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☆ European telecoms' advertising venture against Big Tech wins EU antitrust nod
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A man carrying his computer passes by the logo of German telecommunication company "Deutsche Telekom" at the ITS World Congress 2021, a fair for intelligent transport systems, in Hamburg, Germany, October 13, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian BimmerBRUSSELS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Vodafone (VOD.L) on Friday secured unconditional EU antitrust approval for their advertising joint venture to take on Big Tech. "The transaction, as notified, would not significantly reduce competition in French, German, Italian and Spanish markets," the European Commission said in a statement. This is the telecoms sector's first attempt to take on Meta (META.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams. Google is the world's leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue.

☆ Apple to defend mobile payment system at Feb. 14 EU hearing, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The hearing, which senior European Commission and national competition officials, Apple executives and complainants will attend, comes nine months after the EU competition watchdog accused the company of abusing its market power. The EU antitrust watchdog has said Apple's anti-competitive practices dated back to 2015 when Apple Pay was launched. Apple referred to its statement last year which said that Apple Pay is only one of many options available to European consumers and which has ensured equal access to its tap and go technology Near-Field Communication (NFC). The company could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of antitrust violations. It is also the target of EU charges of abusing its dominance in the music streaming market in a case triggered by a complaint by Spotify (SPOT.N).

☆ TikTok promises to ramp up fight against disinformation in EU
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Chinese social media company TikTok on Thursday pledged to do more to tackle disinformation on its platform by adding more safety features and broadening its fact-checking measures, spurred by the role played by state-controlled media and the war in Ukraine. Presenting its progress report on what it did to live up to a beefed-up EU code of practice on disinformation in the past six months, the company acknowledged the need to step up its efforts. TikTok would expand its state-controlled media labels, ramp up action against disinformation linked to Ukraine, expand its fact-checking programme across Europe to include more language coverage, and scale up the volume of claims it fact-checked, she said. The company would also strengthen its approach to disinformation in its advertising policies. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter's efforts against disinformation lagging behind, EU says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The companies on Thursday presented progress reports on compliance with a beefed up European Union (EU) code of practice on disinformation in the last six months. The reports included data on how much advertising revenue the companies had averted from disinformation actors, the number or value of political advertisements accepted or rejected and instances of manipulative behaviours detected. "I am disappointed to see that Twitter's report lags behind others and I expect a more serious commitment to their obligations stemming from the Code," she said in a statement. The EU executive said Twitter's report lacked data and did not contain information on commitments to empower fact checkers. The signatories to the code on Thursday launched a transparency centre allowing EU citizens, researchers and NGOs to access online information about their efforts combating disinformation.

☆ EU lawmakers' body agrees on safeguards against illegal data transfers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A key committee at the European Parliament on Thursday agreed to stringent safeguards to prevent non-EU governments from gaining illegal access to EU data, drawing criticism from a tech lobbying group. EU concerns about data transfers have grown since former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed mass U.S. surveillance. The committee introduced safeguards against unlawful international data transfer by cloud service providers and set stricter conditions on business-to-government data requests. Tech trade association ITI said lawmakers may be going too far with provisions restricting transfers of non-personal data that exceed those set out under EU privacy rules for personal data. "Data flows are the backbone of the digital economy and allow companies to reach consumers and access new markets.

☆ Schibsted, publishers look to EU tech rules to resolve Apple antitrust concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Norwegian media group Schibsted (SCHA.OL) and the European Publishers Council have urged EU antitrust regulators to ensure that tech rules coming into play this year will rein in Apple's (AAPL.O) powers, especially over its App Store. Apple is already in the EU antitrust crosshairs related to its App Store practices in music streaming, in e-books and competing apps as well as its mobile payment system Apple Pay. Apple's App Store practices affect Schibsted because of its market power in Scandinavia where up to 60% of consumers have an iPhone in Norway and Sweden, said Petra Wikstrom, director of Public Policy at Schibsted. Apple, which would be forced to loosen its App Store rules under the DMA, could not be reached for comment. In 2021, to allay Japanese antitrust concerns, it scraped the ban on providing separate links on App Store apps for reader apps which provide content such as e-books, video and music.

☆ TikTok expects to be subject to stricter EU online content rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Chinese social media company TikTok is likely to be subject to stricter EU online content rules because its number of active users exceed a threshold set out under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a senior executive at the company said on Wednesday. The landmark rules take a tougher line on very large online platforms, characterising these as companies with more than 45 million users. Online platforms and search engines are due to report their user numbers on Feb. 17, allowing the European Commission to designate which are the very large online platforms and very large online search engines. In 2020, TikTok said its number of users in Europe topped 100 million. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Illumina fights EU order to divest Grail
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. life science company Illumina (ILMN.O) on Wednesday took its case to senior EU and national antitrust officials at a closed hearing to argue against an EU antitrust order that it divests cancer detection test maker Grail Inc (GRAL.O). Illumina had completed a takeover of Grail in August 2021, without securing European Union regulatory approval. The European Commission ordered Illumina in December to unwind the deal, three months after it had blocked the merger on concerns the deal would stifle innovation. "Any divestment order should be stayed until our appeal of the Commission's prohibition decision has been resolved," it said. Companies usually take the opportunity at such hearings to persuade senior EU and national competition officials of the pro-competitive advantages of their deals.

☆ Big Tech not doing enough to remove fake news, activist NGO Avaaz says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Twitter, Google's (GOOGL.O) YouTube, Meta Platform's (META.O) Facebook, Microsoft's (MSFT.O) LinkedIn and TikTok are not doing enough to remove fake news from their platforms, raising doubts about their ability to comply with new EU online content rules, activist NGO Avaaz said on Tuesday. "Overall, just 22% of disinformation content we analysed was either labelled or removed by the six major platforms," Avaaz said. It said the companies did not do enough to tackle disinformation in languages other than English. "Despite explicit platform commitments in the code to improve their services in all EU languages, our research found that in certain EU languages - Italian, German, Hungarian, Danish, Spanish and Estonian - no platform took any action against violating posts," Avaaz said. Meta, Alphabet, Twitter and Microsoft last year vowed to take a tougher line against disinformation after committing to the updated EU code.

STOCKHOLM/BRUSSELS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers hope to agree on draft artificial intelligence rules next month, with the aim of clinching a deal with EU countries by the end of the year, one of the legislators steering the AI Act said. The European Commission proposed the AI rules in 2021 in an attempt to foster innovation and set a global standard for a technology, used in everything from self-driving cars and chatbots to automated factories, currently led by China and the United States. The proposed legislation has drawn criticism from lawmakers and consumer groups for not fully addressing risks from AI systems, but the companies involved have warned that stricter rules could stifle innovation. Intense debate over how AI should be governed led several experts to predict that the draft legislation might hit a bottleneck and get delayed. EU industry chief Thierry Breton has said new proposed artificial intelligence rules will aim to tackle concerns about the risks around ChatGPT.

☆ EU agrees on price caps on Russian refined oil products
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - European Union countries agreed to set price caps on Russian refined oil products to limit Moscow's funds for its invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish presidency of the EU said on Friday. The price caps, together with an EU ban on Russian oil product imports, are part of a broader agreement among the Group of Seven (G7) countries. Both caps prohibit Western insurance, shipping and other companies from financing, insuring, trading, brokering or carrying cargoes of Russian crude and oil products unless they were bought at or below the set price caps. There will be a 55-day transition period for sea-borne Russian oil products bought and loaded before Sunday. For crude, regular reviews will set a price cap at least 5% below the average market price for Russian oil.

"As showcased by ChatGPT, AI solutions can offer great opportunities for businesses and citizens, but can also pose risks. Under the EU draft rules, ChatGPT is considered a general purpose AI system which can be used for multiple purposes including high-risk ones such as the selection of candidates for jobs and credit scoring. Breton wants OpenAI to cooperate closely with downstream developers of high-risk AI systems to enable their compliance with the proposed AI Act. Breton said the European Commission is working closely with the EU Council and European Parliament to further clarify the rules in the AI Act for general purpose AI systems. Breton said forthcoming discussions with lawmakers about AI rules would cover these aspects.

☆ EU antitrust regulators pause Broadcom, VMware probe, await data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] 3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the VMware cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have paused their investigation into Broadcom's (AVGO.O) $61 billion bid for cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N) while waiting for the U.S. chipmaker to provide requested data, the European Commission said on Friday. The European Union competition watchdog said it stopped the clock on its investigation on Jan. 31, effective Jan. 24. "Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission's decision is then adjusted accordingly." Broadcom's move to diversify into enterprise software comes as regulators worldwide ramp up scrutiny of deals by Big Tech.

OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), made it available to the public for free in late November. Breton said the risks posed by ChatGPT underscored the urgent need for AI rules which he proposed last year in a bid to set the global standard for a technology led by China and the United States and used in smartphones, self-driving cars, online shopping and factories. "As showcased by ChatGPT, AI solutions can offer great opportunities for businesses and citizens, but can also pose risks. This is why we need a solid regulatory framework to ensure trustworthy AI based on high-quality data," he told Reuters in written comments. Editing by Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Intel faces yet another EU antitrust fine despite court win last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O) could face yet another EU antitrust fine despite winning its court fight last year against a 1.06 billioneuro ($1.2 billion) penalty imposed 14 years ago for hindering a rival, the U.S. chipmaker said in a regulatory filing. Intel last year convinced Europe's second-top court to scrap the fine handed out by the European Commission in 2009 for giving rebates to four computer makers to buy most of their chips from the company and not from rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O). "Given the procedural posture and the nature of this proceeding, we are unable to make a reasonable estimate of the potential loss or range of losses, if any, that might arise from this matter," it said. Companies risk fines up to 10% of their global turnover for EU antitrust breaches. ($1 = 0.9217 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU lawmakers agree to tougher rules on targeted political ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers on Thursday agreed to tougher rules on targeted political advertising aimed at countering misinformation during elections, drawing support from Google's YouTube and civil rights activists and concerns from a tech lobbying group. The rules require U.S. tech giants to provide more data on their targeted political ads, with fines up to 4% of their global turnover for breaches. EU lawmakers toughened up some of the provisions in the Commission's draft and will now have to thrash out details with EU countries before the proposed regulation can become legislation. Lawmakers also backed a blanket ban on using minors' data and a ban on non-EU based entities from financing political advertisements in the EU. They proposed setting up an online repository for all online political ads and related data, and the possibility of periodic penalties for repeated violations.

☆ Exclusive: European telecoms' advertising venture set for EU approval -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Vodafone's (VOD.L) plan to take on Big Tech with their own advertising joint venture is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval, people familiar with the matter said. The joint venture marks the telecoms sector's first attempt to take on Meta (META.O) and Alphabet'S (GOOGL.O) Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams. Google is the world's leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue. The EU competition enforcer describes the joint venture as a privacy-led, digital identification solution to support the digital marketing and advertising activities of brands and publishers. Earlier this week, pan-European consumer lobbying group BEUC voiced concerns over how data would be collected by the joint venture and how the partners aim to get users' consent.

☆ Exclusive: EU may miss gigabit target, more investments needed, telecoms group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Total telecom investment in Europe peaked at 56.3 billion euros in 2021, the highest since 2016, but still lagged behind other regions, the report said. "Europe continues to trail its peers worldwide in terms of telecoms investment. The study also noted the large gap between the returns on investment for telecoms operators and those for Big Tech. "There is an acute discrepancy between the returns on investment in European telecoms infrastructure and the returns on investment of the largest services that run over this infrastructure," it said. "When it comes to internet access, it is telecoms operators that shoulder the investment burden, while in terms of new value creation it is tech companies that benefit the most."

☆ Exclusive: EU's Breton tells Twitter to do more to comply with bloc's tech rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday told Twitter owner Elon Musk to do more to fully comply with the bloc's online content rules. "I welcome the effort that Twitter is making to be in line with Europe's objectives, while acknowledging that the next months will be crucial," Breton said after a video call with Musk. "We need to see more progress towards full compliance with the DSA. My team will follow closely the work made by Twitter and by all other online platforms," according to a readout of the call. Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU industry chief Breton to hold video call with Twitter's Musk - EU official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will hold a video call with Twitter owner Elon Musk on Tuesday to discuss two key EU tech initiatives, a European Commission official said on Tuesday. "The call is to discuss Twitter's implementation of the Digital Services Act and its implementation of the Code of Practice on disinformation," the official said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip BlenkinsopOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sony's gaming chief met EU's Vestager on Microsoft's Activision deal -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Sony's gaming chief Jim Ryan met EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Wednesday to discuss Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Microsoft is looking to Activision to help it compete better with leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T). The person declined to provide details of the discussion between Ryan and Vestager. The European Commission, which is scheduled to rule on the deal by April 11, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the deal while UK regulators have also expressed concerns.

☆ EU wants to cut red tape, costs to spur rollout of 5G - document
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission wants to cut red tape and costs to help Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other telecoms operators roll out fast-speed 5G, according to a Commission document seen by Reuters. The EU executive, which wants all Europeans to have access to gigabit connectivity and 75% of EU companies to use cloud infrastructure or artificial intelligence technology by 2030, is expected to announce its proposal, called the Gigabit Infrastructure Act, on Feb. 10. The measure could save telecoms operators about 40 million euros ($43.5 million) in annual administrative costs, the paper said. The measure also says telecoms providers can access physical infrastructure owned or controlled by public sector bodies irrespective of its location under fair and reasonable terms. ($1 = 0.9193 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal. The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks, the people said. The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment. U.S. and UK regulators, however, have voiced concerns, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going to court to block the deal. Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avert a statement of charge and shorten the regulatory process, other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in November.

SummarySummary Companies Top EU court dismisses HSBC challenge over cartel participationUpholds annulment of Euribor cartel fineHSBC separately challenging reduced Euribor fineBRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) on Thursday failed to overturn a court ruling that it had participated in a cartel to rig benchmark Euribor rates in 2007, but Europe's top court confirmed that a 33.6 million euro ($36 million) fine had been scrapped. The European Court of Justice, Europe's highest court, rejected HSBC's attempt to clear its name by challenging a 2019 lower court decision that it had colluded with others to try to manipulate key Euribor (euro interbank offered rate) rates. The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, ruled in 2016 that HSBC and six other banks had tried to distort Euribor, a benchmark for rates on financial products, fining the lender 33.6 million euros. Three years later, a lower tribunal scrapped the fine because of insufficient reasoning, but dismissed the bank's attempt to shake off the ruling that it had taken part in a cartel. The European Commission subsequently imposed a slightly lower fine of 31.7 million euros in 2021, which HSBC is separately challenging.

☆ HSBC wins appeal against $36 mln Euribor cartel fine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) has won an appeal against a decision by European antitrust regulators to fine Europe's second-largest bank 33.6 million euros ($36 million) over its role in a cartel to manipulate benchmark Euribor interest rates in 2007. HSBC, penalised alongside JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA), challenged the decision and in 2019, a lower tribunal scrapped the fine because of insufficient reasoning. The European Commission subsequently re-imposed a slightly lower fine of 31.7 million euros in 2021. HSBC, JPMorgan and Credit Agricole opted against settling with European regulators and, following a full investigation, JPMorgan was fined 337.2 million euros and Credit Agricole was ordered to pay 114.7 million euros. EU, U.S. and British regulators have fined banks billions of euros for manipulating benchmark interest rates and the foreign exchange market.

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