Tag: European Union

Apple faces hefty 1.8 billion euro fine in EU antitrust Spotify lawsuit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Apple was hit with an EU antitrust fine of over 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion) on Monday, its first ever, for preventing Spotify and other music streaming services from informing users of payment options outside its App Store.

The European Commission’s decision was triggered by a 2019 complaint by Swedish music streaming service Spotify over this restriction and Apple’s 30% App Store fees.

The European Union competition enforcer said Apple’s restrictions constituted unfair trading conditions, a relatively novel argument in an antitrust case and also used by the Dutch antitrust agency in a decision against Apple in 2021 in a case brought by dating app providers.

The EU competition enforcer said it added an additional lump sum of 1.8 billion euros to the basic amount as a deterrent to Apple and because a significant part of the harm caused by Apple’s conduct was non-monetary. It did not say what the basic amount was.

“”For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” she said.

Apple criticised the EU decision, saying it would challenge it in court.

“The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast,” the company said in a statement.

“The primary advocate for this decision — and the biggest beneficiary — is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation,” it said.

It said the Swedish company pays no commission to Apple as it sells its subscriptions on its website and not on Apple’s App Store.

Vestager’s order to Apple to remove its App Store restrictions echoes the same requirement under new EU tech rules known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which Apple has to comply with on March 7.

Apple’s fine, however, is about a quarter of the 8.25 billion euro fines the EU regulator meted out to Alphabet’s Google in three cases in the previous decade.

In contrast to the music streaming case, Apple is seeking to settle another EU antitrust investigation by offering to open up its tap-and-go mobile payment systems to rivals.

EU regulators, who subsequently sought feedback from rivals and users, will likely accept its offer without fining the company.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Meta targeted in privacy complaints by 8 EU consumer groups

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Meta Platforms was hit with privacy complaints on Thursday as eight EU consumer groups asked watchdogs to act against the Facebook owner for allegedly breaching the bloc’s privacy rules when it hoovers up user data.

The complaints by consumer groups in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain to data protection authorities in their countries are the latest grievances against Meta’s trove of user data.

The consumer bodies said Meta is not complying with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules on fair processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation and that there was no legal basis for the company’s data collection and processing.

“Surveillance-based business models pose all kinds of problems under the GDPR and it’s time for data protection authorities to stop Meta’s unfair data processing and its infringing on people’s fundamental rights,” Ursula Pachl, deputy director general of the European Consumer Organisation said in a statement.

She also criticised Meta’s recent launch of paid, ad-free subscriptions to Facebook and Instagram in Europe, which the company said aims to comply with new EU tech rules.

But critics say this amounts to users having to pay for their privacy. Users who do not mind ads can continue to use the two services for free.

“Meta’s offer to consumers is smoke and mirrors to cover up what is, at its core, the same old hoovering up of all kinds of sensitive information about people’s lives which it then monetises through its invasive advertising model,” Pachl said.

Meta has said subscription for no ads addresses the latest regulatory developments, guidance and judgments shared by European regulators and the courts in recent years.

Also Read: Meta to hide more content from teens on Instagram and Facebook

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Meta to set up team to counter disinformation, AI abuse in European Parliament elections

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Facebook owner Meta will set up a team to tackle disinformation and the abuse of generative artificial intelligence in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June amid concerns about election interference and misleading AI-generated content.

The rapid growth of generative AI, which can create text, images and video in seconds in response to prompts, has triggered fears that the new technology could be used to disrupt major elections across the world this year.

European Parliament elections will take place June 6-9. Its 720 lawmakers, together with EU governments, pass new EU policies and laws.

“As the election approaches, we’ll activate an Elections Operations Center to identify potential threats and put mitigations in place in real time,” Marco Pancini, Meta’s head of EU affairs, said in a blog post.

He said experts from the company’s intelligence, data science, engineering, research, operations, content policy and legal teams will focus on combating misinformation, tackling influence operations and counter the risks related to the abuse of generative AI.

Meta, which currently works with 26 independent fact-checking organisations across the European Union covering 22 languages, will add three new partners in Bulgaria, France, and Slovakia, Pancini said.

Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and 17 other tech companies earlier this month agreed to work together to prevent deceptive artificial-intelligence content from interfering with elections across the globe this year.

Also Read: TikTok to ramp up fight against fake news, covert influence ahead of EU elections

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European Union opens formal proceedings against TikTok under Digital Services Act

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against ByteDance’s TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA), according to a document seen by Reuters, to see if the social media platform is doing enough to protect children.

“The protection of minors is a top enforcement priority for the DSA. As a platform that reaches millions of children and teenagers, TikTok must fully comply with the DSA and has a particular role to play in the protection of minors online,” said EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, in the document.

This marks the second DSA investigation after Elon Musk’s social media platform X.

Tik Tok can face fines of up to 6% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching DSA rules.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India assures of no compromise on national interest in FTA talks, says exports up despite weak global demand

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Union Commerce Ministry on Thursday (February 15) said the ongoing India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations may take time to conclude, but assured that the potential agreement will not just promote Indian exports but will also safeguard the interests of PLI beneficiaries, Indian farmers and the industry.

The government echoed a similar pitch for the potential FTA with the European Union (EU), which is also currently under negotiation.

The track and Chief negotiator-level discussion for the proposed India-EU FTA took place from January 15 to 19 on modalities for the services and investment chapter, and would soon be followed by the 7th round of negotiations in New Delhi from February, 19 to 23.

India is also holding the 6th round of discussions for a trade agreement with Peru in the latter’s capital city Lima, from February 12 to 15, where India aims at diversification of the import basket in terms of essential metals and minerals.

With a 3% growth rate noted in the United States amidst a tight monetary policy, India’s Commerce Ministry pointed out that the consumption demand for imports is down. The US and UAE were the top 2 destination countries where the highest number of Indian exporters traded in FY 2022-23.

India’s exports in global exports in 4-digit HS level commodities rose from 8.02% in 2014 to 10.35% in 2022, while 26.4% growth was noted in the number of exporters registered in 2022-23 (1.63 lakh).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

TikTok to ramp up fight against fake news, covert influence ahead of EU elections

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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ByteDance-owned social media platform TikTok said on Wednesday it will ramp up its fight against fake news and covert influence operations in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June with a local language app in all 27 countries.

Tiktok said the individual local language “election centres” build on work it first started in 2021, which accelerated last year when Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Spain went to the polls.

The app is designed to better inform Europeans about the electoral process.

Governments and politicians around the world are concerned about the spread of misinformation and the use of AI-generated deepfakes to influence elections and especially the role of social media platforms.

Some 30% of European Parliament lawmakers use TikTok, the company said.

“Next month, we will launch a local language Election Centre in-app for each of the 27 individual EU member states to ensure people can easily separate fact from fiction,” TikTok’s head of trust & safety EMEA Kevin Morgan said in a blog post.

“Working with local electoral commissions and civil society organisations, these Election Centres will be a place where our community can find trusted and authoritative information,” he said.

The company worked with news checkers to produce educational videos about the electoral process and misinformation via the election centres during national elections in previous years.

Morgan said TikTok, which currently works with nine fact-checking organisations in Europe, plans to expand its fact-checking network and launch nine additional media literacy campaigns this year.

It will introduce dedicated covert influence operations reports in the coming months to increase transparency and accountability.

Also Read: Meta oversight board, reviewing Joe Biden video, says deepfake rule ‘incoherent’

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Aarti Industries sees 3-4% revenue hit as EU rejects renewal for herbicide S-Metolachlor

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Specialty chemicals maker Aarti Industries expects a 3-4% impact on revenue after the European Union rejected the renewal of approval for herbicide S-Metolachlor.

Mumbai-headquartered Aarti Industries last week announced that it has entered into a ₹3,000 crore, nine-year contract with a global agrochemicals player for the supply of a niche agrochemical intermediate.

Rajendra V Gogri, Chairman and Managing Director said the intermediate that Aarti Industries makes also goes into other products. He also noted that EU constitutes only a around 6-8% of the total global market for S-Metolachlor.

Analysts are worried that the EU decision to not renew the approval for S-Metolachlor will lead to diversion of volumes from the EU to other markets. This could lead to pressure on prices and volume offtake for the advanced intermediate that Aarti Industries plans to manufacture.

A note by brokerage firm Equirus Securities stated that the long-term contract for the supply of the said intermediate is also at risk due to this.

The other company that could be impacted by this is UPL, which has capacities in place to produce the said product.

Also Read | Aarti Industries enters into a ₹3,000 crore nine-year contract with a global agrochem

Gogri is optimistic that the company will achieve an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of ₹950-1,000 crore in financial year 2024 (FY24) in line with its guidance. He anticipates a stronger second half of FY25, projecting EBITDA at ₹1,400-1,600 crore for the full year.

Also Read | Aarti Industries and their disappointments with long-term contracts

Aarti Industries stock ended the day with gains of nearly 2.7% at ₹620 apiece. The shares have lost around 5% year to date. The company has a market capitalisation of ₹22,475 crore.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Microsoft’s OpenAI ties face potential European Union merger investigation

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Microsoft Corp’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI Inc is facing the potential of a full-blown European Union merger probe, after a mutiny at the ChatGPT creator laid bare deep ties between the two companies.

The European Commission said on Tuesday that it’s examining whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the bloc’s merger rules. If found to reach the necessary conditions, regulators may start a formal probe into whether the arrangement should be allowed. The EU move follows a similar step by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

Microsoft has benefited richly from its investments, totaling as much as $13 billion, in OpenAI. By integrating OpenAI’s products into virtually every corner of its core businesses, the software giant very quickly established itself as the undisputed leader of AI among big tech firms. Rival Alphabet Inc’s Google has been racing to catch up ever since.

The recent firing — and subsequent rehiring — of Sam Altman as chief of OpenAI exposed how inextricably linked the two companies have become. Microsoft shares fell immediately after OpenAI’s board ousted Altman. Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella personally helped negotiate and advocate for his return to the company — at one point offering to hire Altman himself, along with other employees at OpenAI who wanted to leave.

On Tuesday, the EU’s antitrust enforcers also announced a call for feedback on competitive issues that may arise in the field of generative artificial intelligence and virtual worlds.

“We are inviting businesses and experts to tell us about any competition issues that they may perceive in these industries, whilst also closely monitoring AI partnerships to ensure they do not unduly distort market dynamics,” a statement from Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, read.

The Brussels-based commission added that venture capital investment in AI in the EU is estimated at more than 7.2 billion euros in 2023 and the size of the virtual worlds market in Europe is estimated to have reached more than 11 billion euros in 2023. The exponential growth is likely to have a major impact on how businesses compete, the commission said.

Also Read: OpenAI addresses the New York Times lawsuit, claiming that it is ‘not telling the full story’

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European Union opens proceedings against X in first probe under new rules

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The European Union on Monday said it would launch an investigation of social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, over a suspected breach of obligations in its first such probe under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The DSA, which entered into force in November last year, requires very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security, and to protect their services against manipulative techniques.

The proceedings will focus on countering the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, and the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation, notably of the “community notes” system, the Commission said.

It will also focus on the measures taken by X to increase the transparency of its platform and a suspected deceptive design of the user interface such as checkmarks linked to subscription products, the so-called Blue checks.

The Commission said it will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority and continue to gather evidence by sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews and inspections.

X, owned by Elon Musk, is part of a group of large tech companies facing increased scrutiny under the DSA.

Following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, EU industry chief Thierry Breton sent letters to X, Meta, TikTok and Alphabet reminding them of their obligations under the DSA to tackle harmful and illegal content.

The platforms responded promptly to Breton, highlighting steps they have taken to stop disinformation on their platforms but Musk challenged Breton over the disinformation charge.

Only X received a formal request for information under the DSA and has responded to the request.

The Commission said a preliminary investigation conducted so far included an analysis of a report submitted by X in September, X’s transparency report published in November, and X’s replies to a formal request for information about illegal content in connection to Hamas’ attacks against Israel.

X did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The DSA imposes new rules on content moderation, user privacy and transparency. Any firm found in breach faces a fine worth up to 6% of its global turnover.

Also Read: X sues Media Matters after report on ads next to antisemitic content, says ‘data wins over manipulation’

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ukraine’s a step closer to joining the EU-Here’s what it means, and why it matters

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ukraine got a green light Thursday to start sped-up talks on joining the European Union. That’s a big boost for war-ravaged Ukraine and a loud message to Vladimir Putin—but it could be years before the country actually becomes a member of the EU.

Here’s a look at what Thursday’s decision means and why joining the EU is especially important, and especially hard, for Ukraine.

What is the European Union and how do you join?

The European Union was born after World War II as a trading bloc with a bold ambition: to prevent another war between Germany and France. The six founding members were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Since then, the EU has steadily expanded to contain 27 democratic nations, many from the former communist bloc in Eastern Europe, inspired by the idea that economic and political integration among nations is the best way to promote prosperity and peace.

This notably led to the creation of the shared euro currency in 1999, the continent’s open borders, and trailblazing rules to reduce carbon emissions and regulate tech giants.

To join the EU, candidate countries must go through a lengthy process to align their laws and standards with those of the bloc and show that their institutions and economies meet democratic norms. Launching accession talks requires approval by consensus from the current member nations.

Why joining is important to Ukraine

Ukraine is one of several countries that have long wanted to join the EU, seeing it as a path to wealth and stability. While the EU is not a military alliance like NATO, membership in the bloc is seen by some as a rampart against Russian influence.

Ukraine officially applied for EU accession less than a week after Russia invaded in February 2022. Its capital, Kyiv, faced the threat of capture, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government faced the threat of collapse.

The start of membership talks less than two years later is only one step in a long journey. But it sends a strong signal of solidarity with Ukraine just as U.S. support for Ukraine’s military is faltering and a Ukrainian counteroffensive is stalled—and as Putin appears increasingly emboldened.

And it offers a ray of hope for Ukraine even as EU members failed Thursday to agree on a more immediate boost in the form of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in aid to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat.

Why Ukraine’s membership journey is rocky

EU officials had said talks couldn’t officially begin until Ukraine addresses multiple issues, including corruption, lobbying concerns, and restrictions that might prevent national minorities from studying and reading in their own language. While EU officials say Ukraine has made progress on these issues in recent months, it still has a long way to go.

Every EU country has gradually agreed to support Ukraine’s bid—except Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin’s greatest ally within the EU. Orban maintains that Ukraine isn’t ready to even start talking about EU membership.

In a surprise move, Orban stepped aside Thursday and abstained from the vote to allow Ukraine’s membership talks to begin. It is just the beginning, and many steps remain. Debt crises, waves of migration, and Brexit had all contributed to the bloc’s skittishness toward expanding its ranks in recent years. So, too, did the growth of Euro-skeptic political forces in many member countries.

But the urgency created by Russia’s invasion and Ukraine’s request for expedited consideration upended the EU’s go-slow approach to adding new members and reversed years of ‘enlargement fatigue.’ Thursday’s decision also has an impact on other would-be members, who feel the EU is showing favouritism.

Who are the other candidates?

Turkey applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. Only one of more than 30 negotiating chapters has been completed in the years since, and the whole process is at a standstill as a result of various disputes.

Several countries in the Balkans, meanwhile, have become discouraged by the bloc’s failure to live up to its lofty membership promises. North Macedonia submitted its entry bid in 2004. Even after subsequently changing its name to settle a longstanding dispute with EU member Greece, the country is still waiting for membership talks to begin because Bulgaria threw up a hurdle related to ethnicity and language.

Bosnia remains plagued by ethnic divisions that make reform an almost impossible challenge. The commission said last month that it should only start membership talks after more progress is made. It expressed concern about the justice system and other rights failures in the Bosnian Serb part of the country. Serbia and Kosovo refuse to normalize their relations and stand last in the EU’s line.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow