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Microsoft told antitrust committee that Apple's App Store is anticompetitive
A US House antitrust committee is getting set to grill tech’s biggest CEOs, but Microsoft wants them to focus on one in particular: Apple’s Tim Cook. Microsoft President Brad Smith met with the committee several weeks ago and relayed concerns about how Apple manages its App Store.
The UK refuses to give up on a Mark Zuckerberg privacy hearing
UK MPs are doubling down on their campaign to get Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear before them to answer questions on data privacy. Zuckerberg has previously refused MPs' requests, instead sending a representative to hearings. This time, though, the Commons Digital Culture is joining forces with its Canadian counterpart for a joint hearing in London on November 27, with chair Damian Collins saying Zuckerberg's "evidence is now overdue and urgent."
Former Equifax CEO blames breach on one IT employee
The Equifax data breach that leaked information on the now-145 million people was caused by a vulnerability in Apache's Struts system. Trouble is, the software provider supplied a patch back in March that should have eliminated that vulnerability. But Equifax's former CEO (who suddenly retired last week) told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that a single IT technician was at fault for the whole thing after they failed to install the patch.
Privacy watchdog sues Trump's election committee over voter data
When the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sent a letter to all 50 states seeking personal, identifying information on all voters in the US, at least 44 states refused in some part. Trump signed an executive order last May to create this commission while claiming that millions of people had voted illegally. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has taken issue with this request, as well, and has filed a lawsuit accusing the Commission of violating the privacy of American voters. EPIC also asserts that the original request asks states to send the data to a non-secure website, making the data vulnerable to identity theft and financial fraud. Not to mention political agendas. EPIC is also seeking information about "the failure to conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment," and has filed for a temporary restraining order "to block the Commission's efforts."
BlackBerry confirms it's looking for 'strategic alternatives' such as sale or going private
Remember the rumor that BlackBerry was planning to take itself private? Just a few days later and the company has confirmed that some very fundamental discussions are indeed taking place. In a press release, the Canadian smartphone maker revealed that a committee has been formed to look for "strategic alternatives" to push BlackBerry 10, which could involve a merger, selling the company or taking BlackBerry private. Naturally, there's no indication that anything will actually change at the beleaguered company, but at least we know Thorsten Heins is actively pursuing new options.
Congress to examine government's dominance in wireless spectrum
The US federal government is, by far and away, the largest user of wireless spectrum in the States -- much of which is spoken for by the Department of Defense. A new Congressional committee will, however, be re-examining that position with the goal of freeing up airwaves for public and commercial use. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), who will co-chair the group, hopes the effort will ultimately end up saving taxpayers money and satiating the country's "exploding demand for mobile broadband services." Of course this isn't the first time the idea has been broached, but the bi-partisan collective suggests that an actionable plan to ease the spectrum squeeze might not be too far off. Let's all hope that the findings don't become quite as contentious as some of the other issues currently being debated in Congress's hallowed halls.
LightSquared faces Congressional hearing over proposed 4G network, submits revised plan
The LightSquared Express rolled in to Washington yesterday, where the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology held a hearing on the company's proposed 4G LTE network and its potential impact on GPS systems. According to some, the ramifications could be disastrous. David Applegate, associate director of natural hazards at the US Geological Survey, told legislators that interference with GPS mechanisms would make it more difficult for authorities to predict floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions, with a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration adding that LightSquared's ground-based mobile network would pose challenges to weather forecasters, as well. The Department of Transportation also chimed in, telling the committee that the network would likely have an effect on systems used to prevent train collisions and, like other administration witnesses, called for further testing. LightSquared Executive Vice President Jeffrey Carlisle, meanwhile, defended his company's proposal, pointing to an amended version submitted to the FCC on Wednesday. In the revised document, LightSquared offered to reduce the network's power levels further, while providing a stable signal for GPS augmentation services to use at higher frequencies. "This is not a zero-sum game," Carlisle said, adding that only 500,000 to 750,000 high-end GPS services would be affected by LightSquared's low-frequency alternative (which, the company claims, will cost an additional $100 million to implement). Any interference issues, he continued, stem from pre-existing receiver problems that the GPS industry should've addressed by now. Most of the lawmakers sitting on the panel acknowledged the need to establish broader wireless coverage, but stressed the importance of doing so without jeopardizing critical transit and emergency response systems, with some calling for additional testing. Carlisle countered that previous tests have provided sufficient feedback, but ultimate approval lies in the hands of the FCC, which has not yet offered a timetable for its decision. Hit up the source link to read LightSquared's revised proposal, in its entirety.
Iceland's crowdsourced constitution submitted for approval, Nyan Cat takes flight over Reykjavik
A committee of 25 Icelanders submitted the first draft of a rewritten constitution to the country's parliamentary speaker Friday, and despite our recommendations, Rebecca Black was conspicuously absent from the proceedings. The democratic experiment bravely asked citizens to log on to Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter to engage with the committee in a discussion about the nation's future. While the project's Facebook page played host to pleads for free ice cream and more volcanoes, the constitution's creators managed to stay on task, focusing on issues of decentralization and transparency in government. The draft is slated for review beginning October 1st.
148Apps creates an App Hall of Fame
Jeff Scott of 148Apps has finally revealed his App Hall of Fame project -- he started it up about a month ago, and asked a number of personalities around the iPhone/iPad app scene (including yours truly) to nominate and then vote on a few App Store apps, with the eventual goal of inducting them into a Hall of Fame. We made our nominations and voted a little while ago, and the first inductees into the store are now listed on the site: Angry Birds, Flight Control, Doodle Jump, Shazam, Evernote, Plants vs. Zombies, Pandora, Simplenote, the official Twitter app, Instapaper, Homerun Battle 3D, and Fieldrunners. You've probably heard of all of those already, but that's the point: the Hall of Fame aims to honor "the very best mobile applications and games." There will be 12 inductees honored every month going forward, so the collection should grow bigger pretty fast. The nomination process is all done by the selection committee (not the public), but if you want to follow along, you can sign up on the mailing list (and have a chance to win some of the nominees for free every month). It's a fun project -- the App Store has been around long enough now that some super popular apps have risen to the top, and this is a good way to keep track of the absolute cream of the crop over the App Store's whole life. At the same time, I'm sure we'll see some interesting decisions in the months to come, so stay tuned for that.
Ivor Novello awards to recognize music from video games
Get out those SAT skills! The Ivor Novello awards : Grammys :: The SAG awards : Oscars. They're the smarter, more peer-reviewed way for the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors to reward excellent songwriting and composing. And as the BBC reports, for the first time, it'll be honoring video game music. The bleeps and bloops of your favorite console games are becoming one of just six total categories at the Ivors this May. And it's because they aren't just bleeps and bloops any more. A member of the award committee says that the music in video games has "matured beyond recognition," and that composing music for games pulls some muscles that most composers don't have, like "non-linear and multi-layered composition." No word on the nominees yet, but keep in mind, any game you nominate needs to have at least 1/3 of the composers be British or Irish, according to the Ivor rules. For instance, the music for Flower was great, but unless there's a hidden "O'" in front of Vincent Diamante's last name, you probably won't see it win.
Apple's Special Committee Reports Findings of Stock Option Investigation
Back in August, Apple announced they had found some stock option irregularities and launched an internal investigation to get to the bottom of things. This voluntary audit netted a warning of de-listing from NASDAQ because they had to delay filing their Q3 earnings results (fortuately, NASDAQ cut Apple a break). Today, the big fruit has issued a press release with the findings of this audit, which was performed by a special committee of outside directors, independent counsel and accountants. This crack team had to shuffle through over 650,000 emails and documents (Spotlight to the rescue!), as well as conduct over 40 interviews of current and past employees.In summary, the investigation's results go a little something like this: No misconduct by current members of Apple management was found The most recent evidence of 'irregularities' points to 15 stock option grants made between 1997 and 2002. Said grants were apparently issued before their approval dates Steve Jobs knew about the grant dates, but he apparently didn't know about the slight-of-hand accounting implications, nor did he benefit from any of them The data found 'raises serious concerns' of two former officers related to the accounting, recording and reporting of these grants. Apple will provide details to the SEC Mr J is quoted apologizing to Apple's shareholders and employees for these problems, especially since they happened under his watch, saying "They are completely out of character for Apple." He continues saying "We will now work to resolve the remaining issues as quickly as possible and to put the proper remedial measures in place to ensure that this never happens again," i.e. - somebody's in for a whole lotta iButt woopin'.In the collateral damage department, Fred Anderson, Apple's former CFO from 1996 to 2004 who now serves on the company's board of directors, has decided now might be a good time to resign from said board.Finally, Apple and the audit committee agree that the company will ultimately have to restate their historical financial statements to "record non-cash charges for compensation expense relating to past stock option grants." At this time however, the company is still working to analyze their findings and determine which periods will need restating, as well as the differential amounts.
