Fines, bans and directors liable: Government plans Big Tech crackdown December 15, 2020 The government is set to announce sweeping new measures for social media companies, as part of a crackdown on big tech. Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden and Home Secretary Priti Patel will today propose plans to hand Ofcom considerable powers over social media firms. Ofcom handed new powers The regulator will be able to fine companies [...]
Deliveroo launches Eat In to Help Out discount for September August 27, 2020 Deliveroo has launched an Eat In to Help Out offer for September as the government’s dine-in discount scheme comes to an end this month. The food delivery firm will offer customers £5 off orders on Monday to Wednesday next month in a bid to support local restaurants. Deliveroo will fund the discount for the more [...]
Stubhub hit with legal threat over ‘misleading’ ticket sales January 29, 2020 Stubhub is facing legal action from the competition regulator over claims the ticket reseller misled customers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a wider crackdown on the secondary ticket market amid concerns many websites are a hotbed for ticket touts. But the regulator said it was concerned that Stubhub was not complying with [...]
Exclusive: Tech guru Harry Destecroix launches new disruptive investment vehicle December 11, 2020 Well-known tech scientist and entrepreneur Dr Harry Destecroix is bringing a new deep tech ecosystem to the market, which includes an investment fund and a network of partners to nurture science and engineering start-ups and spin-outs, as he puts it. In an exclusive interview with City A.M., the founder of Ziylo – which he sold for nearly [...]
O2’s £31bn Virgin Media merger ‘will help UK pandemic recovery’, says CEO February 25, 2021 O2’s proposed £31bn tie-up with Virgin Media will accelerate investment in telecoms infrastructure and bolster the UK’s post-pandemic recovery, the mobile network’s boss has said. The mega-merger, agreed last year by O2 owner Telefonica and Virgin Media parent Liberty Global, is facing an in-depth probe by regulators amid concerns it could harm competition. But O2 [...]
UK competition watchdog to push for tighter controls on US tech giants February 3, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog will push for tougher powers to regulate companies such as Google and Facebook following the UK’s official departure from the EU, and will pursue antitrust investigations against tech giants independently of the bloc. “The upside [Brexit] is that you take back control — genuinely — of the decisions,” Competition and Markets [...]
Competition watchdog clears Bauer’s regional radio takeover March 12, 2020 The competition watchdog today cleared Bauer Media’s acquisition of dozens of regional radio stations after the media giant agreed to match advertising terms. Bauer last year snapped up almost 50 stations from Celador, Lincs FM, Wireless and UKRD. This included a 50 per cent stake in First Radio Sales Limited, which runs more than 100 [...]
Bezos accused of ‘wilful blindness’ over use of unlicensed music on Twitch August 10, 2020 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has found himself under fire by the music industry for an “apparent unwillingness” to counteract use of unlicensed music on streaming platform Twitch. In a letter, seen by City A.M., non-profit organisation the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) accused Bezos of being ignorant of copyright issues on Twitch, having submitted more than [...]
Facebook and Ebay pledge to combat trading of fake reviews, says competition watchdog January 8, 2020 The competition watchdog has announced that Facebook and Ebay have signed agreements committing to combat the sale of fake and misleading reviews on their platforms. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns about the trade of fake and misleading reviews on tech giants’ platforms last summer, and has been pressing them to crack down [...]
Combined Just Eat and Takeaway.com shares start trading February 3, 2020 The combined shares of Just Eat and Takeaway.com began trading this morning, despite a competition watchdog probe into the merger. Just Eat’s shares were suspended this morning and the merged company Just Eat Takeaway.com began trading on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker Jet. However, a full integration of the two takeaway platforms is [...]