WEBVTT - Tech News: Jonathan Gets Mad at the News 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.920 Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.000 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.880 and I love all things tech, which is more of 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.640 a you know, catchphrase than necessarily a reality. This is 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:36.000 the Tech News for Thursday, September one. And y'all, I'm 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.800 furious today and I'm going to do my best to 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.400 keep it together. But you should know I am an 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.360 emotional person and this first story has really done a 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.360 number on me. So I will do my best, all right. 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:54.720 So the BBC and the Wall Street Journal continue to 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.840 pull back the curtain with regard to Facebook and Instagram 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.400 and some of the not so awesome things that have 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.520 been going on with these companies or early I should 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.959 just say companies, since Facebook owns Instagram. You know, I've 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:13.480 talked about how Facebook conducted internal studies that showed the 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:17.559 company how their platform was facilitating and amplifying the spread 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.559 of misinformation, and also how they did another internal study 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:26.240 and showed that Instagram has contributed to mental health problems, 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:32.199 particularly among teenage girls. Well, this story is also horrifying. 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:37.200 This is not recent news. It is something I hadn't 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.759 heard about before, But that's on me. It's not because 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.200 you know, people had been reporting on it. I just 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.400 missed it. But there has been an update to it, 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:48.760 and I'll get to all of this. So the original 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.360 news was that back in two thousand nineteen, the BBC 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:58.120 investigated Facebook and Instagram, saying that the sites were hosting 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.920 ads that were for essentially slaves. The ads were for 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:07.320 domestic workers in Arabic markets in which people were literally 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.120 bought and sold. Now that is sickening in of itself. 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:13.960 One update here is that the Wall Street Journal, as 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.880 part of its series of expose s about Facebook that 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.200 had been coming out over the last week or so, 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.720 found that a two thousand nineteen internal report. It always 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.280 comes back to those internal reports, doesn't it. Anyway, That 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.160 indicated that the company was already aware of this and 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:33.320 had done some investigation into it before the BBC report 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.400 blew the lid off the problem and alerted the general public. 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.720 Now I should add that they were doing some investigations, 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.120 but they had not taken any action. A Facebook employees 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.440 stated in the report quote throughout two thousand eighteen and 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.600 two thousand nineteen, we conducted the global understanding exercise in 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.799 order to fully understand how domestic servitude manifests on our 0:02:54.840 --> 0:03:00.800 platform across its entire life cycle, recruitment, facilitation, and exploitation 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.480 end quote. But it looks like it was actually the 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:10.280 BBC expose that prompted Facebook to take action, first banning 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.360 a hashtag that was used in many of those ads, 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:18.920 and then taking subsequent steps. In June two thousand twenty, 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:23.760 the Facebook reps stated, quote, following an investigation prompted by 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.600 an inquiry from the BBC, we conducted a proactive review 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.680 of our platform. We removed seven Instagram accounts within twenty 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:36.080 four hours and simultaneously blocked several violating hashtags. End quote. 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.720 All Right, first, I'm glad that Facebook took those steps. However, 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.400 I want to get real here, folks. Okay, the phrase 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.600 quote following an investigation prompted by an inquiry from the BBC. 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.360 End quote. That means that the phrase they used, which 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.640 was quote, we conducted a proactive review end quote is 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:02.320 horse bucky. I'm gonna try and control myself here. It 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:06.280 is not proactive if you are doing something after being 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:11.560 prompted by an investigation from journalists. That's not what proactive 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:18.000 means okay, that is reactive. The company reacted to being investigated. 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.560 It was not proactively taking these steps to protect people, 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:28.320 despite having its own internal investigation that predated the BBC's report. Now, 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.880 they might argue that they were proactively scanning for more 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.080 examples of this, but that's not how it was worded 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.200 in the statement. Right. I can accept that they have 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.640 subsequently put in systems that proactively look for this, and 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.800 that I, you know, I don't have objection to that 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:48.800 kind of language, but the way this was worded just 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.640 infuriates me. This is also another example of how Facebook 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:56.799 angers me in general, because it allows stuff to happen, terrible, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:01.160 terrible things. It allows horrible things to happen, and then 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:05.400 we find out that Facebook was fully aware of the problem, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.840 like it wasn't like Facebook was somehow ignorant that this 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.520 was happening and was just as surprise at the rest 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:14.280 of us to see it, And and then finding how 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.360 that they didn't take any steps to solve it until 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.120 it becomes a public issue, until pressure is put on 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:25.480 the company. This is like just a double dose of evil, 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.200 or at least of apathy, which you know, in my 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.800 book amounts to being the same thing anyway. The Wall 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:37.800 Street Journal also revealed, and this is new information, that 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:42.400 Facebook received pressure from Apple back in two thousand and eight. 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:47.440 Two nineteen, the company reportedly threatened to remove Facebook's apps 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.640 from the Apple App Store, an enormous threat, and you 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.280 can bet that is the sort of stuff that Facebook 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:58.000 actually pays attention to. Again, it's upsetting to me that 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.880 companies allow such terrible thing to proliferate on their platforms 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.200 as long as the company is safely protected against consequences, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.880 and then they only act to help people if there 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:11.800 happen to be negative consequences. If the company fails to 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:18.159 help people, it's just plane gross and other Facebook news. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:22.240 A lawsuit from shareholders alleges that the company paid the 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:27.880 FTC nearly five billion dollars over a settlement agreement in 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.599 order to make certain that some certain kind of problems 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.320 just got away in the wake of the Cambridge Analytical 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.719 Now scandal several years ago. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:45.520 quote Zuckerberg, Sandberg and other Facebook directors agreed to authorize 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:50.600 a multibillion settlement with the FTC as an express quid 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:54.960 pro quo that means this for that to protect Zuckerberg 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:58.960 from being named the f TCS complaint made subject to 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.120 personal liability or even required to sit for a deposition 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:07.560 end quote. So in other words, that they paid you know, 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.280 hush money to the FTC so that the FTC wouldn't 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.640 go after Zuckerberg at all. So if that lawsuit actually 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:18.040 holds merit and Facebook did do this, we have ourselves 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.160 a fun story not just of unethical corporate behavior, but 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:25.840 also government corruption as well. It's nothing like more confirmation 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.440 that the rules just don't apply if you have enough money. Right, 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:33.480 we all know that, but this is yet more proof 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.000 of that. So this lawsuit was actually filed last year 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.640 in it only became public information this week due to 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.720 an update that got filed to the lawsuit that then 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.880 made it a public and so it's just being reported 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:52.840 on now. Okay, let's get away from Facebook for a second, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.920 or at least directly from Facebook. That still kind of 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.040 involves Facebook. So it was only a matter of time 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:03.280 before someone challenged the Texas law HB twenty, which makes 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.280 it illegal for social media companies from removing content or 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.960 banning users based on that person's quote unquote viewpoint. Uh 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.160 that time is now because the Computer and Communications Industry Association, 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.600 as well as the organization net Choice have brought a 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:24.560 lawsuit against Texas challenging that law. A similar law had 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.400 been passed and subsequently blocked in the state of Florida. 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.480 Those two organizations I just mentioned they were also responsible 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.839 for the lawsuit that brought that before a judge in 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:38.960 Florida who ultimately barred the law from being put into effect. 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.120 This comes in the wake of the various moves by 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:46.520 social platforms to ban users and delete content that violated 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.880 the platform's policies, and that included some high profile users, 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.320 such as the former President of the United States. The 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:58.880 laws are kind of ironic because proponents say that the 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.360 laws are there to promote freedom of speech to make 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.440 sure that these entities like Facebook and Twitter aren't able 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.960 to infringe upon the speech of others. But the US 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:13.240 Guarantee of freedom of speech protects citizens and companies from 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.480 the government intervening and telling you what you can and 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:21.200 cannot say. It protects you against government censorship. Companies like 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.520 Facebook and Twitter are not the government, and as such, 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.720 they can have content policies, and they can enforce those 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.880 policies and that doesn't mean that they're violating a constitutional guarantee, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.920 because you know, they're not the government, and the communications 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:39.840 take place on the virtual property of these companies. However, 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.920 you could argue that telling a company that it cannot 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.480 police the content on its own platform is an example 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.160 of the government violating an entities right to freedom of expression. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:56.240 So while under the banner of freedom, this law, you 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.640 could argue is actually violating the very thing it allegedly 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.800 protect X. Of course, that's just one interpretation, and I 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.720 am not a legal expert. It may come down to 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.120 a court fighting in favor of the Texas law. We'll 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.600 have to wait and see. Okay, I think I need 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:16.480 to take a quick break, and when we come back, 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:27.320 more stuff what makes me angry? Okay, we're getting back 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.000 to tech and politics. This one doesn't actually make me angry, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.360 which is good. I think you all need a break 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.120 from Jonathan getting on his high horse. So this time 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.680 we're gonna talk about currency. The Federal Reserve is preparing 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.000 to release a paper regarding the agency's study into whether 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.280 or not it's a good idea to create a US 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.120 based digital currency. This would be a type of c 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:53.000 B d C. Now that stands for central bank digital currency, 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:55.920 and really you could say this is just a virtual 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.160 form of a government issued currency or fiat currency. So 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.720 in other words, this would just be like a digital 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.600 version of a US dollar. Now it's something that can 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.840 have a lot of benefits, including benefits to the unbanked 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.760 people who don't have bank accounts, because this allows for 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.360 a digital payment, but it doesn't require the person to 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.400 have a bank account. They would have to have some 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.680 sort of digital wallet in order to accept and then 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.040 spend digital dollars, but they wouldn't have to have a 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.320 bank account associated with them. So this is not the 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.720 same thing as cryptocurrency, so it's not like saying that 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.400 the FED is looking to make its own version of bitcoin. 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:38.720 Bitcoin is also digital, but there are big distinctions between 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:43.200 c B d c s and your typical cryptocurrencies. Both 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:47.000 typically depend upon a secure ledger that cannot be changed. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.920 This is necessary so that you can keep track of 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.480 transactions and you prevent people from being able to spend 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.400 the same digital dollar twice, right, you know, this is 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.520 the protection to make sure that someone can't get a 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:06.360 digital dollar and then quote unquote counterfeit it by copying 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.199 it a billion times and making themselves a billionaire. You've 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.400 got to have protections in place against that, just as 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:16.800 you would against you know, counterfeiting, uh, you know, physical currencies. 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.319 And there are a ton of differences between cryptocurrencies and 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:25.040 c B d cs. So with cryptocurrencies, you typically have 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:31.280 a shared ledger, so everyone participating in the system is 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.560 is technically able to see this ledger. Thus you can't 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:38.560 have anyone cheat the ledger because everyone can see it. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.319 You can't go back and change things in the past 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.440 because it would affect everything that followed, and that would 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:47.880 be impossible for the all the different parties to ignore. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.200 You would be caught immediately. With c B dcs, you 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.439 technically you know or you typically don't have a shared ledger. 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.240 You have a centralized ledger, but it's under the authorization 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:03.360 of that centralized authority. And cryptocurrencies don't depend upon a 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:08.200 centralized institution. The currency does. There are good and bad 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:12.079 things connected with that, and I think your opinion about 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.120 which is best largely depends on whether you buy into 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:20.319 the cryptocurrency. Ethos are not um. I definitely see benefits 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:25.680 and I see drawbacks to each either way. The study 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.440 that the FED is doing and is soon going to 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.080 report on. It's just an indication that the FED is 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.439 considering the possibility of creating a U S C B 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.360 d C. It's not, you know, a done deal or anything. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.600 We will have to wait and find out what happens next. 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.960 Today the U s Secretary of Commerce is meeting with 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.680 representatives from big automakers as well as some major tech 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.560 companies like Microsoft and Apple. And the heart of the 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.800 matter is the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, which is affecting 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.360 multiple industries out there, but it's really having a profound 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.400 negative impact on the automotive industry at that you know, 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:06.320 right now. Presumably this group of experts will discuss what 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.720 the current problem is and you know, define the parameters 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:13.679 and maybe talk about some potential ways to perhaps alleviate 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.360 some of the pain points in the supply chain. I'm 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.360 not sure that there's going to be a ton of 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:22.120 solutions to that, because the problem is a truly enormous one. 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.360 It's a global issue, and it includes a lot of 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:27.840 parties that are not in the United States, and you 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:32.240 can only churn out stuff so quickly. In a way, 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:37.120 you could say this shows that the world's supply chain is, 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:41.880 you know, very much a chain. It is dependent upon 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.480 the weakest links, right. It's only as strong as those 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.800 weakest links because it is interlinked. It's not if you 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:50.880 break a link in a chain, then you've got to 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.600 you know, segments of chain, you no longer have a 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.120 real full chain. Same thing with supply chains. And this 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:00.840 is not to say that I'm passing judgment on countries 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:05.400 like Vietnam or Malaysia that are having massive issues and 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:08.120 thus are quote unquote the weakest link in the supply chain. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:12.880 These are regions that are experiencing rising COVID nineteen infection rates. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.960 These countries frequently are struggling to get doses of vaccines 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.000 that can then be administered to citizens. There's an amazing 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.920 vaccine shortage in most of the world. Here in the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.280 United States, it's easy different get that because it is 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.600 readily available, But in other parts of the world that's 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:34.280 not the case. This is a really big ecosystem and 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.920 humanitarian crisis. We here in the United States, we're fortunate 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.440 and that we mostly see it through the stuff like 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:46.720 skyrocketing automobile price tags or graphics card shortages, which, don't 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.080 get me wrong, those are problems. But when you look 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.000 at it in the in the context of people in 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.720 other parts of the world who are responsible for delivering 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:01.080 components that go into those things literally can't get vaccinated 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.320 because there aren't enough doses, it really kind of brings 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.800 everything into perspective. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sent out 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.400 a memo that complained about how some Apple employee had 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.760 leaked a previous memo, and then, of course this memo 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:21.080 got leaked, so Apple's got a leaking problem. The earlier memo, 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.480 the one that necessitated Tim Cook's second memo, was about 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.040 how Apple would not require employees to be vaccinated, but 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:33.480 the company would instead require unvaccinated employees to take COVID 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:37.800 tests on a frequent basis. Someone leaked that, and then 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.560 Cook sent out a memo essentially saying, hey, don't leak 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.720 stuff to the press or you'll be in trouble. And 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.240 of course here we are with this memo now leaked 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.960 to everyone. This also comes at a time when a 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.160 subset of Apple employees have been calling out the company 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.240 to be held accountable for issues ranging from pay disparity 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.440 to a hostile work environment um the Apple Me Too movement. 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.200 Then there are the employees who had been pushing back 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:08.440 against Cook's earlier insistence that Apple employees returned to work 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.280 in person for at least three days a week starting 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.919 this fall. That's a requirement that has now been pushed 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:18.679 off to two. I wouldn't be surprised to see more leaks. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.080 I think there are enough folks in Apple who are 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.640 upset or concerned, and they're just not willing to stay 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.520 quiet about it. Meanwhile, over at Epic Games, the company 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:34.480 behind the massively successful Fortnite, Apple has denied that company's 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.640 request to bring Fortnite back into the App Store now. 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:42.720 According to the CEO of Epic Tim Sweeney, Apple had 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.600 previously indicated it would allow Fortnite back in the App Store, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.280 but now is determined to keep it banned until the 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.879 company has exhausted every legal appeal it can make to 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.400 the courts, which so far have ruled more in epics 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.840 favor than in Apples. So at the heart of all this, 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.560 in case you're not familiar, year, is that Apple and 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.520 Google both have policies that state if you have an 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:11.480 app that has in app purchases built into it, then 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.800 the company takes like in this case, Apple takes a 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:21.280 percentage up tot of that transaction for themselves, and that 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.359 you are not allowed to use any other method to 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:28.480 sell to people in app for an Apple app so 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.560 or an app that's in the Apple Store. So Fortnite 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:36.000 has in game items you can purchase, but to do 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:40.159 so on the Apple version, you were supposed to go 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:45.600 through Apple's payment system, and instead Fortnite offered players an 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.560 alternative work around where more of the money would go 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.639 to Epic Games and none of it would go to Apple. 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:56.000 Apple then took the move of banning Fortnite from the 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.159 App Store, and we got into this big legal battle. 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.560 Well recently, the courts have said that Apple's policy is 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:08.440 anti competitive, not monopolistic, but anti competitive, and that Apple 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:12.280 needs to allow companies to have apps on the App 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:17.959 Store to offer up alternative payment processes that are outside 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.399 the Apple one. Apple has not yet done this, and 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:28.640 in fact Apple is appealing that decision. And Sweeney said, hey, 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.000 we'd be happy to come back and obey your rules 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:33.560 if you let us back in the App Store, we 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:38.080 will play by your policies as long as you have 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.919 conformed with the court decision, which Apple refuses to do. So. 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.800 The battle continues. This has been a pretty public one 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.880 and Tim Sweeney has not been shy about taking this 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:52.520 battle to the public, probably because Fortnite has such an 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:55.800 enormous following that he knows he can get a lot 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:58.240 of support in a short amount of time. So we 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:01.320 will see how this battle plays out, but it's going 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.760 to take a while longer. The e USE European Commission 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:07.600 has announced that it will soon propose that all smartphones 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.560 sold in the EU will have to comply with the 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:14.160 u s b C charging Port standard, so that means 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:17.439 all smart phones sold in the EU will have to 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.960 have a us b C charging port. These are kind 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.560 of shots you know, fired at Apple, which uses a 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:29.080 proprietary charging connector. It uses the Lightning connector for iPhones. Now, 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:31.119 this despite the fact that the Apple also moved to 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:33.840 us b C for its Mac computers, which drives a 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:37.200 lot of Apple users nuts that you know, the company 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:41.480 has moved from Lightning to USBC for some of its products, 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.879 but not all of it. This requirement only applies to 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.600 devices that use wired charging, so if you have something 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.960 that charges wirelessly, that's exempt from this rule. And this 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:54.800 is not a rule that's set in stone yet. It's 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.359 more like a recommendation. So the e C sends this 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.000 recommendation to the European part Elament and then that has 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.840 to vote on the matter before it can become law. 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:07.320 That being said, the feeling is that most of the 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.800 EU Parliament is in favor on settling on a common charger. Uh. 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:15.159 The argument is that this benefits consumers because it simplifies 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.240 the equipment you need when you get a new phone. 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:20.960 Let's say you switch from Android to iPhone. Well, it's 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:24.480 already standard practice in Europe to ship phones without a charger, 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:28.760 So the idea is that everyone out there already has chargers, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.520 and they already have cables, so you don't need to 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:33.840 include that with your phone. This cuts down on cost, 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.879 it cuts down on waste, cuts down on packaging. Like 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:40.800 it has a lot of benefits. But if you have 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.720 a phone that has a proprietary connector, then you know 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:46.280 none of your cables are going to work. You would 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:47.880 have to go out and buy new ones, and that 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.639 generates more waste. I should also point out that not 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.280 all USBC cables are actually equal. There's a variety of them. 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.800 Some of them can carry a higher voltage than others. 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:01.679 For example, or provide more data throughput. So while it 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.480 might seem like you're talking about simplifying things, you are, 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:09.360 but not not fully. So it's still a little complicated. 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:14.679 Apple representatives responded by expressing disappointment in this recommendation not 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.080 a big surprise. They have argued that, you know, settling 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:23.520 on a single charging cable discourages innovation. I would say 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:25.480 that there's a balance to be made here. There is 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.119 a need for standardization which removes confusion in the market 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:32.119 and benefits a consumer. And of course there's an argument 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.840 to be made that Apple really doesn't, you know, isn't 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:40.240 calling out about restrictions on innovation. Apple wants proprietary connectors 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:43.840 because then Apple can make more money selling all those 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.240 different components, the phones, the chargers, the cables, everything. But 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.080 if it's forced to conform to a universal standard, then 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.440 it could lose out on a lot of sales because 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:58.239 you could just buy those cables from anyone anyway. We'll 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:01.280 see if the European Parliament takes the recommendation and makes 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:03.280 it into law on the EU, and then we'll see 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.600 what Apple does about it. Finally, people who spend a 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:09.040 lot of time looking at patents found one from Valve 0:23:09.160 --> 0:23:11.520 that suggests the company could be working on a way 0:23:11.560 --> 0:23:14.200 that would let you play a game while you are 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:18.480 downloading it, with a product called Steam Instant Play. This 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:20.840 is similar to features that you find on some video 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:23.680 game consoles where you purchase a digital copy of a game, 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:27.720 and once a sufficient amount of the game has downloaded 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:30.360 onto your device, you can start playing. Now, you might 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:33.280 only be able to play in a specific mode, like 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:36.560 the single player campaign or something, but you can get 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:39.080 started and meanwhile, the rest of the game continues to 0:23:39.160 --> 0:23:42.439 download in the background. This is a pretty darn handy 0:23:42.560 --> 0:23:46.159 feature to have, particularly as games get increasingly gargantuan with 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:48.560 regard to how much hard drive space they can take 0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:52.080 up and the limitations of broadband speeds. For folks who 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:55.520 are fortunate enough to have a gigabit connection or even better, 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:58.520 it's maybe not that big of a deal. But for 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:02.320 mere mortals like myself, having a way to play a 0:24:02.359 --> 0:24:04.480 game without having to wait, you know, the hour or 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:07.520 so to get the full thing installed as a pretty 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:11.000 big benefit. Anyway. The patent describes the system that would 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:14.160 potentially allow for that kind of experience on Steam, which 0:24:14.200 --> 0:24:18.120 is of course Valves Online Computer games store. It's like 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:20.640 it's like a physical game store, except of course they're 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:25.040 all digital downloads, but they carry games from all different publishers. 0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:27.879 So for those who aren't into PC games, Steam is 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:32.400 like the leading store for selling online you know, games 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:35.600 over the Internet, or rather games online over the internet, 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:38.640 because they're not just they're not all online games. Some 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:42.359 of them are you know, single player, no internet connectivity 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:45.800 type games. Steam is so successful the Valve doesn't even 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:48.040 have to make video games of its own anymore, really, 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:49.960 much to the despair of those who are waiting for 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:53.280 another Half Life game. I should also add we don't 0:24:53.280 --> 0:24:57.000 need to hold our breath on this particular instant feature. 0:24:57.520 --> 0:25:00.119