Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Our Peculiar Election Has Also Confused Google: Abbasi

Amid the frenetic power play and uncertainty around the formation of the new government in Pakistan, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said the politics of grabbing power has always been harmful to the country and its people.

Abassi made the remarks while speaking to media persons after attending the hearing of the PSO unlawful recruiting case before an accountability court here. He said anyone who comes to power under the current conditions will be incapable of resolving national challenges.

“Our peculiar election has also confused Google, which has been tired of issuing results,” he said.

“It has an easy way-out that the one, who has been the winner in Form 45, is the winner of election, but here form 47 has won and form 45 has lost,” ARY News quoted Abbasi as saying further.

“I earlier said that the election will bring chaos, which has proved, thankfully I didn’t participate in this practice,” the former PM added.

“Everyone is vying for power promising to lead the situation to betterment, one who will make more compromises will become the prime minister,” he said.

Bracing reporters earlier, Abbasi said he was satisfied with his decision not to contest the general elections, adding, however, that it does not mean he has left politics.

He warned that any attempt to “manipulate their mandate will result in unsustainable chaos”.

“The heat of the electoral process has passed; it is time to allow the country to heal,” the former PM said, in a word of caution to the country’s power brokers amid the flurry of talks and parleys towards forming a new dispensation at the Centre.

The remarks by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi underscored the need for collective action and cooperation among political leaders to steer Pakistan through its current challenges, according to the report.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), founded by now-deposed and jailed PM Imran Khan, alleged mass rigging in the general elections. (ANI)

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Google Pixel 8 event

Google Offers Glimpse Of Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro Ahead Of October Event

Tech giant Google offered the first glimpse of its upcoming smartphones Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro ahead of their launch on October 4.

According to The Verge, an American technology news website, the pictures and videos shared by Google show how much smaller the Pixel 8 is in comparison to the 8 Pro. While the Pixel 8 Pro is rumored to retain the same 6.7-inch display size as its predecessor, the standard Pixel 8 could have a smaller 6.17-inch display (instead of 6.3 inches on the Pixel 7), which is good news if you prefer phones that don’t take up your entire hand.

Apart from that, Google also offered a glimpse at the Pixel Watch 2. The device looks mostly similar to its predecessor and features a porcelain band to match the Pixel 8 Pro, reported The Verge.

While Google doesn’t reveal much about the new features coming with the Pixel Watch 2, it notes that you can pair it with a Pixel phone “to get even more personalized help, safety features, and health insights.” Google also briefly showed off the Pixel Buds in its teaser, which indicates that we’ll also see the earbuds at its hardware-packed event, as per The Verge. (ANI)

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Canada Paying Publishers Law

Google To Remove News From Search Results In Canada Over Paying Publishers Law

Google, on Thursday, announced that it will remove Canadian news content from its search, news, and discover products after the government passed a bill, which requires online platforms to pay news publishers takes effect in the country.

In a statement, Google said Canada’s Bill C-18-Online News Act, which was passed last week, “remains unworkable”.
“We have now informed the Government that when the law takes effect, we, unfortunately, will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada and that C-18 will also make it untenable for us to continue offering our Google News Showcase product in Canada,” Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, Google & Alphabet, said in a blog.

He further added, “We’re disappointed it has come to this. We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible.”

The decision comes after the Canadian Government’s contentious C-18 legislation passed Parliament last week. The bill has been criticized by tech giants like Meta and Google who say it’s unfair to impose what amounts to a tax on links.

Google also stated that they support Canadian journalism.

Pointing out its work in Canadian news service, Google said that last year, the company linked to Canadian news publications more than 3.6 billion times — at no charge — helping publishers make money through ads and new subscriptions. This referral traffic from links has been valued at USD 250 million CAD annually.

Kent Walker also stated that ever since the Government introduced C-18 last year, Google has shared its experiences in other countries and has been clear that unworkable legislation could lead to changes that affect the availability of news on Google’s products in Canada.

“Last week, just as the Bill was approaching final passage and Royal Assent, the Government agreed to discuss the possibility of addressing some of the most critical issues, which we welcomed. In that discussion, we asked for clarity on financial expectations platforms face for simply linking to news, as well as a specific, viable path towards exemption based on our programs to support news and our commercial agreements with publishers,” he said.

“While we appreciate the Government’s acknowledgment that our concerns were reasonable and confirmation that the law will not apply until they adopt implementing regulations, they have not provided us with sufficient certainty that the regulatory process will be able to resolve structural issues with the legislation (such as forced payment for links and uncapped financial liability),” he added in his blog.

Earlier, Meta Platforms announced that it will end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada after the country’s Parliament approved legislation designed to compel internet giants to pay publishers, Al Jazeera reported.

“Today, we are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to the Online News Act taking effect,” Meta said in a statement afterward. (ANI)

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Padma Bhushan To Sundar Pichai

India’s Envoy To US Hands Over Padma Bhushan To Sundar Pichai

India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu handed over the Padma Bhushan, one of the country’s highest civilian Awards, to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in San Fransisco.

Taking to Twitter, Sandhu said, “Delighted to hand over Padma Bhushan to CEO @Google
& Alphabet @sundarpichai in San Francisco. Sundar’s inspirational journey from #Madurai to Mountain View, strengthening India-US economic and technology ties, reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation.”

On the eve of the 73rd Republic Day, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that Sundar Pichai would be conferred with Padma Bhushan.

After receiving the Padma Bhushan award from Sandhu, Pichai in his blog said, “I want to thank Ambassador Sandhu and Consul General Prasad for hosting me to receive the Padma Bhushan. I am deeply grateful to the Indian government and the people of India for this immense honour. It is incredibly meaningful to be honoured in this way by the country that shaped me.”

“India is a part of me. I carry it with me wherever I go. (Unlike this beautiful award which I will keep somewhere safe),” he added.

According to the blog, Google CEO said that he is fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure that he had opportunities to explore his interests.

Every new technology that arrived at our doorstep made our lives better. And that experience put me on a path to Google, and the chance to help build technology that improves the lives of people all over the world, Pichai added.

Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India vision, Pichai said that Digital India’s vision has certainly been an accelerator for that progress. He also said that he felt proud to continue its investment in India, partnering with governments, businesses and communities over two transformative decades.

“We recently announced that we’ll be investing USD 10 billion in India’s digital future, working to enable more affordable internet access, building products for India’s unique needs, helping businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation, and using AI to tackle big societal challenges,” Google CEO said.

He further stated, “We’re also investing deeply in digital skilling, and have trained over 1 million women through our WomenWill Entrepreneurship Program and over 55,000 teachers in partnership with the government and local organizations. We’ve also sponsored over 100,000 Google Career Certificate sponsorships in collaboration with the NASSCOM Foundation and Tata Strive.”

Talking about the languages added to Google Translate, Pichai said that 8 of 24 are languages native to India. It means so much to see how people can access information and knowledge in their preferred language, and see the world open up to them in new ways.

“That’s why I continue to be so optimistic about technology, and why I believe India can and must continue to lead,” he added.

Pichai also said that he is looking forward to continuing the great partnership between Google and India, as we work together to bring the benefits of technology to more people. (ANI)

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Meta Influence Campaigns

Irish Regulator Fines Meta 265 MN Euros Over Data Breach

Ireland’s data regulator on Monday slapped Facebook owner Meta with a 265-million-euro (USD 275 million) fine after details of more than half a billion users were leaked on a hacking website.

The penalty resulted from an investigation, started in April 2021, related to the discovery of a collated dataset of Facebook personal data that had been made available online. Facebook was also ordered to take a range of corrective measures, reported Euronews.
Meta said it had cooperated fully with the investigation by Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC) and made changes to its systems during the time in question, including removing the ability to scrape its features in this way using phone numbers.

Monday’s fine is the fourth that Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC) has levied against one of Meta’s companies. It is Meta’s lead privacy regulator within the European Union and has 13 more inquiries into the social media group outstanding.

The DPC regulates Apple, Google, Tiktok, and other technology giants due to the location of their EU headquarters in Ireland. It currently has 40 inquiries open into such firms, including the 13 involving Meta, reported Euronews.

The regulator has the power to impose fines of up to 4 percent of a company’s global revenue under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) “One Stop Shop” regime introduced in 2018.

The DPC said mitigating factors in Monday’s decision – which had been approved by all other relevant EU regulators – included Facebook’s actions.

In September the watchdog hit its Instagram subsidiary with a record fine of 405 million euros, which Meta plans to appeal.

The Irish regulator said in a statement that other relevant EU regulators agreed with the decision issued on Monday after it shared a draft ruling with them last month under the bloc’s “one-stop shop” system of regulating large multinationals. (ANI)

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Google For Anti-Competitive Practices

Rs 1,338 Cr Penalty On Google For Anti-Competitive Practices

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on tech giant Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem, apart from issuing cease and desist orders.

The Commission also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.
The Commission examined various practices of Google in the matter of licensing of Android mobile operating system and various proprietary mobile applications of Google namely Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, and YouTube.

During the course of the inquiry, Google argued about the competitive constraints being faced by Apple, CCI said in a statement.

In relation to understanding the extent of competition between Google’s Android ecosystem and Apple’s iOS ecosystem, the Commission said it noted the differences in the two business models which affect the underlying incentives of business decisions.

The Commission said that Apple’s business was primarily based on a vertically integrated smart device ecosystem that focuses on the sale of high-end smart devices with state-of-the-art software components. Whereas Google’s business was found to be driven by the ultimate intent of increasing users on its platforms so that they interact with its revenue-earning service, which means, an online search which directly affects the sale of online advertising services by Google.

Further, in relation to app stores, the Commission said it noted that the demand for the same comes from three different sets of consumers with smart device original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who wish to install an app store to make their smart devices commercially viable and marketable; app developers, who want to offer their services to the end-users; and end users to wish to access app stores to access content or avail other services.

The Commission said it had examined the substitutability between Google’s Play Store for Android OS and Apple’s App Store for iOS from the perspective of all three demand constituents and found that there is no substitutability between Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

The Commission further noted that there might be some degree of competition between the two mobile ecosystems — Android and Apple, however, that too is also limited at the time of deciding as to which device to buy. Based on its assessment, the Commission found Google to be dominant in all the mentioned relevant markets.

The CCI concluded that mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) under MADA (with no option to un-install the same) and their prominent placement amounts to imposition of an unfair condition on the device manufacturers and thereby in contravention of the provisions of Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the relevant Act. These obligations are also found to be in the nature of supplementary obligations imposed by Google on OEMs and thus, in contravention of Section 4(2)(d) of the Act.

It said Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the online search market resulting in the denial of market access for competing search apps in contravention of Section 4(2)(c) of the Act.

It also concluded that Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to protect its position in online general search in contravention of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act and that Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to enter as well as protect its position in non-OS specific web browser market through Google Chrome App.

It noted that Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to enter as well as protect its position in the OVHPs market through YouTube and thereby contravened provisions of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act.

The CCI also concluded that Google, by making pre-installation of Google’s proprietary apps (particularly Google Play Store) conditional upon signing of AFA/ ACC for all android devices manufactured/ distributed/ marketed by device manufacturers, has reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices operating on alternative versions of Android i.e., Android forks and thereby limited technical or scientific development to the prejudice of the consumers, in violation of the provisions of Section 4(2)(b)(ii) of the Act.

The CCI also indicated some measures including that Google shall not incentivize or otherwise obligate OEMs not to sell smart devices based on Android forks and shall not restrict uninstalling of its pre-installed apps by the users.

In relation to the computation of penalty, the CCI noted that there were glaring inconsistencies and wide disclaimers in presenting various revenue data points by Google.

“However, in the interest of justice and with an intent of ensuring necessary market correction at the earliest, the CCI quantified the provisional monetary penalties on the basis of the data presented by Google. Accordingly, the CCI imposed a penalty of Rs. 1,337.76 crores upon Google on a provisional basis, for violating Section 4 of the Act,” a CCI release said.

It said Google has been given a time of 30 days to provide the requisite financial details and supporting documents. (ANI)

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