eu

Report: EU joining FTC Apple probe

Regulators from the European Union are getting involved in the Federal Trade Commission investigation of Apple's business strategies that was opened up in June, according to a New York Post report on Tuesday.

The inclusion of the EU regulators means the investigation could now stretch "another four to six months" before the FTC reaches any official conclusions, according to the Post's sources.

The focus of the probe, which remains unconfirmed by the FTC, centers on Apple's App Store developer agreement. In early April, Apple adjusted its wording in a way that outright barred developers from using third-party development tools … Read more

EU launches antitrust probes of IBM

The European Commission on Monday launched two formal antitrust investigations against IBM over two alleged infringements of EU antitrust rules about abusing a dominant market position, the commission said in a statement (PDF).

The first case is in response to complaints by software vendors T3 and Turbo Hercules over the tying of mainframe hardware to the mainframe operating system. The second is an investigation launched by the commission itself over alleged discrimination toward competing suppliers of mainframe maintenance services, the commission said.

IBM said the claims, which the company said were the result of a campaign of competitors led by … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1263: iPad getting Flashed? (podcast)

The E.U. may force Apple to allow Flash on the iPad as well as competitive devices to use iTunes. Like that'll happen. Also: Mario smacks iDrones, and Prince says the Web is over. So, see ya.

First glimpse of EU's solar, windfarm plans

Wind turbine farms are set to expand rapidly across Europe's coastal waters, throwing up challenges and opportunities for industry, according to a Reuters analysis of a leaked draft of EU energy strategies.

A picture of the European Union's renewable energy landscape for 2020 is emerging for the first time as the bloc's 27 member states scramble to meet a deadline for setting their "National Renewable Energy Action Plans."

The documents were due to be delivered to the European Commission by midnight on Wednesday, although most missed the deadline and none of the plans has yet … Read more

EC pushes for single telecom market

The lack of regulatory consistency across Europe means that businesses and consumers are paying higher prices than necessary and that new telecommunications services are being held back, warns the European Commission.

The EC released on Tuesday the 15th version of its annual report on progress in the European Union's electronic communications market. It found that telecom regulation across the region remains nationally focused, with regulators often procrastinating over the introduction of EU laws.

Because of this, the key to growth in the telecom market, particularly for the creation of next-generation broadband networks, lies in consistent enforcement of legislation across … Read more

Google launches Chrome Web Store

Isn't the Chrome Web Store just an online software store? Or a SaaS store? Why don't we use the terms software or SaaS anymore? Not sexy?

Google announced the Chrome Web Store at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. It is a place to find and install programs that run in the Chrome browser, and most likely in the Chrome operating system in the near future. So it's Web-based software. Or SaaS.

Now why do we care about this when we can easily just go to a Web site and accomplish the same … Read more

The Internet makes you happy

To counterbalance the stories we regularly see about how the Internet makes us antisocial misanthropists, here is one that shows just the opposite: the Internet brings happiness. Well duh! CNET readers already knew that!

All joking aside, there is something to be said about information and happiness. Ignorance is hardly bliss when ignorance means not having access to research, news, entertainment, and one another. The popular belief seems to be that modern advancements do not make us happy but perhaps that is too technologically deterministic.

In The Wealth of Networks, Yochai Benkler writes that "technological determinism is false.&… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1191: Evo! Evo! Evo! (podcast)

On today's show, there's tech news, but there's also the new Sprint Evo 4G, and that's kind of all we can think about. Its big 4-inch screen, its two cameras, its kickstand. Sigh. It's my new boo. Also, though, some stuff about Google, the full text of ACTA is leaked, we have a winner in the Apple vs. Predator video contest, and holy crap, did you see that Evo?

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1191

Google co-founder Sergey Brin urges US to act … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1189: Slide to explode (podcast)

Google and China's war heats up a bit. Amazon is apparently not going to war against the iPad. But the most compelling news of the day? Swipe to unlock existed long before Apple ever thought of it. It involved Aliens. And Predators. And self-destruction.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1189

Chinese Media: Google Is Tied to U.S. Intelligence http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/chinese-media-calls-google-arrogant-alleges-ties-to-us-intell/19407888/

And China could care less about a Google pull out http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L14V20100322

UK announces online site for … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1181: ACTA: it's bad for the brand (podcast)

The European Parliament is, somewhat unexpectedly, riding to the world's rescue by demanding that the super evil ACTA agreement be negotiated in the open and that the three-strike ISP provisions be taken out. Well, hot damn! That's big news! I mean, that Cisco router is big news, too, but it just doesn't have the same sexy factor.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1181

Cisco’s big announcement was a really fast router; AT&T has tested it http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10466043-266.html http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0594332.htm… Read more

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