eu

EU official says Sony, Apple need to rebuild trust

Sony and Apple could face a backlash from EU data protection officials following recent privacy-related issues surrounding their flagship products.

During a speech earlier today in Brussels, Belgium, European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding noted that both companies needed to rebuild customer trust, saying "those in charge have to take the relevant technical and organizational measures to guarantee protection against data loss or an unjustified access."

The speech, which was covered by Bloomberg, comes days after Sony's announcement that as many as 100 million user accounts were exposed as part of an attack targeting its PlayStation Network … Read more

This hard drive will self-destruct

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

New rules in Europe prevent Internet advertisers from tracking people without permission

The next version of Apple's OS X operating system may have a do-not-track option in the built-in Safari browser

Toshiba has a new hard drive that will self destruct in the wrong hands

Google now allows you to set your own background image in Gmail

You can now control your Netflix queue with motion control in Microsot Kinect

The Nook Color is coming to Staples

The next Madden NFL game will launch August 30

YouTube's spin on 'American Idol'

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Motorola will sell the Wi-Fi-only Xoom for $599.

YouTube announces YouTube Next Up, its spin on "American Idol" for the Web.

The European Union is going to revamp its 16-year-old online privacy laws.

Apple changes in-app purchase protocol so that any additional purchases require a password.

Samsung releases a new line of laptops for students and office workers.

Google updates collaboration messaging within Google Docs.

Mozilla announces that Firefox 4 will be available for download next week on March 22.

Google faces new French antitrust claims

A search company has made fresh antitrust complaints against Google to the European Commission, alleging that Google blocked some of its rivals from using its AdSense advertising platform.

Today, 1plusV--the publisher of legal search engine eJustice.fr, which has a longstanding complaint against Google--said AdSense was "the only truly effective way of obtaining targeted advertising on a search engine," and Google's refusal to allow vertical search engines such as eJustice.fr access to AdSense was designed to stifle competition.

According to 1plusV, when eJustice.fr complained to the Commission over other practices in February 2010, Google delisted … Read more

EU locks carbon market after security breach

LONDON/BRUSSELS--The European Union locked all accounts in its carbon market today, after a security breach, seeking to protect the battered reputation of the EU's main weapon against climate change.

The United States, Japan, and Australia have all delayed implementing similar cap-and-trade programs, and the latest glitch to the EU system could detract further from carbon trading as a global policy.

The trading scheme limits the carbon emissions of all big EU factories and power plants by issuing permits for each tonne of carbon emitted, which companies can then trade among themselves.

The European Commission suspended much of its … Read more

Inner space

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook suffered a brief outage yesterday but came back up with new photo features

Apple announces that the Mac Store with apps for Macs will launch on January 6

Yahoo layoffs will apparently result in the shutting down of several Yahoo services

The European Union is deepening its investigation into anti-competitive practices by Google

New Google Maps for Mobile on Android comes with 3D and allows for offline directions

An update to Hotmail lets you surf certain Web sites right inside your e-mail

An official PlayStation app is coming soon for Android and … Read more

EC launches antitrust probe against Google

The European Commission announced today that it's opening an investigation of Google over alleged antitrust practices in the European Union.

The probe was triggered by complaints from three search providers, which claim that Google has stifled them by unfairly manipulating certain factors related to both unpaid and paid search results.

The search providers leveling the charges are Foundem, a U.K. price comparison site; ejustice.fr, a French legal search engine; and Ciao, a U.K. search engine owned by Microsoft. These three Web sites offer vertical search services, which means they provide users with specific online information, such … Read more

EU wants stronger online privacy rules

The European Union wants stronger rules that would give people more control over how their personal information is used by online companies like Google and Facebook.

The EU has directed its European Commission arm to draft proposals for new rules governing online data, looking to address a variety of questions: What happens to your personal data when you board a plane, open a bank account, or share photos online? How is this data used and by whom? How do you permanently delete profile information on social-networking Web sites? Can you transfer your contacts and photos to another service?

The new … Read more

Watching brand-new movies at home

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

Time Warner is toying with the idea of distributing brand-new movies on demand to watch at home for $30 to $50

Sharp is going to launch 3D phones

Google brings Google Instant search options to the iPhone and Android phones

The European Union wants to revamp privacy laws for social networks

Skype for Mac features group video chatting but no Facebook integration

Hulu Plus is now available without an invitation and is available on the PlayStation without a PlayStation Network subscription

A browser plug-in called the SocialMediaSobrietyTest tries to stop you from embarrassing … Read more