Tech
Google wins legal bid to overturn 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine in EU digital ad case
Published
4 months agoon
By
Ekwutos BlogLONDON (AP) — Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business.
The EU’s General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer.
“The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the court said in a press release.
The commission’s ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: ads that the U.S. tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.
Regulators had accused Google of inserting exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google’s behavior resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.
But the General Court said the commission “committed errors” when it assessed those clauses. The commission failed to demonstrate that Google’s contracts deterred innovation, harmed consumers or helped the company hold on to and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets, it said.
The ruling can be appealed, but only on points of law, to the Court of Justice, the bloc’s top court.
The commission said in a brief statement that it “will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.”
Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The company’s legal victory comes a week after it lost a final challenge against a separate EU antitrust case for its shopping comparison service that also involved a hefty fine.
They were among three antitrust penalties totaling about 8 billion euros ($8.9 billion) that the commission punished Google with in the previous decade. The penalties marked the beginning of an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies.
Since then, Google has faced escalating pressure on both sides of the Atlantic over its digital ad business. It’s currently battling the Justice Department in a U.S. federal court over allegations that its dominance over the technology that controls the sale of billions of internet display ads constitutes an illegal monopoly.
British competition regulators this month accused the company of abusing its dominance in the country’s digital ad market and giving preference to its own services.
EU antitrust enforcers carrying out their own investigation suggested last year that breaking up the company was the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its digital ad business.
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The wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Tech
The wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Published
6 hours agoon
January 4, 2025By
Ekwutos BlogThe wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Depending on the diameter of the tires, they may continue to spin between 1,500 and 2,000 rpm.
The captain must stop this rotation before the tires settle into the box, a task that is accomplished by different systems depending on the level.
Here is a brief explanation of how the wheels of an aircraft stop spinning
Most modern aircraft have automatic braking technology and devices to stop the wheels from spinning after takeoff, eliminating the need for pilots to use the brakes, as the automatic braking system works immediately after takeoff.
Passengers can feel the resulting vibration if they are sitting in the front and hear some intermittent noise immediately after takeoff.
Tech
Telcos push 100% tarrif hike, await NCC approval
Published
1 day agoon
January 3, 2025By
Ekwutos BlogNigerian telecommunications companies said they proposed a 100 per cent tariff hike to the regulator, the NCC, across voice, data and digital and are awaiting approval.
The proposal, which has been submitted, aims to address rising operational costs, including inflation and increased service delivery expenses.
The disclosure was made by the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.
However, the CEO said that it remains uncertain whether the Nigerian Communications Commission will approve the proposal.
According to Toriola, the proposed tariff hike is necessary for the sustainability of the industry, which has been facing significant financial pressures due to rising operational costs.
“We’ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent tariff increases to regulators. I doubt they’re going to approve that quantum of increases because they are very, very sensitive to the current economic situation in the country,” Toriola said.
Despite the challenges, Toriola expressed optimism that regulators would make the right decision, taking into account the realities of the sector.
The CEO emphasised that the focus is on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry, rather than short-term profitability.
“I believe we’re all on the same side, the policymakers, the regulators, our Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, and the industry. We’re united because we share concerns about a few fundamental issues. First, human rights, are critical to driving any economy. Without a sustainable industry, the broader economy and the well-being of the people will be negatively impacted.”
Tech
Top secret lab is developing the UK’s first quantum clock
Published
1 day agoon
January 3, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog- READ MORE: Google’s quantum chip can perform ‘impossible’ tasks in five mins
A top secret lab is developing a super-precise ‘quantum clock’ that could revolutionize British intelligence.
This super-accurate timekeeping device, to be rolled out by 2029, will allow more precise navigation and surveillance on Royal Navy ships and RAF planes.
It will also ‘enhance the accuracy of advanced weapons’ like guided missiles and give British computer boffins the edge over online adversaries like cyber criminals.
The clock’s precision will be so refined that it will lose less than one second over billions of years, allowing scientists to measure time at an unprecedented scale.
It is the first device of its kind to be built in the UK and will be deployable on military operations in the next five years, according to Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
‘This first trial of advanced atomic clock represents a significant achievement in the UK’s quantum technology capabilities,’ said DSTL chief executive Paul Hollinshead.
‘The data gathered will not only shape future defence effort but is also a signal to industry and academia that we are serious about exploring quantum technologies for secure and resilient operational advantage.’
Quantum clocks use quantum mechanics – the physics of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic scale – to keep time with unprecedented accuracy by measuring energy fluctuations within atoms.
Quantum clocks are even more accurate that the ‘atomic clocks’, of which there are approximately 400 already in operation around the world.
The UK already has an atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory in London, but this quantum clock will be the country’s first.
Nick France, CTO of Sectigo, told MailOnline: ‘A quantum clock is a type of atomic clock – essentially a super-accurate timekeeping device.
‘Atomic clocks work by measuring the resonant frequency of atoms, whereas quantum clocks measure very small energy changes (‘quantum fluctuations’) in these atoms, leading to increased accuracy even over super-accurate atomic clocks.
‘Atomic clocks currently are incredibly accurate anyway, but a quantum clock has accuracy levels where only a single second is lost in billions of years of operation.’
The British quantum clock will be ‘the first device of its kind to be built in the UK’, said the UK government in a statement, but it will not be a world first.
Back in 2010, the University of Colorado at Boulder developed a quantum clock with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
However, key barriers to deploying quantum clocks are their size – current models come in a van or in a car trailer and are about 1,500 litres in volume.
Potential of quantum clocks
- Enable more precise and independent navigation systems, reducing reliance on GPS satellites, which are vulnerable to jamming or destruction in conflict scenarios.
- Secure communications systems, such as encrypted military networks, which depend on highly synchronised timekeeping.
- Enhance the accuracy of advanced weapon systems, like guided missiles, which rely on accurate timing to calculate trajectories and coordinate attacks.
- Allow Armed Forces to gain an edge over adversaries in timing-critical operations, especially in areas like cyber warfare, where milliseconds can make a difference.
Source: DSTL
Just like most quantum equipment, quantum also have sensitivity to environmental factors such as heat and air molecules, limiting their transport between different places.
‘Quantum clocks are not small like watches or alarm clocks,’ France added.
‘These are devices that in current implementations can be large, even room-sized devices.
‘However, improvements in technology will decrease the size of these devices making them more portable.’
Apart from just ultra-precise timekeeping, quantum clocks could transform global navigation systems by helping satellite communications and aircraft navigation.
According to DSTL, their quantum clock will enable more precise and independent navigation systems, reducing reliance on GPS satellites, which are vulnerable to jamming or destruction in conflict scenarios.
It will improve communications systems, such as encrypted military networks, which depend on highly synchronised timekeeping, as well as boosting the accuracy of advanced weapon systems like guided missiles, which rely on accurate timing to calculate trajectories and coordinate attacks.
What’s more, British Armed Forces will get an edge over adversaries in ‘timing-critical operations’, such as cyber warfare, where milliseconds can make a difference.
Cyber warfare refers to the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation’s computers or information networks.
France told MailOnline: ‘Super-accurate timekeeping is important to governments and militaries to enable accurate navigation (using GPS or similar technologies) of planes and ships, but also guidance of weapons systems such as missiles.
‘Equally important to the military as well as civilians is secure communications.
‘Much of the secure communications for governments and the military relies on accurate time sources to function.
‘But equally these accurate clocks are useful for more civilian applications and general internet security, even securing your personal data as it’s transmitted around the internet.’
Companies and governments around the world are keen to cash in on the huge potential benefits that the spooky effects of quantum technology could bring.
Google last month unveiled a new quantum computing chip it said could do in minutes what it would take leading supercomputers 10 septillion years to complete.
Eventually, such a chip could power a ‘commercial’ quantum computer that could be purchased by members of the public and used in labs, offices and even homes.
These ultra-powerful machines, which use the spooky effects of quantum physics, could do everything from speed up AI, solve climate changeand discover lifesaving drugs.
WHAT IS THE ATOMIC CLOCK?
Atomic clocks have a timekeeping mechanism that use the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the excited states of certain atoms.
The devices are the most accurate system we have for measuring time, with consistent standards applied.
They are the primary standards for international time distribution services, and uses to control wave frequency for TV, GPS and other services.
The principle is founded in atomic physics, measuring the electromagnetic signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels.
Modern versions cool atoms to near absolute zero by slowing the atoms down with lasers. With temperature of atoms driving their accuracy.
Every few years a ‘leap second’ is added to atomic clocks, by effectively stopping them for a second, to keep them in line with Earth’s rotation speed.
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