Linked List: May 31, 2019

Friday, 31 May 2019

WSJ: ‘Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google‘ ★

Brent Kendall and John D. McKinnon, reporting for The Wall Street Journal:

The Justice Department is gearing up for an antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, a move that could present a major new layer of regulatory scrutiny for the search giant, according to people familiar with the matter. […]

It couldn’t immediately be learned whether Google has been contacted by the department. Third-party critics of the search giant, however, already have been in talks with Justice Department officials, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

Stock up on popcorn now.

Facebook Lawyer Says Users ‘Have No Expectation of Privacy’ ★

Mikael Thalen, writing for The Daily Dot:

A lawyer for Facebook argued in court Wednesday that the social media site’s users “have no expectation of privacy.”

According to Law360, Facebook attorney Orin Snyder made the comment while defending the company against a class-action lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

“There is no invasion of privacy at all, because there is no privacy,” Snyder said.

Get them in court and all of sudden they’re honest.

Mark Gurman Interview With Former App Store Approval Chief Phillip Shoemaker ★

Excellent episode of Bloomberg’s Decrypted podcast, with Mark Gurman interviewing former App Store approval chief Phillip Shoemaker. Tons of insight into the early days of the App Store. It’s quite rare for a former Apple employee to be so forthcoming.

(No word, though, on Shoemaker’s own foray into selling apps back in 2010, which always struck me as a very odd story given his position at Apple at the time and the nature of the apps.)