the change be felt by people who depend on digital services every day,” he added.

Originally published on Common Dreams by BRETT WILKINS and republished under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Related Articles:

Check out Lynxotic on YouTube

Find books on Music, Movies & Entertainment and many other topics at Bookshop.org

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

Climate Solutions, News, Observation, Politics

Over 70,000 March in Brussels to Demand Green New Deal, Urgent Climate Action

Video

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic

“What do we do when we destroy the planet?” asked one demonstrator. “We have nothing else.”

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday to demand Belgium’s elected leaders and others from around the world finally dispense with proclamations, broken promises, and half-measures and instead “act” on the climate emergency.

“We need a Belgian Green New Deal and we propose more than 100 concrete solutions to make it happen.”

With U.N. climate conference (COP26) set for next month in Glasgow, the estimated 70,000 or more people who took part in the march offered a dramatic show of force for the nation’s climate movement.

Zanna Vanrenterghem of Greenpeace Belgium told The Brussels Times on Sunday that her government’s climate pledges so far “are not ambitious enough,” but that words are no longer enough. “It is one thing to talk about climate,” she said, “and another to take concrete action.”

Ahead of the march, Vanrenterghem said the message from the Klimaatcoalitie (Climate Coalition), which she co-chairs and that organized the march, was a simple one: “We demand ambitious, solidarity-based and coherent measures. We need a Belgian Green New Deal and we propose more than 100 concrete solutions to make it happen.”

According to the Associated Press:

Thousands of people and 80 organizations took part in the protest, aiming for the biggest such event in the European Union’s capital since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which stopped the climate movement’s weekly marches in its tracks.

Cyclists, families with children and white-haired demonstrators filled city streets, chanting slogans demanding climate justice and waving banners in English, French and Dutch. One carried a stuffed polar bear on her head, and others were dressed as animals endangered by human-caused climate change.

The crowds was large—with the march often stretching further than the eye could see—and participants each sharing their various reasons for attending. Signs and banners said things like “Destroy the System/Not the Planet”; “Walk the Talk”; and “Protect What You Love.”

Lucien Dewanaga, a marcher who spoke with AP, asked the question: “What do we do when we destroy the planet? We have nothing else. Human beings have to live in this world. And there is only one world.”

According to Vanrenterghem, extreme weather within Belgium and elsewhere in the world over the past year have offered only more reasons for leaders to turn lofty rhetoric into the concrete policies that scientists say are necessary to stave off the worst impacts. 

“The tough climate actions of the past few years have put the climate crisis high on the political agenda,” she said. “Now is the time for politicians to turn their promises into concrete action.”

Originally published on Common Dreams by COMMON DREAMS STAFF and republished under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Related Articles:

Find books on Sustainable Energy Solutions and Climate Science and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

Observation, Tech

Big Tech headed for a Storm of Changes once the Novel Coronavirus Fades from Center Stage

Anti-trust Actions and Consumer Frustration Building for Years Coming to a Head in Post-Pandemic World

A groundswell of dissatisfaction bordering on outrage, particularly in Europe, built to a peak by the end of 2019. Lawsuits, investigations, protests and more lay siege on the biggest of the big tech giants. Google, Facebook and Amazon were at the forefront of much of the turmoil.

Judgements, convictions and fines levied against google included a whopping $1.7 billion fine in the European Union for violating antitrust regulations involving unfair advertising practices. The E.U. had already convicted the giant search company twice for similar violations in its business practices. The total fines as of the Match 2019 judgement totaled 9.3 billion imposed by the E.U. alone. While this may be pocket change to a trillion dollar company with a virtual monopoly in search in many parts of the world, it also indicates and impacts a rising awareness of the disturbing anti-competitive behavior of the tech giant.

Click to buy “The Four” 
and at the same time help Lynxotic 
and all independent local bookstores. 
Also on Amazon

Both Facebook and Amazon have been similarly targeted for various anti-trust violations and non-competitive behaviors and were fined accordingly. Although in some ways less targeted for traditional anti-trust violations to date, Amazon, has been increasingly scrutinized and investigated for its methods of market domination. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was quoted in a televised speech stating that “Amazon destroyed the retail industry”. Amazon’s complex structure and claim to “only” account for 5% of retail sales (and 50% of online retail) make traditional monopolistic behavior claims more difficult to prove. Antitrust experts have called the massive online company a monopsony instead, which can mean having a majority power over suppliers rather than consumers. A similar set of issues and concerns was the focus of famous antitrust battles against the A&P Grocery chain during the Great Depression with a judgement against the giant finally rendered in 1946.

Also recently, the Wall Street Journal published a disturbing story detailing how sellers on Amazon were able to sell products sourced from dumpsters, clean them up and pass off as new. This was a tip-of-the-iceberg moment opening up inquiries into the state of the “3rd party marketplace” which represents more than 50% of Amazon’s revenue.

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University

After the Pandemic Troubles Likely to Remain for Tech Behemoths

Now, as of the date of this writing the confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. total over five hundred thousand cases with over one hundred thousand deaths worldwide. The U.S. death toll, at over 2.3k , has surpassed every other country, including China (although the numbers coming out of China may not be reliable). The number of cases and the death toll has not yet peaked, according to experts, and Lock-downs across the country are likely to continue for weeks, even months longer.

Click to buy “World Without Mind” 
and at the same time help Lynxotic 
and all independent local bookstores. 
Also on Amazon

Although this situation effectively postpones government investigations and county actions against the giants, public anger and frustration, particularly with Amazon appears to be on the rise. Low paid warehouse workers for Amazon have staged walk outs and protests, delivery times have lengthened dramatically, the newly launched Amazon branded delivery system was cancelled and overall chaos appears on the rise.

None of these or any other side-effects of the pandemic and the lock-downs, such an an increase in streaming and online use in general is likely to be a positive public relations win for any of these massive companies. The trend of the last several years is likely to not only continue but intensify as the world slowly emerges from a state of quarantine shock and gradually tries to find a path to a new business as usual.

Meanwhile, enough time has elapsed that not only articles but books about the Big-Tech backlash and the problems that have been clearly identified in the business models of these companies have been published. Many are zeroing in on the negative impact of these enormous companies on society, the job market and small businesses in particular as they snowball into larger and more dominating versions of themselves .

We have featured a few on this page but they are being published literally as I write this article, and we will continue to catalog and update the subject on our sister site Cherrybooks.

Read more: World Reading Marathon Underway- Streaming and Binge-watching still huge but Books are Next

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Esoteric Spirituality and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page.

Climate Solutions

European Union Announces $1 Trillion Investment Plan to Support Green Deal through 2030

Photo / Adobe Stock

Laudable Climate Goals, if Met or Exceeded…

On December 11th 2019, the European Union announced its plans for a Green Deal. Proposed by EU President Ursula von der Leyen, the Green Deal daringly aims to make Europe the first carbon neutral continent by 2050, with a number of incremental goals along the way. The plan involves reducing fossil fuel reliance, transitioning to renewable energy, and promoting more sustainable infrastructures. Naturally, though, the first step is figuring out how much the plan will cost, and where the financing will come from.

Earlier in January, the EU finally crunched the numbers and reported that the Green Deal will cost a quarter of the bloc’s budget for its first ten years. On top of that, in order to keep the plan on track for 2050, the EU will also have to shift 1 trillion Euros ($1.1 trillion) in investments towards a more environmentally friendly European economy by 2030.

The European Commission claims that half of the investments will come directly from the EU’s budget, and that the other half will come from a mix of public and private funds. 100 billion Euros are expected to come from member states’ federal governments, and another 300 billion will hopefully come from the private sector.

These figures are hefty, and some leaders and businesspeople remain skeptical of the plan. Even Jonah Van Overtveld, head of the EU Budget Committee, expressed his doubts about the Green Deal’s fundraising tactics.

Rather than dodge the financial disbelief, though, the EU has addressed it head on, actively making efforts to frame the Green Deal as an economic boost for the countries involved and creating incentives for investing in a sustainable Europe.

This plan focused on stimulation principally requires frequent opportunities to invest in clean energy. Regional EU programs such as InvestEU and the European Investment Bank will be leading these opportunities, using the Commission’s budget guarantee to mobilize financial support.

Support for Lagging Economies Built into the Deal

Still, the Green Deal’s harshest critics remain the pac’s countries that rely heavily on fossil fuels. Poland, for example, refuses to comply with the plan due to its ongoing dependence on coal. The country produces 80% of its electricity from coal and would suffer disproportionately if expected to cut coal from its energy economy.

Once again, however, the EU has not ignored the plights of countries like Poland and has proposed a 100 billion Euro “Just Transition Fund” to financially help the nations hit hardest by giving up fossil fuels. The Fund will not just support those countries through the transition, but it will also help their laborers remain afloat after the reformation.

Part of the Green Deal’s economic incentive features a large number of jobs created for the clean energy economy. The Just Transition Fund would help former employees of fossil fuel companies become versed in new eco-friendly trades. Turning Europe into a continent dependent on renewable energy will require a new, learned workforce as well as lots of laborious construction. Optimistically, this will more than cover the jobs lost by minimizing the fossil fuel industry.

European lawmakers will vote on the proposed finance plan on Wednesday, January 22, and van der Leyen wants to have the Green Deal put into legislation by March. There is still more support to be wrangled up for the Deal, but its supporters are evidently looking at the task pragmatically. Although becoming carbon neutral by 2050 is ambitious, it is also expensive, so the EU is counting the Euros carefully and strategically. That being said, when it comes to the climate crisis, time is of the essence. Ambition is not an option, but a necessity.

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Economics and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and subscribe to our newsletter.

Climate Solutions

The European Union Sets Its Own Eco Standards With Green Deal

Euro Attempts to Lead in Climate Fight

While leaders from around the globe were coming together to seek climate consensus at the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, the European Union is making its own efforts in Belgium. On Tuesday, December 11th, the EU met in Brussels and introduced what it is calling the “Green Deal,” an outline of policies for the bloc to implement in the fight against climate change. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the Green Deal at the EU meeting. It is her first major proposal (and a bold one at that) since she first took office on December 1st. The plan is part of an overarching ambition for the EU to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The Green Deal aims to achieve this ambition through fifty policy measures. Among them are a $110-Billion fund to help transition away from coal, updated production standards to eliminate waste, and a carbon border tax for imports. There would also be more money set aside to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease the level of trade dependency on air travel. 

When von der Leyen introduced the Deal, she called it “Europe’s ‘man on the moon’ moment,” likely alluding to United States President John F. Kennedy’s famous “We Choose To Go To The Moon Speech” that kicked off the Space Race in 1962. Like Kennedy’s declaration to put a man on the moon, the Green Deal is unprecedentedly daring. It consciously sets out to challenge the nations involved and bring out the best in their politicians and citizens alike. If all goes well, then the end result could be beyond anything mankind has achieved in the past.

The irony in von der Leyen referencing JFK in her remarks, however, is that part of the Green Deal states that the EU will no longer engage in trade agreements with nations not participating in the Paris Climate Accords—that means to United States. Thanks to President Trump’s recent withdrawal from the global agreements set upon during the Obama Administration, the Green Deal could leave the U.S. without a few vital trading partners in Europe.

Man on The Moon is an Understatement: Resistance is a Factor

With any luck, maybe this economic incentive will convince the United States to hop back on board the Paris Accord. After all, one of the Green Deal’s primary aims is to inspire other places around the world to politically prioritize the climate crisis and lower carbon emissions. While certain governments have already made progress in these areas, the Green Deal marks the first time that a multi-nation bloc this big is directly attacking the issue on such a wide, in depth scale.

That being said, not everyone is a fan of the Deal. Although it won the support of the conservative European People’s Party (the most prevalent party in Parliament), the Green Deal has its cynics on both sides of the political spectrum. The far-right wingers fear the Deal’s potential effect on extractive industries and the economy. Meanwhile, far-left parties like the Green Party and the European United Left, are weary that the plan is not enough and that it needs to offer more solutions to additional issues. 

Still, all but three of the 28 countries in the EU have agreed to the Green Deal’s 2050 carbon neutral goal. The outliers are Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, three Eastern European nations that rely heavily on coal and other fossil fuels. 

Understandably, the Green Deal will not get adopted and accepted overnight. There are a lot of countries that have a say in its guidelines and not all of them see eye-to-eye. Nevertheless, the fact that an entity as large and influential as the EU is proposing such a plan—and that it is getting received relatively well—is a big step for environmental progress. Soon enough, maybe the rest of the world will fall in line too, realize the dangers at hand, and compromise for the betterment of the entire planet. 

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Economics and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Climate Solutions

The European Union Sets Its Own Eco Standards With Green Deal In Midst Of Madrid’s UN Climate Conference

Collage / Lynxotic

Green Deal is the Real Deal? Probably Not

While leaders from around the globe are coming together to seek climate consensus at the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, the European Union is making its own efforts in Belgium. On Tuesday, December 11th, the EU met in Brussels and introduced what it is calling the “Green Deal,” an outline of policies for the bloc to implement in the fight against climate change.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the Green Deal at the EU meeting. It is her first major proposal (and a bold one at that) since she first took office on December 1st. The plan is part of an overarching ambition for the EU to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The Green Deal aims to achieve this ambition through fifty policy measures. Among them are a $110-Billion fund to help transition away from coal, updated production standards to eliminate waste, and a carbon border tax for imports. There would also be more money set aside to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease the level of trade dependency on air travel.

When von der Leyen introduced the Deal, she called it “Europe’s ‘man on the moon’ moment,” likely alluding to United States President John F. Kennedy’s famous “We Choose To Go To The Moon Speech” that kicked off the Space Race in 1962. Like Kennedy’s declaration to put a man on the moon, the Green Deal is unprecedentedly daring. It consciously sets out to challenge the nations involved and bring out the best in their politicians and citizens alike. If all goes well, then the end result could be beyond anything mankind has achieved in the past.

Potential Huge Impact of New Front in Trade Wars?

The irony in von der Leyen referencing JFK in her remarks, however, is that part of the Green Deal states that the EU will no longer engage in trade agreements with nations not participating in the Paris Climate Accords—that means to United States. Thanks to President Trump’s recent withdrawal from the global agreements set upon during the Obama Administration, the Green Deal could leave the U.S. without a few vital trading partners in Europe.

With any luck, maybe this economic incentive will convince the United States to hop back on board the Paris Accord. After all, one of the Green Deal’s primary aims is to inspire other places around the world to politically prioritize the climate crisis and lower carbon emissions. While certain governments have already made progress in these areas, the Green Deal marks the first time that a multi-nation bloc this big is directly attacking the issue on such a wide, in depth scale.

That being said, not everyone is a fan of the Deal. Although it won the support of the conservative European People’s Party (the most prevalent party in Parliament), the Green Deal has its cynics on both sides of the political spectrum. The far-right wingers fear the Deal’s potential effect on extractive industries and the economy. Meanwhile, far-left parties like the Green Party and the European United Left, are weary that the plan is not enough and that it needs to offer more solutions to additional issues.

Still, all but three of the 28 countries in the EU have agreed to the Green Deal’s 2050 carbon neutral goal. The outliers are Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, three Eastern European nations that rely heavily on coal and other fossil fuels.

Understandably, the Green Deal will not get adopted and accepted overnight. There are a lot of countries that have a say in its guidelines and not all of them see eye-to-eye. Nevertheless, the fact that an entity as large and influential as the EU is proposing such a plan—and that it is getting received relatively well—is a big step for environmental progress. Soon enough, maybe the rest of the world will fall in line too, realize the dangers at hand, and compromise for the betterment of the entire planet.

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Economics and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Climate Solutions, Earth and Ecology

July 2019 was the Hottest Month in Recorded History

https://d21rhj7n383afu.cloudfront.net/washpost-production/Associated_Press_Caspar_Haarl_v_Into_the_Ice_/20190802/5d43fedc46e0fb0009401025/5d44896ccff47e000904484f_1509128713498-xfd55s_t_1564772740470_640_360_600.mp4
Video Clip / Associated Press/Caspar Haarløv Into the Ice

According the the Copernicus Climate Change Service, part of the Copernicus Earth Observation Program, of the European Untion, July was the hottest month in recorded human history.

The calculation of the average global temperature was arrived at by measuring data from satellites, buoys, weather balloons and various other sources, daily and hourly, and then inputting that information into proprietary computer models.

Photo / The Copernicus Program

Next, the results were compared with other measurements taken by various similar climate research agencies around the world.

In case you are wondering, more modern and accurate global average temperature records have been kept for approximately 100 years. General record keeping goes back much further, for example, the recent heatwave in Europe broke high temperature marks dating to the 1500s, according to the Climatology Institute in Potsdam, Germany.

The warmest previous July in history was in 2016 and global average temperatures in July this year were at least as high, if not higher. Northern latitudes had particularly high temps, compared to the average from 1981-2010 including, Alaska, Baffing Island, parts of Siberia, and also, Iran as well as large parts of Antarctica.

Photo / Adobe Stock

Extreme Measures During Euro-Heatwave Required:

Heat across Europe was extreme and caused disruption and dismay during it’s recent severe heatwaves, in June and again in July.

It got so hot in Antwerp, Belgium, for example, that 2 suspected drug smugglers called the police to rescue them, after they accidentally locked themselves into a scorching hot shipping container, which also happened to be filled with cocaine.

Better than death by frying, apparently.

In areas of Germany, known for it’s stretches of autobahn without speed limits, limits were put in place, for the first time, in order to prevent cars from overheating and even damaging the roads themselves, while operating at high speeds.

In the Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium, bears were fed watermelons encased in blocks of ice, to keep them from potentially suffering heatstroke.

A wildfire burns in western Greenland on July 31, 2019. (Photo Credit / Orla Joelsen via Twitter)

Ice on Fire: This is Real

Arctic wildfires; yes, wildfires where there was once nothing but snow and ice, struck again. Again, that is, after a series of fires were reported in western Greenland in 2017.

Over 100 intense wildfires in the Arctic Circle were tracked by CAMS, part of the Copernicus program mentioned above, during June and July, 2019.

In June the fires caused 50 megatons of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere, as much as the total yearly emissions for Sweden. Shortly thereafter in July, during the European heatwave, melting ice, also in Greenland, sent 197 billion tons of water into the Atlantic.

They call this a “melt event” and this summer there have been several of the largest on record, since at least 1950. Not because there was more melting in 1950, but because records have only been kept since that year.

The (Hopefully) Long Road to Redemption

It may well take years of these “melt events” to combine together and raise the world sea level, and endanger coastal cities around the globe, but if it is happening at all, that is alarming, in and of itself.

Since these kinds of ice melt events, such as we experienced this year, and a previous extreme event in 2012, are thought to occur only approximately every 250 years, therefore, already having seen two in less than a decade is a strong indicator that climate change is increasing the frequency of these, and many other anomalous weather patterns.

BBC Interactive Tool Showing Global Warming Status by Location

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Economics and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and subscribe to our newsletter.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page.

Business, Economics, Stock Market, Tech

E.U. Slaps Google with $1.7 Billion Fine

Antitrust Violations Pile Up Against Big Tech

Google was fined 1.7 billion dollars (1.5 Billion Euros) for online advertising antitrust violations. This is the third fine from European authorities since 2017. The fines, along with those against other big tech firms, have established the European Union as the most consequential oversight body in policing internet tech firms that are seen as having too much power.

Europe is a leader in taking a stronger approach to reigning in firms such as Amazon, Facebook and Google (Alphabet). A broad consensus holds that these huge tech behemoths represent a danger to fair competition.

“Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites, this is illegal under E.U. antitrust rules.”

Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s top antitrust watchdog

 A variety of infractions have been committed by Google in the past couple years. They were fined for misusing their Android ownership to undercut rivals. Google was also fined for attaching an increased amount of text ads to third party companies who used the Google search bar.

The internet search leader bundled its ad platform within the third party custom search engines. This practice undercut Microsoft, Yahoo, and other digital advertising companies.

European authorities have been more aggressive with tech companies, demanding improved privacy, transparency, and even copyright regulations. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has fined Google over 3 billion dollars since 2017. Alphabet/Google owes a total of 8.2 Euros (9.3 billion dollars). Google hasn’t paid the fines yet, and plans to appeal. Google stock is up 17 percent in 2019.

In the U.S., Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for President in 2020 said that Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple should be broken up due to various antitrust issues.

Find books on Big Tech, Sustainable Energy, Economics and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and subscribe to our newsletter.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page.