Valve and game publishers face EU probe for geo-blocking, ASUS for online price-fixing
Valve, the company behind games distribution platform Steam, is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators. Agreements in place between Valve and five game publishers that implement geo-blocking in titles could breach European competition rules.
Valve, alongside Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax, is under investigation to determine whether the practice of restricting access to games and prices based on location is legal. At the same time the European Commission is launching an investigation into ASUS, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for price manipulation.
EU mobile usage is about to get cheaper as roaming charges come to an end on 15 June
Plans to scrap mobile roaming charges in the EU have been a long time coming, but today the European Commission reveals the charges will finally come to an end on June 15 2017. EU negotiators have finally agreed on wholesale prices, something which is being described as the "last piece of the puzzle".
The cost of voice calls and text messages will be capped from this date, but there is a tapered reduction period for data charges. It is a step towards the creation of a Digital Single Market and the introduction of a "roam-like-at-home" will be welcomed by Europeans, although it's not yet clear if the arrangement will remain in place in the UK post-Brexit.
Do workers need the right to disconnect?
On January 1, 2017, workers in France were given the "right to disconnect". Article 55 of the El Khomri Act is a key measure of the country’s revised Labor code that obliges companies with over 50 workers to begin negotiations with employees and guarantee them the right to ignore their smartphones outside of working hours.
It’s no secret that the rise of the smartphone has created an always-on culture, but while that has led to leaps in productivity it has also seen workers around the world burn out more quickly, compromise their work-life balance and become more stressed. Cabinet Eleas found that 12 percent of France’s working population suffers from a "burn out syndrome," with 37 percent admitting they use their devices outside of working hours each day.
Wearable adoption is low in US and Europe
Consumers in US and Europe haven't quite warmed up to wearables, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Smartwatch adoption in both markets remains below the five percent mark, despite multiple models being available for a few years now.
This isn't exactly a surprising finding, because smartwatch sales are pretty bad. Depending on who you choose to believe, they were between 2.7 and 6.1 million units in the third quarter of last year (we're still waiting on the numbers for 2016 from the likes of IDC and Canalys). Apple Watch rules this space, but it is hardly a major market as you can see.
Most UK businesses still unaware of GDPR
Despite the fact that the media has dulled its teeth and worn out its keyboards, talking and reporting about the General Data Protection regulation (GDPR), less than half (47 percent) of businesses in the UK are aware of it. What’s more, just four in ten (40 percent) are fully aware of the NIS Directive.
Both documents will be coming into effect in 2018, and will significantly change how we do business online.
European businesses are not ready for ransomware attacks
Ransomware was the number one way hackers attacked businesses in 2016, a new report by Radware confirms. Entitled Global Application and Network Security Report 2016-2017, it says 49 percent of European businesses confirmed cyber-ransom as the biggest motivator last year.
That basically represents a 100 percent increase compared to a year before, when it stood at 25 percent.
Europe: we need more details from Yahoo about scanning emails for US intelligence
The European Union is not happy with the explanation Yahoo has given for scanning user emails for US intelligence. There is concern about how such surveillance could impact upon not only privacy, but also business between the EU and US, and trust has to be built from scratch as Donald Trump becomes president.
Yahoo -- which is on the verge of being sold to Verizon -- is not signed up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement that blocks the US from spying on European data. As such, the company has been acting on a previously-secret court order, gathering data for the NSA and FBI. Speaking with Reuters, the EU Justice Commissioner said she wants more information about what was gathered and why.
EU wants to increase privacy in WhatsApp, Gmail and iMessage by preventing unwanted tracking
Facebook, Apple and Google face a drop in ad revenue if EU proposals to apply the same rules to online messaging services that currently apply to telecoms companies go through. In a nutshell, the proposals suggest that the likes of WhatsApp, Gmail and iMessage should ask for explicit user permission to allow tracking with a view to delivering targeted ads.
Google and Microsoft have already faced criticism for scanning emails and using the contents to tailor advertising to the recipient. The EU wants online message services to be subject to the ePrivacy Directive to help improve confidentiality and security.
Nokia sues Apple over alleged patent infringement
Nokia just announced that it is suing Apple in the US and Germany because the iPhone maker is allegedly infringing some of its patents. According to the Finnish company, Apple rejected any licensing offers that would have allowed it to legally take advantage of the infringed patents.
"Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today's mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights", says Nokia's head of Patent Business, Ilkka Rahnasto.
EU accuses Facebook of providing misleading information about WhatsApp acquisition
The European Commission could hit Facebook with a colossal fine for providing misleading information during its $19bn takeover of WhatsApp.
The social networking giant could be hit with a fine equivalent to 1 percent of annual sales (around $125m) for failing to correctly communicate planned changes to privacy policies. The data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook is already the subject of investigations, but this latest accusation comes as a fresh blow.
Tools to help businesses prepare for GDPR compliance
The data processing landscape has seen huge changes since 1995, in May 2018 the EU is replacing the Directive with a new regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Enforceable from May 2018, organizations have had to take account of their responsibilities under the DPA for many years now.
Many have mature and well-considered data management policies in place that already address elements of the GDPR. Nonetheless, with the threat of significant penalties for data breaches under the GDPR it would be prudent to reexamine procedures and to consider how these can be enhanced to ensure compliance when GDPR comes into effect in May 2018.
Businesses waste precious time doing paperwork
Businesses all over Europe are wasting almost an entire work day (6.8 hours) a week, doing paperwork. A new Adobe report, entitled Document Drain: How Back-Office Processes are Shredding Productivity, says professionals are wasting precious time filling out forms, printing stuff, or chasing signatures all over the company.
The report is based on a poll of 7,000 professionals from all over Europe. This poor practice is slowing down business growth, hurting productivity and wasting precious resources.
Facebook granted European license for electronic payments in Messenger
Payments through Facebook Messenger have been available in the US for some time now, and they're about to make their way to Europe.
Facebook has just been granted a license for 'payment services' and 'e-money issuance' with the Central Bank of Ireland. As a member of the European Union, holding a license in Ireland means that Facebook will be able to offer its payment services in all of the EU member states.
GDPR predictions for 2017
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into force on May 25, 2018. This means that IT teams have more than a year to audit their IT systems, check existing customer records and data, and ensure that these systems respect the new set of rules that will be in place.
However, the gap between intentions and actions can be a big one. So what do I predict will happen around GDPR in 2017?
Oracle donates $1.4 billion for IT training in Europe
In an effort to foster increased digital literacy in Europe, Oracle has announced that it will donate $1.4 billion in both direct and "in-kind" support to ensure the continuation of computer sciences and skills in the region. These funds are part of a larger $3.3 billion worldwide initiative by the company to guarantee that in the future there will be enough skilled digital workers.
Oracle plans to use its donation to train 1,000 European people to use CS, Java and Database to a high-enough degree that they will be able to teach others to do the same. Over a three year period, the company will open 1,000 educational institutions called Oracle Academies in the region to accomplish this task.
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