Tag Archives: FTC

While Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to a merger, there are a number of hurdles still left to clear before the acquisition can happen. Aside from regulators, the deal also needs to be approved by Activision Blizzard shareholders.  Activision Blizzard shareholders will need to vote on whether to sell …

Nvidia has officially given up on its plan to acquire fellow chip maker Arm for a record-setting $40 billion. Arm parent company, SoftBank, announced that the deal has been scrapped this week following "significant regulatory challenges". 

Sony's newly announced acquisition of Bungie isn't the merger making headlines this week. Microsoft's recent deal with Activision Blizzard is now back in the news, as the FTC reveals plans to review the deal on antitrust grounds.  As reported by Bloomberg, the US Federal Trade Commission is conducting an antitrust …

Just one week ago, we learned that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had raised some concerns and began investigating Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Arm. Things have escalated since then, with the FTC suing Nvidia to block the acquisition. The FTC announced this move yesterday, with the commission's Bureau of …

It has been over a year since Nvidia first announced plans to acquire Arm in a $40 billion deal, but over the course of 2021, red flags have continued to be raised. Whether or not the deal should be allowed to go through is currently the subject of investigations around …

If you are a Twitter user and keep up to date with cryptocurrency news, then chances are you've seen some fake Elon Musk accounts claiming to give away thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoin or offering huge investment returns for just a little bit of cryptocurrency. This is an obvious …

Back in 2017, Apple attempted to break away from Qualcomm, filing a $1 billion lawsuit and accusing the company of anti-competitive practices with its licensing agreements. Following Apple's lead, the FTC also filed a case against Qualcomm, alleging anti-competitive behaviour. Apple dropped its side of the legal battle in 2019 …

 The US Federal Trade Commission is taking aim at Facebook this week, filing a lawsuit alleging that the company has engaged in systematic anti-competitive behaviour. The lawsuit comes following an cooperative investigation between attorney generals in 46 states.  The lawsuit alleges that Facebook's acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp …

There has been plenty of discussion around the ethics of loot boxes over the last couple of years, to the point where governments around the world have been launching their own investigations and some politicians have been calling for outright bans. In an effort to keep the games industry self-regulated, …

Apple and Qualcomm just recently settled their lawsuits against each other and forged a new licensing deal for the years ahead. However, the US FTC’s case against Qualcomm is still on-going and this week, a US Judge ruled that Qualcomm’s licensing terms are indeed anti-competitive. Qualcomm has been fined for …

Amazon has been combatting fake reviews for quite some time, even going as far as taking legal action against the sellers purchasing them. Merchants still don’t seem to take the hint, as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has concluded its first successful case against fraudulent, paid Amazon reviews, fining …

Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an investigation into loot boxes, attempting to gain an understanding of the practice to further protect children. While the results of this enquiry have yet to be made public, the regulator has announced that it will be holding a public forum …

While the UK Gambling Commission is still deliberating the effects of loot boxes in video games, it looks like the US Federal Trade Commission will be pushing forward with its own investigation. Chairman Joseph Simmons revealed the new development to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee, promising to protect children and ensure …

As tech enthusiasts, we’ve all come across ‘warranty void if removed’ stickers. They are very common on lots of electronic devices, ranging from games consoles, to PC parts and mobile devices. Last month, the FTC called out six companies over illegal warranty voiding practices. Most notably, the three major console …

As tech enthusiasts, we’ve all come across ‘warranty void if removed’ stickers. They are very common on lots of electronic devices, ranging from games consoles, to PC parts and other products, like TVs or mobile devices. Last month, the FTC called out six companies over warranty voiding practices, stating that …

Update (02/05/18): Late last month, the FTC began cracking down on companies using ‘warranty void if removed' stickers, amongst other tactics that are apparently illegal. This came as a surprise, because warranty void stickers are common practise across the tech world. At the time, the FTC had issued warnings to …

It seems that the conversation surrounding loot boxes and their relation to gambling has died down in recent months, but that hasn’t stopped authorities from keeping an eye on the developers that use the practice. The latest incident sees publishers Nexon, NextFloor and Netmarble being pulled up by South Korea’s …

It’s fair to say that the reveal of Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook data harvesting in the past couple of weeks has kicked off a worldwide concern over how data is handled online, placing many websites and platforms under the microscope. YouTube is the latest to be scrutinised, with 23 groups across …

Following its week of scandals, Facebook has come under fire from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has now launched an investigation into the platforms privacy practices. This will particularly concern whether the company has caused “substantial injury” to its 50 million affected users. Acting director of the FTC’s …

Back in 2015, Lenovo caught a lot of flack for shipping laptops with ‘Superfish' installed on them. This bloatware installer resulted in adware and spyware being installed on store-bought systems and as you would expect, customers weren't happy. Following this, the US Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation and now, …

The Apple VS Qualcomm lawsuit has taken another turn. This time around though, its Apple firing the shots, with the company accusing Qualcomm of infringing on its patents. This latest development turns the tables somewhat, as the patents in question relate to the Snapdragon 820 and Snapdragon 800 processors, which …

Qualcomm has been fighting various antitrust charges over the last couple of years. At first, the company was fined $975 million in China, then in 2016 regulators in South Korea fined the company over $850 million. The European Union has ruled against Qualcomm in an antitrust case and now, the …

The FTC settles for a slap on the wrist and calls for more disclosure.

VPNs are widely used these days, not just to get around geographical content blocks but also for general privacy on the web. Hotspot Shield is perhaps one of the biggest VPN providers to also offer a free user tier but according to a privacy advocacy group, the company may not …

Earlier this year, the US Federal Trade Commission and Apple both filed lawsuits against Qualcomm, citing anti-competitive business practises. Now, it seems that Samsung and Intel are also piling on, backing the FTC's suit against the company, claiming that they too have been harmed by Qualcomm's business practises. It might …

Recently, Qualcomm has been finding itself in quite a bit of trouble with regulators in various countries. The chip maker was recently fined a huge sum of money over anti-competitive practices in South Korea and now, the FTC is also on the case in the US, with Apple being one …

It looks like the Federal Trade Commission has set its sights on Qualcomm this week, as a new lawsuit filed claims that the chip maker has been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour and monopolised a ‘key semiconductor device' used by Apple for the iPhone and iPad. The FTC's complaint claims that …

It looks like D-Link has found itself in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week as the US regulator has filed charges against D-Link for putting consumers' privacy and security at risk with its products. As part of the FTCs current initiative to ensure companies are taking …

Back in 2014, during the build up to Shadow of Mordor's launch, Warner Bros own marketing campaign almost completely backfired when it was discovered that prominent YouTubers were being paid large sums of money for positive coverage surrounding the game. While paying YouTubers for sponsored content isn't uncommon, the rules …

The FCC and the FTC in the US have launched investigations in to how companies release their mobile security patches. The investigation is said to centre around how some companies review their security updates and then release them via OTA, while also looking in to the lack of consistency amongst …