Technology giants, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc., spent millions on lobbying in the first quarter of 2021 as they face heightened scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans over alleged anticompetitive practices. Google spent $2.7 million on federal lobbying in the three months ending March 31, according to disclosures filed with Congress. That’s a 49% increase from the same period a year earlier, and comes as the company has been steadily increasing its Washington… Source link

Spotify, Tile, and Match Group aren’t exactly startups anymore. Neither is Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, which last summer was valued at $17.3 billion. But these companies, which all rely on Apple and Google to host their apps, are locked in a battle with the tech giants that could trickle down to smaller companies and independent app developers. Several of these companies testified before a subpanel of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, chaired by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN),… Source link

Hutton Supancic | Getty Images Chris Poole, who founded controversial online community 4chan before joining Google in 2016, has left the search giant after jumping among several groups within the company, CNBC has learned. Poole’s last official day at Google was April 13th, according to an internal repository viewed by CNBC, which described his last role as a product manager. Oftentimes, employee shares attached to hiring vest at the five-year mark, though it’s unclear if that’s a reason for… Source link

Human remains have been found in the search for a missing Amish teen. Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, went missing in the US state of Pennsylvania in June last year. Ms Stoltzfoos was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area in Lancaster County. Her dad Lloyd Stoltzfoos told police in June last year he believes she never made it home after leaving the church, York Daily Record reported. Lillian Ebersole, who attends the same church, told investigators Ms Stoltfzfoos said she was going… Source link

While we wait for the NFL to tell us the full extent of the mistreatment of Washington Football Team’s cheerleaders (any day now, NFL), or for anyone to face consequences for the department-wide, toxic environment fostered by LSU athletics, we bring you a new story of young women being let down by the very adults meant to be looking out for their well-being. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times posted an investigation by Ryan Kartje into the rotten culture of the University of Southern… Source link

NFL coordinator: Fields more ‘pure QB’ than Kyler Murray originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea Every year leading up to the NFL draft, analysts make comparisons between college prospects and players currently playing in the NFL. When it comes to Ohio State QB Justin Fields, the dual-threat QB has been compared to Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, or even a combination of the two. It all depends on who you ask, and how they evaluate the player.  One NFL coordinator views Fields as a better QB… Source link

See the giant Ñ hiding in the Doodle? Google Friday’s Doodle celebrates the… Source link

Law360 (April 22, 2021, 6:21 PM EDT) — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has struck down several claims of a communications patent involved in parallel infringement litigation against Google and Amazon in the Western District of Texas, finding the claims obvious over prior art. In a 79-page decision issued Wednesday, the PTAB invalidated each of the challenged claims in Hammond Development International Inc.’s communications systems patent for being obvious due to three published… Source link

Bloomberg Twitter Has ‘Scary Amount of Power,’ Co-Founder Biz Stone Says (Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. co-founder Biz Stone believes the social media company made the right decision when it banned then-President Donald Trump from its service in January, but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable with it.“It’s a scary amount of power,” Stone said during an interview for the Collision Conference on Thursday. “The CEO of a company in San Francisco can quiet the president of the United… Source link

Bitcoin prices extended their recent decline late Thursday, falling for the seventh day in nine, to as low as $50,450. The largest cryptocurrency was changing hands around $51,800 as of 21:23 coordinated universal time (5:23 p.m. ET). Bitcoin (BTC) is down 9.8% since Sunday, the biggest drop on the weekly price charts since late February. Related: Bitcoin’s Drop From Biden’s Proposed Tax Hikes Not Likely to Last, BCB CEO Says A recent rally in prices for ether (ETH) and other alternative… Source link