DTNS WEEKLY TECH UPDATE 05/24/2018
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ROGER’S PITHY OBSERVATION OF THE WEEK
Comcast’s bid to buy 21st Century Fox and deny competitor Disney the same deal should be a concern for a lot of folks. Unlike say Apple, Netflix, Disney, or Amazon all cashed up content competitors Comcast has a unique advantage of being one of the largest media conglomerates AND a broadband provider. Two key things that already disadvantage fair competition. If Comcast’s bid wins and the 21st Century Fox becomes part of the Comcast empire could effectively slow down aforementioned large incumbent competitors but also kill any nascent player wanting in the market either by forcing to pay additional fees to ensure congestion free network performance for their service to their customers OR more likely zero-rate their own content and 21st Century Fox content giving them even more leverage. Dangerous all around.
Google removes the “Don’t Be Evil” phrase from its code of conduct. While much hand wringing will be made regarding the phrase’s removal, it was simply acknowledging the reality that Google, along with other large tech firms, work to ensure the bottomline. Google is a business and it shouldn’t be surprising when we see it act in an way we deem amoral or at the very least uncharitable to large swathes of people.
NEWS
Apple paid 1.5 billion euros into an escrow account set up by the Irish government to hold 13 billion euros in disputed taxes. In August of 2016 the European Commission ordered Apple to pay the taxes it ruled it had received as illegal state aid. Apple and Ireland are both appealing the ruling. Last October the Commission said it was taking the matter to the European Court of Justice over delays in recovering the money. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-apple-taxavoidance/apple-pays-ireland-first-tranche-of-disputed-taxes-idUSKCN1IJ1NV
After rumors all week, local news station WRAL reports Apple is set to open its second headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Apple announced in January it planned to establish a second headquarters beyond its Cupertino, California, base, and hire an additional 10,000 people WRAL reports the only hurdle Apple faces in Raleigh is local legislators passing a bill to give Apple a package of tax incentives. Tech companies already in the area include IBM, Cisco, EMC, BASF, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. https://qz.com/1280963/apples-new-campus-might-be-in-raleigh-north-carolina/
LocationSmart, a data aggreggator that collects the real-time location data on millions of cell phone customers via cell carriers across North America, had a bug in its website that allowed anyone to see where a person is located -- without obtaining that person's consent. The site had a trial period page that lets you test the accuracy of its data. The page required explicit consent from the user before their location data can be used by sending a one-time text message to the user. However Robert Xiao, a PhD student at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University tells ZDNet that skipping the consent step still revealed locatoin data, because one of the APIs used in the "try" page was not validating the consent response properly. https://www.zdnet.com/article/cell-phone-tracking-firm-exposed-millions-of-americans-real-time-locations/
Intel and Microsoft disclosed Monday that a new method of exploiting the Spectre and Meltdown security flaw had been discovered. Intel calls it Variant 4, classified as medium risk, it has not been seen in the wild and a fix has been made available to manufacturers.
Google removed the main instance phrase" Don't be evil" from its code of conduct sometime in late April or early May. The phrase has been Google's unofficial motto and part of the code of conduct since 2000 with a long description. The code now mentions it in the final line of the document which reads "don't be evil, and if you see something that you think isn't right — speak up!" https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-microsoft-reveal-new-variant-on-spectre-meltdown-chip-security-flaws/
Facebook announced that its project Terragraph, which aims to connect neighborhoods and businesses with gigabit wireless, will begin field trials in 2019 in Budapest, and in Kuala Lumpur,. . Terragraph is designed to replace fiber and cable broadband. It uses 60GHz technology from Qualcomm and 802.11ay, the successor to 802.11ad. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3273409/networking/facebooks-terragraph-hopes-to-replace-fiber-broadband-beginning-with-2019-trials.html
Amazon is providing facial recognition technology to law enforcement in Oregon and Orlando Florida, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act Request. Amazon is said to be advertising and selling the product, Rekognition, to law enforcement agencies. The ACLU and several civil rights organizations have submitted an open letter to Amazon, asking the company to stop, arguing that mass surveillance could disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. https://mashable.com/2018/05/22/amazon-facial-recognition-law-enforcement/
Instagram added a mute feature so that you can stop seeing photos in your feed without unfollowing that user. Instagram said that it added this feature to make your feed more personalized, “We've also heard it may be a useful tool for managing complex social dynamics,” a rep tells Buzzfeed. After muting someone in the feed, you’ll still see their DMs, and you’ll still be able to look at their photos if you go to their profile page. https://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/instagram-adds-a-mute-button?utm_term=.beGoL2mJV
Comcast confirms it's preparing to buy large portions of 21st Century Fox, including Fox’s 30% stake in Hulu, for a rumored $60 billion as part of a hostile bid. Walt Disney currently has a $52.4 billion offer to buy 21st Century Fox. The sale does not include Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network or the Fox Broadcasting Company. Separately Comcast is the process of trying to acquire Sky, a British PayTV network. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/05/comcast-confirms-plan-to-buy-21st-century-fox-and-control-of-hulu/
President Trump may fine ZTE Corp and force management changes as an alternative to the current 7-year ban on US firms supplying parts to ZTE which has effectively broken ZTE's business. Members of Congress accused the president of making a deal witth a company that has admitted to violating sanctions on Iran. Trump said U.S. tech companies have also been hurt by the Commerce Department's decision in April that prohibits them from selling components to ZTE. Trump said a fine could reach $1.3B, but didn't give details on the legality of this move. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/trump-floats-management-changes-instead-of-sanctions-for-chinas-zte-idUSKCN1IN27O
The National Transportation Safety Board says.Uber disabled an emergency braking system in a self-driving vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Arizona in March, and failed to properly ID the pedestrian. the NTSB's report said the modified 2017 Volvo XC90's radar systems saw the pedestrian six seconds before impact, but first classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, then as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle.” In better Uber news, business mergers with Yandex in Russia and Grab in Southeast Asia helped Uber turn a profit of $2.5B in its latest Q1 earnings report. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-crash/ntsb-uber-self-driving-car-failed-to-recognize-pedestrian-brake-idUSKCN1IP26K
https://www.recode.net/2018/5/23/17380952/uber-2018-financials-yandex-grab-softbank
Facebook said it will not shut down political ads reasoning that it would unfairly favor incumbents and wealthy candidates. It will, however, place a "paid for by" label on political, candidate and issue ads on Facebook and Instagram in the US. This will include ads run by news publishers and others that promote stories with political content. The system will also archive these itmes for 7 years and made searchable by keyword or by who ran them, display ad budget, number of people who saw it and their anonymized age, gender and location. https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/24/facebook-political-ad-archive/
Pornhub has launched its own VPN service called VPN Hub. The app available for Android, iOS, MacOS and Windows promises to offer “free and unlimited bandwidth” with a $12.99 premium tier option that eliminates ads and even faster connection speeds. The service will not be available in some countries the US doesn’t do business with including Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea and Syria. Pornhub added it has reports of the service being blocked in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and China. https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17382144/pornhub-launches-vpn-vpnhub
