EUs

After overturning a $1.2 billion (~€1.06b) antitrust fine imposed on it by the European Commission (EC) this January, Intel has now filed with the EU General Court for compensation. The Santa Clara-based company, which achieved $20 billion in revenues last year, is claiming almost half of the original fine, to the tune of $623.5 million (€593m) in interest charges accrued for the duration of the litigation.The fine, originally imposed in 2009, revolved around accusations of Intel blocking rival chipmaker AMD from…

Last week, the European Parliament made it mandatory for all small and medium-sized consumer electronics to come equipped with a USB-C charging port. Now an open letter from two US Senators to the Secretary of Commerce urges for a similar policy in the US. The letter, drafted by Senators Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren express the need to adopt the standardized charging port, citing environmental harm due to e-waste, economic annoyance to consumers, and planned obsolescence of consumer electronics. the European…

Meta, Alphabet unit Google, Twitter and Microsoft on Thursday, June 16 agreed to take a tougher line against disinformation including deep fakes and fake accounts under an updated EU code of practice or face hefty fines.More than 30 signatories including advertising bodies have signed up to the updated Code of Practice on disinformation, the European Commission said.The signatories agree to do more to tackle deepfakes, fake accounts and political advertising while non-compliance can lead to fines as much as 6 percent of a…

Some of the biggest names in tech have signed up for the European Union's escalating war against disinformation. The EU has published a tougher Code of Practice on Disinformation with commitments from 34 companies and organizations, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Twitch and Twitter. The stronger guidelines are meant to both refine the existing code while expanding it to deal with lessons learned in recent years, including from the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Participants in the updated code have…

Alphabet unit Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies will have to take measures to counter deepfakes and fake accounts on their platforms or risk hefty fines under an updated European Union code of practice, according to an EU document seen by Reuters.The European Commission is expected to publish the updated code of practice on disinformation on Thursday as part of its crackdown against fake news.Introduced in 2018, the voluntary code will now become a co-regulation scheme, with responsibility shared between…

Amazon has offered to share marketplace data with sellers and boost the visibility of rival products on its platform, trying to persuade EU antitrust regulators to close their investigations without a fine by the end of the year, people familiar with the matter said.The world's largest online retailer is hoping its concessions will stave off a potential European Union fine that could be as much as 10 percent of its global turnover, Reuters reported last year.The European Commission in 2020 charged Amazon with using its…

Slashing e-waste was a major driver in European Union lawmakers’ proposal yesterday to mandate a universal charger for mobile phones and other devices. But there are still a lot of other factors that have to come together for the measure to make a meaningful difference in the world’s e-waste problem. Piled together, unused and discarded chargers add up to about 11,000 metric tons of e-waste in Europe annually, according to the European Parliament. They’re hoping to shrink that pile by eliminating the need for…

This week, European Union lawmakers agreed on new proposals to force manufacturers of everything from smartphones and headphones to digital cameras and tablets to use the same universal charging port: USB Type-C. The plan is for the new rules to come into effect by fall 2024, after which these devices that charge using a wired cable will need to do so via a built-in USB-C port. The single biggest impact of this legislation is likely to land on Apple’s iPhone. While the rest of the smartphone industry has gradually…

With the EU still wrangling with Hungary over the ban on Russian oil, the market jitters over tight supply fears. European Council President Charles Michel says he is confident that an agreement can be reached before the council's next meeting on May 30.…

Elon Musk said his plans for Twitter Inc. TWTR -3.69% are aligned with new European Union rules aimed at compelling social-media companies to do more to police illegal content, after his initial vision for the platform raised concerns among regulators in Europe. Mr. Musk made the comments in a video posted Monday to the Twitter account of Europe’s commissioner for the internal market,…