EU Versus Google: Brussels lashes a historical fine to Google for domain abuse with Android

EU Versus Google: Unfair Monopoly Position

Brussels launches its strongest offensive against Google. The European Commission is now ready a record fine for U.S. giant for abuse of dominant position through Android, its mobile operating system, which use virtually all less Apple manufacturers.

The technological signature requires brands that use this system default installation of ir own applications like Google search engine or Chrome browser.

This is one of practices that European authorities judge against competition and which worth greatest punishment imposed by an antimonopoly case (about 4 billion euros). The previous record was also reached by Google. The decision stresses even more already complex transatlantic relationship.

The sanction, according to sources close to the case, is around 4 billion, the largest ever imposed by the European Commission

The Android process is now completed, after several years of research, and decision is expected to be communicated on Wednesday, as country has been able to know. The European Commission was clear that it would close case before holidays, but had hesitated to impose sanction on American firm last week or this.

The level of confrontation reached with US President Donald Trump's visit to NATO summit in Brussels advised him to postpone fine. The Community executive has tried, at same time, to take away as much as possible this initiative from visit that President of this institution, Jean-Claude Juncker, will make to Trump next week in White House. Both institutions confirmed this Tuesday that meeting will be held on 25 July. However, effect it causes in spirit of American tycoon is uncertain.

The great technology has never been Trump's favorite sector, which was very close to former president, Barack Obama. The penalty for abuse of dominant position with Android will surpass 2.424 billion taxes in 2017 also to Google for systematically favoring Google Shopping, its service of comparison of prices.

The reason is that scope of Android case is much higher than price compared, since 90% of mobiles in Europe incorporate Android. And that quota has grown vertiginously in recent years.

Read more: Brussels last a historical fine to Google for domain abuse with Andr

EU parliament: new EU Law hits Google and Facebook

Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed

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The Facebook and Google Files: Here’s What Google and Facebook Know About You—And What You Can Do About It - Mehreen Kasana

If you use Google or Facebook, you may have wondered just how much of your personal data these big internet giants have access to. This is a good question to ask in our modern era of Big Data, constant connectivity and rapidly decreasing personal privacy. Some people, like Washington State Chief Privacy Officer Alex Alben, even argue that your personal data isn’t really “personal” at all. In other words, you may have unwittingly agreed to give your deepest information to third-party vendors through websites and apps simply by agreeing to their lengthy and frequently skimmed Terms of Service.

By the looks of it, Google seems to have some of the most invasive amounts of data on its users. This isn’t to say the company is using personal data on people for malicious and nefarious purposes. But the frequency, detail and amount it has amassed over the years are beginning to put people on edge. Let’s start off with location. If you have Google maps enabled (like many of us), your physical movements and the time you take to get from Point A to Point B, wherever that may be, has been logged into its search database. If you want to see proof of this activity, look at your Google timeline.

Then there’s your search history. Google maintains a database of your search entries as a way to learn more about you and your preferences. But if you fear that this constant logging of your personal search history is a dash too deep for your taste, you need to delete your search history from all the devices you own. That’s not all. Ads, too, factor into Google’s profiles of its users. To give you an example, Google has an advertisement profile on me; its algorithm asserts that I'm a female between the age of 25-34 and that I might like computers, hair care and politics. Google presents ads based on the personal information you give the website, including your age, gender, location, and other metrics. Plus, Google stores your YouTube search history and maintains a log of information on the apps you use. From the amount you spend on these apps to the people you talk to, Google stores that information in its database.

Then there’s Facebook. Amid the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the social network giant is under massive fire from observers who say its practices on privacy are reprehensible. With many people joining the #DeleteFacebook sentiment, the company recently shared an update in its security settings, saying that access to it would be more readily available for users. But if you’re interested in knowing just how much Facebook has on you in terms of personal data, check out its download feature. Go to your general account settings and look for “Download a copy of your Facebook data” at the bottom of the option

It might be slightly jarring to see just how much Facebook logs about its users. From personal conversations, phone numbers, apps, photos, videos, events, locations, and a whole lot more, Facebook’s data can be converted into tons of documents on individual users. I’ll give you my example. Since 2008, Facebook has 430.1 megabytes of personal data on me. To make sense of such a colossal amount, conversion to a Word document helps. Since one megabyte is almost 500 character-filled pages, that's about 215,050 pages of text on yours truly. To make matters less uncomfortable, that’s several novels.

While Facebook tries to figure out how to respond to growing concern over its privacy settings, you can do your (small) part in tightening your profile. You can opt out of Facebook’s API sharing feature so that third-party websites, games and applications don’t have access to your data.

For the complte report click here: Here’s What Google and Facebook Know About You—And What You Can Do About It | Alternet

German Elections: For the German election, no fake news is good news - by Shara Tibken

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stands amid several young women dressed in white in a photo that's made the rounds on social media. They're Muslim child brides, a post claims. 

"Merkel wünscht den kinderbräuten alles gute," it says in German. "Merkel wishes the child brides all the best."

Except those aren't child brides. And the photo isn't new. It's from April 2016 when Merkel visited a refugee camp in Turkey. She was greeted by young women dressed in their best outfits, not wedding dresses. But try telling that to the thousands of people who shared it online.

That's exactly what Correctiv, First Draft and other groups are attempting to do. These organizations, along with help from tech companies like Google and Facebook, are investigating stories that gain traction in Germany and could impact the country's national election on Sunday. They want to make sure the sort of viral rumors that spread in the US don't happen here.

Read more: For the German election, no fake news is good news - CNET

Oil Giant Shell Dumps ALEC Over Climate-Change Position - by Ben Geman

Royal Dutch Shell said Friday that it's severing ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a coalition of companies and conservative state lawmakers, over differences on climate change.

"ALEC advocates for specific economic growth initiatives, but its stance on climate change is clearly inconsistent with our own.

We have long recognized both the importance of the climate challenge and the critical role energy has in determining quality of life for people across the world," Shell said in a statement.

Shell, which has faced pressure to dump ALEC from groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists and Common Cause, said it would let its association with ALEC lapse when "the current contracted term ends early next year."

It's the latest major corporation to bolt ALEC, which is under pressure from liberal activists over its stance on global warming and attacks on state green-energy standards, among other issues. Over the last year, a number of major corporations including Google, Facebook, BP, and Occidental Petroleum have abandoned the group.

Read more: Oil Giant Shell Dumps ALEC Over Climate-Change Position - NationalJournal.com

Press Cartel: Google launches digital news project in Europe

The Digital News Initiative launched on Tuesday is a partnership between Google and eight European news publishers aimed at supporting quality and innovative journalism.

The project brings together German media outlets Die Zeit and FAZ, Les Echos in France, UK's the Financial Times and The Guardian, as well as NRC Media in the Netherlands, Spain's El Pais and La Stampa in Italy.

Carlo D'Asaro Biondo, head of Google's strategic relationships in Europe, said in a statement that the partners would focus on product development, innovation as well as training and research, while setting up a working group to "increase revenue, traffic and audience engagement."

As part of the initiative, Google will spend around 150 million euros ($160 million) on various digital projects over the next three years.

Some publishers such as Germany's Axel Springer and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, however, have stayed away from the venture.

But welcoming the initiative, Tony Danker, international director of Guardian news and media, said the test of the initiative's success was "whether it leads to meaningful change to ensure journalism flourishes in the digital age."

The move by Google follows the company's recent decision to change the way it will handle searches from mobile devices. The firm's search algorithm now gives higher priority to sites that optimize their content for small screen mobile devices.

The new partnership also comes at a time when Google finds itself in the midst of mounting criticism in Europe.

The European Commission recently announced it was probing the Mountain View-based firm for alleged anti-competitive practices and distortions in its search results. Google faces fines of up to $6.6 billion if the charges are proven. Google, however, has strongly rejected the accusations.

Read more: Google launches digital news project in Europe | Business | DW.DE | 28.04.2015

EU telecoms reform to address competition from WhatsApp, Skype - by Julia Fioretti

The European Commission will take into account increased competition from cable operators and alternative services such as WhatsApp (FB.O) when it overhauls Europe's telecoms rules next year, a move that will be cheered by the telecoms industry.

A draft seen by Reuters of the Commission's strategy for creating a digital single market says telecom operators compete with "over-the-top" services "without being subject to the same regulatory regime".
"It is necessary to design a fair and future-proof regulatory environment for all services," the document says.

The bloc's telecom firms such as Orange (ORAN.PA) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) have long called for lighter-touch regulation, after years of declining revenues and competition from new entrants, to enable them to invest in network upgrades.

Telecom companies point to increased competition from services such as Skype (owned by Microsoft (MSFT.O)) and online messaging as a reason for easing the regulatory burden.

Considering Skype, or any other "voice-over-IP" application, as a substitute for traditional phone services could lead to those companies being subject to the same obligations as traditional operators, such as offering emergency calls.

The new European executive, which took office in November, has made investment in superfast broadband a priority. But incumbent telecom operators say the current set of rules does not provide incentives to invest in their networks. The Commission will unveil its proposals for an overhaul of the telecoms framework in 2016, the document states. Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip is expected to unveil his digital single market strategy on May 6.


Read more: EU telecoms reform to address competition from WhatsApp, Skype | Reuters

Google In Trouble with EU as the EU files antitrust charges against Google, opens Android probe

The European Union accused Google on Wednesday of cheating competitors by distorting Internet search results in favor of its Google Shopping service and also launched an antitrust probe into its Android mobile operating system. 

In a statement, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the US tech giant, which dominates Internet search engines globally, had been sent a Statement of Objections -- effectively a charge sheet -- to which it can respond.

"I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules," she said. "If the investigation confirmed our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe."

The Commission, whose control of antitrust matters across the wealthy 28-nation bloc gives it a major say in the fate of global corporations, can fine firms up to 10 percent of their annual sales -- or a penalty of over $6 billion for Google.

If it finds that companies are abusing a dominant market position, the EU regulator can also demand sweeping changes to their business practices, as it did with US software giant Microsoft in 2004 and chip-maker Intel in 2009.

Read more: Business - EU files antitrust charges against Google, opens Android probe - France 24

The Internet: Europe vs. U.S. tech companies - by Levi Sumagaysay

“We recognize that innovation improves our lives, but we want a level playing field.” says Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, a European Parliament lawmaker from Spain who backed the resolution calling for a breakup of Google.

The Wall Street Journal writes that as Europe feels increasingly threatened by the success — or dominance — of American tech companies, it is causing bigger and bigger headaches for those companies.

The call for the breakup of Google is just one example. There’s also the U.K.’s proposed “Google tax,” a 25 percent tax on profit made in the U.K. but then is shifted elsewhere. Another high-profile issue: Europe’s “right to be forgotten” ruling, which centers on Europeans’ strong views on the right to privacy and requires Google and other search engines to scrub search results on a case-by-case basis.

(Recently, there have even been calls to extend that ruling to the companies’ search websites outside Europe.) And the revelations about American government spying using Internet giants’ technology hasn’t helped, either.

Quartz notes that in France, the term GAFA, which is an acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, is sometimes used to express resentment over these companies’ influence.

Besides Europe’s concern about American tech companies’ effect on its economy, the Journal cites two other big themes that surround the Europeans’ discontent: The region’s proclivity for regulation vs. Silicon Valley’s disdain for it, and what is effectively a tug of war for control of the Internet.

Read more: Quoted: on Europe vs. U.S. tech companies | SiliconBeat

The Netherlands - Russia: Competition for Google? Yandex opens B2B big data division in Amsterdam and Moscow

Yandex - finally a Google Competitor?

Yandex, the Russian Google competitor, has for a while been quietly offering its MatrixNet machine learning technology to other organizations – CERN, for example, has used it to establish statistical relevance in its floods of physics data. On Tuesday, Yandex announced a more formal push into offering big data services to corporate and enterprise clients.

The company revealed Yandex Data Factory at the Le Web conference in Paris. Yandex said its technologies can be used for the personalization of recommendations, natural language processing, image and speech recognition, credit scoring, logistics optimization, demographic profiling and so on.

According to Yandex, these services have already been used by a leading European bank to crunch behavioral data, so as to match products to specific marketing channels in a personalized way. The firm’s machine learning and geolocation services were also used by a road management agency to boost accident prediction accuracy. All in all, Yandex is already providing big data services for 20 projects.

Yandex says it’s able to create various kinds of deep neural networks with MatrixNet, which is used to train ranking formulas, boosting the effectiveness of the learning process. The firm claims the cluster management tools in its Friendly Machine Learning framework make it easier to get into big data research by allowing researchers to “avoid dealing with distributed computing problems.”

It uses proprietary technologies including Yandex MapReduce and Real Time MapReduce, and Yandex Tables, which is a big data storage and processing platform.

Yandex Data Factory has an Amsterdam office as well as one in Moscow, and also has data centers across various countries. The company also offers training programs for corporate tech teams and free masters-level courses for university graduates — it  actually had a data analysis school since 2007. 

Note EU-Digest: Competition for Google ? - The Yandex search engine which is now getting more and more popular in Europe while Google continues to struggle with privacy issues. Yandex provides all the same features Google has and is also fast. The origin and the technology are Russian.  Obviously you could  be jumping from the "frying pan in the fire" by switching, but in this case one would think Yandex has far more to lose than Google and would be more inclined not to "fiddle" with your privacy.  You can  even download Yandex for your tablet or phone at the Google Play Store. To get Yandex for your laptop or computer you can download it from the Internet. It certainly is worth a try.and good for the competition and the consumer. 

Read more: Yandex opens B2B big data division in Amsterdam and Moscow — Tech News and Analysis

Internet: The Cloud -No, your data isn't secure in the cloud - by Lucas Mearian

While online data storage services claim your data is encrypted, there are no guarantees. With recent revelations that the federal government taps into the files of Internet search engines, email and cloud service providers, any myth about data "privacy" on the Internet has been busted.

Experts say there's simply no way to ever be completely sure your data will remain secure once you've moved it to the cloud.

"You have no way of knowing. You can't trust anybody. Everybody is lying to you," said security expert Bruce Schneier. "How do you know which platform to trust? They could even be lying because the U.S. government has forced them to."

While providers of email, chat, social network and cloud services often claim -- even in their service agreements -- that the data they store is encrypted and private, most often they -- not you -- are the ones who hold the keys. That means a rogue employee or any government "legally" requesting encryption keys can decrypt and see your data.

Even when service providers say only customers can generate and maintain their own encryption keys, Schneier said there's no way to be sure others won't be able to gain access.

For example, Apple's SMS/MMS-like communications platform, iMessage, claims both voice and text are encrypted and can't be heard or seen by third parties. But because the product isn't open source, "there's no way for us to know how it works," said Dan Auerbach, a staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). "It seems because of the way it works on functionality, they do have a way to access it. The same goes for iCloud."

Note EU-Digest: The Cloud services are also offered to European Internet users. Given that  the storage data banks of  Google, and Apple for Cloud and other similar systems are kept in the US by American companies, and consequently  fall under US jurisdiction, it probably would not be a good idea for EU citizens and businesses to store sensitive material on these data bank services.

Read more: No, your data isn't secure in the cloud | Computerworld

EU Personal Privacy Rights: Google Has Received Nearly 145,000 Requests to Be 'Forgotten' - by Brendan Sasso

Thousands of Europeans are scrambling to take advantage of a new legal right to force Google to delete search results about them.

Since the process began several months ago, Google has received 144,954 requests to delete 497,695 pages from its search engine, the company revealed in a report Friday.

But Google actually rejected most of the requests under the "right to be forgotten." The company granted 41.8 percent of the requests to scrub links.

Facebook was the most common site that people tried to hide from search results, followed by profileengine.com, a site that archives social-media information. Google's own YouTube came in third.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were the top sources of requests to delete links, according to the report. 

"We believe it's important to be transparent about how much information we're removing from search results while being respectful of individuals who have made requests," Jess Hemerly, a public policy manager at Google, said in a blog post. "Releasing this information to the public helps hold us accountable for our process and implementation."

The top European court ruled in May that companies must delete "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant" pages. The ruling was based on Europe's privacy laws, which are much more expansive than those in the U.S. People argued they shouldn't be haunted for their whole lives by embarrassing Web pages.

Note EU-Digest: one of the many benefits of being part of the EU

Read more: Google Has Received Nearly 145,000 Requests to Be 'Forgotten' - NationalJournal.com

The Netherlands: Google Goes Dutch With $770M Data Centre

has announced plans to build a new data centre in Europe, this time in Eemshaven, a seaport in the Netherlands.

The internet giant says it has put aside €600 million ($772 million) to build the new data centre, and will be its fourth location in Europe after Finland, Belgium and Ireland. Google currently has more than 10 data centres across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Indeed, its first two Asian data centres opened just last year, in Taiwan and Singapore.

Google says the new facility will create more than 1,000 jobs, with a view towards starting “initial opertions” in the first half of 2016 before becoming fully operational by the latter part of 2017.

Google actually already uses a rented data centre in Eemshaven, which it says will continue to operate after the launch of its new incarnation.

Read more: Google Goes Dutch With $770M Data Centre

Finland: Alternative Energy: Google Buys More Swedish Wind Power For Its Finnish Data Center - by Jason Verge

will buy the entire electricity output of four new wind farms to support its data center operations in Hamina, Finland, the company said this week. The new power purchase from Eolus Vind AB in Sweden follows an earlier wind power deal in which Google purchased the entire 10-year electricity output of the new wind farm at Maevaara, in Övertorneå and Pajala municipality in northern Sweden.

“We’re always looking for ways to increase the amount of renewable energy we use,” said Francois Sterin, Director Global Infrastructure at Google. “Long term power purchase agreements enable wind farm developers to add new generation capacity to the grid – which is good for the environment – but they also make great financial sense for companies like Google.”

Eolus will commence construction of the four new wind farms in Alered, Mungseröd, Skalleberg and Ramsnäs, Sweden.  The 29-turbine project, with a total combined capacity of 59 megawatts, already has all its planning approvals and permits. The wind farms will become fully operational in early 2015.

“Our agreement with Google is a further endorsement of the potential of wind power in the Nordic countries,” said Hans-Christian Schulze, deputy CEO of Eolus. “We’re looking forward to building our new wind farms over the year and helping Google stay ahead of its commitment to carbon neutrality.”

All of this Swedish wind power will power Google’s Hamina, Finland facility. This cross-border arrangement is possible thanks to Europe’s increasingly integrated energy market.  Scandinavia’s Nord Pool market allows Google to buy renewable energy with Guarantee of Origin certification in Sweden, and consume an equivalent amount of power elsewhere in Europe.

The move helps the environment, but also protects Google from future increases in power prices through long term purchasing. The company is investing in new renewable energy projects that will deliver a return for its money. Over $1 billion has been committed to such projects in the U.S., Germany, and South Africa.

Read more: Google Buys More Swedish Wind Power For Its Finnish Data Center | Data Center Knowledge

Tax Evasion: France's Hollande slams Internet giants including Google on tax evasion

President Francois Hollande said Thursday that France would not continue to tolerate the tax optimisation strategies used by multinational Internet giants like Google.

"This is not acceptable and that is why, at both the European and the global level, we must ensure that tax optimisation... can be called into question," Hollande said on a visit to the offices of Internet sales company vente-privee.com in the Paris suburbs.

His comments follow reports that France is seeking one billion euros ($1.36 billion) in tax from Google over its fiscal strategies.

"Everyone must be in the same competitive situation, including on the fiscal level," Hollande said.

"When I go to the United States in a few days, we have agreed with President (Barack) Obama to make this effort on tax harmonisation," he said.

Hollande is making a state visit to the United States from February 10 to 12, during which he will meet with major tech firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter in Silicon Valley.

Magazine Le Point reported on Tuesday that Paris has decided to make the claim against Google, though neither the company nor tax authorities would confirm it.

France is one of a growing number of nations to pursue more aggressively what they see as abuse of tax and accounting rules that allows some multinational companies to pay less tax.

President Francois Hollande said Thursday that France would not continue to tolerate the tax optimisation strategies used by multinational Internet giants like Google.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-02-france-hollande-slams-internet-giants.html#jCp

Read more: France's Hollande slams Internet giants on tax

Google: Questionable Anti-Freedom of Speech action by Google after it blocks Dutch Politician 'Geert Wilders' account

Google has deactivated the mail account of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders following complaints that the anti-Islam politician was using it to spread anti Islam initiative.

“Unbelievable; Google just blocked the account. It seems Mohammed Rabbae’s complaint was successful,” Wilders tweet was quoted by NL Times on Friday, December 27.

Wilders’ was referring to the complaint presented by Rabbae on behalf of the National Council of Moroccans at Google that Wilders was abusing its service.

Rabbae’s move followed many other complaints that were lodged against Wilders after he came out with his anti-Island sticker a week ago; it read “Islam is a lie. Mohamed is a criminal. The Qur’an is poison.”

The politician claimed the sticker was not meant as an action against Muslims.

After Google’s move, Wilders launched a new account where people may order his sticker.

 "Regardless if one agrees with Wilders or not, but this action by Google is unheard of in a democratic country like the Netherlands or for that matter any EU member state as it relates to secularism and freedom of speech" said a member of the Dutch CDA political party.

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands: While Dutch Taxpayers suffer Yahoo, Dell Swell Netherlands’ euro 9.5 Trillion Tax Haven - Jesse Drucke

Inside Reindert Dooves’s home, a 17th- century, three-story converted warehouse along the Zaan canal in suburban Amsterdam, a 21st-century Internet giant is avoiding taxes.

The bookkeeper’s home office doubles as the headquarters for a Yahoo, Inc offshore unit. Through this sun-filled, white- walled room, Yahoo has taken advantage of the law to quietly funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in global profits to island subsidiaries, cutting its worldwide tax bill.

The Yahoo arrangement illustrates that the the Netherlands in the heart of a continent better known for social welfare than corporate welfare, has emerged as one of the most important tax havens for multinational companies. Now, as a deficit-strapped Europe raises retirement ages and taxes on the working class, the Netherlands’ role as a euro 9.5 ($13trillion) relay station on the global tax-avoiding network is prompting a backlash.

The Dutch Parliament has debated the fairness of its tax system this year as lawmaker from several parties, including members of the country’s governing coalition, say they want to remove a stain on the nation’s reputation.

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, declared a war on tax avoidance and evasion, which it said costs the EU 1 trillion euros a year. The commission advised member states -- including the Netherlands -- to create tax-haven blacklists and adopt anti-abuse rules. It also recommended reforms that could undermine the lure of the Netherlands, and hurt a spinoff industry that has mushroomed in and around Amsterdam to abet tax avoidance.

Attracted by the Netherlands’ lenient policies and extensive network of tax treaties, companies such as Yahoo,Google Inc, Merck & Co. and Dell Inc. have moved profits through the country. Using techniques with nicknames such as the “Dutch Sandwich,” multinational companies routed 10.2 trillion euros in 2010 through 14,300 Dutch “special financial units,” according to the Dutch Central Bank. Such units often only exist on paper, as is allowed by law.

Unfortunately so far, all the politicians have done is talk and more talk. The question one would ask now is do Governments really want to change their tax structures or is it all political hogwash?

EU-Digest