eu

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

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

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

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

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

Regulators from the European Union are getting involved in the Federal Trade Commission investigation of Apple's business strategies that was opened up in June, according to a New York Post report on Tuesday.

The inclusion of the EU regulators means the investigation could now stretch "another four to six months" before the FTC reaches any official conclusions, according to the Post's sources.

The focus of the probe, which remains unconfirmed by the FTC, centers on Apple's App Store developer agreement. In early April, Apple adjusted its wording in a way that outright barred developers from using third-party development tools … Read more

The European Commission on Monday launched two formal antitrust investigations against IBM over two alleged infringements of EU antitrust rules about abusing a dominant market position, the commission said in a statement (PDF).

The first case is in response to complaints by software vendors T3 and Turbo Hercules over the tying of mainframe hardware to the mainframe operating system. The second is an investigation launched by the commission itself over alleged discrimination toward competing suppliers of mainframe maintenance services, the commission said.

IBM said the claims, which the company said were the result of a campaign of competitors led by … Read more

The E.U. may force Apple to allow Flash on the iPad as well as competitive devices to use iTunes. Like that'll happen. Also: Mario smacks iDrones, and Prince says the Web is over. So, see ya.

Wind turbine farms are set to expand rapidly across Europe's coastal waters, throwing up challenges and opportunities for industry, according to a Reuters analysis of a leaked draft of EU energy strategies.

A picture of the European Union's renewable energy landscape for 2020 is emerging for the first time as the bloc's 27 member states scramble to meet a deadline for setting their "National Renewable Energy Action Plans."

The documents were due to be delivered to the European Commission by midnight on Wednesday, although most missed the deadline and none of the plans has yet … Read more