Tag: ftc

Reddit reveals FTC inquiry into deals licensing data of its users for AI training
16Mar By adminNo Comments
Technology

Reddit reveals FTC inquiry into deals licensing data of its users for AI training

[ad_1] Reddit said Friday that the Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into the social media platform's sale, licensing or sharing of its users' posts and other content to outside organizations for use in training artificial intelligence models.The company disclosed the inquiry Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that cited a letter from the FTC dated Thursday. “Given the novel nature of these technologies and commercial arrangements, we are not surprised that the FTC has expressed interest in this area,” Reddit wrote in the filing. “We do not believe that we have engaged in any unfair or deceptive trade practice.” Like many other social media platforms, Reddit has expressed interest in business deals where AI companies pay to access databases of hu...
Read More
Exposed! Data brokers know everything about you – what FTC case against Kochava revealed
13Jan By adminNo Comments
Technology

Exposed! Data brokers know everything about you – what FTC case against Kochava revealed

[ad_1] Kochava, the self-proclaimed industry leader in mobile app data analytics, is locked in a legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission in a case that could lead to big changes in the global data marketplace and in Congress' approach to artificial intelligence and data privacy. The stakes are high because Kochava's secretive data acquisition and AI-aided analytics practices are commonplace in the global location data market. In addition to numerous lesser-known data brokers, the mobile data market includes larger players like Foursquare and data market exchanges like Amazon's AWS Data Exchange.The FTC's recently unsealed amended complaint against Kochava makes clear that there's truth to what Kochava advertises: it can provide data for “Any Channel, Any Device, Any Audience,” an...
Read More
QR code scams: Never scan in public places! Know 6 ways to protect yourself from fakes
18Dec By adminNo Comments
Technology

QR code scams: Never scan in public places! Know 6 ways to protect yourself from fakes

[ad_1] Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of technology and a shift to the digital world has been rapid. While concert tickets are now available on your smartphones, restaurants also now have digital menus! Even making payments can be done digitally instead of pulling out cash from your wallet. Most of these activities require scanning a QR code, a two-dimensional matrix barcode, with your smartphone's camera, or a dedicated QR code scanner. While the QR code that you scan at McDonald's or KFC might be safe, you shouldn't scan QR codes that are in public spaces. In fact, if it can be helped, never scam a QR code to really stay safe.QR code scamsThis warning comes from none other than the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which says “Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to...
Read More
Amazon Boosted Junk Ads, Deleted Messages to Thwart Antitrust Probe, FTC Says
3Nov By adminNo Comments
Technology

Amazon Boosted Junk Ads, Deleted Messages to Thwart Antitrust Probe, FTC Says

[ad_1]  Amazon.com Inc. doubled the number of junk ads to boost profits and deleted internal communications to thwart a federal antitrust probe, according to fresh details released by the US Federal Trade Commission in a less redacted complaint against the online retail giant Thursday. Amazon's founder and former Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos personally ordered executives to accept more ads, even ones the company had internally labeled as “defects,” indicating they weren't relevant to user searches, according to the new version of the complaint.  We are now on WhatsApp. Click to join. The FTC alleges that Amazon's increased use of ads boosts profits while it harms sellers and consumers, making it harder for shoppers to find products they are searching for. “We'd be crazy not to” in...
Read More
What you won’t learn about Amazon from FTC’s new antitrust suit
27Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

What you won’t learn about Amazon from FTC’s new antitrust suit

[ad_1] The Federal Trade Commission's blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. alleges a far-reaching monopolistic scheme to stifle competition across online marketplaces and harm US consumers and businesses.But anyone hoping to immediately drill down into data about Amazon's operations — details about its Prime subscriber base, profits, and internal operations, for example — will be disappointed. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Seattle is rife with black redaction bars. That can be typical in the first public version of a case that pulls evidence from business records marked as confidential when investigators receive them. More information could see daylight as the litigation unfolds, however. The commission has asked a judge to unseal redacted sections withi...
Read More
Microsoft’s Potential Acquisition of Activision Blizzard: What This Means for Gamers
19Jul By adminNo Comments
Technology

Microsoft’s Potential Acquisition of Activision Blizzard: What This Means for Gamers

[ad_1] The sun finally came out for Microsoft. On 11 July, Judge Jacqueline Corley ruled in favor of the Redmond, Washington-based company in its dispute against the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the purchase of Activision Blizzard, one of the world's largest video game developers. An appeal by the FTC to temporarily halt the deal was denied by an appellate court late last week.With these decisions, the tech giant is now one step closer to closing the $69 billion acquisition deal, which was first announced back in January 2022. The court's decision removes the hurdle of the FTC, however, across the pond, Microsoft still faces pushback from regulators in the United Kingdom who argue that the deal could stifle competition in the cloud gaming market. And Microsoft is re...
Read More
Microsoft can move ahead with record $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, judge rules
12Jul By adminNo Comments
Technology

Microsoft can move ahead with record $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, judge rules

[ad_1] A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators sought to ax the deal saying it will hurt competition.U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the merger deserved scrutiny, noting it could be the largest in the history of the tech industry. But federal regulators were unable to show how it would cause serious harm and wouldn't likely prevail if they took it to a full trial, she wrote. The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws, “has not raised serious questions regarding whether the proposed merger is likely to substantially lessen competition” between video game consoles or in the growing markets for monthly game subscription...
Read More
Microsoft’s Lineup of Exclusive Games Draws Fire From Deal Foes
29Jun By adminNo Comments
Technology

Microsoft’s Lineup of Exclusive Games Draws Fire From Deal Foes

[ad_1] US officials suing to stop Microsoft Corp.'s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc. argue the software giant's recent acquisition history suggests it's motivated to rope off blockbuster video games from competitors.Microsoft routinely distributes its video games across multiple consoles, but with the 2020 purchase of gaming conglomerate ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion, the company placed an increased emphasis on exclusive, top tier titles. As the Federal Trade Commission seeks in court to block the Activision merger, the agency pointed to the ZeniMax deal to poke holes in Microsoft's assertion that the acquisition will be good for the industry and question its intention to make more games available on multiple platforms. Starting with the ZeniMax purchase, Microsoft made...
Read More
Microsoft Says Even Rival Sony Had No Concern Over Activision Deal
24Jun By adminNo Comments
Technology

Microsoft Says Even Rival Sony Had No Concern Over Activision Deal

[ad_1] Microsoft Corp. began its court fight with the Federal Trade Commission over the $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc. by saying that even an executive at rival Sony Corp. had acknowledged the deal wasn't “an exclusivity play” to hurt the PlayStation gaming console.The FTC wants to block the transaction while its legal challenge is pending, and the two sides are arguing the case at a five-day court hearing that began Thursday in San Francisco. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console, is defending the blockbuster deal, which would catapult it to the No. 3 position in the global games market after Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Sony. During opening statements, Microsoft attorney Beth Wilkinson sought to counter the FTC's claim that the deal would hurt competition by reading the ...
Read More
Meta Notches Win as FTC Drops Challenge to Virtual-Reality Deal
27Feb By adminNo Comments
Technology

Meta Notches Win as FTC Drops Challenge to Virtual-Reality Deal

[ad_1] The Federal Trade Commission voted to withdraw an antitrust complaint challenging Meta Platforms Inc.'s purchase of virtual-reality startup Within Unlimited, officially closing the agency's case. The FTC sued to block the deal last year, filing twin complaints in federal court and its-house court. Following a December trial in a San Jose federal court, US District Judge Edward Davila found in favor of Meta, ruling the FTC didn't offer enough evidence to prove that the acquisition would harm competition in the nascent virtual-reality industry. The FTC opted this month against appealing Davila's decision and paused the administrative case while it considered next steps. Although the judge's ruling allowed Meta to close the deal on Feb. 10, the FTC could...
Read More