(The Verge) In a weird internet mix-up, it looks like Amazon briefly suspended its Spanish-language Prime Video Twitch channel on Sunday after a host exposed herself on-air, according to a report from the BBC. The ban was lifted after less than 24 hours, according to Android Police, and the broadcast appears to have been deleted from the channel. But it’s a bit unusual for Amazon to essentially ban itself; the e-comm giant has owned Twitch since 2014.
The dustup occurred during the talk show “Esto es un Late,” towards the end of what the BBC described as an hours-long broadcast. “We’re about to be banned,” said host and comedian Henar Alvarez while lifting up her shirt during the livestream. “Come on. They’re going to ban us!”
As reported by the BBC, after she briefly exposed her nipple, the camera quickly cut away from Alvarez. The channel displayed a title card for a few seconds before putting the camera back on a fully clothed Alvarez and her colleagues. A few hours after the livestream ended, the channel was banned before being unbanned less than a day later.
When StreamerBans, a Twitter account that tracks the latest bans on Twitch, documented Twitch’s ruling on the Spanish Prime Video channel, Prime Video España quote tweeted it, saying, “And now how do I explain this to my bosses?” Alvarez later responded with another quote tweet. “Tell them I promise that from now on I will always wear a bra to host the show. I am very sorry, I was wrong and it will not happen again.”
(TechCrunch) The Indian antitrust watchdog on Friday ordered an investigation into Apple’s business practices — in particular, the company mandating iPhone app developers to use a proprietary payments system — in India, where the American firm commands less than 2% of the smartphone market.
The Competition Commission of India, which ordered the Director General to conduct the probe within 60 days, said it is of the prima facie view that the mandatory use of Apple’s in-app payments system for paid apps and in-app purchases “restrict[s] the choice available to the app developers to select a payment processing system of their choice especially considering when it charges a commission of up to 30% for app purchases and in-app purchases.”
Further Extract:
India is the latest nation to express concerns over Apple and Google requiring app developers to use the firm’s payments system for in-app purchases. (The Indian watchdog opened the investigation into Google’s business practices last year.) Earlier this year, South Korea approved a measure that makes it illegal for Apple and Google to make a commission by forcing developers to use their proprietary payments systems.
In the U.S., Fortnite-maker gaming firm Epic publicly challenged Google and Apple by introducing its own payments system in the sleeper hit title. Now it’s locked in legal battles with Google and Apple. This year, attorneys general from 36 U.S. states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google alleging its Google Play app store is an illegal monopoly. A bipartisan bill introduced this year in the U.S. Senate seeks to restrict how the Apple and Google app stores operate and what rules can be imposed on app developers.
The European Union last year proposed the Digital Markets Act, which is meant to prevent technology platforms from abusing their gatekeeper position.
^^^Ironically, this is something that Frederick Hayek understood very well. Ironic, because Hayek is seen as a major conservative thinker in philosophic and economic circles. Hayek hated monopolies. The only thing he hated worse was the idea that government should take over monopolies. Of course, nowadays Hayek supporters adamantly oppose breaking up monopolies or assisting small businesses in a serious way. Too "socialistic" for their tastes. Come the revolution...
Edit: Punctuation.
Last edited by caltrek on Wed Apr 27, 2022 7:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Amazon says landmark Staten Island union vote should be thrown out
Source: NY Times
The company listed a series of complaints against an upstart union’s organizing efforts. Both Amazon and another union noted objections to another vote in Alabama.
By Karen Weise
Amazon objected on Friday to a landmark union election at its Staten Island fulfillment center, saying an upstart union’s unorthodox tactics there crossed legal lines, according to a copy of its filing to the National Labor Relations Board obtained by The New York Times.
The company argued that the result should be thrown out because the labor board had conducted the election in a way that favored the union and members of the union had coerced workers into supporting their cause.
In the final tally last Friday, workers cast 2,654 votes to be represented by the Amazon Labor Union and 2,131 voted against it, giving the union a win by 11 percentage points.
The result of another Amazon election, at a warehouse in Alabama, is also being challenged by both the company and a union seeking to represent workers there, according to filings submitted late Thursday. That union argued that the problems “both separately and cumulatively constitute grounds to set the election aside,” but Amazon stopped short of calling for the result to be tossed. The union trails in the initial tally.
New York attorney general probes oil giants for signs of price gouging amid Ukraine war
Source: Politico
NEW YORK — State Attorney General Tish James is launching an investigation into whether oil companies are taking advantage of inflation and the Russian invasion in Ukraine to jack up prices.
With midterms coming up, Democrats have gone on the offensive in recent weeks to address voters’ concerns about rising gas prices. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is facing a June primary, made reducing the gas tax a core part of her first state budget, despite opposition over the impact on funding mass transit.
Now James is weighing whether legal action is an option.
Top US Corporations Raising Prices on Americans Even as Profits Surge
Source: Guardian
"Media framing likely influences public perception. News reports of Hershey’s multiple price hikes over the last year read like so many dire reports on inflation’s pervasive toll. The company, which owns popular brands like Reese’s, KitKat and Skinny Pop, has been cast as the 'latest victim of ever-increasing inflation.' But a closer look at the company’s financials suggests a vastly different reality. Hershey’s net profits spiked 62% between the fourth quarters in 2019 and 2021, its operating margin widened, and it recently rewarded shareholders with $200m in stock buybacks."
Does all of this price gouging inevitably lead to a recession? The fear is that these companies will keep rising prices until Americans will be trapped, spending all of their income at the same rate they earn it, and becoming modern day serfs in a way. However, this suggests a level of planning and determination that the vast majority of US corporations don't actually possess. The modus operandi for US companies is typically to favor short term profits above all else, so instead of settling into that magic price point where people can just barely afford their goods and services, they will undoubtedly go too far, causing Americans to change their spending habits and stop purchasing overpriced, high-margin products. One could imagine this creating a feedback loop that causes the next major recession.
Amazon Antitrust Suit in DC Should Be Revived, U.S. Tells Judge
Source: Bloomberg
The Biden administration asked a judge to revive a lawsuit by Washington, D.C., accusing Amazon.com Inc. of anticompetitive behavior. The suit was dismissed on March 18 after a Superior Court judge held there was no evidence to support allegations that Amazon’s contracts with merchants inflated prices for consumers.
But the U.S. Justice Department said in a court filing Wednesday that the ruling improperly “blended” two areas of analysis that are crucial for establishing such claims. “If left uncorrected, the court’s ruling could jeopardize the enforcement of antitrust law by improperly raising the bar on plaintiffs challenging anticompetitive contractual restraints in the District of Columbia,” the Justice Department, which isn’t a party to the suit, said in the filing.
Attorney General Karl Racine sued Amazon last year, alleging the online retailer encourages higher-than-necessary consumer prices through policies that guarantee the tech giant a minimum profit on each item sold, while discouraging merchants on the site from offering their products at lower prices elsewhere. Racine has also asked to the court to reconsider its dismissal.
“The antitrust laws and facts are on our side and we are determined to continue standing up for D.C. consumers,” Racine said in a statement on Thursday. “Amazon illegally uses its market power to prevent sellers from lowering their prices on other platforms -- including their own.”
