Posts Tagged: appeals
FTC appeals ruling that would have let Microsoft’s Activision takeover move forward
The Federal Trade Commission isn't giving up on its attempt to halt Microsoft's pending $ 68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The agency said in a filing it's appealing Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley's denial of its request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the deal from going through.
The FTC has sued to prevent the merger from happening over antitrust concerns. An administrative trial is set to start in August, but the companies have a merger deadline of July 18th. The agency was concerned Microsoft and Activision would close their deal by then despite a UK regulator blocking the deal in that country.
Bloomberg first reported that the agency was considering an appeal against Corley's decision. The FTC told Engadget after Tuesday's ruling that it would announce its "next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers" in the following days.
Corley ruled that, unless the FTC obtains an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by 11:59PM PT on July 14th, a temporary restraining order that's currently preventing Microsoft and Activision from closing the deal will be dissolved. The restraining order was put in place until Corley made a decision on the preliminary injunction.
Meanwhile, after Corley's ruling, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said they agreed to pause their legal battle and see if they could reach a compromise. The CMA later clarified that although "merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal." It added that doing so could lead to a fresh merger investigation.
Yesterday the Court ruled our acquisition of Activision Blizzard should proceed, and we oppose any further delay. Our statement on the FTC's decision to appeal: pic.twitter.com/EhdO4OHX9g
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) July 13, 2023
"The District Court's ruling makes crystal clear that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers," Microsoft president and vice-chair Brad Smith said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We're disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward."
"The facts haven’t changed. We’re confident the US will remain among the 39 countries where the merger can close," Activision Blizzard said in a statement to Engadget. "We look forward to reinforcing the strength of our case in court, again.”
Update 7/12 9:10PM ET: Added Activision's statement.
Update 7/12 10:19PM ET: Added Brad Smith's statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftc-appeals-ruling-that-would-have-let-microsofts-activision-takeover-move-forward-231729137.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Twitch will launch an improved reporting and appeals process in 2022
Following a year that saw it struggle to shield its users from abuse and harassment, Twitch has published a retrospective of its 2021 safety efforts that includes a look forward to how the company plans to tackle the issue in 2022. Specifically, Angela Hession, Twitch’s vice president of global trust and safety, says the company will update its user reporting and appeals process.
It also plans to upgrade its Suspicious User Detection feature. The AI tool, which the company launched at the end of last year, automatically flags individuals it believes may be repeat ban dodgers. In 2022, Twitch has updates planned around how streamers can use information from that tool. As the company has indicated previously, it also plans to update its sexual content policy to clarify various aspects of it. Twitch simultaneously intends to share more and “better” educational content across its safety center and other areas.
Twitch spent much of the latter half of 2021 trying to stop automated "hate raid" harassment campaigns. The attacks saw malicious individuals use thousands of bots to spam channels with hateful language, and they frequently targeted streamers from marginalized communities. In September, the company sued CruzzControl and CreatineOverdose, two of the more prolific individuals involved in those campaigns.
"We’ll likely never be able to eliminate [hate raids] entirely," Hession said. However, she claims Twitch "significantly" cut down on the number of bots on its platform through some of its actions in 2021. In 2022, it looks to continue that work through the improvements it announced today.
If the company’s safety roadmap feels light on details, Hession says that’s out of necessity. “The honest and unfortunate reality is that we can't always be specific because bad actors can and have used that transparency to attempt to thwart our efforts,” she said.
At the same time, the executive acknowledged Twitch needs to do a better job of communicating what it’s doing to make people feel safe on its platform. It’s easy to see why the company would say that. When it felt like the hate raids that were occurring on Twitch couldn’t get any worse, many creators banded together to protest the lack of action they saw from the company.
Appeals Court: Copyright holders ‘must consider fair use’ before sending DMCAs
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Universal Music Group in a 2007 Digital Millennium Copyright Act case that could change how and when copyright holders can send takedown notices. The case revolves around a takedown notice sent to…
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Fitbit trackers prove the most popular, but the Apple Watch also appeals
A new consumer survey reveals just how many of us are wearing fitness trackers, the brands that we prefer, and how habits might change with the launch of the Apple Watch as an alternative.
The post Fitbit trackers prove the most popular, but the Apple Watch also appeals appeared first on Digital Trends.