I am not a big fan of Apple. Yes, I have been using some of their products for many years now, but I'm trying to shift to alternatives whenever possible. But not everything they do is bad. One of the things I really appreciated was the introduction of ATT, the App Tracking Transparency. This means when you install a new app on your iPhone and start it for the first time, it will ask for consent for tracking. If the user denies, tracking is not allowed.

I believe this is a legit and important functionality. Unfortunately, the German media and advertising industry does not share this view and has approached the Federal Cartel office.Apple has proposed a compromise that has been rejected by five assiciations. They are calling on the Federal Cartel Office to prohibit the current ATT tracking query and impose a fine.

They argue in the lines of that Apple allows tracking for their own apps without asking permission. (Which sadly is true)

I am afraid ATT will be watered down, but hey, why not moving to more secure and privacy friendly alternative like GrapheneOS? When it comes to privacy, I do not want to depend on third parties to determine how much privacy they want to grant me.

#Apple #AppTrackingTransparency #Bundeskartellamt #AdTech #Privacy #Antitrust #TechPolicy

https://competition.today/2025/02/13/bundeskartellamt-raises-concerns-over-apples-app-tracking-transparency-framework/

Engadget: Sony faces a $2.7 billion antitrust lawsuit in the UK https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/sony-faces-a-27-billion-antitrust-lawsuit-in-the-uk-114113889.html @Engadget #Sony #antitrust

Before they revisit the wrist-slap, someone needs to take a look at Google's new AI search monopoly.

PC World: The federal government and state attorneys general have appealed the somewhat light punishment of Google's search monopoly https://www.pcworld.com/article/3053710/us-justice-dept-wants-google-to-hurt-more-after-monopoly-trial.html @MichaelCrider #Google #antitrust

Google's AI is bleeding through the web like a blot of ink on a piece of paper. It's using summaries to manipulate traffic and divert it to its own domains. This may sound innocuous for individual consumers, but it's bad for online businesses.

The mere slap on the wrist Google received for its antitrust practices have empowered it. Google now fancies itself "unstoppable," and it will destroy the web if it isn't stopped. It would be fine were the AI parasites to build a whole new web exclusively for their thieving agents, but that's not what's happening. Instead, they are cannibalizing the human web.

Reuters, from yesterday: Google defeats bid for billions of dollars of new penalties in US privacy class action https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/google-defeats-bid-billions-dollars-new-penalties-us-privacy-class-action-2026-01-30/ @Reuters

From last month:

RealClear Science: Is AI Really Killing the Internet? https://www.realclearscience.com/video/2025/12/15/is_really_ai_killing_the_internet.html #Google #antitrust #privacy #Internet

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it will appeal the November ruling in favor of Meta in its antitrust case against the social media giant.

@AssociatedPress reports on the case that could have forced the tech giant to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp: https://flip.it/15-BOp

#Meta #FTC #SocialMedia #Technology #Antitrust

A French 🇫🇷 court decided that Apple can continue offering the App Tracking Transparency feature

https://9to5mac.com/2026/01/20/apple-scores-legal-win-in-france-over-app-tracking-transparency/
- - -
Une cour française 🇫🇷 a jugée qu’Apple peut continuer à offrir la fonctionnalité de suivi publicitaire

https://www.latribune.fr/article/tech/informatique/12194609336562/justice-apple-peut-garder-son-bouton-contre-le-partage-de-donnees-malgre-une-fronde-des-publicitaires

#France #Apple #Antitrust

India has issued a final warning to #Apple that it will proceed in an #antitrust case against the U.S. tech giant
as the company has delayed responses to officials for over a year and undermined the investigation,
a confidential order shows.

Apple has said it fears it could be
👉fined up to $38 billion if India's competition watchdog uses its global turnover calculation for penalties,
after an investigation found it had abused its position on its app store.

Apple, which denies the allegations, has challenged the penalty rules in an Indian court, and the matter is pending.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-warns-apple-it-will-proceed-with-antitrust-case-after-company-plays-time-2026-01-15/

🎷🧬🌐 James Boyle connects jazz riffs, gene sequences & the early web to one core idea in THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: creativity depends on a shared cultural commons, and that commons is quietly shrinking.

🎙️ Hear how expanding IP rights can fence off culture itself on the Future Knowledge #podcast.

🎧 Listen now ➡️ https://futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the-public-domain

#PublicDomain #Antitrust #IPLaw

#Paramount on Monday dialed up pressure in its #HostileTakeover bid for #WarnerBrosDiscovery, saying that it intended to nominate directors to the #WBD board to help advance the deal. Paramount also sued WBD, demanding more information about how the company had decided that #Netflix’s bid was superior [they don’t want to work with you].

The moves were the latest in a series of increasingly aggressive actions by Paramount to buy WBD.

#Billionaires #LarryEllison #RightWing #media #antitrust #law

#Paramount files lawsuit against #WarnerBrosDiscovery & threatens a #proxy fight in its latest attempt to acquire the entertainment company

#WBD #Billionaires #DavidEllison #LarryEllison #Oracle #RightWing #media #antitrust #law
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/business/media/paramount-warner-bros-discovery-board-fight.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

"L Khan💙⚡plans to crack down on corp abuses in #NYC, incl “dusting off a little-used 1960s price-gouging statute” & I’m here for it! Cos exploiting their own pricing power eg via surveil pricing, or coord w their rivals *eg via common pricing algorithms, should be on notice: The days of🚨soaring prices & profits⚡are coming to an end.

+Funny lines, this dude claiming: some FIN cos *bus' are blt on consumer exploitation might be forced to leave."
-H SInger
#Antitrust #USPol
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/nyregion/lina-khan-mamdani-affordability-new-york-city.html?unlocked_article_code=1._k8.cV4x.9emazaP1SPHz&smid=nytcore-android-share

#LarryEllison was also accused of conspiring to ethnically cleanse #Palestinians from #Israel-occupied territories, committing #WarCrimes, & funding #genocide. Though the lawsuit was dismissed.

#billionaires #Plutocracy #money #power #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #WarnerBrosDiscovery #WBD #Paramount #Oracle #law
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/palestinians-lawsuit-in-us-vs-adelson-others-is-revived-idUSKCN1Q826S/

To counteract that critique, #Paramount said #Oracle founder #LarryEllison – the father of Paramount CEO #DavidEllison – will guarantee all $40.4 billion of the equity he’s putting up to finance the $78 billion deal. That’s a big guarantee, putting Larry Ellison on the hook for about a sixth of his roughly $250 billion net worth if something falls through.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #WarnerBrosDiscovery #WBD #Netflix #law

Just a reminder — #LarryEllison participated in #Trump’s #coup attempt.

Larry Ellison, #billionaire co-founder & chairman of the software company #Oracle & the biggest backer of #ElonMusk’s #Twitter takeover, participated in a call shortly after the #2020election that focused on strategies for contesting the “legitimacy” of the vote, acc/to court documents & a participant.

#law #billionaires #ElectionInterference #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/larry-ellison-oracle-trump-election-challenges/

And of course…

Monday, Paramount’s new, hostile offer to #WarnerBrosDiscovery: #LarryEllison will personally guarantee $40 billion

#Paramount said on Monday that Larry Ellison, father of Paramount’s chief executive #NepoBaby #DavidEllison, is personally guaranteeing the roughly $40.4 billion in equity that the company is offering as part of its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #law
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/22/media/paramount-warner-bros-ellisons-revised-deal?cid=ios_app

The #WarnerBrosDiscovery board of directors has rejected Paramount’s bid multiple times, opting instead to go with an offer from #Netflix, which #WBD says is more valuable. The board also said #Paramount has misrepresented itself to WBD shareholders, calling into question the legitimacy of the deal’s “illusory” proposed financing.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #law

Europe’s Antitrust Investigation Against Google Moves Ahead

AI Overviews has been zapping people's traffic. Now, Europe is initiating an antitrust investigation against Google in response.

https://www.freezenet.ca/europes-antitrust-investigation-against-google-moves-ahead/

#LawAndTechnology #News #Technology #AI #AIOverview #antitrust #Europe #Google

"A secret algorithm helped meat giants allegedly collude to raise your prices and slash workers’ wages. According to multiple lawsuits,🚨Agri Stats let major meat processors coordinate pricing and wage decisions behind closed doors.

The stakes:🚨$billions in food costs, stagnant worker pay, and an industry operating like a cartel."
#Antitrust #Monopoly #Oligarchs #AnarchoCapitalism #WorkersRights #USPol
https://www.levernews.com/the-secret-algorithm-behind-your-20-burger/

"The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has breached EU competition rules by using the content of web publishers, as well as content uploaded on the online video-sharing platform YouTube, for artificial intelligence (‘AI') purposes. The investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, or by granting itself privileged access to such content, thereby placing developers of rival AI models at a disadvantage.
(...)
The Commission is concerned that Google may have used:

- The content of web publishers to provide generative AI-powered services (‘AI Overviews' and ‘AI Mode') on its search results pages without appropriate compensation to publishers and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content. AI Overviews shows AI-generated summaries responsive to a user's search query above organic results, while AI Mode is a search tab similar to a chatbot answering users' queries in a conversational style. The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation for that, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search. Indeed, many publishers depend on Google Search for user traffic, and they do not want to risk losing access to it.

- Video and other content uploaded on YouTube to train Google's generative AI models without appropriate compensation to creators and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content. Content creators uploading videos on YouTube have an obligation to grant Google permission to use their data for different purposes, including for training generative AI models..."

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/de/ip_25_2964

#AI #GenerativeAI #Google #EU #AIOverviews #AIMode #YouTube #Oligopolies #Competition #Antitrust

Kissing the tiny ring
Restore #antitrust
https://www.theverge.com/news/839749/netflix-ceo-visit-white-house-warner-bros

#Netflix is trying to buy #WarnerBros.

"This deal🚨looks like an anti-monopoly NM -would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming mkt. It could force you into higher prices, fewer choices over what & how you watch, & may put American workers at risk.

Under Trump:🚨 #antitrust review process has also become a cesspool of pol favoritism & #corruption.

The #DOJ must enforce our nation’s anti-monopoly laws fairly & transparently..."
-Sen Warren
#Bribery #USPol

Alt...

The image features a text excerpt discussing Netflix's legal strategies regarding antitrust issues related to streaming services and their competition with social media platforms.

Alt...

A table displaying the number of U.S. wide theatrical releases (1000+ theaters) from 2017 to 2025, segmented into pre-DIS/FOX merger, pandemic years, and post-DIS/FOX merger.

The Department of Justice and Texas software-maker RealPage announced this week that they have reached a settlement in a case involving price-fixing allegations in some of the nation’s largest rental markets.

https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-realpage-settlement-rental-price-fixing-case?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #DOJ #Rent #Law #Antitrust #Technology #Tech #Software

Anyway, check your Google Drive, if you use that: go to drive, then click the gear. Choose Settings -> Manage Apps, and make sure "Use by default" is checked OFF for everything you don't like, especially Gemini (Google's AI that they're pushing on everyone). This was added and turned on by default for most people, it seems. It also looks like Google is training their AI on every document you open; people report very slow load times when this setting is on, remedied by turning it off.

#Google #Gemini #DarkPattern #monopoly #AI #GenAI #tying #antitrust #DefaultToOptOut

Here's an except from a post on Matt Stoller's BIG newsletter, which is very good on the subject of antitrust:

The last meaningful reference point for an antitrust remedy is the Microsoft case. In that one, the break-up was overturned, and a weak interoperability mandate was imposed. But the real penalty to Microsoft was embarrassment and fear within the executive suite; no longer would the company crush its rivals, from then on, lawyers would cautiously oversee product design. That’s not ideal, Microsoft should have just been broken up and set free to compete. But a chastened leadership did have the effect of not killing the next generation of companies, who ended up creating Web 2.0. That’s deterrence, which is one goal of antitrust remedies.

This remedy, by contrast, is obviously going to fail. And the main reason is that, unlike Microsoft, Google’s leadership is utterly unchastened. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and chief legal officer Kent Walker will get bonuses for what they did. They see this conflict as one in which they fought bitterly, and kept at it, and shredded documents, and the result was… victory. They will have no compunction continuing to engage in unlawful behavior. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? Would a rival or the government really go before a weak judge who doesn’t want conflict, and convince him to act? I don’t think so. In other words, this decision isn’t just bad, it’s virtually a statement that crime pays.

Stoller recently wrote a post titled "Why Is Google Still in One Piece? The Terminating a Monopoly Problem" with the subtitle: "Google has lost three separate antitrust cases, and more are on the way. Why does this company still exist in one piece? It shouldn't, but we're still dealing with the hangover of the 1990s."

The problems with the tech sector go all the way to the tippy top.

#Google #monopoly #IllegalMonopoly #antitrust #dev #tech #Gemini #android #Chrome

It looks likely that Google will be treated the way Microsoft was in their famous antitrust loss in the late 1990s, and not be broken up in any significant way. Google absolutely should be broken up, just like AT&T and Standard Oil (and countless other large US monopolists) were before it. Google's wealth and power derives from illegal behavior; this is not in question anymore. Why should they be permitted to keep what courts have decided they stole? 100 years of antitrust law and precedent says that it should not be permitted to keep the spoils of its illegal behavior.

It sounds to me like the hesitation to break up Google is largely ideological on the part of the judges and lawyers involved. The failure to break up Microsoft after its antitrust loss is arguably one of the main reasons the US economy is such a monopolized, consolidated mess today, and why so many things are "enshittifying". Breaking up Google and changing that pattern would obviously not cure all ills, but it'd almost surely make a number of things in the economy better for a whole lot of people.

In any case, one thing we can all do is look at Google as a bad actor, a law-breaking entity whose power is illegitimate.

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-is-google-still-in-one-piece

#Google #Microsoft #antitrust #monopoly #USEconomy #neoliberalism

6 major academic publishers face antitrust lawsuit

The defendants, including Elsevier and Wiley, have done “tremendous damage to science and the public interest,” the complaint alleged.

The publishers allegedly agreed to make peer reviewing an unpaid job, prevent academics from submitting manuscripts to more than one journal at a time, and bar them from freely sharing their findings during the lengthy peer review process.

#ShermanAntitrustAct #Antitrust #ScientificPublishing #Science #Cartel

A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets.

It's been a long time coming.

#google #monopoly #antitrust #DOJ