French tobacconists took to the streets this week, dumping carrots and covering police cams with trash bags in protest of standardized cigarette packs which are free of branded labels. French Minister Marisol Touraine pushed for […]
Tag: EU
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 […]
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 […]
Greece Capitulates to Creditors’ Demands in Order to Remain in the Eurozone
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to European demands in order to immediately qualify for up to $95 billion of aid Greece needs to remain in the Euro Zone. These agreements were reached at a […]
Greece Begins To Feel Effects Of Rejecting Austerity Measures
After failing to meet another deadline to pay back its creditors, Greece is now feeling pressure from its European lenders to implement austerity measures such as pensions cuts and tax hikes. Greek Prime Minister Alexis […]
Greek Banks Prepare To Confiscate Customer Deposits
In the face of insolvency, Greek banks are now preparing plans for a so-called “bail-in” of depositors, which would see a certain percentage of customer deposits taken by banks in order to stay in business. […]
Austrian Government Latest To Have Debate On EU Membership
While Greece is hanging in by a thread to remain in the European Union (EU), more than 260,000 Austrians led by a 66 year old retired pensioner have forced their Government to debate leaving the […]
Europe Votes To Abolish Cell Phone Roaming Charges
There’s good news for European travelers this morning thanks to an EU decision that all data, text and cell phone roaming surcharges in European Union (EU) countries will be abolished from 2017. The decision was […]
European Parliament Votes To Extend Sanctions On Russia
The gathering of European Union foreign ministers on Monday in Luxembourg resulted in the extension of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions had been imposed because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, an EU spokeswoman stated, […]
France Give Google 15 Days To Comply With Right To Be Forgotten Or Face Penalties
In Europe, Google must remove links to inaccurate or outdated information from its search engine, after the EU government ruled people fundamentally have a ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ on the internet. Yet Google doesn’t like […]
Latest Amazon Disclosure Shows Just How Little Tax Big Tech Companies Actually Pay
While main street Americans pay record tax levels on personal income, property and via sales taxes, big tech companies with armies of lawyers and tax accountants continue to cheat the system, according to the latest […]
EU To Fight Insane British Plan To Censor The Internet
British PM David Cameron fancies himself just the man to “clean up the internet”. Such rhetoric, which pulls on parental heartstrings, seems to have worked for his last election campaign where he suggested that access […]
EU Drops Plans For Safer Pesticides Because Of Secret U.S. Trade Agreement
There’s good reason why the Obama administration and members of congress want trade agreements to remain under tight secrecy: they’re probably bad for you. Take the case of the EU, who had plans to regulate […]
Bank Of England Studying UK Exit From European Union
The Bank of England is actively assessing the implications of a British exit from the European Union, it said in a statement, confirming an email it accidentally sent to a newspaper about the confidential research […]
Belgian Police Warn Facebook Is Seriously Violating Privacy Of Both Users And Non-Users
Belgium’s privacy watchdog, The Commission de Protection de la Vie Privée (CPVP), condemned Facebook for its tracking of users and non-users, saying the company is in breach of EU privacy laws. The commission said it […]
Mass Surveillance Ruled Unconstitutional In Slovak Republic
Laws that allow for spying on European citizens continue to fall across the continent. First it was Bulgaria, which followed in the wake of the Netherlands. Yesterday the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic has […]
Twitter And Others Banned From EU Lobbying
Twitter could soon find itself ignored by top European lawmakers. Twitter, as well as media companies BSkyB, TalkTalk, LG Electronics and Angry Birds maker Rovio missed an annual deadline to register their lobbying operations to […]
Facebook Complains About EU Pressure To Be Accountable For Privacy
Facebook’s sizable EU lobby, headed by Richard Allan, has taken out advertising in leading newspapers this morning to complain about “multiple” EU nations digging around the network’s data slurping business practices. The company’s complaint is […]
Greece Edges Closer To Chaos As Finance Minister Attacked
Greece is teetering on the edge and things have begun to turn violent according to a new report this morning. A group of anarchists attacked Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his wife Danae at […]
New EU Regulations Mean Cars Will Spy On You
In another blow to individual privacy the European Union has enacted strict laws that now force car manufacturers to track and submit loads of data about their driver to authorities. While supposedly for safety purposes […]
Bank Of England Questions Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway
An unusually negative story about Berkshire Hathaway, the giant firm owned by the world’s second richest man Warren Buffett, has emerged. According to reports from the Financial Times The Bank of England wrote to US […]
Greece To Receive $5 Billion Bailout From Russia
Der Spiegel is reporting that Greece is poised to sign a gas deal with Russia as early as Tuesday that could put up to €5 billion into the depleted Greek coffers, according to a senior […]
TGIF: Google Has A Bad Day Amid A Bad Week
Search and mobile phone monopolist Google must be thankful it’s Friday. The company, already having a bad week due to the EU announcing its intent to prosecute the giant over abuse of dominant position in […]
Major Changes Coming To Google
This week the European Union’s competition commissioner announced it had taken the first steps toward fining Google for abusing its dominant position in search. Specifically the EU Commission believes the company has abused its dominant […]