#SocialMedia#Facebook#Snapchat#Privacy#Encryption#Cybersecurity#Monopolies#Antitrust#BigTech: "In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior and help Facebook compete with Snapchat, according to newly unsealed court documents. Facebook called this “Project Ghostbusters,” in a clear reference to Snapchat’s ghost-like logo.
On Tuesday, a federal court in California released new documents discovered as part of the class action lawsuit between consumers and Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
The newly released documents reveal how Meta tried to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, including Snapchat and later Amazon and YouTube, by analyzing the network traffic of how its users were interacting with Meta’s competitors. Given these apps’ use of encryption, Facebook needed to develop special technology to get around it." https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/26/facebook-secret-project-snooped-snapchat-user-traffic/
EU launches probe into Meta, Apple and Alphabet under sweeping new tech law.
CNBC reports: "The first two probes focus on Alphabet and Apple and relate to so-called 'anti-steering rules.' Other investigations are looking into whether Google favored its own services over rivals when showing search results, potential issues with Apple’s iOS, and Meta’s 'pay or consent' model."
Lina Khan is finding favour among the MAGA crowd, according to the WSJ:
The “Khanservatives,” as they call themselves, tend to be a younger and Trumpier part of the growing ranks of Republicans who question unfettered markets and see big corporations as an adversary to their constituents. The bipartisan traction suggests Khan is tapping into a generational shift in attitudes toward corporations and markets.
This week the US DoJ filed a wide-ranging antitrust case against Apple. The company’s share price tumbled on the growing threat to its highly profitable walled garden, while its cult-like fanboys assured themselves everything would be okay.
So, the US filed an antitrust suit against Apple. The people who are generally inclined to defend Apple were quick to pounce with accusations that the government was clueless and unbalanced and simply wrong in its accusations. Personally I have no opinion on the subject, but here’s a person with credible-sounding legal credentials who argues that the case is in fact strong: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/22/24109033/doj-apple-antitrust-lawsuit-legal-expert-praise
WIRED: “The DOJ claims that unspecified surveys have reached similar conclusions, finding that the devices linked to their iPhones deter them from switching to Android.”
🗜️Broadcom slammed by cloud trade group amid claims it's "holding the sector to ransom" with VMware license changes - ITPro
「 The Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) consortium called on regulatory and legislative bodies across Europe to investigate the changes Broadcom has made to the VMware operating model, which it says will “decimate” the region’s cloud infrastructure 」
@chriswelch from @theverge looks at five big takeaways from the DOJ's antitrust case against Apple, which references the anticompetitiveness of the company's exclusive software features and device ecosystem.
I don't know much about #antitrust but I DO know that my #Iphone 11 can't load many, many apps because I can't upgrade its IOS operating system. 5 years old and if I want to load the apps I need to buy another Iphone. So, yes, that's a problem.
The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $3 trillion public company.
U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly (www.nytimes.com)
The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $3 trillion public company.