Julia Reda: Out-of-control censorship machines removed my article warning of out-of-control censorship machines . “A few days ago, about a dozen articles and campaign sites criticising EU plans for copyright censorship machines silently vanished from the world’s most popular search engine. Proving their point in the most blatant possible way, the sites were removed by exactly what they were warning of: Copyright censorship machines. Among the websites that were made impossible to find: A blog post of mine in which I inform Europeans about where their governments stand on online censorship in the name of copyright and a campaign site warning of copyright law that favors corporations over free speech.”
Europe
Bloomberg: The Story Behind Google’s Secret Offer to Settle EU’s Android Probe
Bloomberg: The Story Behind Google’s Secret Offer to Settle EU’s Android Probe. “European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager coolly hit Google with a 4.3 billion-euro ($5 billion) fine last week, the biggest penalty in the history of antitrust enforcement. It didn’t have to be that way.”
Science Business: Free access to research papers by 2020? ‘Impossible without radical steps’, says EU official
Science Business: Free access to research papers by 2020? ‘Impossible without radical steps’, says EU official. “A senior European Commission official called for ‘radical steps’ to speed up making publicly funded research in Europe freely available to readers, rather than locked behind publishers’ paywalls. ‘We are today at 20 per cent full open access,’ said Robert-Jan Smits, former director-general for research and innovation at the Commission. ‘Fifteen years ago, we were at 15 per cent open access,’ and in 2016 the EU set a target that all publicly research be open, free, to readers by 2020.”
Scottish Legal News: Google fined record €4.3 bn for breaching EU antitrust rules
Scottish Legal News: Google fined record €4.3 bn for breaching EU antitrust rules. “The European Commission has fined Google €4.34 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules by imposing illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators, since 2011, to cement its dominant position as the leading internet search engine.” 4.34 billion euros is just over five billion US dollars.
City A.M.: Google’s record-breaking $11bn fine over Android market dominance set for Tuesday
City A.M.: Google’s record-breaking $11bn fine over Android market dominance set for Tuesday. “Sources have said that technology superpower Google is set to face the music on Tuesday, as European Union antitrust regulators are rumoured to have made a final decision against its Android operating system. A meeting deciding the company’s fate had been scheduled by the European Commission for last Tuesday, however it was moved without warning.”
Reuters: EU Google decision delayed to next week, source says, as Trump visits
Reuters: EU Google decision delayed to next week, source says, as Trump visits. “EU antitrust regulators have postponed to next week a finding against Google’s Android mobile operating system, a person familiar with the matter said, avoiding any clash with a visit to Brussels by U.S. President Donald Trump.”
Washington Post: Google may have to make major changes to Android in response to a forthcoming fine in Europe
Washington Post: Google may have to make major changes to Android in response to a forthcoming fine in Europe. “Google could face a record penalty this month from European regulators for forcing its search and Web-browsing tools on the makers of Android-equipped smartphones and other devices, potentially resulting in major changes to the world’s most widely deployed mobile operating system.”
