Category: competition law
No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU
Human rights NGO, Amnesty International, has written to the EU’s competition regulator calling for Google’s acquisition of wearable maker Fitbit to be blocked — unless meaningful safeguards can be baked in. The tech giant announced its intent to splash $2.1BN to acquire Fitbit a year ago but has yet to…
Read More
Europe asks for views on platform governance and competition tools
The European Commission is asking for views on how online platforms should be regulated in future, launching a public consultation today on the forthcoming Digital Services Act (DSA). This pan-EU legislative proposal, due before the end of the year, is slated to rework the regional rulebook for digital services, including…
Read More
Facebook’s use of Onavo spyware faces questions in EU antitrust probe — report
Facebook’s use of the Onavo spyware VPN app it acquired in 2013 — and used to inform its 2014 purchase of the then rival WhatsApp messaging platform — is on the radar of Europe’s antitrust regulator, per a report in the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reports that the Commission…
Read More
Qualcomm faces fresh competition scrutiny in Europe over RFFE chips for 5G
Qualcomm is facing fresh antitrust scrutiny from the European Commission, with the regulator raising questions about radio frequency front-end (RFFE) chips which can be used in 5G devices. The chipmaker has been expanding into selling RFFE chips for 5G devices, per Reuters, encouraging buyers of its 5G modems to also…
Read More