UK Regulators Investigating Apple And Google For “Effective Duopoly”

The UK’s competition regulator is looking into what it views as Apple and Google’s “effective duopoly” in the mobile phone market. This comes as big tech companies face increasing scrutiny from governments across the world.

According to the BBC, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is probing whether the US tech giants have been discouraging competition through their operating systems iOS and Android, respective app stores, and Safari and Chrome web browsers.

“The CMA is concerned this could lead to reduced innovation across the sector and consumers paying higher prices for devices and apps, or for other goods and services due to higher advertising prices,” the government authority said in a statement.

It’s also examining the companies’ market power over app developers, which obviously rely on Apple’s and Google’s app stores to reach consumers. As you might know, Apple itself is being sued by Epic Games for the allegedly anticompetitive nature of its App Store.

Having amassed powerful empires and extraordinary influence over whole industries, big tech companies have seen the admiration they used to command turn to suspicion and even fury.

The European Union’s highest court recently opened the door for more national-level scrutiny of these multinational giants. And in the US, there’s growing talk about breaking up the companies.

Toshiba Investigating Alleged Cyberattack On European Business

Toshiba is currently looking into what it has deemed to be a potential cyberattack on its European business. Moreover, it appears that the attack came just as the Japanese corporation announced that it would undergo a strategic review after it dismissed a US$20 billion (~RM82.5 billion) buyout.

The actors in the cyberattack are members of DarkSide. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it is the same group that hacked into the digital infrastructure of the US Colonial Pipeline, to which the company running it paid a ransom of approximately US$5 million (~RM20.6 million) in cryptocurrency. On that note, DarkSide has already released a statement on the Dark Web, claiming full responsibility for the attack.

It is believed that the DarkSide collective is based somewhere in Eastern Europe, with some experts fingering Russia as the country of origin. Oddly enough, the hacker group seems to target English-speaking countries and never seems to target any of the Slavic countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

That said, it is believed that DarkSide does seem to have some code of ethics; unlike other hacker groups, the collective doesn’t seem to target certain infrastructures, including hospitals, schools, or government agencies.

Thailand Investigating Facebook’s Claims Of Military-Linked Accounts

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he has ordered the country’s army to investigate Facebook’s claims after it took down accounts that were allegedly operated by the military to covertly influence public opinion, the Associated Press and the Bangkok Post reported.

According to Reuters, the social media giant recently announced that it had removed 77 accounts, 72 pages, 18 groups, and 18 Instagram accounts for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”. Facebook said it traced the operation to the Thai’s military’s Internal Security Operations Command.

“Facebook took action like this. It can be interpreted in many ways. We must make it clear,” said Prayuth, according to the AP. The Thai PM is an ex-general who led the military junta that formerly ruled the country.

By Facebook’s telling, the accounts targeted people living in Thailand’s southern provinces, where the government has long faced a violent insurgent and separatist movement. Typical content include support for the Thai military and monarchy, calls for non-violence, alleged violence by the insurgent groups, and criticism of the separatist movement.

Facing criticism for not confronting disinformation and the promotion of violence, social media companies are now acting aggressively to show that they mean business. And after banning former US President Trump, they also need to show that they’re consistent across the globe.

Accordingly, Facebook and subsidiary Instagram swiftly booted Myanmar’s military, blamed for a recent coup, from their platforms. Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar have been known for powerful military establishments that often interfere with politics.

Law Firm Currently Investigating Potential Lawsuit Over PS5 DualSense Drifting Issues

Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP (CSK&D), the firm that filed a lawsuit against Nintendo and its drifting Joy-Con controller, recently announced that the law firm is looking into a potential class-action lawsuit against Sony. More specifically, the lawsuit is aimed directly at a drifting issue involving the PlayStation 5’s (PS5) DualSense controller.

The firm is currently reaching out to affected PS5 customers who have or are currently experiencing said drifting issues via an online form on its page. Several complaints indicate that the DualSense controller either suffer from joystick drifting issues or just fail prematurely.

In regards to the former issue, some PS5 owners are reporting their DualSense controllers automatically registering movement, even when the joystick is not being controlled. Naturally, this can lead to some form of hindrance and interference in while gaming and as such, it’s unsurprising that these individuals would want to air out their grievances to Sony.

As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first time CSK&D has handled a case involving faulty controllers. Back in 2019, the firm filed a lawsuit against Nintendo of America over drifting Joy-Con controllers. Ultimately, the court decided to put the case into arbitration, although, at the time of writing, CSK&D says that it is still looking for someone to help them settle the dispute.

UK Regulators Now Investigating NVIDIA Acquisition Of ARM

Back in September last year, NVIDIA made waves when it acquired the UK-based semiconductor maker, ARM, from the SoftBank Group to the sum of US$40 billion (~RM161 billion). Sadly, the purchase didn’t sit well with some groups, with one UK regulator now investigating it.

According to Engadget, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK is preparing to launch an investigation into the purchase. Before that, however, the group is asking third parties to provide them with their views and opinions about the deal.

The CMA says that it wants to look at how NVIDIA’s takeover of ARM could impact both the pricing and quality of products. Specifically, it wishes to determine if, after the takeover, ARM has any incentive to “withdraw, raise prices, or reduce the quality of its IP licensing services to NVIDIA’s rivals.”

If it finds any potential wrongdoing with both companies, the CMA could simply block the deal, especially if it thinks the deal will break any antitrust laws.

Prior to its acquisition, ARM was a standalone chipmaker, supplying its chips to other major tech giants, including AMD, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Apple, to name a few. When NVIDIA stepped in, it said that it will not hamper ARM’s relationship with those companies and continues with the latter’s “open-licensing model” and customer neutrality.

Of course, none of it detracts from the fact that NVIDIA as a major brand could and would try to establish something of a monopoly on the world’s supply of microprocessors. Seeing how it is in a prime position to do something of the likes.