Items tagged with France
Authorities in France are set to file a lawsuit against two of the biggest tech firms in the world: U.S.-based Google and Apple. The suit was announced by France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. The minister said that he had been made aware that both Google and Apple had imposed price and contract changes on...
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If you've been following the tech world over the past two weeks, Apple hasn't had this much negative attention aimed at its products since the MacBook Pro battery life fiasco stirred by Consumer Reports, or perhaps the iPhone 4 "Antennagate". Apple's decision to throttle older iPhones with degraded batteries -- while...
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France and Germany are just two of the countries that are pressing mobile messaging companies to provide access to encrypted content during terrorist investigations. Both countries have experienced a series of deadly attacks and have been struggling to intercept messages from the Islamic State. France and Germany have...
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We reported earlier on France's demands to Microsoft with regards to bolstering its Windows 10 OS to better protect user data, and ultimately, their privacy. The fact that a watchdog would target Microsoft for collecting too much data probably strikes no one as a surprise, as that very complaint has been one shared by...
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France's data privacy and protection watchdog has ordered Microsoft to put the brakes on what it deems is excessive user data collection in Windows 10. It also took issue with certain elements of Windows 10 that need to be more secure, such as entering the four-character PIN to log into the operating system, and...
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In the wake of Apple's fight with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over certain iPhone security features, French parliament officials voted to penalize smartphone makers that refuse to hand over encrypted data in cases involving terrorism. The legislation is being introduced as an amendment to a penal reform...
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A restaurant owner in France sued a blogger for writing a negative review of her experience at his establishment and ultimately won because the review became too popular in Google's search results. Seriously. Apparently the judge in the case isn't familiar with this whole Internet thing and how it works, hence the...
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France's National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties (CNIL) has initiated proceedings against Google over privacy violations and has given the sultan of search three months to fix things or face fines. Should Google drag its feet, it faces a maximum fine of 150,000 euros (~$198,000), along with 300,000 euros...
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The fight against illegal file sharing sites took a trip to France to this week as the alleged men in charge of one of France's most popular file sharing links forums have all been arrested. The three men accused of copyright shenanigans ran a site known as Liberty Land, which has been in operation since 2009 and was...
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A French court has convicted Google and CEO Eric Schmidt for defamation. The ruling came as a result of Google's Suggest function, which brought up terms such as "rapist" and "satanist" when people Googled the plaintiff's name. The man who filed the lawsuit had been previously convicted of “corruption of a minor.” However, the...
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With the World Cup over and the sound of vuvuzelas thankfully fading away, you might think it's time for business as usual to begin again. Toshiba, however, appears hooked on the excitement, fun, and motonous buzzing a PR crisis can deliver. Back in early June, the company ran a series of ads in Germany, England, Portugal, Italy, and Spain....
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Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications has made 1 mbps broadband access a legal right, according to YLE, the country's national broadcasting company. This makes Finland the first country to take this step. Even better, 1 mbps access is just an intermediary step. Earlier, Finland had set a goal of 2015 for 100 mbps broadband access...
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Microsoft, apparently not satisfied with its upcoming retail stores, is opening a cafe in Paris, France. To be exact, a Windows 7 cafe, to help launch its new operating system. The Windows Cafe will open on Oct. 22nd, the day Windows 7 launches, at 47 Boulevard Sebastopol. The Cafe will reportedly have plenty of Microsoft stuff to play with...
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The U.K. has joined France in trying to crack down on illegal downloading by instituting a policy whereby consumers found to repeatedly illegally download copyrighted material would have their Internet access suspended. This has commonly been called a "three strikes" policy, as usually the proposal is to give the offender three chances before...
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Think the iPhone is hot stuff? Think the Pre was captured everyone's imagination? How's about sporting a cellphone on your wrist? We're not talking about one of those fancy Bluetooth watches that communicated with your phone, we're talking about a full-on watchphone. LG's GD910 has been making the rounds at major trade shows and such for over...
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It only took a month after the fiasco that prevented the HADOPI legislation from passing for the French Assembly and Senate to regroup, and on Wednesday HADOPI, the "three strikes" anti-piracy legislation passed the French Senate. It had passed the French National Assembly on Tuesday.The fiasco we reference above occurred when overconfidence...
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About a month after rejecting the same law, the French National Assembly on Tuesday approved a three-strikes downloading law, 296 votes in favor to 233 against. The bill now moves to the Senate where approval is expected in a Wednesday vote. HADOPI, named after the agency that will be formed if the law passes, "Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion...
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From July 5th through July 27th, the Tour de France will be running. I'm not going to be heading over there to watch, and although they'll be plenty of coverage, what if we want take a look at the route from a spectator's view? Google's thought about that, and has provide a Street View of the entire route. Google's blog post announcing the...
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There's an old joke about the French surrendering to anyone and anything, but one place France never surrenders is in the courtroom where money is involved. If you're a foreign firm doing business in France and your business model rubs an established French business the wrong way, the French court system isn't shy about whacking you with the...
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