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New bill asks companies to notify EU of security breaches

Proposed legislation in the European Union would force tech companies that have access to user data -- such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft -- to report any security breaches to local cybersecurity agencies, the Financial Times reported today.

This is the European Commission's effort to make private companies accountable for privacy and security problems, European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes told the Financial Times.

If passed, the measure would require each of the EU's 27 member states to set up local cybersecurity agencies to implement security standards on online networks. Social networks, e-commerce companies, and large online platforms … Read more

Belgian group to sue 'deaf' Apple over warranty policy

Accusing Apple of a "misleading" and "illegal" AppleCare warranty policies, a Belgian consumer rights group will be taking the tech giant to court.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has come under fire after allegations were made that AppleCare, Apple's warranty system for products including the iPad and iPhone, does not conform to European law. As a result, Belgian consumer watchdog Test-Aankoop/Test-Achats has filed a complaint against the company (Dutch).

European consumer law states that within the European Union, two years' warranty must be provided for products free of charge. However, for customers elsewhere, AppleCare has … Read more

EU privacy laws to spell an end to Facebook for free?

Facebook, Gmail, and other ad-supported online services would need to start charging users if proposed changes to EU data protection laws go ahead, a legal expert has warned.

Substantial restrictions on how companies handle personal data have been put forward under the draft European Data Protection Regulation, which will shortly be put before the European Parliament.

The proposals would severely curtail the ability of services to claim they have legitimate grounds for collecting, analyzing, or selling the personal data of their users. They also make it far more difficult for services to claim they have a user's consent for … Read more

EU: FTC decision on Google won't affect our case

Google may be free and clear in the U.S. over its search practices, but the European Union still has a thing or two to say.

The European Commission, which is the executive body of the European Union, told Reuters that the FTC settlement with the Internet search giant wouldn't affect own decision-making process, although it has taken note of it.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission yesterday announced a settlement with Google, allowing competitors unhappy with how its search results are displayed to opt out and forcing the company to make some changes to its search practices to … Read more

FTC, EU to postpone Google antitrust decisions, report says

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's final decision on its 20-month long antitrust probe of the search giant will be delayed until next year, Bloomberg reported late yesterday after speaking with unnamed sources.

The results of the probe were expected to be announced this week.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has been in talks with the FTC over the past two weeks, and according to Bloomberg, Google has been preparing a letter with voluntary changes to try to end the FTC's investigation without it resulting in a formal settlement or eventual lawsuit.

In addition, the FTC has … Read more

Samsung drops Apple ban request in Europe

Samsung Electronics has withdrawn its requests to ban Apple products in several European countries, citing its wish to "protect consumer choice."

The Korean smartphone maker will drop its requests in Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and the Netherlands, according to the Verge, which got a statement from the company earlier today.

Foss Patents legal consultant Florian Mueller noted that Samsung never actually mentioned lawsuit in the statement, and that the company is still suing for compensation. Samsung has confirmed that it is still pursuing compensation.

Samsung had alleged that Apple had violated the use of its patents, … Read more

Apple, publishers settle in EU e-book antitrust case

Apple and four major publishers have settled a case with European antitrust regulators after negotiations began in September, ending an ongoing row over e-book price fixing.

The iPhone and iPad maker, along with HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck-owned Macmillan, and CBS-owned Simon & Schuster (CNET and ZDNet are also owned by CBS), all agreed to legally binding conditions that would ease pricing restrictions on Amazon and other e-book sellers.

A fifth publisher, Penguin -- owned by U.K. group Pearson -- is still under investigation as the publisher "chose not to offer commitments," but … Read more

Patriot Act can 'obtain' data in Europe, researchers say

European data stored in the "cloud" could be acquired and inspected by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, despite Europe's strong data protection laws, university researchers have suggested.

A research paper written by legal experts at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Information Law and titled "Cloud Computing in Higher Education and Research Institutions and the USA Patriot Act" supports previous reports that the antiterror Patriot Act could theoretically be used by U.S. law enforcement to bypass strict European privacy laws to acquire citizen data within the European Union.

The Patriot Act, … Read more

EU hits Philips, LG, Samsung, others with $1.9B antitrust fine

European antitrust authorities have imposed a series of fines against former producers of cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions and computer displays for "cartel" activity, amounting to 1.47 billion euros ($1.92 billion) in total.

The companies were charged under EU antitrust and competition law with fixing prices in the CRT television market -- a long-lived technology that was gradually replaced by alternatives such as liquid-crystal display (LCD) and plasma displays -- for a decade ending in 2006.

In a statement today, the European Commission said the companies artificially "fixed prices, shared markets, allocated customers between themselves and … Read more

EU, U.S. antitrust officials to meet about Google investigations

The U.S. and European officials leading separate antitrust investigations into Google are expected to meet next week in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Liebowitz is expected to meet with European Union competition chief Joaquin Almunia on Monday to discuss a range of cases, including Google's, an EU official told The Journal.

The FTC has investigated a wide range of Google's business practices, focusing mostly on the way Google displays search results, which critics say favor the company's own services over those of its competitors. The U.S. trade agency is … Read more

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