eu

The European commission has reportedly slapped Google with a 1.49 billion Euro (or $1.69 billion USD) fine for "abusing its monopoly in online advertising." More specifically, the report alleges that Google prevented companies that using its search service from running any third party adverts...

Computers could already catch lies back in 2012. But machine learning has come a long way since then, and now, the EU wants to use "AI" lie detector technology at border crossing points. The system developed by iBorderCtrl uses an virtual border guard to ask travelers questions, and AI to assess...

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office slapped Facebook with 500,000 pound fine for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which translates to about $641,000 USD. The office says "Between 2007 and 2014, Facebook processed the personal information of users unfairly by allowing application...

Netflix's stock price surged after they released a strong quarterly earnings report this week. However, KitGuru spotted another interesting bit in that report: the EU has plans to institute content quotas, and Netflix isn't particularly happy about it. According to the company, being forced to...

Right now, Europeans have to move their clocks an hour forward in March and an hour back in October as part of a widely maligned energy saving scheme. But the European Union wants to change that. The EU Commission says that member countries will have the option of staying on Winter or Summer...

The European Parliament passed a controversial bill featuring a "link tax" and an "upload filter." The article was approved in June, struck down by the parliament in July, and further delayed before finally passing another vote today with 438 votes for and 226 against. The bill is supposed to...

Google has been fined $5 billion by the European Union (EU) for anti-competitive practices. First Google required Android phone manufacturers to bundle Google search and other Google web services with every device as the default in exchange for access to the Google Play store. Secondly, Google...

The EU Legal Affairs Committee has voted to push further its tougher copyright laws in order to get a hold of companies like Google, Facebook, and MySpace. OK, maybe not MySpace. The big clenchers here are Article 11 and Article "We hate political memes" 13. Article 11 could hold companies...

The European Commission just published new social network guidelines that asks social networks to remove terrorist content within one hour of being reported. Considering the fact that the major social media companies are only able to review 81% of hate speech reports within 24 hours makes me...

Google has shielded almost 16B euros in profits in 2016 by utilizing the 'Dutch Sandwich' tactic. Basically, they move their profits from an Irish subsidiary to a Dutch company without employees, and then to an Ireland-registered company with a Bermuda mailbox. This is a lot of money that's...

The UK and EU are going to start applying anti-money laundering laws to crytpcurrencies next year. This means that online platforms that trade bitcoins are going to have to do due diligence on their customers and act as a watchdog for transactions that might be questionable. I can't say I'm...

Remember 10 years ago when the European Union fined Intel $1.3 Billion for antitrust practices in the EU? Are you surprised that the fine has not yet been paid, and is still in court today? Me either. We have seen this huge fine written about over and over and over. It is back again today...

After fining Google $2.7B (yeah BILLION) last month for leaning search results in its own favor when it came to shopping, the EU is now looking at coming at Google with the rest of its one-two punch according to Reuters. It seems that the EU now wants to go after Google for requiring...

Lawmakers in Portugal have passed a bill that bans DRM for works deemed to be in the public domain or publicly funded. Citizens will be allowed to circumvent DRM in cases of fair use such as format shifting, and making backups. Educators are granted the right to circumvent copyrighted works...

In 2015 an Italian court ruled against the owners of filmakers.biz, filmaker.me, filmakerz.org, and cineteka.org citing them for running a pirate movie operation and generating revenue through the sale of advertising. In February 2017, the $600,000 judgement against the owners was reversed...

Valve is going to be adding a tax to purchases on it's Steam platform for some countries. In Australia it is a 10% Goods and Services tax, but in others it might be more or less as it depends on locale. This doesn't mean that the price of games will go up though; the publishers and Valve could...