FTC denies rating board's suggestion for age verification system
The Federal Trade Commission has denied a petition to allow companies to use facial age estimation (FAE) technology to obtain parental consent when collecting data from children under 13, a requirement for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Folks surprised by Jon Stewart's reveal of Apple trying to censor content, Apple has been manipulating media for years. You haven't heard about it, because Apple has been manipulating media for years.
My favorite example, was when Rian Johnson directed Knives Out, and MALICIOUSLY complied with Apple's ridiculous demands on Apple product placement.
@rbreich the #ftc shouldn’t be outgunned by the corporations it goes after sometimes 10 to 1 in the number of lawyers on a case it’s absurd but exactly how the rich like it
Jon Stewart claims Apple wouldn't let him interview FTC chair Lina Khan on his podcast.
@AxiosNews reports: "Stewart's Apple TV+ show ended late last year after Stewart and Apple executives parted ways over creative differences, including the comedian's desire to cover topics such as China and AI."
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FTC head Lina Khan is fighting for an anti-monopoly America
Charged with enforcing #antitrust law and promoting #consumer#protection, the #FTC is nominally the regulator charged with stopping deals that will harm consumers.
But under successive administrations – Republican and Democratic – some critics charge the FTC stood by as industry after industry consolidated power in the hands of fewer and fewer companies.
All that changed under Joe #Biden, who has consistently attacked the monopolization of US business.
#Lina#Khan is his most high-profile warrior.
She has redefined the battlefield in such a sweeping manner that some argue there is no going back no matter who wins 2024’s election.
But tough talk is just that – talk. Drawing a line under an era of light-touch antitrust enforcement has proven easier said than done.
Last week the FTC sued to block #Kroger’s $24.6bn takeover of rival grocer #Albertsons.
If approved, the agency warned, the U.S.’s largest-ever supermarket merger would raise prices for millions of shoppers.
Kroger and Albertsons would collectively have over 5,000 stores and 700,000 employees across 48 states, according to the FTC, which claimed an executive involved in the deal had conceded it was “basically creating a monopoly”.
It's illegal for landlords to collude on rental prices & using digital algorithms is no exception. Glad to see the #FTC taking action agnst landlords using illegal, predatory practices that target & harm working families.
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As landlords turn to algorithms to set rents, they should be aware that price fixing thru an algorithm is still price fixing.
A brief by @FTC & DOJ makes clear that there is no AI exemption from antitrust laws.
#Amazon#FTC#Antitrust#BigTech#Monopolies: "[I]n amazon’s case, the FTC lawsuit suggests that the company’s financial disclosures effectively conceal a major source of profits: its third-party marketplace, which connects buyers with outside sellers. Third-party transactions represent about 60 percent of Amazon’s sales volume. The company acts as a middleman, matching vendors with shoppers and providing logistics to get the product from one to the other. The FTC alleges that, within this third-party market, Amazon imposes exorbitant fees on the sellers who rely on its site to reach customers, fees well in excess of what it costs Amazon to provide those services, leading to big profits. How big? That’s redacted.
The amount of profit that Amazon makes from third-party sellers, as opposed to AWS or some other division, might sound like a technical distinction, but it’s essential to the case against the company. The FTC alleges that Amazon’s low-price image is a mirage: According to the FTC, the company actually keeps prices higher than they would be in a competitive market—not just on Amazon but across the internet—squeezing consumers and small businesses in the process. Amazon famously lost billions of dollars in its early years and was barely in the black for many years after that."