OFFBEAT 30 years ago, AT&T gave Internet Explorer the default advantage Netscape still ruled the browser market, but Microsoft had Windows 95, WorldNet, and a very valuable foothold
saas Microsoft rivals line up to tell UK watchdog where the software behemoth hurt them Browsers, cloud challengers, and Killinghall Parish Council all accuse Redmond of locking in customers, hobbling competition
AI + ML Pope Leo warns AI boom can give Big Tech and the people who run it too much power Worries change may be ‘governed only by technocratic thinking and presented as necessary and inevitable’
Channel 'Death sentence': EU cloud lobby takes Broadcom to Brussels over VMware partner purge CISPE files antitrust complaint, demands interim measures to stop what it calls chip giant's 'ongoing abuse'
AI + ML Brit competition cops warn AI agents may not be 'faithful servants' to consumers Autonomous assistants could manipulate choices, push pricier deals, and prioritize their creators
AI + ML Brussels eyes crowbar for Meta's WhatsApp AI lockout Euro watchdog says Zuckercorp blocked rival assistants, weighs emergency action to force 'em back in
Personal Tech FTC tries to un-Zuck Meta's grip on the market by dragging it back to court Artist formerly known as Facebook can’t escape the legal-verse
SaaS Here we go again: Microsoft in UK court over cloud licensing Competition Appeal Tribunal to decide if multibillion-pound overcharging case can go to trial
AI + ML Google's AI training tactics land it in another EU antitrust fight Brussels probes whether unpaid web and YouTube content – and rivals' lock-outs – amount to abuse of dominance
PaaS + IaaS Google pitches EU on adtech fixes to dodge breakup after €2.95B slap Brussels reviewing proposal as Mountain View insists it will appeal antitrust ruling
Networks Euro cloud alliance urges action on Broadcom as Microsoft mends fences CISPE says post-VMware conduct raises fresh antitrust concerns
Legal The price is wrong! California goes Bob Barker on algorithmic price rigging When sellers collude through a computer algorithm, that doesn't make it right
Software EU probes SAP over alleged software support stranglehold While EC suspects vendor's practices stifle competition, it argues it is in line with industry standards
Software Google reminds EU that Microsoft's cloudy licensing still stinks a year later Mountain View gripes over slow-moving regulators while Redmond rakes it in
Systems China turns the screws on Nvidia with antitrust probe Chip giant accused of breaching conditions of $6.9B Mellanox takeover
Legal Judge who ruled Google is a monopoly decides to do hardly anything to break it up Ad giant won't be broken up, forced to offload Chrome or Android, thanks to AI
Virtualization EU cloud gang challenges Broadcom's $61B VMWare buy in court CISPE cites recent channel changes, but the deal was decided on different matters
Legal Epic Games settles its antitrust side quest that sought battle royale with Samsung They're both silent on what, if anything, has changed
Applications Figma files for an (A)IPO with prospectus that mentions AI 150+ times Warns investors its codebase is harder to maintain as it bakes in brainboxes
Legal Proton bashes Apple and joins antitrust suit that seeks to throw the App Store wide open Makes the usual complaints about control and cost, adds argument Apple's practices harm privacy
Personal Tech Google faces UK clampdown as watchdog floats market power rules CMA roadmap outlines potential restrictions on how ad slinger operates in the country
Personal Tech Cook'd: Judge says Apple lied to court in Epic case, asks Feds to mull criminal charges CEO, senior execs ‘at every turn chose the most anti-competitive option’
Public Sector India gets Google to unbundle Android and the Play Store on Smart TVs Meanwhile, OpenAI expresses an interest in unbundling Chrome from Google
Personal Tech Google wins 1-1: Judge rules ad giant broke some antitrust law After battle with Uncle Sam over online competition, web giant vows to appeal the bit it lost, celebrates the half it won
Public Sector Japan serves Google a cease and desist order over its Android bundling deals Won't let the Big G require its apps and search to be installed on smartphones
Software Feds drop bomb on Multiplan in legal war over healthcare 'price-fixing' algorithms DoJ suggests it sure looks like collusion when several big players use the same cost-saving software
Applications Google's Chrome divorce still on the cards as Trump's DoJ plays hardball $1M donation to inauguration fund and a personal appearance by Pichai appear to have been pointless
Software China sticks antitrust probe into Google amid retaliation for Trump import tariffs Plus, Middle Kingdom announces levies and export controls of its own
Systems Intel rakes in €515M from EU after ancient antitrust fine nixed A glimmer of light in an otherwise gloomy year for troubled chipmaker
Software Price-fixing-as-a-service: The claim against healthcare cost-cruncher MultiPlan Attorney Jennifer Scullion on allegations of algorithmic suppression of competition
Systems China strikes back with Nvidia antitrust probe as US tightens tech chokehold Beijing cites GPU giant's Mellanox merger conditions from four years ago
Legal Microsoft learned of fresh antitrust probe from the news Never mind our alleged cheating of customers – you guys are a bunch of leakers, Redmond tells watchdog
Legal Google earns fresh competition scrutiny from two nations on a single day India unhappy about treatment of some games, Canada upset by adware monopoly
Legal Microsoft informed of yet another antitrust probe by US authorities Investigation is apparently sweeping, but keen on info about AI, security, and cloud
Personal Tech EU stings Meta for nearly a billion bucks over competition-trampling Facebook Marketplace Mark Z does not like this
Software WP Engine revs Automattic lawsuit with antitrust claim Revised sueball over WordPress brawl tries Sherman Antitrust Act on for size
Networks Watchdog reluctantly blesses Vodafone-Three merger – with strings attached Enough to knit a sweater, in fact
AI + ML Alphabet posts big revenue and profit growth, just 1,100 job losses Google Cloud grows fast thanks to AI, which now writes a quarter of all G-code
Software 'Open banking' rules will put your financial data back where it belongs Well, at least eventually since some companies have until 2030 to comply
Systems Top EU court overturns Intel's billion-dollar antitrust fine Conditional rebates settled, but $400M matter of naked restrictions remains
Legal US DoJ wades into Realtek lawsuit that accuses MediaTek of patent abuse Fabless chip shop alleged to be hiring 'litigation hit men' to kneecap rival
Software Epic Games starts Battle Royale with Samsung, Google over app store practices Alleges Korean giant's app store lockdown is no accident, and anticompetitive
Software Europe to force Apple to help rivals connect to iOS, iPadOS Fail to comply may cost up to 10% of annual revenue
AI + ML Dutch watchdog wants more powers after EU drops Microsoft Inflection probe Concerns over the elimination of a future competitor through acquihiring
Personal Tech Google dodges €1.5B EU ads antitrust fine after appeal win Qualcomm, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky
PaaS + IaaS AWS claims customers are packing bags and heading back on-prem See? We do have competition, cloud giant tells regulator
Networks Top EU court crushes Google appeal against $2.65B Shopping antitrust ruling After years of legal wrangling, judges say Chocolate Factory played dirty
Applications Apple accused of hoodwinking UK antitrust cops Mac maker denial of Safari self-preferencing called out by OWA
AI + ML DoJ reportedly advances Nvidia antitrust probe Uncle Sam apparently worried GPU giant may be punishing customers who shop around
Legal Yelp accuses Google of being a local search bully in antitrust lawsuit Chocolate Factory claims rival is trying to revive cases it's already lost
Applications Under pressure from Europe, Apple makes iOS browser options bit more reasonable Cupertino quits screwing around with defaults – for those in the EU
Applications Feds, US states sue RealPage for building rent-hiking software for landlords Algorithm just a fancy way to collude using private info, prosecutors say
Personal Tech Amazon antitrust case in Washington DC is resurrected DC appeals court reverses dismissal, finding enough evidence of anticompetitive behavior to proceed
Public Sector Euro antitrust cop Margrethe Vestager to depart after decade of reining in Big Tech Her legacy hinges on her successor – will they double down?
Software Google is a monopoly. The fix isn't obvious A business breakup may be coming – but what comes after may not be better
Software Apple-flavored Opera One brings its browser AI show to iOS iPhone version of mobile browser sees surge of interest in wake of EU competition rules
Legal FTC urges judge to spank Google over Android App market monopoly Pay no attention to web giant's whining about the cost of compliance, watchdog argues
Applications Apple tries again to make EU DMA officials happy – with new fees Meanwhile, UK watchdog contemplates breaking Cupertino's WebKit rule
Applications Google paying to be default search on phones is totally against antitrust law, judge rules Web giant to seek second opinion after bench labels biz 'a monopolist' in DoJ win
AI + ML OpenAI might be a partner, but it's also a competitor, says Microsoft Either Sam and Satya are on the rocks, or this is just more maneuvering to avoid regulatory scrutiny
Software Microsoft's CISPE settlement includes a suspension of audits for members Cloud group companies free of Redmond's compliance cops for 2 years in return for ditching EC antitrust complaint
Software UK antitrust cops thrust probe into Microsoft, Inflection AI merger AI supremacy is a helluva drug, and Redmond's old habits die hard
PaaS + IaaS Microsoft avoids formal antitrust EC probe over abusive licensing claims by settling case with CISPE Pays 'lump sum,' setting up new Azure Stack for hosters and more but some concerned about the private deal
AI + ML France poised to bring 'charges against Nvidia' Euro nation's monopoly gendarmes cheesed off with GPU giant's dominance
Personal Tech Antitrust latest: Europe's Vestager warns Microsoft, OpenAI 'the story is not over' I'll get you next time, Gadget, next time!
Applications Google begs court for relief from Epic Games' Play Store demands $137M needed to overhaul Play Store too great to bear, Google argues. Oh, and user security is important, too
SaaS EU accuses Microsoft of antitrust violations for bundling Teams with O365 Statement of Objections sent to Redmond HQ following probe that began July 2023
Personal Tech European Commission may be about to put the squeeze on Apple for its App Store rules iBiz potentially facing hefty penalties under the Digital Markets Act
Public Sector Japan forces Apple and Google to allow third-party app stores and payments DMA-like law passes in pursuit of a more innovative and open smartphone market
Personal Tech Four more US states pile on Apple as DoJ turns up antitrust heat Growing coalition joins federal fray, accusing iGiant of playing monopoly
Applications Microsoft expects further concessions for Teams amid EC antitrust probe Despite unbundling video and chat app from Office, Redmond 'committed to find a resolution to regulators' concerns'
PaaS + IaaS Microsoft could be about to write a fat check to stave off cloud antitrust complaint 'No agreement has been reached,' Euro cloud lobby insists
Personal Tech Uncle Sam's had enough of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, sues to end monopoly Music to everyone's ears
Public Sector Google offers DoJ cash to eliminate jury in web ad monopoly abuse trial Nyah, nyah: You can't sue for damages if we just meet your demands
PaaS + IaaS Spanish startups say 'no más' to Microsoft cloud dominance Group alleges anticompetitive behavior
Applications Billions on the line for Google as web search monopoly trial nears end Chocolate Factory relies on dominance for bulk of its revenues, says US
AI + ML British watchdog has 'real concerns' about the staggering love-in between cloud giants and AI upstarts Billions in investment? Yeeeah, right – looks more like ensuring only select few developers thrive
AI + ML Microsoft hiring Inflection team triggers interest from EU's antitrust chief All sorts of levers being pulled to lure AI developers from here, there, everywhere
Personal Tech Lawsuit claims Meta hobbled Facebook Watch to help Netflix Advertiser antitrust lawsuit says claimed deal with Netflix is anticompetitive
Applications Microsoft Teams decouples from Office 365 suite globally Licenses everywhere can omit collaboration app thanks to EU regulators
OSes The way Apple, Alphabet implemented DMA rules 'seems to be at odds' with law European Commission says 12-month investigation could lead to fine of up to 10% of global revenue
OSes Uncle Sam, 15 US states launch antitrust war on Apple Lawsuit alleges iGiant rips off fans, stifles dev innovation, makes it tough to dump iOS for rivals
Personal Tech Why France this week fined Google €250M over web news Google pulls a few coins from the sofa and says whatever, just clarify who needs to be paid for what
Applications Oh look, cracking down on Big Tech works. Brave, Firefox, Vivaldi surge on iOS Thanks to Europe forcing Apple to offer a browser choice screen. Now, about ditching WebKit ...
Public Sector Google dresses up services for the EU's Digital Markets Act Apple also unpeels its offerings before Europe makes its pips squeak
Applications EU takes a bite out of Apple with $2B in-app purchase fine Cupertino blames Spotify, says Commission is just giving preference to another European company
Legal Google sued by more than 30 European media orgs over adtech Meanwhile, the Google News Initiative is pushing AI tools for publishers
AI + ML Google wants regulators to take Microsoft down a notch before it stifles AI Ad giant that owns over 80 percent of search traffic yells at cloud monopoly
Personal Tech Date set for for epic Amazon-FTC antitrust showdown Lina Khan may not even be in charge of watchdog by time case gets to trial, if it even goes that far
Off-Prem Cory Doctorow has a plan to wipe away the enshittification of tech It's not just you – things really are getting worse
Applications Russia takes $13.5M bite out of Apple over in-app purchases Gotta fund that war somehow, eh, Vlad?
Public Sector Intel finds a friend in fight against $1.2B EU antitrust fine Advocate general kicks holes in some of the European Commission's arguments about ancient rebate program
Personal Tech Apple slams Android as a 'massive tracking device' in internal slides revealed in Google antitrust battle
Virtualization UK clears Broadcom buying VMware, but deal yet to scale Great Regulatory Wall of China
Personal Tech Microsoft's Activision fight with FTC turned up a Blizzard of docs: Here's your summary
Virtualization EU probes Broadcom/VMware deal over impact on hardware, not price hikes or cloudy concerns
On-Prem Twelve years after Intel was fined $1.2bn for unfairly running over rivals, an EU court says: No need to pay
Legal Facebook files challenge to UK Giphy buyout ban by complaining CMA was 'unfair' and 'irrational'
Personal Tech UK's antitrust watchdog is very angry and has written a letter telling Apple and Google how angry it is with them
Off-Prem Nextcloud boss: You gotta fight … for your right … to 'plug into Windows and offer the exact same service'
Personal Tech Antitrust battle latest: Google, Facebook 'colluded' to smash Apple's privacy protections
Personal Tech Amazon abuses dominance to keep wholesaler prices high, says DC AG in updated antitrust complaint
Applications Three-dozen US states plus DC sue Google over Play Store's revenue cut, payment system, and more
Legal These six proposed bipartisan antitrust laws put Big Tech in the cross-hairs – and a House committee just OK'd them
Applications Italian monopoly watchdog asks Google to cough up a few euros for illegally blocking an Android Auto app
Legal Who'd have thought the US senator who fist pumped Jan 6 insurrectionists would propose totally unworkable anti-Big Tech law?
Networks US watchdog kills off four-year antitrust complaint against Qualcomm, still insists it was right anyway
Off-Prem Google, Facebook, Amazon et al look on nervously as Biden bumps anti-Big Tech warriors into key posts
Applications UK monopoly watchdog launches probe after iOS app makers slam Apple software store's draconian T&Cs
Software Facebook appeals ruling that it stole tech. So, Italian judge issues new judgment: Pay 10 times the original fine
Software As Uncle Sam continues to clamp down on Big Tech, Apple pelted with more and more complaints from third-party App Store devs
Personal Tech In this week’s episode of Texas Attorney General: Google faces lawsuit accusing it of crushing ad-tech rivals
Personal Tech Facebook crushed rivals to maintain an illegal monopoly, the entire United States yells in Zuckerberg’s face
Personal Tech Remember Ask Jeeves? It's still alive, kinda, and Google seems keen to show it the door once and for all
SaaS Google tells court: Our rivals gave US govt confidential dirt on us to fuel antitrust case. Now we want to see it
