Agrees Archives

Google agrees to pay news publishers more than $1 billion

Posted on October 1, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

Google will pay publishers more than $1 billion over the next three years through a new program for licensing news.

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The tech giant has signed licensing deals with about 200 publications in select countries with plans to add more and expand geographically.

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Google, along with Facebook, controls a large share of the advertising dollars that once went to publishers in the news industry. Shrinking ad revenue has led to smaller newsrooms and diminishing resources for telling local stories. The billion dollar spend on licensing news is Google’s way of showing publishers it is committed to paying for high quality journalism and sustaining a struggling industry.

The licensing deals, previously announced in June, are part of a new product called News Showcase, where participating publishers can curate and decide for themselves how to present their content on the platform. The content is displayed as a “story panel,”

Hertfordshire fatal crash: Parish council agrees to average speed camera bid

Posted on September 28, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

Whitney Hughes and Gillian Williams — image captionWhitney Hughes’ mother Gillian Williams, 55, from Dunstable, was killed while driving home along Redbourn Road between St Albans and Redbourn

A woman whose mother was killed in a road crash has persuaded a council to apply for funds to install average speed cameras on it.

Whitney Hughes’ mother Gillian Williams died on the A5183 between Redbourn and St Albans in Hertfordshire in 2019.

Ms Hughes has campaigned for safety measures along the road, but needed a “constituted” organisation to bid for money to do it.

Redbourn Parish Council said it would apply to the county’s Road Safety Fund.

Ms Hughes said: “I feel relieved something is finally going to be done and I truly hope my mum is the last person to lose their life on Redbourn Road.”

Mrs Williams’ car was hit by another car being

Google parent agrees to $310M misconduct lawsuit settlement

Posted on September 27, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

NEW YORK (AP) — Google’s parent company has reached a $310 million settlement in a shareholder lawsuit over its treatment of allegations of executives’ sexual misconduct.

Alphabet Inc. said Friday that it will prohibit severance packages for anyone fired for misconduct or is the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation. A special team will investigate any allegations against executives and report to the board’s audit committee.

Thousands of Google employees walked out of work in protest in 2018 after The New York Times revealed Android creator Andy Rubin received $90 million in severance even though several employees had filed misconduct allegations against him. Shareholder lawsuits followed, and in 2019 Google launched a board investigation over how it handles sexual misconduct allegations.

In January, David Drummond, the Alphabet’s legal chief, left without an exit package, following accusations of inappropriate relationships with employees. The company didn’t give a reason for his departure,

Apple agrees to delay 30% cut of live event transactions on App Store

Posted on September 25, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

Apple has temporarily halted its decision to charge a 30% commission of paid virtual events hosted through apps on iOS, for not just Facebook, but any event stream.

In August, Apple blocked an app update for the Facebook app because it contained a message advising users that Apple takes a 30% cut of in-app purchases. Specifically, the message concerned live events hosted by companies or small businesses.

Now, Facebook says Apple has temporarily reversed its decision to take a 30% cut of live event transactions. An Apple spokesperson told CNBC that it halted the commissions due to the pressures that businesses are facing from the coronavirus pandemic.

The spokesperson added that the 30% commission doesn’t apply to ticketing for real-world events, only those that are held within App Store apps in a virtual fashion. Along with Facebook, all apps Airbnb have until the end of the year to add

Judge agrees to delay US government restrictions on WeChat

Posted on September 21, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

A federal judge has approved a request from a group of WeChat users to delay looming U.S. government restrictions that could effectively make the popular app nearly impossible to use

STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

September 20, 2020, 5:40 PM

3 min read

NEW YORK — A judge has approved a request from a group of U.S. WeChat users to delay looming federal government restrictions that could effectively make the popular app nearly impossible to use.

In a ruling dated Saturday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said the government’s actions would affect users’ First Amendment rights, as an effective ban on the app would remove their platform for communication.

WeChat is a messaging-focused app popular with many Chinese-speaking Americans that serves as a lifeline to friends, family, customers and business contacts in China. It’s owned by Chinese tech

Judge Agrees to Delay US Government Restrictions on WeChat | Business News

Posted on September 20, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has approved a request from a group of U.S. WeChat users to delay looming federal government restrictions that could effectively make the popular app nearly impossible to use.

WeChat is a messaging-focused app popular with many Chinese-speaking Americans that serves as a lifeline to friends, family, customers and business contacts in China. It’s owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

The group of WeChat users requested an injunction after the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it would bar WeChat from U.S. app stores and keep it from accessing essential internet services in the country beginning Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

The Trump administration has targeted WeChat

Trump Agrees To Oracle-Walmart Deal : NPR

Posted on September 20, 2020 / by [email protected]_84 /

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in July.

Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in July.

Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Updated 12:55 p.m. ET

President Trump has given tentative approval to a deal that will keep TikTok alive in the U.S., resolving a months-long confrontation between a hit app popularized by lip-syncing teens and White House officials who viewed the service as a national security risk.

TikTok downloads were set to be banned in the U.S. starting on midnight Sunday, but that has now been averted.

“I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said. “I approve the deal in concept.”

As part of the deal