Philips Hue is forcing its customers to purchase the company’s own lightbulbs for its “smart” ambient lighting system. A recent firmware update that was put out by the manufacturer is preventing customers from using third […]
Tag: Competition
China Bans Miss World Contestant For Criticizing Chinese Human Rights Record
China will not allow in the Miss World entrant of Canada, Anastasia Lin, because of her vocal opinions regarding Chinese political repression. Lin has been declared “unwelcome” in China, and she will therefore not be […]
Comcast Is Using Sneaky Tactics To Lure Customers Away From Netflix
The new video app from Comcast, Stream TV, won’t count against the infamous 300 GB monthly data cap that was recently instituted by Comcast. This means that viewers will be able to watch as much […]
Google, Amazon And Facebook Control A Staggering 70% Of All Profit Made Online
Despite the Internet being hailed as the great equalizer of all things a study of the U.S. online market shows that just five companies are controlling the majority share of all online monetary transactions. The […]
Walmart To Make Its Online Platform Code Public To Increase Competition For Amazon
Walmart is making its online shopping platform computing code open to everyone, in the hopes that more companies will develop their own e-commerce platforms instead of forcing companies to essentially rely on Amazon, which has […]
Pharma Companies Hiked The Prices Of 130 Drugs This Year And People Are Starting To Notice
Martin Shkreli, the widely condemned hedge fund executive turned pharmaceutical CEO, isn’t the only one engaged in the practice of overcharging for prescription drugs. Drug giant Pfizer has raised prices on over 130 of its […]
America’s Four Largest Airlines And Their Shareholders Are Facing A Major DOJ Antitrust Investigation
Antitrust officials in the United States are examining whether or not the country’s four biggest airlines formed a sort of airline cartel, in which they worked together in order to keep airfares high. It is […]
Russia Rules Google Is Violating Antitrust Laws
The Russian Commission of Antitrust has ruled that Google has violated Russian antitrust law and recommended that Google “end [the] abuse of its dominant market position”, in what appears to be yet another instance of […]
Airlines Face Investigation Over Plans To Lower Capacity And Increase Prices Across The Country
While airline services and ticket prices have largely remained stagnant at major hubs over recent years, the same cannot be said for smaller airports. An analysis of industry and government data shows that carriers have […]
McDonald’s Announces Plans To Switch To Cage Free Eggs
Over the next decade, McDonald’s plans to make the transition to cage free eggs in the United States and Canada. The burger chain is trying to reinvent itself as a “modern, progressive burger company” according […]
Google’s Waze Division Accused Of Stealing Data From Competitors
In an interesting intellectual property lawsuit between two mapping services, we get a glimpse of how far companies will go to protect their work. Specifically, the Google-owned app, Waze, which offers information on traffic learned […]
India Joins EU, Canada In Launching Antitrust Investigation Of Google’s Business Practices
The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”), an agency equivalent to the United States Federal Trade Commission, is the latest such body to raise questions regarding the business practices of Google. Specifically, the CCI has received […]
Eco Friendly And Blood Free, Lab Grown Diamonds Are Starting To Crack The Diamond Cartel
Lab-produced diamonds are stealing significant market share from the $80 billion global diamond market as buyers look for lower prices for a virtually indistinguishable product. Formerly reserved for industrial applications, the technology for producing “grown” […]
Google Just Launched An All Out Assault On Yelp With Auto-Tagging Of Restaurant Photos
A new feature by Google will give its users a bigger role in the reviewing of restaurants and simultaneously attack Yelp’s dominance of the restaurant search segment. With restaurant eating becoming more and more convenient […]
Uber Up In Arms After Rivals Ban It From China’s Most Popular Social Network
Uber is up in arms against Chinese tech giant Tencent over what it terms anticompetitive business practices by the social network. Uber executives have come out strongly to protest the repeated anticompetitive tactics being used […]
German Carmaker Audi Is Preparing To Launch A Tesla-Killing All Electric SUV
Investors seemed unusually bullish on startup electric carmaker Tesla Motors this week, after the company raised a stunning $786 million in a follow-on share offering, despite losing over $4,000 on every vehicle it sells. It […]
Whistleblowers Accuse Leading Anti-Virus Company Of Infecting Competitors
Two former employees of Kaspersky Lab, one of the largest online security companies in the world, have come forward with claims that the Moscow-based company used to mess with its competitors by purposely deceiving their […]
Facebook Controlled Internet.org Celebrates One Year Of Knee Capping Net Neutrality
Concerns are being raised as Facebook’s slimey Internet.org initiative is seeking to expand and triggering fresh fears Internet neutrality is being compromised on a global scale. The service has already reached 17 countries worldwide, and […]
Major Hollywood Studios Face EU Antitrust Sanctions Over Geoblocking
Major Hollywood entertainment providers are are facing tough questions this week after European regulators announced antitrust charges against the big studios as well as the U.K.-based pay TV service Sky TV for a practice known […]
AT&T’s Acquisition Of DirecTV Given OK From Department Of Justice
AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV is almost a done deal with The US Department of Justice (DoJ) today giving it its blessing. The proposed $48.5 billion merger has also been given the thumbs up by the […]
U.S. Chip Giant Qualcomm Faces EU Antitrust Investigation
Qualcomm, an American icon and world leader in the manufacturing of chips necessary for smartphones, tablets and cellphones is now the topic of not one, but two investigations, for the potential misuse of its market […]
Cutthroat Chinese Smartphone Industry May Foreshadow Future Of Western Markets
One startup smartphone maker has become so popular, now everyone is trying to make a smartphone. In a market that has recently started to slow down, there are questions about what red-hot Chinese smartphone maker […]
America’s Four Largest Airlines Under Investigation For Keeping Ticket Prices High
Ever wonder why airline ticket prices always seem so close regardless of which airline you’re looking at? A group flyers is curious too and has sued the nation’s four largest airline carriers, alleging they are […]
Big Health Keeps Getting Bigger: Aetna To Buy Rival Health Insurer Humana
Consolidation continues to occur in the already consolidated health insurance market as hot on the heals of Anthem’s $54 billion bid for rival Cigna, Aetna announced it will acquire all outstanding shares of Humana at […]
Google Found To Pose A Significant Threat To The Open Internet
An influential recent study of internet openness found that Google favors its own results in the search engine, limiting users’ reach and reducing the quality of their searches overall. Tim Wu, who created the phrase, […]
Google Will Get Massive Fine From The European Union For Abuse Of Competitive Position
The European Union made clear on Monday that it intends to levy fines on Google Inc. large enough to act as a deterrent to other monopolies as punishment for squeezing out rivals in the comparison […]
Gap Announces It Will Close 175 Retail Stores Across North America
Iconic American retailer The Gap announced on Tuesday that it will close 175 stores across North America over the next few years as it struggles to turn around the business. A “limited number” of European […]
Apple Caught Using Its App Store To Bully Rival Smartwatch Makers
Apple is notorious for playing hard ball with just about everyone and its treatment of rival smartwatch manufacturers appears to be no different, according to reports released late Wednesday. The makers of the Pebble smartwatch, […]
Qualcomm Latest U.S. Company To Face EU Competition Probe
Qualcomm joins Microsoft, Google and Facebook in feeling the wrath of the European Commission as the EU regulator still continues to scrutinize the chipmaker despite reaching an agreement previously. The news comes after the company, […]
Apple Being Investigated By DOJ For Trying To Kill Spotify, Internet Radio
The Department of Justice is investigating Apple’s business practices in relation to its upcoming music streaming service, according to multiple press reports. The news comes after reports that Apple has been pushing major music labels […]