Archive

Apps

Apple and Google backed Information Technology and Innovation Foundation policy director says increasing competition in App stores could hurt users 

…The US Senate is presently considering whether it should bring the Open App Market Act bill to a vote. This proposes to

• Restrict the mandatory use by apps of proprietary in-app payment software (ie: Apple can’t say that apps must use their payment system to make purchases within the app)
• Protect users’ ability to install third-party app stores
• Protect users’ ability to install apps without using an app store

The concern is: 

• No control of app quality (you get spammy stuff advertised on the App store)
• Less privacy
• Insufficient security

Peloton successfully fends off wilful infringement claim by rival iFIT (NordicTrack)

…iFIT had last April sued Peloton for infringing a patent which relates to the feature that automatically controls the exercise device with an integrated weight system. Peloton was claimed to be infringing by offering devices with a feature which changes the resistance in response to the virtual instructor’s call outs. 

Peloton had known about iFIT’s patent application but that was not enough to substantiate a claim for wilful infringement (which if succeeded would entitle iFIT to be awarded three times the damages amount). iFIT must provide evidence to show that Peloton knew it was infringing, the judge said.

The case continues on. 

Auto

Tesla says Full Self Driving Autopilot safer than a human by end of this year

…”I would be shocked if I don’t achieve it”, says Musk. Though many don’t actually believe the oft over-promising Tesla boss. According to Tesla, Full Self Driving is available for $199 per month to drivers. Good drivers as adjudicated by Tesla’s algorithms can access software updates before they are rolled out. It is not entirely clear what “Full Self Driving” would offer, but it may include self-driving city streets. 

“Being better than a human is relatively straightforward, frankly…but how do you be 1000 percent better, 10,000 percent better? That’s much harder”, says Musk. He certainly likes to strive for heights. 

May be the regulatory hurdles will save him from getting egg on his face; though he probably couldn’t care less about that. 

Sceptics may snigger, they may roll their eyes, but Tesla is by far ahead in product, market share (in the US, they have the best network of superchargers which contributes to the marketshare – those superchargers only recently became available to other EVs), supply chain management, production capacity and battery capacity (much better range than many others) compared to any other. They are also highly profitable because of their add-on subscription services; Full Self Driving which I’ve mentioned above, better connectivity, and insurance (out of the ones I can think of – may be others). I guess that is why he has been quite able to indulge in hyperbolic promises thus far. 

Note that the term “Self-Driving” has been dumped by what was Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, which has been renamed as “Autonomous Vehicle Association”. The group founded in 2016 by well known disruptors and legacy car companies (Waymo, Lyft, Uber and Ford and Volvo – now joined by other well known disruptor companies such as Cruise and Zoox) changed their name because that term is misleading they say. 

Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit Waymo in a bid to stop San Francisco’s Department of Motor Vehicles from releasing sensitive information

…Chronology would probably be helpful.

• Waymo applies for a permit allowing its vehicles to be deployed on public roads. Application includes sensitive information (says Waymo) such as:
  • Internal analyses of collisions
  • What happens in emergency situations
  • Geography where the vehicles will operate
  • Restrictions on Vehicle’s operation
  • Details of how the vehicle reacts when it’s driving outside the geography
  • Manufacturer’s testing of autonomous technologies
  • How to avoid circumstances which lead to certain collisions

• Department of Motor Vehicles receives request for information relating to Waymo’s application. 
• Redacted information was provided to the unidentified requesting party.
• Requesting party challenges the redaction. 
• Department of Motor Vehicles says Waymo must justify the redaction, and seek an injunction to prevent release. 

Waymo says the information reveals strategic insight into Waymo’s competitors and strategy. It will reveal information on critical technological engineering issues in this highly congested (excuse the pun) technological area. Interestingly though Waymo describes the information as a business secret (not technical secret) – according to the article. 

Calilfornia Privacy Rights Act states that public records are exempt from disclosure if it can be shown that the public interest is served by not disclosing that information. 

Practical point: if you are working for Auto companies, you might consider whether it would bed worth obtaining information via making a FOIA request (with the proviso that the position taken could haunt you if someone then makes a request against you).

BigTech/ Data / Platform

US State Attorney Generals sue Google for secretly tracking users’ location

…Tracking was said to take place even after users had disabled the feature. Users were led to believe that turning off location history would stop the collection of data, but it was not the case, the complaint claims. It is said that Google collected the data despite lack of consent, and monetised the data by using it unlawfully in targeted advertising. 

The claim also complains of using “dark patterns” by telling users who switch off location tracking that certain services won’t function properly otherwise, to try and persuade users from turning off the functionality.

Google said it will defend the claims vigorously. 

And on a similar theme…

US DOJ head Jonathan Kanter echoes Lina Khan in being anti-concentration of markets

…He stated:

• Mergers short of blocking transactions often miss the mark
• If a merger is likely to lessen competition we will simply block [note that most mergers are anti-competitive because the point of the merger is that you end up in a better position…]
• Competition is not static, but “dynamic, complex and often multidimensional” making it hard to see “with precision the contours of competition in the market” – potentially meaning that if in doubt, he’ll block transactions
• Focus on structural fixes (requiring divestments of targets) rather than behavioural commitments

Ninth Circuit (essentially Court of Appeals for the area which contains California ie: liberal) OKs California to apply Net Neutrality laws

…Net Neutrality means that internet service providers must not be able to block or prioritise certain cables and cell towers over others. It means for example, Sky can’t pay BT to provide faster information for Sky services or Amazon can’t pay Virgin to slow down data flow on Netflix in a bid to get customers off Netflix onto Amazon. 

FCC under Trump Administration did away with Open Internet Order aimed at net neutrality and California said well, we’ll do it anyway. This was challenged, and the Ninth circuit said that California law can stand, and that net neutrality doesn’t necessarily fall within the province of Federal law. Will Congress say, pass law applicable across the US? This will be potentially Supreme Court stuff if Congress decide to stay out of the debate. 

US follows UK, Canada and Australia by proposing new immigration visas for start up entrepreneurs

…Didn’t know UK had that sort of visa available. But this is a logical move. There is huge potential in start ups, thanks to the development of internet based infrastructure. Anyone can easily set up a home page, start a business, reach out to customers across the globe, communicate, outsource, get things made and get securely paid for services rendered. It would seem also to suit the Gen-Z philosophy too. The visa is proposed in the America COMPETES Act of 2022. 

Californian judge partially lets off Google in a class action

…The plaintiffs, who were users of Google phones said Google Analytics and Firebase software is quietly integrated into third-party smartphone apps including NY times, the Economist, Lyft and Alibaba. 

The claims which were dismissed were two:

• Breach of contract because Google collected data allowing it to target ad its users after users adjusted its account settings not to track them.

• Decision: Users can’t expect to be entering into a contract just by changing account settings.

• Breach of Californian Invasion of Privacy Act which prevents anyone from intercepting and recording communications without consent.

• Decision: What Google did was to record and then transmit. This is not interception. 

Other claims such as breach of Californian Computer Abuse and Invasion of Privacy laws remain live. 

But then….

German publishers and marketing agencies complain to the EU Commission that Google’s privacy sandbox and abolishment of third party cookies will reduce their ability to compete

…Google says that their initiative to turn off Cookies will safeguard privacy but other businesses say it will disable them from access to effective online advertising because they cannot target potential customers, although Google itself will be able to collect data. Furthermore the publishers complain that Google’s proposal will block users who want third-party cookies (for more personalised web browsing experience).  

Google to track users’ interests in relation to broad categories amid privacy concerns

…Google proposes to change advertising cookies by using Topics which tracks users’ interests broadly. For example a user that frequents baseball related sites would be identified in relation to the broad category of Sports. It was feared that granular categorisations could lead Google to identify individuals. Google will not be categorising sensitive interests, it said (eg. mental health, guns, religion). 

In contrast, Apple says its user data is processed on the device, and not sent to the cloud. 

Google pays $1billion to Bharti Airtel to boost smartphone and internet access in India

…Airtel has 1 million SME clients through its enterprise offerings. Subject to regulatory approvals.

Apple files the most profitable quarterly revenues – what do they do right?

• Managed to sort supply chain issues
• Good take up of products in China (Macs (they are now using their own designed chips called M1), and iPhone) – Apple is one of the few mega cap companies that are doing well in China which have a tech savvy demographic who are quick to upgrade on new technical futures. It has knocked Huawei off the number one spot on mobile phone sales (Huawei phones were popular with the increase of nationalism when it was banned by the US in the past– but that appears to have been short-lived, or rather the lure of the cool Apple brand may have been too much – either that, or their products just integrate better with other products – see below). 
• Increased first time buyers of iWatch
• Further integration – Apple is seeking to integrate Macs, iPhones, iWatch, AirPods, home pods and in the future AR, EVs – confidence is high that Apple will be able to do it well.

There are risks though, especially regulatory around App Stores. Also relationship with Google may well be called into question – because Google pays Apple for it to be a default engine on the iOS. 20% profit of Apple comes from the deal with Google + added risk that Google might decide its search engine is good enough without having to pay Apple. 

Neil Young gets dumped over Joe Rogan by Spotify

…Neil Young (who is far from young, but has an impressive legacy back catalogue of music) has refused to share a platform with Joe Rogan who has secured a reportedly up to/more than (depending on the source) $100m exclusive with Spotify. Joe Rogan is a very popular comedian, but is somewhat controversial because of his anti-vax views. Young said that this is highly dangerous because if more people are persuaded not to take a vaccine, it could lead to unnecessary deaths. Joni Mitchell (another artist of similar profile) has now followed. What is perhaps more eyebrow raising is that fact that Rogan has his own range of vitamins that is said to boost immunity….

The interesting question is the duty of Spotify. Does it have to police the contents of its podcasts? Or lyrics of the songs they have made available? If so, that would be pretty burdensome. Does it matter that Spotify offers tracks of controversial artists?  For example, Michael Jackson’s music? The key issue is the fact that Spotify has an exclusive relationship with Rogan means Spotify can be said to have sort of added responsibility. In other words, Spotify isn’t just a directory vis-à-vis Rogan, but has a level of control over him – should it not do something about his views, which aren’t backed by science? It isn’t quite the same issue that Twitter, Google and Facebook are facing over not doing anything about the possible incitement of the Capitol Hill riot, because they lack the necessary relationship with the rioters. 

The article notes that Spotify makes revenue from people listening to Joe Rogan (because Rogan has been paid upfront) and more people will click on the ads owing to his fanbase size (some 11 million – placing an ad on his show costs x$10k), whereas Neil Young’s fanbase is much more limited, and each time a subscriber pays to listen to Neil Young, they lose the revenue – because it will have to pay its record label/Neil Young the royalties due. Having to choose Neil Young v Joe Rogan may be a simple choice, but what if more popular artists such as Taylor Swift or BTS followed? What would they do? Meghan and Harry who work with Spotify have expressed concern but has not said they will pull out. Thankfully for Spotify, none of these perhaps, more popular celebrities have yet placed Spotify onto that horn of dilemma.

Another interesting move is Apple, who was quick to advertise Neil Young catalogue availability on iTunes, describing itself as “home of Neil Young”. Neil Young has previous told his fans not to listen to music on iTunes because his music sounds terrible on it. Oops….

Shopify moves to dismiss publishers’ claim that it is liable for pirated textbooks on the platform

…Shopify is a subscription based service enabling individual shop owners to set up shop on the platform. Some shops have cropped up on Shopify selling pirated textbooks. The educational publishers sued Shopify claiming copyright infringement and trade mark infringement. Shopify is relying on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, stating that the law gives them a defence as it has diligently responded to take down notices. 

Gaming

Riot Games sues rival game maker for copyright infringement in Central District of California

…Imba Technology is accused of taking League of Legend characters and storylines (verbatim). Imba’s game is free to play but derives revenue from in-app purchases. Riot has sued other companies before, such as Shanghai Moonton Technologies co and Shanghai MoBai Computer Technology for infringing League of Legends designs and details. 

Health

“Digital Medicine” company Akili valued at $1billion as it goes public

…Ever heard of digital medicine? Akili is a US prescription digital medicine company which treats depression and attention hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory diseases using personalised video games…

NFT

Art collector seeks ruling in NY that he owns copyright in physical art entitling him to sell NFTs based on it

…These sorts of issues are likely to increase in the world of NFTs. 

Semiconductors

European Commission’s €1.2billion fine against Intel concerning rebates overturned by Europe’s second highest court (General Court)

…The charge was that Intel had acted anti-competitively by offering rebates to computer manufacturers HP, Dell, Lenovo and NEC for buying most of their chips from Intel. Rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) complained that they had been blocked out from selling their chips to the same clientbase. The General Court said that there were flaws in the rebate analysis and the legal standard that the rebates were capable of having, or likely to have anti-competitive effects was not met. 

Supply chain woes continue

…US Department of Commence said chip inventory held by manufacturers is down to 5 days’ supply, down from 40 days of 2019. Cue – factory shut downs, furloughs, increase in price of cars and everything else with chips in them (phones, PCs etc).

Chinese regulator give green light for chip manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to buy Xylinx (also chip manufacturer) 

…AMD had had the all clear from all regulatory authorities but China. China has given the go ahead now. Xylinx is no ordinary chip maker, it makes chips for data centre networking, cars, military use and satellites. Furthermore Xylinx chips are programmable, meaning the customer can configure it to intended design after manufacturing. That ability makes these chips suitable for new computing uses and updating after deployment. AMD itself has expertise in making chips for graphics and server processors, supplying the likes of Microsoft and Sony for video game servers.  

US ITC takes up Future Link Systems’ complaint against Semiconductor dealers (Qualcomm, AMD, Apple, Google Broadcom, Dell, Lenovo, HP) for importing patent infringing chip containing devices seeking an injunction against importation 

…This would seem to be a tall ask given that the economy as a whole (US certainly not excluded) is getting a pounding owing to lack of chips. 

Future Link Systems is an IT solutions provider. 

5G

Roll out of C-band 5G clashes with Airline safety in the US

…Airlines are fearing that “C-band” 5G signal (which is separate from normal 5G) have the potential of disrupting some airplanes’ navigation systems. The Federal Communication Commission had sold this spectrum to carriers notably AT&T and Verizon (for colossal sums following an auction – despite being asked not to, to avert this situation – the sum no doubt reflects the scale of potential digital services markets that 5G can realise) and had not managed to agree a solution with Federal Aviation Administration before the roll out date. Airlines have demanded 5G signals be excluded from 2 mile radius of runways.
C-band roll out has already been carried out in 40 countries without any reports of planes falling out of the sky.
C-band frequency is high powered with wide coverage but limited in bandwidth, and so highly sought after by the carriers. It has been commented that rarely do C-band 5G is required for currently offered services; we are only readying ourselves for the future filled with AR glasses (as for which, see In the Spotlight section below)

Apps

Amazon Style launched as its first clothing store poised to open in Los Angeles this year

…You guessed it, it’s not your usual shopping experience. The clothing store only displays one item of each clothing, and you input your size, and budget. I’m not sure whether you can also set the colour, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you can. Check out done by biometrics. 

It will obviously be powered by its clever algorithm – which probably means very dangerous Amazon recommendations will also be included in your personalised wardrobe. If Amazon algorithms get it right, it might be very difficult not to yield to temptation. Thank goodness we are far away from LA! (for now).  

Se the one minute demo video: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/amazon-clothing-store-algorithms-b1997655.html

Netflix shares plummets as it fails to attract further subscribers

…Netflix is well known for its good value. Low subscription prices + high quality and wide ranging content. However it faces increasing competition with HBO max and Disney + both of which have far higher subscription fees and doing well on subscriber numbers. How will Netflix  jack its prices up substantially to a level that equals their rivals so suddenly, without losing subscribers?. 

Autos

Broadcom asks Federal Circuit to overturn ITC Commission not to block imports of Toyota’s infotainment (navigation) systems into the US

…The claim had prior failed because Broadcom did not succeed in showing that Broadcom practices a key claim in the patent asserted. 

John Deere forecloses competition by giving no access to software that controls farming machinery preventing independent dealers and farmers from repairing says US Law suit

…Compare in the EU (which includes the UK because the rule was in force before Brexit) where certain information has to be made available to car dealers in the EU, designed to enable independent dealers to service cars.  Seeing news pieces like this, I realise how ahead the EU had been on policy shaping and implementing laws with the future in mind. 

US electric battery company Factorial Energy announces further investment from Mercedes and Stellantis

…following on from joint development and investment agreements struck last year. The company says its solid state batteries are better than Lithium ion batteries, providing 50% more range and safer. Factorial already has joint development agreements with Hyundai and Kia.

BigTech

EU Parliament adopts the draft of Digital Services Act

…Negotiations with Member States can now start. What does the draft DSA contain?

• Online platforms responsible for countering illegal products, services and content online, including clearly defined take-down procedures 
• Stronger obligation to ensure products can be traced on online marketplaces
• More options for tracking-free advertising
• Ban on using a minor’s data for targeted ads, as well as other vulnerable groups (based on sexual orientation, religions beliefs etc)
• Prohibition from influencing behaviour through dark patterns (eg. if you unsubscribe, you could miss out because of X, do you really want to unsubscribe?) 
• Very large Platforms subject to mandatory risk assessments risk mitigation measures, independent audits and the transparency of so-called “recommender systems”, which should include at least one system not based on profiling
• Clarity on how data will be monetised
• Should be easy to decline consent as it is to give consent 
• Recipients of services would have the right to seek compensation for damages

Small enterprises are exempted

American Innovation and Choice Online Act may become law meaning platforms can’t treat its goods and services better than those of third parties

…Unsurpsingly it will hit Google and Amazon the hardest…though supermarkets have been carrying out preferential product placements for years (the issue with platformers though is the scale).  As I understand it, it all sort of started with Amazon clocking the most popular products sold on its website, manufacturing own versions of it, and displaying it more prominently (eg. top of the search results) to any other similar products on the platform. The Act also plans to ban merchants from purchasing more prominent placements on platforms. The concept is similar to EU’s Digital Markets Act. 

• Apple is against it because it would mean it would have to allow users to download an App from its iOS App store which Apple says will compromise safety and security standards. Also, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Policy will not apply to those Apps which is a feature enabling users to choose what sorts of data if any they will allow the App to track [followers of the epic Epic v. Apple litigation will be well aware of this]

• Google is also against it because it won’t be able to offer its users the best service [Google also faces similar suit advanced by Epic], such as having to give equal prominence to spammy services, and harming small businesses if Gmail and Calendars can’t work seamlessly. 

Note that the Act is considered to apply to free services (like Google’s) not subscription based ones (like Microsoft’s software services), which Google says will harm consumers [but see the proposed UK Class action against Facebook– where the main complaint is that “free services” aren’t really free because Facebook extracts valuable user data]. 

No doubt heavy lobbying would follow, and amendments will be made to the bill. 

Unsealed law suit in the US complains of alleged anti-competitive agreement between Google and Facebook

…The agreement allegedly provided: 

• Facebook to agree not to be involved in header bidding (which is a type of advertising exchange routing)
• Google to give Facebook information, speed and other advantages in auctions for mobile phone app advertising

Contains evidence on Google’s dominance in the online ad industry, and how Google is said to have manipulated the price of ad bids. 

Apple settles iCloud storage class action in the US

…Plaintiffs had complained that contrary to what was advertised Apple did not store data in its own infrastructure. 

Amazon reverses on Visa credit card ban, at least for now

…I am delighted to hear. Amazon had said before it will drop Visa credit cards in the UK because its transaction rate is too high (not sure why the prohibition was UK only – was it a test case?). The parties have decided to re-negotiate. Both parties were due to lose out (with Amazon’s estimated losses amounting to over a billion). I guess Visa made Amazon blink first. 

Patent infringement and antitrust suit in Florida against Apple on behalf of innovative software platform developers

…The complainant The Coring Co complains that Apple has stifled competition in the App marketplace. The complainant is associated with a suit against Apple in Northern District of California about Covid-19 trackers but the case failed because it did not plead market-wide competitive harm. The complainant claims its own App marketplace enables source code screening, which in turn enables one to check for corrupt algorithms and bypass Apple’s censorship. 

Apple says Coring is attempting to re-litigate. 

Google Analytics unlawfully transfers data in contravention of GDPR says Austrian Data Protection Authority

…Use of Google Analytics on an Austrian website involved data transfer from Google LLC in the US, and there were insufficient measures to ensure this was lawful, meaning Google provided inadequate level of protection. When a EU user accesses a website using Google Analytics whilst logged in his Google account, personal data is transferred to Google LLC. In accordance with US CLOUD Act, US authorities can demand personal data from Google, even when they are operating outside the US. Google therefore cannot satisfy the protection level for protecting the personal data of EU citizens under GDPR according to the Austrian Data Protection Authoritiy. 

Royalty Society study says don’t ban fake news

…Royal Society says banning fake news will only make them harder to access, leading to distrust in authorities. It called for a more nuanced, sustainable and focussed approach. What is required is collective resilience, it was said. Instead, we need information literacy programmes and mechanism for data-sharing to ensure that high quality information can compete (- I assume, against sensationalist or divisive posts). 

Crypto

Federal Reserve publishes whitepaper and seeks public comment on the Digital Dollar

…although many commentators say it will happen no matter what, there are a number of options on implementation, which the Fed can consider following consideration of responses to its call for public comments.

Main advantages are

• Faster financial payments
• Stimulation packages can reach to public more quickly
• Greater financial inclusion
• Enables quicker actions, can avoid crashes
• Safer (cf: cash robbery) 

But also drawbacks

• Privacy  (dealing in cash enables consumers to work “off-line” so spending cannot be tracked)
• Stability
• Fraudulent use

Russia follows China in banning crypto

…Russia is the third biggest territory which mine digital tokens (after US and which country? – the answer is surprising). It’s too speculative, used for illegal activities, not green and it undermines national fiscal policy says Russia’s central bank. 

Gaming

Microsoft agrees to buy gaming major Activation Blizzard for $69bn

…This is Microsoft’s biggest shopping in its history. To put it in context for the broader entertainment industry, Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars was for $4.05bn, and its acquisition of Marvel was $4bn. This deal is approx. 20 times larger. 

Metaverse

Meta plans to create marketplace for NFTs and allow users to use NFTs as their profiles

…Also, Meta plants to enable creators can create – or “mint” – tokens it has been said. Facebook’s digital wallet Novi will be key to facilitating the transactions. 

Semiconductors

Intel plans to build a semiconductor factory in Ohio

…There are generally two processes in semiconductor manufacturing that tend to draw focus:

• Designing the chip: most dominantly by ARM for mobile phones, Nvidia (for AI type processing chips and graphics) and recently by other companies which have entered the fray (Apple, GM, Ford). 

• Fabrication/Manufacturing (so-called foundaries): TSMC and Samsung are the main ones. These require major investment. 

Intel has recently announced it will start the foundary business because it is simply too unstable to rely on semiconductor manufacturing carried out mainly in SE Asia (especially the cutting edge sort). They will benefit from the US government subsidy. Note that Samsung and TMSC are coming to the US to build a foundary business (also taking the opportunity to receive the subsidy).  

Intel has announced it will split these two processes into two business units – it had until recently carried out both the designing and manufacturing, but because the manufacturing capability fell behind, it was thought that their designs also suffered. They announced the decision to have the two businesses less integrated to avoid similar mistakes.

In order to compete effectively, TSMC has announced a record high $44bn budget this year alone to strengthen chip manufacturing capability this month. 

Semiconductor business will likely be hot for some time. 

In the Spotlight

What does head of US FTC (that’s the competition authority in the US), and longtime critic of BigTech, Lina Khan say about deals involving large tech companies generally?

…It so happens that Lina Khan was slated to talk about her vision of future US competition on the same day as Microsoft’s announcement. You may recall they are trying to unwind Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp (after several years following the acquisition) because their view is that Facebook is now clearly dominant (although last week I noted that there are strong arguments against it), and considers that the Facebook’s game plan was to buy nascent companies with promising technology specifically to kill off future competition. It is true that those deals have enabled Facebook to reach out effectively to the entire mobile community and effectively gain dominance using their infrastructure and data they have managed to amass. The question is whether their conduct was anti-competitive. Should FTC have scrutinised those deals more carefully? Was the deal which enabled Facebook to become too dominant (in their view) foreseeable? Similarly, will Microsoft ‘s Activision Blizzard also enable it – with its predominantly enterprise clientbase to iterate over to the mobile users’ market?

FTC is looking at assessing deals which might reduce competition in the future – what is the problem with this?

What FTC wants to do is to catch and prevent deals which might lead to significant erosion of competition early, not 3, 4 deals later. This is a new concept because it looks at competition not from a consumer harm standpoint where one looks at whether a certain M&A would lead to higher prices for the consumer…

Case Study: Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The proposed acquisition can be good for consumers. Consumers can buy Microsoft’s subscription services and they can get Call of Duty without any hikes in the subscription price (ie: get more for the same price). It’s a bit like being offered say, Peaky Blinders (iPlayer) on Netflix without any hike in Netflix prices. If the offering is increased, then consumers can potentially just buy one streaming service, not a number of offerings such as Netflix and Disney Plus and Amazon Fire and etc etc. 

But it could reduce competition in the future – for example, if Sony is denied access to Call of Duty (currently available on Sony PlayStation) and other popular titles, it will not be able to compete as effectively against Xbox. It’s the nature of deals involving BigTech, because a few players are the gatekeepers over any particular sector. Indeed, the whole assessment of competitive harm from a pricing standpoint may no longer cut the mustard where consumers are being given ad based services free of charge. How could that possibly constitute consumer harm in one sense? 

However, looking at competition in this way could lead to uncertainty in businesses – deals are often done to decrease competition – for businesses to get stronger so per se, so should not be struck down out of hand. But, how do you know if the FTC will view your deal as the sort sufficiently likely to reduce competition “substantially” (Lina Khan’s words) in the future such that it ought to be prevented? It has been pointed out that the assessment requires a more objective criteria, as otherwise, whether a deal can be done or not could be highly politicised. This could chill the M&A market, with future M&A accompanying higher break-up fees (which is the $ you pay to your counterparty if the deal can’t go through). 

US FTC also wants to look at competition from a labour viewpoint

FTC are looking to see if any deal might impact the labour market. In the US FTC’s view, labour markets are significantly concentrated, and so they are looking at the anticompetitive nature of no-poach agreements, employers’ collusion to supress wages. Mergers may lead to significant redundancy and needs to be looked at, she added. 

This has been one of US labour unions’ asks, but commentators have said this does not make sense:

• BigTech aren’t dominant in the labour market as they compete with other tech companies for a pool of skilled engineers. 

• Some large technology companies aren’t known for treating their engineers all that well because they consider that the opportunity to work for them is a privilege in itself. 

• The acquisition by BigTech of smaller companies do not necessarily lead to redundancy
  • Example: when Google purchased YouTube which had a very limited number of employees, Google amplified the workforce for YouTube, to accelerate YouTube’s limited footprint to scale up massively using Google’s wide reach. The acquisition led to more employment and consumers benefited from YouTube’s services. Which was free. However, that deal may have been classified as potentially anti-competitive to the extent that it was foreseeable that YouTube will become so successful that no company would ever be able to compete with it. 

Aside from the competition viewpoint, and the uncertainties new ways of looking at competition may prove to be, will M&A be a trend? 

Microsoft is relatively well known for having a diverse portfolio (and actually whilst it may have been viewed as a software company traditionally, it is probably better to view it as a cloud company nowadays):

•  [Intelligent] Cloud services (Azure – top two with Amazon’s AWS) – by the way critical for fancy gaming visuals
• Software (Microsoft office including Outlook for a start)
• Teams (video-conferencing and virtual workplaces)
• Internet search (Bing)
• Mixed reality (HoloLens)
• Gaming (Xbox, Game Pass) 
• Digital Services Market (MSN)
• Surface (PC)
• Social Platform (Linked-In – and via Game Pass)
• Healthcare (Nuance)

This is in contrast to other BigTechs which do not have such a diverse and relatively even portfolio; the majority of Facebook & Google revenues come from Ads, Apple – hardware (though increasingly services through the revenues from in app purchases of apps downloaded from the App Store) and Amazon – cloud services. 

It is thought that there is a trend for businesses to diversify its business portfolio. We see here Microsoft strengthening its gaming business vertically (Activision’s content and Microsoft’s software distribution/platform), but others might expand out into different areas, different jurisdictions, yet some others might explore emerging technology (web3, blockchain, IoT, metaverse, cryptocurrency etc) to help them get a foothold into yet unknown future markets. 

Google is also throwing the hat into the ring as leaks suggest it is making an AR headset 

…Ostensibly not such an interesting piece of news, but I need to highlight why Google is joining the race. 

The most important point about this is that the technology industry is viewing augmented (AR) as the potential next platform device, following on from laptops and mobile. Of course, Google has got to get in on the race. I didn’t twig this point until this week…

Google’s main competitors

Understood to be progressed under the name project Iris. So who are its contenders?

• Meta are investing tremendous amounts following acquisition of Oculus (technically VR) and is seen to be currently leading in terms of progress

• Apple are also behind it, but in a more low profile way because’ well that’s Apple, they like to make a big splash on launch 

• Microsoft also has its HoloLens and has a venture with Qualcomm to make specialised AR chips – all in preparation for when Metaverse takes off, and the current gaming market (which is likely to be the first portal into the Metaverse). Note also that Microsoft’s HoloLens is actually being tested by the US Military, so it has huge scope for picking up on faults and improving quickly. 

There are other names like Snap and Magic Leap which are good names to be aware of. 

What about VR (Virtual Reality)?

AR is much more difficult than VR in terms of technology, which is why VR is being launched first. For AR you are actually looking at the real world and you have an overlay of information. So you can see the world (like wearing normal spectacles), and an AR device will augment your physical space, such as pointing out which shops are around you, or which shops are in the building in front of you. It may include opening hours.  Both Apple and Google will be trying to make MR (mixed reality VR and AR) devices for now – where there is an out-ward facing video camera so the real world can be blended with the virtual (apparently called “pass through” – so it’s not really AR) – you do not see the real world direct, but the processed videoed images.

What businesses are trying to do – particularly Apple who don’t really believe VR will take off, because it will be too isolating and assumes most users would not really want to be cut off from the real world –  is to make VR now, get people developing Apps to run on their VR devices, find use cases, pick up on issues and develop these, build an ecosystem and then step into the AR world. It’s really a stepping stone to AR. 

The gaming world is the most obvious starting point for VR, because it is played out in fantasy worlds, plus it is probably true to say it is populated with more techy people than average, who are willing to try new technology. Another use case may be is to watch films in VR. The other one is a better version of video conferencing experience (see the videos of Facebook and Microsoft as they advertised their vision of the metaverse). 

What are Google’s chances?

Google’s Google Glass project has sort of failed. Will the story be different this time? Maybe so:

• Google Glass didn’t really take off because it was a bit ahead of its time. It was also quite expensive but people have gotten used to paying handsomely for devices (prices of iPhone devices have kept increasing), especially those with advanced technology. 

• From the Google Glass experience, they will have some assets and know how in this area. This does include the feature of identifying faces in your vicinity – though this may have also been the reason Google Glass did not take off, because it was deemed to be too intrusive.  People didn’t want to be around Google Glass bespectacled people. There were reports of persons being abused for it and shops banning people with them on. 

• Less controversially, Google already has Google Lens capability where you point a mobile at something (eg. plant) and it can identify what it is. 

• Incredible AI capability. 

• Amazing volumes of data, which are highly indexed – users of Iris glasses (?) may be presented with better and more relevant information (though see Google’s issue with American Innovation and Online Choice Act, above)

• Great cloud expertise – it can render complex information and deliver to users. 

Just by the by, other of Google’s projects include Starline – enables one to talk remotely with your colleagues as if you are having an in-person meeting. It was shown that colleagues focused more compared with traditional video calls using Starline. Check it out by clicking on to the link. 

The World

US House Committee subpoena Alphabet, Reddit, Twitter and Meta to explain their potential contribution to Capitol Hill riot of 2021

…House Committee considers bills and issues and oversee agencies, programs, and activities within their jurisdictions. They have subpoenaed these platformers because they have in their view provided insufficient information. The questions these platforms have been asked are roughly (i) how did the spread of misinformation occur in their platforms and (ii) what had they done to prevent such an outcome. Note that, it is a bit of a tricky situation. If they are made to account for what goes on on their platforms, then it will give them a reason to monitor what people are saying on their platforms.

AI

Covid vaccine maker BioNTech teams up with North African AI startup InstaDeep to identify Covid variants ahead of WHO designation

…They had identified the Omicron variant two months before the WHO designation it i

Apps

Uber’s grocery delivery arm, Cornershop agrees to stop scraping data and images of items off rival Instacart and using them on its platform

…Instacart, which boasts owning the largest and most comprehensive grocery catalogue in the world, had sued Cornershop in Eastern District of Texas for copyright infringement, breach of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

Auto

[Old News not covered before] Huawei enters into JV with Volkswagen

…Announced in October 2021, the JV will develop autonomous vehicle technology, with Huawei supplying solutions, including software and chip. 

Huawei has two main auto businesses:

• Supply of whole designs or individual parts of cars 
• Smart Selection Mode – Sale of cars through Huawei’s sales channels

It is reported that Huawei has launched the HI brand, which is also known as Huawei Inside Solution. This includes input from other Chinese companies

BigTech

Game developer Krafton sues Google, YouTube and Apple for making available alleged copyright infringer Garena’s game Free Fire in the Central District of California

Alleged copycat game maker Garena also sued. Garena’s App Free Fire is alleged to be copyright infringing, by copying copyright protected aspects:

• unique game opening “air drop” feature, the game structure and play, the combination and selection of weapons, armour, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of colour schemes, materials, and textures.

• Pre-game lobby idea which enables players to have a play with the weapons before starting the game

• Look and feel

This was despite Garena having settled a dispute out of court before. Krafton had also asked Apple and Google to stop making these infringing games available on the App stores but have refused. 

What appears to be a good summary of US case law on contributory copyright infringement where infringing material is found on a platform, can be found here.

Crypto Assets

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sets up a fund to protect bitcoin developers

Jack Dorsey, a strong advocate of bitcoin and the democratisation of access to financial systems, has offered up support to bitcoin developers who are under legal attacks, most prominently by Craig White who is a serial litigator and claims to own the copyright to the original bitcoin whitepaper. Last year he mounted a legal claim in the UK requiring a bitcoin venture to take down the whitepaper. 

White is also known for attacking bitcoin developers for failing to support him recover his access to his crypto assets. He claimed that his private keys were stolen and deleted causing major losses.  

Why did UK Fintech Checkout.com manage to hit $4billion valuation? 

You might think here’s another fintech company, another hype. The interesting aspect of this start up is its focus on working in the web3 (decentralised, blockchain based) space. It only deals with enterprise customers, and aims to facilitate global payments, including digital currencies. Got a bit of crypto? Maybe buying an item online using digital currencies will become as easy as paying with your credit card soon. 

Data

US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to get stricter on data breaches by telecom companies

…There are already laws that compel businesses to protect customer’s personal information. However, the FCC wants to tighten the obligation to protect consumers and increase security: 

• Telecom customers to be notified promptly when there has been a data breach (plan to scrap the 7 day wait period)

• Obligation to notify FCC, FBI, US Secret Service, including inadvertent breaches

Old-fashioned world of London Insurance Market will go digital with the help of DXC Technology says Lloyds

..Lloyds are biting the bullet to go single platform and digital from being paper-based. This will present a cultural shift and huge cost saving opportunities, it has been said. It will involve a core data record which will involve a common data standard across the market, which will lead to inter-operability and faster processing. DXC Technology is a US based information tech company. As if we didn’t know already – everyone’s going to go AI…

EV

World’s second largest EV battery maker LG Energy Solutions to float in South Korea

…Huge spends (CapEx in market terms) are required to expand and develop further in one of the hottest sectors of today (being EV). South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions aim to challenge the top battery maker, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). LG Energy Solutions supply batteries to Tesla, Ford and VW (although not necessary exclusively – for example CATL supplies Tesla) and has a JV with Stellantis. 

Of course, the Chinese market is huge and CATL has a home advantage there. 

LG’s batteries are Nickel based and expensive, and there had been some safety issues. CATL’s LFP (Lithium iron phosphate) batteries are cheaper and safer. However, they have less energy and power density than Nickel based batteries. The batteries area is heavily patented as you will not be surprised to learn…

Netradyne, an AI analytics vehicle camera company sued for violating Illinois biometric privacy law

The camera situated on the internal windshield can record drivers movements to ensure that they are alert and focused on the road. Images are uploaded to Netradyne’s servers and truck drivers’ employers can log in to check. The suit said that such conduct violates Illinois biometric privacy law because no consent of the drivers was obtained. Drivers were told that the camera will be installed to reduce costs owing to traffic accidents, nothing was mentioned about collection of biometric data. 

The idea of being monitored behind the wheels first seemed to me to be a terrible violation of privacy (with or without consent), but on the other hand if the system could reliably detect whether drivers were properly focused and that would cause a reduction in serious accidents then it may well be a good idea – provided sufficient consent has been obtained. 

Amazon drivers famously have to consent to AI surveillance or get the sack – at least in the US. It also uses Netradyne. But I think the important difference here is that consent will have been obtained

Gaming

Following on from last week, more on cheat codes but cheating is not unlawful the defendant says in Bungie v  AimJunkies

…The cheating defendant AimJunkies says software cheat code is not an unauthorised copy of Claimant Bungie’s copyrighted works. Breach of contract claims ought to be arbitrated in accordance with Bungie’s own terms the defendant say. 

Grand-Theft auto publisher Take-Two agrees to buy Zynga for $12.7bn – but what’s the rationale for the deal? 

but what’s the rationale for the deal? 

The most straightforward reason is to enable Take-Two to compete with other eminent game publishers, such as Activation Blizzard, Epic etc. But Zynga is unusual in that it has great reach in mobile games. This goes to show how very out of touch I am but I was staggered to learn that the key driver of conversations in social platforms concerns gaming, Twitter reporting 14% increase in tweets centred on gaming in Q4 2021 year on year. That also chimes with Facebook’s report, with 900million in gaming groups, watching people playing games, and actually playing games, and Reddit reported that gaming was the second highest viewed topic. The feel is that gaming will not be just for “gamers” in the future. Simply, the intense widespread interest equates to:

• Advertising revenues (so called Ad dollars)
• More data – spelling this out, this means data on what people buy in the games, which translates to valuable data on what will people pay for, who is connected to who meaning who else can you target any particular services to. 

Remember a while ago, Amazon bought one of the most popular gaming platforms Twitch, and you may see that these days YouTube is pushing YouTube gaming apps in a big way. Also recall Apple has Arcade, and Google has Stadia. In other words, gaming is a space crowded with well resourced businesses. 

Meta’s VR Oculus was the most downloaded App on Christmas day in the US

Oculus was bought by Facebook back in 2014. Whether it is just for Christmas, or whether it has long time appeal is something worth monitoring. It has been said that VR glasses can cause nausea, still somewhat clunky and not light enough because the battery is too heavy etc. However, it is incredible that this app has beaten all other apps despite the need to use in conjunction with the VR glasses itself, costing $300-400. 

Metaverse

Metaverse is off-limits says Apple as it assiduously develops MR hardware in the background

There appears to have been a leak of Apple’s MR (Mixed Reality – in this case VR and) headsets. It looks like ski goggles if the leaked info is to be believed. Whilst other tech companies strive to keep us connected for long periods (why? – more data, of course!) Apple has said it isn’t intended for long period of usage. It has also said no to Metaverse – one analyst speculated that Apple wants nothing to do with having to control the masses – it gets messy and it’s not interested. That’s why Apple hasn’t dabbled in social media even though it could do it well, if it wanted to.   When you look at all those platformers subpoenaed by the House Committee (see above), one can’t really blame Apple…I should think though it is positioning itself to implement the work into future Apple cars. 

The question is whether these smart glasses would ever replace smart phones. 

Semiconductors

In the markets, semiconductor ETFs (ie: semiconductor company market index) continue to perform well – here’s why

This was picked up by CNBC. The reasons are chips are undergoing a “transformational development”, with increase in demands on high performance chips with the advent of 5G for PCs, EVs and IoT, owing to implementation of Cloud Computing and AI – matched with an expanding addressable market. Chips will become more and more specialised, and more complex involving “heterogeneous computing” – which is where different types of processors are used in one system – EVs are especially known for this). 

Established tech businesses are now taking on the chip designs as they sculpt the functionalities they need on the chips to suit their products 

Bonus News

Musk’s Boring company’s Hyperloop underneath Vegas unveiled in CES conference

In a bid to avoid traffic, Musk’s company has been “boring” a “hyperloop” (ie a tunnel) to transport cars from one place to another without a traffic jam. Backers have said it will go from Los Angeles to New York in 45 minutes. Unfortunately on this occasion it caused a traffic jam of 90 Teslas…The clip gives you a glimpse of this hyperloop from the inside.

Check out BMW’s colour changing car at CES

Just so cool…It uses e-ink, which is the same technology Kindle uses. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=499TkWOl4PM

Apps

Nike sues Lululemon Athletica saying Mirror Home Gym infringes patents

…The patents in play concern exercise instruction depending on fitness level and heart rate, setting up competition on atheletic activity between users, transmitting and storing activity time period in accordance with a goal, rating a user’s athleticism through sensors, recording and sharing activity, communication with workout equipment.

This is not dissimilar in the trend to Peloton’s suit against rivals Echelon and iFit over alleged patent infringement related to the company’s on-demand fitness classes of last year.

If you were the defendants in any of these cases, you’d hope to have patents you can countersue against the claimant.

Brands

Snap (formerly Snapchat) sues USPTO for wrongly rejecting trade mark application Spectacles for their smart glasses as being generic

…The suit is in Central District of California.

USPTO says – The evidence comprised of various news articles which describe AR devices in general as “smart spectacles” or “VR spectacles”. It stated in its ruling “Applicant cannot seriously dispute that ‘spectacles’ is merely descriptive”

Snap says – the applied for mark evokes an incongruity between an 18th century term for corrective eyewear and Snap’s high-tech 21st century smart glasses. It also claims acquired distinctiveness.

See Snap’s product here: https://www.spectacles.com/uk/new-spectacles/

It isn’t often that IP Offices get sued. It goes to show how “hot” the area of emerging technology is, with businesses jockeying to get the best branding for their products and services.

BigTech

French privacy watchdog CNIL fines Facebook and Google €210m for making it difficult for users to refuse Cookies in breach of ePrivacy Directive

…Several clicks are required to refuse Cookies as opposed to a single click to accept them said the Commission.

Californian class action says Google gave Apple preferential treatment in breach of antitrust law

…It is alleged that in an agreement:

• Google paid Apple billions each year not to develop its own search engines
• Google shares profits with Apple [not sure if this is the payment referred to above or is in addition to the above – those interested should do a further search]
• Apple gives Google preferential treatment on its devices [sort of conduct that will likely breach the Digital Markets Act of the EU, if it comes into force]

Meta is sued by parents of minors for unlawfully harvesting minors’ images in Alabama

…It was argued that minors’ data including biometric data were harvested and used for profit in breach of privacy rights and antitrust law. Whilst Meta did announce plans to purge a lot of biometric data to limit the use of technology, the plaintiffs say the damage has been done and Meta has been enriched unjustly.

WhatsApp suit against Israeli spyware company NSO to go ahead

…NSO is a well-known spyware company. As I understand it, it doesn’t choose its clients (ie: takes a strict non-discriminatory approach) – it will provide the service to anyone who will pay for their technology.

WhatsApp had sued NSO in Northern District of California (NDCal) for hacking the WhatsApp accounts of 1400 users who are human rights lawyers, journalists and politics dissidents, which is reported as likely on behalf of its government clients (WhatsApp suspects Mexico, Bahrain and UAE, based on the targets). WhatsApp claims that this unlawful under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (in the UK we have the Computer Misuse Act) and California state anti-hacking, breach of contract and trespassing laws. The Ninth Circuit has held that NSO cannot claim protection under Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which is a sovereign immunities doctrine that applies to foreign officials.

NSO complains that WhatsApp’s real dispute is with the governments, not NSO but because they can’t sue the governments who can defend themselves by claiming that they are core sovereign activities, WhatsApp have sued NSO.

Brexit

.eu websites have been taken off-line as a result of Brexit

…As a result of Brexit, UK individuals and organisations cannot own .eu domains and so have been taken off-line.

EV

Toyota to launch its own Operating Software for cars Arene, by 2025

…It’s a bit like iOS or Android for phones, but for cars. It will vie with other auto (eg. vw.OS, mb.OS [Mercedes Benz] and Tesla OS) and IT companies (Google, Apple) to become a platformer in this space, with the ability to licence out to other auto/EV manufacturers. To be developed by Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet. What will Arene do?

• Control of the car itself, such as braking and steering
• Navigation systems
• Traffic information handling
• Updating of software Over the Air (meaning using cellular network. See note below – Toyota is being sued for this capability in its current car range – see below).

What’s the benefit of a platform – other than the capture of a lot of data (which would in itself be a motivation to become a platformer)? Current cars have ECU (Electronic Control Units) which have software installed in them. There are said to be about 30 pieces of software in any one car at present and these push up the costs. Having a foundational operating system means only one software is necessary to operate the car.

Energy

Bill Gates-backed new form of solar energy company Heliogen goes public

…It concentrates solar rays by using AI – it has huge potential for industrial use as it can heat to temperatures beyond 1000 Celsius, which makes it ideal for industrial use, such as generation of hydrogen, a key component for Green Tech (See Tech News Digest of 11 October). The company expects to facilitate industries to decarbonise AND save money, at a time the world demands more energy and without pollution. A spokesperson has described it has a game-changer.  Click on the title and see what it looks like.

Gaming

German Cheat code sellers sued in Central District of California by publishers of popular game Call of Duty

…Plaintiff Activation Blizzard says that it loses business because non-cheating players quit in frustration and also availability of cheat codes causes harm to its reputation.

Causes of action are: Trafficking in Circumvention Devices (violates Circumvention of copyright protection systems, Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and Intentional interference with contractual relations, Unfair Competition. There have been similar cases, including those involving Epic, the publisher of popular game Fortnite against a YouTuber who published cheat codes on YouTube.

Green Agenda

US Copyright Office recommendation allowing users to circumvent technological measures for repair and maintenance can be dangerous

…for patient safety when applied to medical devices, it has been commented. What if the calibrations for the medical device is not quite right? I think there are probably safety implications for other items which are being considered as well (eg. Autos). In the process of repairing an electronic component it could also compromise security measures, it has been said. The Copyright Office recommendation can be reached here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-10-28/pdf/2021-23311.pdf

NFT

Largest NFT market OpenSea freezes stolen assets

…Bored Apes among assets that were stolen from the “hot wallet” (digital wallet that is accessible from devices that are connected to the internet – cf cold wallet or cold storage which is a physical device that keeps your crypto safe offline so it can’t be hacked) of an art gallery in New York. The gallery tweeted the theft and OpenSea froze the stolen assets.  Cue outcry. Why is this? Because NFT = web3 = decentralization. The code should be the law – one software engineer says. It shouldn’t be possible to centrally intervene.  But in practice, it is not entirely centralised because you need Open Sea API to actually visualise the NFT. This means that the protocol is open, but things have to be built on top of it to be usable, meaning platforms, that is the entity that centrally controls the relevant blockchain always win out.

National Security

UK’s got new power to intervene in transactions with national security implications

…This is because on 4 January 2022, the UK’s National Security and Investment Act (the “NSI Act”) enters into full force. NSI Act may apply to corporate restructures and reorganisations, even if the transaction takes place within the same corporate group.

For certain transactions where the target entity has activities in 17 defined areas of the UK economy, a mandatory notification requirement will apply. These are:

advanced materials; advanced robotics; artificial intelligence; civil nuclear; communications; computing hardware; critical suppliers to the UK government; cryptographic authentication; data infrastructure; defence; energy; military and dual-use; quantum technologies; satellite and space technologies; suppliers to the emergency services; synthetic biology; and transport.

In short, any areas which are a bit sexy or obviously national security related. This is wide-ranging Major consequences are due if not complied with.

Patents

US International Trade Commission (ITC) bans Google from importing Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast streaming devices and Pixel phones and computers into the US because it infringes Sonos patents

…but the injunction is limited. It comes 2 years after the Sonos filing during which it has been found that Google has managed to re-design. The commission’s decision is subject to review by the White House. Sonos urged the ITC to overturn the finding that the re-designs are non-infringing, saying that it allows Google to non-infringe by making “trivial” modification to the software. The interesting point here is that, even where the patent claims are ostensibly targeted to hardware these days, it is the software that dictates patent infringement. Changes can therefore be made to the software so that they are non-infringing, which is much simpler than having to make changes to the components of the products. Note that ITC cannot order damages. 

There are other ITC cases between Sonos and Google as well as parallel litigation in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Patent Pools utilising AI to operate are launched

…It was always a matter of time. Some say AI is still too unreliable, but even if critics are right about that, it will happen in earnest at some point.

Alium – this is a patent pool for Open RAN (see 8 November Tech News Digest on this technology), driven by MPEG-LA and Unified Patents. They are using AI to decide how royalties collected should be split among the various licensors in the patent pool.

IPwe – this is a blockchain focused start-up. AI is to be used to decide on the quality of the patents (not necessarily standard related patents) and licence fee allocation among licensors. The advantages are to cut down on expensive expert fees to carry out analysis of patents (eg. whether the patent reads on a standard which means all devices implementing that standard (eg. 4G) will infringe and therefore dealers will need to pay a licence) or how valuable any particular patent/patent portfolio is (not all patents are created equal – some cover more valuable technology than others).

Quantum Computing

US’s National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) expected to select the algorithms to be standardised perhaps this month – to combat vulnerabilities to encryption as a result of Quantum Computing implementation

…In short, when quantum computing technology become realised for use, a lot of the encryption methods used (eg. for payment, logging in, electronic signatures – one well known encoding method is called the RSA and has been around for decades) will become decodable. NIST has been working on creating standards for new algorithms strong enough to withstand attacks by quantum computers.  The actual standards will be crystalised in 2024, it is said. Software will require updating to reflect the new encoding method before quantum computing technology becomes mature enough (projected to be after 2030).

Trade Secrets

UK High Court hears case about copyright infringement of algorithm concerning price saving on airfares

…The point I want to make here is that cases of this nature is likely to increase as AI gets implemented in many more services in the future years.

It isn’t entirely clear whether it is a copyright case, not a trade secret case or both – interested readers should do a further internet search. Spanish start up Trappit says that GBT (JV with AmEx and Private Equity firm) stole the computer code when it demonstrated its system to GBT in relation to discussions about acquiring the business, only then later to back out of it having stolen the software design. GBT said all information disclosed to it is a trade secret.  The defendants say the algorithm is well known.

Interestingly, it is reported that the claimant was assigned the rights and has sued GBT – the assignor (another Trappit company) appears to have a confidentiality agreement with GBT which prohibits it from suing GBT, but the assignee was held not to be bound by it. There may be some drafting errors here.

Voice over IP

Estech – Texas based patent holder sues Toyota and BMW over VoIP patents in Texas

…Look at the titles of the patents to glean the technology: dialing using caller ID, quality of service in a voice over IP telephone system, voice mail in a voice over IP telephone system, phone directory in a voice over IP telephone system.
You get the gist. This isn’t surprising. This sort of technology will determine user experience in EV and homes. Plus, see the next clip.

Amazon says it is moving from e-Commerce to services through devices

…So said Senior Vice President of Devices and Services at Amazon. A lot of the functionalities rely on VoIP.

Alexa – people are using it to control the home without having to reach out the mobile. Alexa is being used to re-order and create lists.

EVs – provision of in-cabin software for Stellantis (owns Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall, and Mopar brands). You can tell the car to drive to the “nearest Starbucks”.

Ringo – home security

Astro Robot – launched in September 2021, it is a household robot. It has been described as Alexa on wheels. It can check whether the hob is turned on, bring drinks to you (but someone will have to load the robot with the drink), check everything is OK in the house, and if not, sound an alarm. Amazon has stated that all data storage and processing will happen locally. Click on the link and see the demo on YouTube.

Fire TV devices – provides more streaming than ever as people are stuck in their homes during the pandemic.

Surgical equipment and implant maker Stryker buys Vocera, a communication service platform and provider in the healthcare space

…Vocera provides among other things hands-free (ie: no need to carry a smart phone) real time voice communication device particularly in the health care sector (although not confined to this sector) allowing users to communicate freely (critical for health professionals and patients) with a platform that enables sharing of information easily. This business was purchased by Stryker. The provision of such services, enabling remote communication is important (i) in the pandemic as everything goes digital, and (ii) when dealing with patients where timing of such communication can be critical, has potential of being very lucrative.

In the Spotlight

What’s going on in the largest tech exhibition, CES (formerly called Consumer Electronics Show)?

…CES is one of the biggest events in the world of tech where leading businesses showcase their technical prowess to the world. It was reported that compared to 2020, this year’s CES businesses in mobility increased by 30%, being approximately 200 companies. Other notable areas included space and crypto assets. Having said this the pandemic have dented the number of companies exhibiting to less than half compared to pre-pandemic numbers, with Amazon, Google, Waymo, Microsoft, Lenovo, GM being notable absentees.

Sony enters EV market

…Though it says it’s just “exploring”. Their prototype Vision S-Sedan unveiled two years ago, has been tested in Europe in 2020. The market understood Sony was wishing to showcase batteries and sensors. The new business will be called Sony Mobility. They might have a massive advantage in the infotainment arena. Sony itself will design the EV, and provide the user experience (image processors, audio, wireless communication, entertainment) whilst manufacturing will be contracted out to Magna Steyr (AT), and car parts to Continental and Bosch (DE).

Qualcomm’s vision in EV

…Qualcomm considers that the EV industry requires the digital chassis which will be the service platform (Snapdragon ride) for EV, dealing with connectivity with the cloud, data analytics, security, ADAS and autonomous driving as well as infotainment. Earlier its partnership with BMW was announced, and now GM, Hyundai Volvo, Renault and Honda. Qualcomm considers that soon, digital experience will become the most important aspect of car ownership with prospects of profiting more from the provision of services than the sales of car themselves. I think that could be said of other types of products and services – see the Stryker/Vocera deal reported above.

Qualcomm has also announced a collaboration with Microsoft to make Next Generation Augmented Reality chips for the Metaverse and for the PC. Qualcomm have the technology related to connectivity and spatial computing. The new chip is designed to enable the creation of power efficient and light AR glasses.

In relation to PCs, as 5G becomes integrated to mobile, there is much more interest in boosting a PC’s connectivity (especially cloud connectivity), portability, AI, Camera, multimedia and power for productivity and entertainment. The latter aspect is important for gaming. Laptops such as Acer, Lenovo, HP contain Qualcomm chips.

Biotech

The biggest thing since recombinant technology, the Elixir of life enabling people to live forever, could take off in 2022

…According to one venture capitalist. The reasons for this is as follows:

Alto Labs – a new anti-ageing company that pursues rejuvenation technology, founded earlier this year by Jeff Bezos and others.

Calico labs – pursuing the same, backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, and partnered with AbbVie.

NewLimit – again, pursing the same, founded this month by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and others.

All based on Nobel-prize winning Prof Yamanaka’s discovery that the addition of four proteins (called Yamanaka factors) can make a cell act like stem cells (iPS –induced pluripotent stem cells).

Big Tech

Polish Competition Authority to challenge Apple’s decision to enable users to prevent tracking as anticompetitive

…The issue is only Apple will be able to tap into users’ data leaving third party digital advertisers unable to efficiently carry out targeted advertising.

UK Competition and Markets Authority frowns on Apple/Google duopoly in the mobile market ecosystem in its 445 page report

…The CMA considers that the two tech giants have wielded its power anticompetitively to create closed ecosystems by way of owning operating systems, digital marketplaces, and preinstalled applications on the smartphones. It will consult on its findings and collect responses in February next year, with the final report planned to be published in June. 

FTC Chair Lina Khan expresses concern about provision of payment systems by BigTech

…BigTech critic Lina Khan makes the following points in her letter concerning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s investigation into payment services provided by Big Tech (eg. Apple Pay etc)

• It could extend further their already dominant market positions by having privileged access to “hyper-granular” data and AI enabling them to wield anticompetitive power

• Advantages gained in marketing activities owing to better targeting / personalizing ability

• Get users to use their products and services over third party’s resulting in market expansion, and access to even more data

• Ability to create alternative credit scoring models for loaning services, combined with lack of transparency, fairness (including algorithmic bias) [see Delving Deeper, on what Tesla’s doing below]

• Their algorithm use enables discrimination, bias and opacity [see more on Delving Deeper section below too]

• Concentrates risk and single point of failure (especially with their co-mingled roles such as payment and authentication providers).

• Power to ban users from services in arbitrary ways

Data

Virginia and Colorado follows California to protect consumer data

…California Privacy Rights Act which will come into force in 2023 enables consumers the right to veto the sale of and sharing of their data to third parties. Virginia and Colorado has announced similar law which will come into play also 2023. Other rights include rights of access, correction, deletion, data portability and protections for sensitive data. This is all very similar to EU data laws.

Apple aims to gain revenue by buying Google ads for 3^rd party premium apps

…What does this mean? For example Apple might purchase an ad for Tinder (a premium app with high in-app purchases) on Google. Users will click on that link instead of perhaps an ad purchased by Tinder itself. Apple can then enjoy its 30% commission on in-app purchases by users who downloads Tinder through the App store (which the ad leads you to), not Tinder’s own website. It can thereby undercut Tinder, plus Tinder doesn’t get to access its subscriber’s data – that is kept by Apple on privacy grounds. Moreover, Tinder will have to pay more to beat Apple’s Google ad. Google policy says that “The ad’s landing page is primarily dedicated to selling (or clearly facilitating the sale of) products or services, components, replacement parts, or compatible products or services corresponding to the trademark” –so Apple can purchase ads for third party products and services in accordance to the Google policy.

On a similar theme, you may recall that Apple has been ordered not to prohibit developers from steering users away from the App store (ie: anti-anti-steering injunction) [order currently stayed] in the case Epic v. Apple. I have never heard of anti-anti-steering injunctions before but this possibility has been raised in other types of cases such as:

• U.S. v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority d/b/a Carolinas Healthcare System – where US Department of Justice claimed that the practice of healthcare provider defendant preventing healthcare insurers from persuading users to go to cheaper hospitals was anticompetitive. This case has settled.

• Ohio v. American Express – where AmEx prevented merchants from persuading customers to use cheaper credit cards, such as Visa. Plaintiff complained it was anti-competitive but failed in its case because it failed to meet the burden of proof.

Meta sues HK Social Data Trading (but allegedly bank-rolled by Russian individuals) for scraping data off Instagram

…This seems very close to the HiQ v LinkedIn saga in the US – in which HiQ had been data scraping public data from LinkedIn to let employers know which employees are likely to be wanting to leave firms. This case is still trundling on. It is very likely that cases like this will continue – with interesting jurisdictional issues.

The Complaint alleges that the Defendant used automated Instagram accounts and a network of computers or “bots,” which pretended to be mobile Android devices connected to the official Instagram app, to scrape publicly viewable profiles of Instagram users, including the username, profile photo, number of followers, posts, and likes, and information about their followers, including gender, language, and location and sold off “in-depth insights into the demographics and psychographics of influencers and their audiences”.

Want to know about a particular person you follow Instagram? Type in their username and the Defendant will provide you a report. Instagram complains that this is unlawful.

Causes of action are breach of contract, California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.

Software

Widely used open source software Apache Log4j has weakness which has been targeted

…The weakness enables hackers to upload and take control of a server – Apache software has been installed in almost one third of web servers globally. Cloud products from tech giants are affected, as well as defence system of Belgium. Apache Log4j enables apps to collect information on how people use the apps.

HSBC fined £64m by FCA because their automated money laundering processes were inadequate

…They failed to

• Carry out timely assessments of new scenarios
• Appropriately test and adjust parameters
• Check the quality of data input into the processes

Note that, in the case of automation, mishaps will be systematically repeated until it gets spotted, whereas human errors failing to identify fraudulent activities tend to arise on an ad hoc basis. Thus critical to have systems in place to spot issues in the software processes asap.

EVs and Auto generally

Ford and Rivian no longer working together

…Rivian’s opening market value was way over $100 billion –without producing a single EV for market consumption. The share price has now reduced considerably, partly because they have failed to produce as many EVs as they said they would. Now Ford, a major rival and shareholder of Rivian has announced it is no longer working together to make future EVs (here, trucks) jointly. Ford will retain the shareholding for the time being though. Ford’s main profit centre is the trucks business with the traditional auto division not making much by way of profits. Analysts have said it makes sense to focus on making its own EV trucks rather than spending the resources on joint development with Rivian.

NPE sues Toyota, Blackberry and Subaru for infringing patent concerning process for retrieving automatic software updates in electronic systems

…The Claim, which is initiated in the Eastern District of Texas by Liberty Patents (which may possibly be some relation to Intellectual Ventures), seeks an injunction. This sort of claim where the patent covers the software upgrade system is bound to rise….

The EV with $4,500 price tag

…That’s right. I haven’t just dropped a zero. Any guesses for how this auto company does it? The line is profitable, and not even reliant on subsidies.

It’s the cost of a Hongguang Mini EV, courtesy of GM backed SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile of China. And it’s outselling Tesla’s Model 3 in China. There is no magic in it though, just pure business logic:

• Lack of regenerative breaking system – this adds to the cost of EVs and reduces the EV range (the distance it can travel with one charge). But it’s perfectly adequate for a short run around.

• No cooling system – this cuts down the cost but reduces the lifespan of the semiconductor and other electrical components. But that’s OK because the auto maker has made it easy to replace them.

• Use of off the shelf components rather than EV specialised components – it’ll do, it considers, because it passes the performance test.

Metaverse/NFT

Nike buys premier metaverse fashion brand RTFKT [Artifact] NFT collectibles studio

…This follows Adidas’ partnership with Bored Apes Yacht club [NFTs of bored looking apes, trading for enormous amounts]. RTFKT is reported to have previously collaborated with Bored Apes to make physical shoes.

It’s a good branding strategy, Nike gets to embody a cutting edge image. No doubt other brands are already poised to jump in if they have not already done so. There are those that are sitting on the fence, such as Hermes who states that it values the “tangible expression of handcrafted physical objects” – see here an article on an artist Mason Rothschild who created Birkin NFTs, complaining of knock-off material that appears to have flooded the market, which then in turn attracted a complaint from Hermes). I guess Hermes and Nike will have different brand strategies with different client bases. The issue will be whether Rothchild’s pieces of work can be considered as art and so protected by the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech).

A comment that has been made is that NFTs can help lower entry points for luxury goods for those who can’t afford it. Can’t afford a Chanel bag? Well maybe you can afford to buy your avatar one. Mind you is that really true when physical objects can be often actually cheaper than the virtual price?

NFT hits the wine world

…[Slightly old news] Back in September the first all NFT wine brand, Hello Fam was launched. One Hello Fam Grape Fam NFT is equal to one 6 bottle case of wine. Apparently the cases of wines in this instance are not all equal, so there is an element of gambling; you could end up with a very valuable case. Each case is registered for authenticity on a blockchain. Once bought, it will not be delivered to you immediately, but stored in appropriate conditions – hence wine trade is ripe for NFTs – until you decide to sell your NFT (preferably at a higher price), or consume it, by redeeming, or “burning” your NFT (meaning you sort of delete it so that the NFT can no longer be traded on). Never knew you could go from NFT world to the physical world by this burning process…

Privacy

End to end encryption (E2EE) – should it be mandated?

…Should end to end encryption be mandated? It’s a Privacy vs Safety debate.

The Yes Camp:

• Confers privacy to users.
• Protects users from cybercriminals hacking into the messages
• Businesses that host the platforms cannot abuse data by using it in a way which is not consented to.

The No Camp:

• Surveillance necessary to prevent crimes such as child abuse and other online harms.
• Safeguarding against terrorism

Meta has said it will delay implementing E2EE except WhatsApp has E2EE by default– but WhatsApp itself has been criticised for allowing moderators to check the content of messages flagged as being abusive.

Online Harms Bill imposes a duty on social media firms to protect users from harm (by taking down harmful content such as hate speech). This will inevitably require social media firms to scan content. Breach can result in penalty amounting to maximum 10% of annual turnover plus criminal liability for executives of social media firms. The Bill has been criticised as undermining security. 

Digital Health

Hunt for data continues as Microsoft poised to buy Nuance a healthcare service provider

…Microsoft has been cleared by the EU Commission to buy Nuance, from the perspectives of transcription software, cloud services and PC operating systems markets. The Commission said healthcare transcription service providers are not particularly important users of cloud computing services.

Nuance specialises in speech recognition and transcription services for clinics and its product is used in 77% of US hospitals (as well as by a majority of physicians and radiologists in the US).

…and Oracle to buy Medical Records company Cerner

…The Digital Health sector is on the cusp of taking off. Due to sensitivity of patient information, sheer volume, lack of interoperability (ie: formats of information are not uniform, and there are different types of files such as PDFs, other files, doctor’s notes, X-ray images etc), digitalisation of health records has not been easy. It takes a business that can process digital information to execute. In steps Oracle – it aims to use the Cerner business as a stepping stone into the digital health business.

Cerner’s health record system will run on Oracle database to which medical professionals can have access but not the IT profession which operate the system, it is said. Subject to regulatory approvals.

mRNA x AI

Moderna to collaborate with AI driven CRIPR gene editing company Metagenomi

…Moderna of mRNA Covid vaccine fame, has entered into an R&D collaboration agreement with Metagenomi, which boasts AI-based cloud computing technology which identifies and improves natural enzyme systems for gene editing to cure serious genetic diseases. 

Baidu (Chinese answer to Google) licences its algorithm for mRNA to Sanofi for designing vaccines

…Baidu’s algorithms are designed to identify optimised mRNA sequences for tackling targeted diseases. 

Trade Secret Litigation

AbbVie sues Teva and Alvotech for trade secret misappropriation via its former employee and asks ITC to block the import of their biosimilar equivalent of Humira

…AbbVie claims that Alvotech directed AbbVie employee to provide it with proprietary information before leaving AbbVie for Alvotech. 

Bonus News

Japanese Billionaire Yousuck MZ [real name Yusaku Maezawa] delivers Uber Eats in Space

…He didn’t make the 30mins delivery target though. Enjoy the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiJKfuJlF30

Headline of the Week

The UK Government hosts the Inaugral Future Tech Forum

…[Hosted two weeks ago or so]. This was a closed-door forum, which included Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, Lina Khan, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, and Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority alongside representatives from other countries from the “Republic of Korea to Kenya, Finland and the United States”. In her speech, Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries acknowledged that the entire infrastructure of the global economy – and modern society – is now built around tech, which can do good as well as harm. It was this reason that we needed to get the governance of tech right from the start, rather than playing catch-up, including at the international level with like-minded partners.

She considered that the UK is leading the way [not entirely sure how diplomatic it is…or how true…], and mentioned tie ups that UK have brokered or in the process of brokering:

• Online Safety Bill (creates duty of care between social media companies and users giving rise to as duty to remove harmful content) – it was claimed that the bill went further than any other country to regulate Facebook, Twitter and TikTok [but this is only at the Bill stage, and critics are concerned with freedom of speech, over-policing, and how the rules will be applied]

• 10-year plan to become a global AI superpower, through our National AI Strategy [anyone can make a plan – the crunch is, whether there is enough budget and can it be executed effectively]

• pro-competition Digital Markets Unit

• Digital Trade Network – UK tech companies are given support to expand into Asia Pacific [unclear how effective this is – it appears to be about brokering connections]

• negotiating a “ground-breaking” Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore [not entirely sure how much negotiation space the UK has if we have to preserve EU adequacy status]

Four themes were raised:

• Tech is critical for tackling major challenges such as climate change and the pandemic. However, there is a digital divide within the population, between those who have access to tech and those that do not – even in richer countries.

• Distrust of tech is problematic, borne out by concentration of power in the largest tech companies, spread of misinformation, erosion of privacy and algorithmic bias.

• Necessity of cross-border regulation

• Need to anticipate issues and implement measures, so that we are not playing catch-up.

Big Tech

Facebook hit with allegation that it is responsible for facilitating the genocide of Rohingya muslims

…The claim was issued in the UK, and Facebook has been on notice that it is about to be sued in the US. Facebook’s algorithms is said to be programmed to increase hatred against the Rohingya muslims.  In response, Meta has removed some relevant pages.

Complaint before the US Federal Trade Commision against Amazon for unfair practices

…The Strategic Organizing Center has complained that Amazon’s e-commerce platform is not transparent enough as it is not clear why some hits are placed higher up the on the search result. Sponsored offerings should be clearly labelled, it states. Similar sort of principles are proposed by the European Commission for its Digital Services Act.

Apple succeeds against Epic in staying injunction against anti-steering measures allowing Apple to continue prohibiting App downloads via third party sources

…Following a claim by Epic accusing Apple of acting anti-competitively by among other things, placing measures in its App Store that prohibit third party developers from offering Apps to iPhone users without going through the Apple’s App Store, the District Court held that such conduct breached Californian unfair competition law. Apple has appealed, and asked the Federal Circuit to stay the injunction prohibiting Apple from placing anti-steering measures. Federal Circuit agreed, apprehending irreparable harm to Apple pending appeal. Apple had said that the anti-steering measures were necessary to enable Apple to maintain a high privacy and security environment for iPhone users. 

Meta’s proposed purchase Kustomer, a customer service management provider is scrutinised by the German Competition Authority

…The main concerns are (i) the possibility that Meta will be able to block Kustomer’s customers from using mainstream communication channels such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp and (ii) further data advantage which the merger may confer Meta. Both German and EU investigators are assessing the merger, whilst the UK Competition and Market Authority has given the transaction a green light.

Facebook (now Meta) successfully acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, which some now consider ought to have been blocked, on the account of sheer volume of data Facebook was able to access and amass. The US federal and state enforcers are seeking to unwind these deals, years after the merger.

Uber loses UK High Court case which held that its business model was unlawful

…Uber argued that it was a mere booking agent, and booking acceptances were contracts between the driver and passenger – to limit its liability. This claim was rejected with the High Court holding that “in order to operate lawfully under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 a licensed operator who accepts a booking from a passenger is required to enter as principal into a contractual obligation with the passenger to provide the journey which is the subject of the booking”. It means drivers will have workers’ rights protections, increasing liability for Uber and creating tax burdens.

Uber fares will inevitably go up.

Workers for the likes of Uber, Deliveroo complain of AI software determining HR issues (including job allocation, detection of fraud e.g. falsely lengthening the travel time)

…Gig workers have complained that AI software is being used to make decisions about employees without any explanation for the decisions. Deliveroo explains in its privacy policy that manual checks on its service “would simply not be possible in the timeframes and given the volumes of deliveries that we deal with”. Courts on the continent have already fined employers who fail to explain reasons for HR type decisions.

Apple allows app developers to collect data of iPhone users – provided the data is anonymised and aggregated

…It is said that Apple has softened its privacy stance because of the damage it is causing the mobile ad ecosystem. If the apps can’t perform optimally, then it will also have knock on effects on Apple itself, which rely on the commissions it charges the app developers when in-app purchases are made.

Artificial Intelligence

Google to use AI to design semiconductor chips

…[slightly old news which I’ve just picked up] Google can design chips using AI in just 6 hours, which takes humans months. Chip designs are all about working out the most computationally efficient layout (out of over 10 to the power of 2500 [that’s 1 with 25 zeros] permutations) of components on a nanometer scale, on a silicon die.

It uses an AI training method known as Reinforcement Learning, very much based on trial and error iterations (rather than finding patterns in a data) – it’s what Deepmind’s AI did to formulate its AlphaGo, the AI which beat a human professional Go player.

Auto

Intel says it will spin out Mobileye

…Intel will retain majority shareholding.

Mobileye (originally Isareli company bought by Intel), is sitting on major assets such as:

• Silicon Systems Software
• Mapping Software + Major data repository, being high resolution digital representation of roads to enable cars to navigate (10 million miles of data uploaded every day – cars are being driven from many locations across the globe).
• ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems)

According to CEO Amnon Shashua (interview by CNBC):

What is key to autonomous vehicles?: Cloud Connectivity is key (i) to update Cars over the air (OTA), very much like updating smartphones and (ii) for piecing together detailed map of surroundings of the car.

What are the big challenges for Mobileye? There are two, (i) Scalability – the cars will be camera centric, which will work tougher with specialised sensors, and Mobileye is designing an autonomous vehicle focused system on chip to achieve scalability and (ii) Regulatory – this is in progress.

How do you see the future for Autonomous vehicles? It is difficult to predict. Either (i) there will be Robo taxis, self-driving cars will be used by passengers and with proven safety records and low cost per mile, cities may prohibit the use of legacy cars OR (ii) consumers will hold on to their cars, but they will be autonomous.

Green Agenda

Amazon, BASF and others sign Power Purchase Agreements with Off-shore wind and other renewable energy companies

…BASF has signed a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Orsted, the offshore wind farm operator. The term is much longer than usual (usually 10 years at longest)– clearly BASF is betting on prices rocketing in the future and decided to bank on an early bird deal.

https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2021/11/p-21-369.html

Amazon signs PPA with Mitsubishi for wind and solar energy supply

https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/08092021/amazon-and-mitsubishi-corporation-sign-solar-ppa-in-japan/

Others PPAs include Toyota (solar), Tata (solar), P&G (wind and solar), DuPont (wind)

Apple aims for 2030 carbon neutral goal

Apple is already carbon neutral across its global operations, but by 2030 it says its products will achieve net-zero, which involves its suppliers promising to use clean energy.

Space

Elon Musk left free to make rules for Space warns European Space Agency

…Some info about Starlink:

What is Starlink?: A Satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX [one of Musk’s companies. I mistakenly thought Starlink was the name of another of Musk’s companies]

Objective: Provide high-speed, low latency internet accessible from all four corners of the earth [but in practice, this is subject to the requisite licences to be issued by relevant jurisdictions].

Number of Starlink Satellites orbiting earth right now: about 1600

Projected number of total Starlink Satellites: about 12,000

Any clever facts?: It is designed to autonomously avoid collisions based on tracking data.

Other partners? : SpaceX has contracts with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform to provide the on-ground networking services.

What’s the problem?: There are 90 or so other businesses such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which want to launch satellites in the Low Earth Orbit (defined to be between 150-2000km), but there is no international practice or standards to ensure everybody operates responsibly in space (such as who clears up the space rubbish).

European Space Agency calls for the putting in place of international standards now. 

IP Infringement

e-cigarette maker Juul tackles importation of counterfeit vape cartridges in the US

…Juul has successfully prevented importation of counterfeit vape cartridges especially to prevent damage to youths, by filing a number of actions against counterfeit dealers before the ITC on the grounds of patent and design patent infringement. Juul has confirmed many dealers settled once action filed, injunctions have been ordered against those in default.  In the latest case, the judge had recommended an exclusion order blocking infringing imports against all importers, not just against identified infringers. This is wide ranging and would have been significant but the ITC announced it will be reviewing whether Juul has a domestic industry which needs to be protected. 

In the Spotlight

EU Commission publishes summary of public consultation in relation to the planned Data Act

…Herewith a summary of the summary report of EU Commission’s consultation.

Why is it worth your attention?

It gives a birdseye snapshot on

• what data businesses companies are carrying out [did you know so much dealing in data was happening?]
• what businesses are doing with the data and
• what are the issues and
• what technical facilities and tools are relied upon

The Summary

The EU Commission’s planned Data Act aims to ensure fairness in the allocation of data value among actors in the data economy and to foster access to and use of data. The Act will not alter data protection legislation and will seek to preserve incentives in data generation.

Some interesting findings [very subjective – please review the summary]

With respect to Business –to- Government (B2G) data sharing

• Level of compensation for a business sharing data with public bodies should depend on the specific use-case (55% of the stakeholders).

• Data security measures is important: protection of commercially sensitive data (85% of the respondents to this section) and transparent reporting on how the authority has used the data (79%)

Business-to-Business (B2B) data sharing

• Much data sharing going on in the private sector:

• companies (91%) share data  
  • ‘many times’ (86% )
  • either on voluntary basis (44%) or both on a mandatory and voluntary basis (48%).

• A range of use cases [the last 3 is loosely AI]:

• design innovative products and services (44%),
  • optimise the supply chain (31%),
  • training algorithms for Artificial Intelligence (29%),
  • predictive maintenance (26%)

• A range of obstacles [most of it appears to be stemming from market forces]:
  • technical (formats, lack of standards) (69%),
  • legal (i.e. refusal to grant access not linked to competition concerns) (55%),
  • the lack of a legal basis for the data holder to give access to data (48%)  
  • abuse of contractual imbalance (44%)
  • unreasonable prices (42%).  

• Contractual issues – the following thought to encourage data sharing

• model contract terms (60%, agree, 14% disagree).
  • a contractual fairness test to avoid unilateral unfair conditions (46% agree, 21% disagree).
  • horizontal data access modalities applicable to data access rights established in specific sectors (46% agree, 19% disagree).

• View on Smart contracts  – do you think it’s an effective tool to facilitate data transfer/access?

• yes, to use in the context of co-generated IoT data, in particular where the transfer is not only one-off but would involve some form of continuous data sharing (79% in support)
  • yes, when individuals request data portability from businesses, (66% in support)

• IoT data originating from professional use [does this mean non-consumer data?]

• Yes, plans to, or already uses IoT objects (55%)
  • Data coming from IoT objects may represent new challenges for market fairness, especially when access to relevant information about the functioning and performance is held by the manufacturer of such objects (70%)
  • Business organisations in particular see many problems with IoT contracts, such as lack of clarity in terms of data access rights

• Data portability right under Article 20 GDPR – who should control, and what are the issues? (The right to data portability allows individuals to obtain and reuse their personal data for their own purposes across different services – example, user on Facebook may import contacts from Google’s Gmail email service)

• manufacturers of connected objects should not be able to decide unilaterally what happens to the data generated by such objects (70%)
  • decisions should be taken by the owners/ users of the objects (68%)
  • Need standards ensuring data interoperability is an issue (38%)
  • Need clearer rules on data types in scope (33%)
  • Need universally used identification/ authentication methods to secure the request (31%)

• Survey on Intellectual Property – which IP Rights are relied upon?

• Trade secrets (45%)
  • Contractual terms (45%)
  • IP Rights  [Copyright? Database right? Unclear] (31%)
  • Technical means (31%)
  • [Probably in reality all of them are relied upon]
  • Database rights need to be reviewed, in particular in relation to the status of machine-generated data (54%)

• Cloud services and non-personal data in international contexts – what are the issues?
  • Need to establish a right to portability for business users of cloud computing services in EU legislation (52% agree, 19% disagree)
  • Lack of standard APIs, open standards and interoperable data formats, timeframes and potentially other technical elements (51% agree, 16% disagree)
  • Potential access to data by foreign authorities on the basis of foreign legislation as a risk to their organisation (76% agree, 0.4% disagree)

Headline of the Week

Biden Administration seeks EU’s response on increasing efficiency and transparency of US and EU export regimes

…The step follows the inaugural Trade and Technology Council meeting in September. The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security is particularly interested in export controls over emerging technologies such as AI and green energy. In particular, it called for concrete examples which could result in better security and protection of human rights.

According to the Department, cross-Atlantic trade in 2019 amounted to some $1.1 trillion. 

Big Tech / Platforms / Data

EU’s proposed Data Governance Act reaches provisional agreement

…Note however, that it is subject to approval by the Council.

What is this about? Enabling safe re-use of public-sector data that are subject to third party rights (eg. IP rights, personal data).  Aims to make the EU digital economy richer by making available more data, which are trustworthy.

What does the DGA provide?

• Setting up of searchable electronic register of public sector data.
• Registerable data intermediation services which will provide a secure environment for companies or individuals to share data – eg. use of tools such as personal information management tools, personal data spaces, data wallets [though not entirely sure how the rightsholder can be guaranteed that there is no misuse even so]

• Making registerable data altruism organisations which collect data in the interests of the common good.

• European Data Innovation Board – to enhance interoperability of data intermediation services, and advise on the creation of trustworthy data spaces

• Safeguards to ensure data is not transferred to jurisdiction outside of the EU without EU-level standards for the protection of data. For personal data, this is already provided for under the GDPR.

Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and holder of 2% stake resigns as CEO [again]

…He hands over the baton to CTO (Chief Technical Officer) Parag Agrawal, who has been at Twitter since 2017, and engineer at Twitter before that. Dorsey has been reported to have had difficulties with one particular stakeholder who considered that he was not engaged enough – for example, the fact that he is also chief of payments company Square, propensity to spend too much time in Africa ( to explore crypto currency opportunities) and leaving early for yoga sessions. Square is now renamed Block to reflect its blockchain/crypto lean. Furthermore, it is no secret that Twitter has been considered to be a bit of an underachiever; low market cap despite the massive market reach. It has though added advertisements and paid offerings, the Twitter Blue which is a premium service devoid of advertisements and has managed to do significantly better more recently.  Agrawal is said to be behind Twitter’s decentralised social networking protocol idea [thereby third parties can set up feeds on the protocol, possibly operating on independent algorithms]. Brett Taylor (formerly CTO at Facebook and before that at Google as co-creator of Google Maps) will become Chairman (and also incidentally, co-CEO of Salesforce).

Dorsey said there are limitations in founder-led companies, and felt that it could constitute a single point of failure. Some analysts say though that really he just want to pursue his passions (which is crypto) – similar has been said of Jeff Bezos, who some consider stepped down from Amazon to pursue his childhood dream, which is space exploration.

Founder authority is very important at the beginning of a start up [essentially a visionary founder can implement initiatives quickly in a unilateral way and so can be agile – think Tesla/Musk], but once the start up is on a steady trajectory, it can be taken over by other managers. Looking at other BigTechs:

Note the incredible diversity – over half of the top US (and incidentally the world) companies if you also include Twitter, are Indian in origin.

Furthermore BigTechs have come under regulatory pressure because of their enormous competitive advantage (the ability to analyse huge amounts of data and adjust business operations accordingly). Wouldn’t be surprising at all if other platform companies go the same way as regulatory pressure mounts. Most founders wouldn’t want to be testified by congress if they can help it…especially if you are like Jack Dorsey, you believe in free speech and democratisation of access to information.

Match group and Tile and others pile in to support Epic’s position in Epic v. Apple

…Game maker Epic’s complaint that Apple was acting anti-competitively by mandating the use of the Apple App Store to download Apps onto iPhones and (capturing 30% commission on sales therefrom) not allowing users to download Apps direct from Epic.

The district court held that Apple was not a monopolist but held that Apple’s anti-steering policy (ie: prohibition of downloading from sources other than the App Store where users can bypass Apple payments system) was contrary to Californian unfair competition law.

Developers said that the court ordered an injunction against Apple’s anti-steering provisions to “cure….extremely harmful and anticompetitive conduct”. Apple had applied to suspend the order until the appeal of the decision has been decided. Apple says that to do so will threaten the integrity of the iOS ecosystem from the perspective of anti-fraud, parental control and other security/privacy measures.

Google avoids liability in iPhone users’ data gathering claim (UK Supreme Court)

…The claimant was Lloyd, member of public, former director of consumer organisation Which? He claimed, on behalf of iPhone users [ie: Class Action] that Google had for a period, worked around the iPhone privacy measure and gathered data (to target users in its ad campaigns) without users’ consent, which was a breach of data protection laws.  The case failed because there was no evidence that the members of the class were materially damaged or distressed.

Meta ordered by UK Competition Markets Authority to reverse Giphy deal

…Giphy owns the largest library of looped animations (GIFs – no sound, just short looping videos). I’m sure you’ve come across it on Facebook, Whatsapp etc. Meta purchased Giphy, but the deal (concluded 2020) was ordered to be reversed because of concerns that it will limit access by rivals (eg. Snapchat, TikTok) to the Giphy library thereby driving more traffic to Facebook. Also were concerns that rivals’ data could be made available to Meta in return for access to Giphy.

According to the article:

• 73% of user time is spent on Meta business (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp)
• Facebook accounts for half the £7bn display advertising market in the UK

Note that Facebook is facing an FTC claim in the US that its acquisition of Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014) was anticompetitive, done with the aim of eliminating nascent threats and monopolise social networking. Facebook says that FTC is merely claiming it has a dominant share, and speculating that consumers would have had a better choice had they stayed independent. People have more choice than ever in practice, it added.

EU’s competition and digital policy chief, Margaret Vesteger had just called upon the European Parliament to get on with approving the proposed Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act which are designed to control the power of Big Tech.

Coalition of Tech companies led by Nextcloud complains to EU Commission that Microsoft’s practice of bundling OneDrive, Teams and other services with Windows, is anticompetitive, pushing users to handover data

…Nextcloud says such practice makes it impossible to compete with Microsoft’s software as a service offerings. A German competition complaint has also been filed.

Google offers tighter conditions as it moves away from tracking cookies

…The impact of Privacy Sandbox Initiative has been looked at closely by UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA). The concern was that, if third party cookies were abolished, then other competitors will be deprived of tracking data that enable them to target would be customers, while Google gets to continue using that data. Google has offered tighter conditions which aims to maintain competition, and agreed for CMA to have deeper oversight. These will be considered by the CMA by mid December. 

The Movement for an Open Web, a U.K.-based group has filed a complaint to the EU fearing that the phasing out of third party cookies will limit independent analytics, advertising and other web features.

Clearview AI faces fine from UK’s Data Protection Authority (ICO)

…The ICO is considering a £17million fine against Clearview AI for scraping facial images of a substantial number of Britons off the internet and processing them in ways which the individuals would not have expected, in breach of UK Data protection law.

Clearview AI said what it does is to scrape publically available information to law enforcement agencies in order to solve crimes. However, Clearview AI also provides an app which enables users to upload a photo and match with other photos available in the database.

Parallel cases in the US and Australia are in situ.

Shopify sued by educational publishers for allowing copyright infringing textbooks shops to sell, in the US

…The claims are contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and contributory trade mark infringement. Shopify is a paid subscription service, which provides a platform on which online stores can be set up to sell products – but the complaint says that it does not prevent the sale of pirated products.

Nvidia – ARM deal challenged by US FTC

…The FTC is unanimously against the merger for fear of restricting access by Nvidia rivals to ARM intellectual property, thereby stifling competition. The interesting point is that the deal is a vertical integration which is usually less contentious. However Nvidia has been described by the FTC as the “dominant supplier of standalone graphics processing units … for personal computers and datacenters”, and microprocessor and designs architecture firm ARM as the “Switzerland of the semiconductor industry”. New FTC chief Lina Khan has revoked recently enacted merger guidelines on vertical transactions. Nvidia is facing challenges in the EU, UK and it is speculated that China will as well.

Connectivity

Amazon launches private 5G network service

…Amazon Web Services say they have an affordable and workable solution for Industrial IoT (an example would be smart manufacturing). Setting up private networks is traditionally a costly and complex process requiring months of planning, procuring and integration but AWS claims to have made this process simpler – for 5G. The new AWS service will provide enterprises with pre-integrated hardware and software components, so customers can deploy, operate and scale up easily, without requiring any planning or integration –in a matter of days! That is pretty impressive.

5G has significant advantages over pre-existing wireless communication protocols such as LTE and WiFi. It has 3 major capabilities:

• It is reliable: ULL, or ultra low latency – think: Autonomous Vehicles and navigating cars in moving traffic on a microsecond level
• High throughput: eMBB enhanced Mobile Broadband – think: downloading a feature movie in an instant
• Provides resources to a number of devices instantaneously: mMTC massive Machine Type Communications – think: mass of football supporters using mobiles in a stadium at once

Private Networks have significant advantages over public ones, in terms of security, adjusting Quality of Service (specified machine operations can be prioritised over others – you can prioritise which set of devices have better service), and you are able to view utilization at a more granular level.

The new AWS offering states that it facilitates enterprises to upgrade to 5G quickly, and provides predictable network service with the above 5G features, which is especially critical to some (for example, in smart manufacturing). The pricing is promised to be keen, you pay for what you use in terms of network coverage and capacity, rather than per device (which will have to have AWS Sim inserted in them).

Remote Surgery

Surgical robot company Intuitive Surgical faces antitrust claims in the US for shutting out Surgical Instrument Service Company from repairing surgical instruments

…The surgical instrument used by Intuitive’s surgical robots need replacing every 10 times. Intuitive can enjoy further revenues from the replacements, but Platintiff Surgical Instrument Service sought to replace them more cheaply. Plaintiff complained that only Intuitive can re-set the counters which count the number of surgeries and contracted with hospitals on terms which prevents third companies from servicing the hospitals at a cheaper rate. This practice, it is alleged, breaches antitrust laws. Intuitive says that will void the robot’s (costing some $2million) warranty. 

Metaverse

Luxury brands continue to play with Metaverse idea

…FT reports:

• Balenciaga – new collection exhibited in a simulator game, and has partnered with Fortnite (a game) for designs of character outfits.

• Louis Vuitton – created clothes for League of Legends and its ad campaigns featured Final Fantasy (a game) characters.

• A new category was created in The Fashion Awards: Metaverse design – nominees were all player-creators of the online gaming platform Roblox.  The Award presented by Gucci’s creative director.

• Gucci branded digital items were also available.

• Other luxury brands are designing for games:

• Animal Crossing: Marc Jacobs & Valentino
  • The Sims: Moschino
  • Burberry, Dior, Guerlain and Hermes all have own interactive mobile games