1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: and how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: the tech news for Thursday, February three, twenty two. So 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: Meta slash Facebook held it's quarterly earnings call yesterday and 7 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: things did not go well for the company. So a 8 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: lot of today's news will be about, you know, breaking 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: all of that down. But let's get the big ticket 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: item out the way first. The collective bad news and 11 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: that earnings call prompted a more than drop in Facebook's 12 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: stock price and then meant the company lost nearly two 13 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: hundred billion dollars in value. Uh I'll repeat the way 14 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: New York Magazine put it because it's mind boggling. So 15 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: at three pm yesterday Meta the company was worth around 16 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: nine hundred billion dollars and by four thirty pm, it 17 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: was worth seven hundred twenty billion dollars. And actually, as 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: I started work on this episode, the valuation of the 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: company was sitting at around six hundred seventy billion dollars. 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: So it's even worse than what was being reported late 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: yesterday afternoon. That's how badly that earnings call went, because 22 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: a lot of that news was just the kind of 23 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: stuff investors don't want to hear. Now. One of the 24 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: many big issues covered during that Meta earnings call was 25 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: that for the first time Facebook, the platform saw a 26 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: decline in daily users in North America, which represents the 27 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: number one market where Facebook rakes in the advertising cash. 28 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: You know, Facebook has more than a billion user as 29 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: we hear it all the time, nearly two billion users, 30 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: but the ones in America are the ones that are 31 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: really the the profit making, the revenue generating users for 32 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: the company. Well, it turns out that they recently lost 33 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: about a million users in North America, which is bad 34 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: news for Meta because it hasn't seen much success in 35 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: attracting new young users. Now, there's no doubt in my 36 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: mind that the whole reason the company was developing Instagram 37 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: apps for the under thirteen crowd was because the apps 38 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: that Meta has right now, that being Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, 39 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: are not bringing in new users at a pace that 40 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: is going to give investors confidence. And this kind of 41 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,519 Speaker 1: touches on something that drives me nuts when it comes 42 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: to big business, and that is this. This applies to 43 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: big business businesses in general, but it's if you are 44 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: not growing, you're effectively dying. So you need growth quarter 45 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: over quarter and year over year to demonstrate value to 46 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: investors who want to return on their investment. Which you 47 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: know that makes sense, right, Like you invest in something, 48 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: you're probably doing it because you're hoping to get a 49 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: return on it. Maybe you're doing it because you believe 50 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: in whatever the company is or whatever. That's great. If 51 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: you're doing it for that reason and not because you're 52 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: hoping for a return, that's a different story. But generally speaking, 53 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: people are hoping that they get more money out than 54 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: they put in. But all this means constantly having to 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: find ways to expand, even when you start pushing up 56 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: against tough borders around your business. You folks probably know 57 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: that at one time one of the companies that owned 58 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: Hell Stuff Works was Discovery Communications. So at that time 59 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: I saw in the cable channel industry that companies tried 60 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: to get a presence in more countries. They tried to expand, 61 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: introducing services in countries where they didn't already exist because 62 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: they had pretty much saturated the markets where they already were, 63 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: Like in Europe and the United States. They could not 64 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: expanded to more households because they had pretty much touched 65 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: everyone they could in those countries, so they had to 66 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: look elsewhere in order to continue to grow. And pretty 67 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: much every big industry faces this same challenge, and with Facebook, 68 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: so much of that gets wrapped into dominating users time 69 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: and keeping them on the various meta platforms for as 70 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: long as possible, as frequently as possible. Well, you tend 71 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: to hit a limit there as well, which means you 72 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: really do need to get more users into the pool 73 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: because you know eventually you're going to be dominating as 74 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,359 Speaker 1: much of people's time as you possibly can, So you 75 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: need more people in order to continue to grow, and 76 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: Meta just hasn't been doing a good job at bringing 77 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: in new users. The Verge published a Great Beast by 78 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: Alex Heath about Facebook's challenges when it comes to reaching 79 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: young folks, and he cites a Facebook researcher that found 80 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: that Facebook's reach with teenagers in the United States declined 81 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: by between two thousand nineteen to two thousand twenty one. 82 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: This was specifically with regard to the Facebook app, and 83 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,839 Speaker 1: that the the researchers were projecting a drop of another 84 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: forty in teenager reach over the next two years. Heath 85 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: also says research shows that while Instagram is still popular 86 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: with younger users, the level of engagement with the app 87 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: is on the decline. So this is all bad news 88 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: for the long term and really for the short term 89 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: too for Meta, but we're not done yet. Another big 90 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: issue in that earnings call was about how other companies 91 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: are affecting Meta's revenue and numbers. For example, Apple made 92 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: a change to its iOS system that introduced new privacy settings, 93 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: and that has hit Meta hard. Has hit other company 94 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: is hard to, but Meta in particular was really upset 95 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: about this. Uh. Those settings allow iOS users to opt 96 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: out of what is called app tracking. Now, generally speaking, 97 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: app tracking would let a developer create an app that 98 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: collects data about the user's activities on that device, and 99 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: it's kind of like how websites can use cookies to 100 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: track browser activities across the web, except this was more 101 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: about tracking what an iOS user was up to. Meta 102 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: was using that data to build out its massive amount 103 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: of information about folks, you know, users, Facebook users, and 104 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: then it could use that information when making ad deals 105 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: with advertisers and could serve up more targeted ads to 106 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: those users. So the reason Meta pulls in the big 107 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: box is because the company knows what it's users like. 108 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: You just you know, look at their activities on the 109 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 1: various platforms or in this case, by tracking what they're 110 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: doing on their as devices or in their browsers, and 111 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: then you can draw conclusions about what they like. And 112 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: that means advertisers can have their ads more effectively reach 113 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: target audiences. So Facebook is able to command very high 114 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: ad prices for this service, and the advertisers see their 115 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: businesses benefit right because they see more activity because people 116 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: who are more likely to react to their ads are 117 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: getting their ads. And all of this just costs a 118 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: tiny bit, okay, let's be fair, a lot of user privacy, 119 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: and everybody wins. Except then Apple had to go and 120 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: upset the the Apple cart by letting users actually choose 121 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: to opt out of those services. When using an app. 122 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: They could turn off permissions for app tracking and Meta 123 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: would no longer get that juicy, juicy data that was 124 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: just so mean of you, Apple, You hurt poor little Meta, 125 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: which predicts that this change in Apple's policy is going 126 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: to create a quote unquote headwind. That's quote on the 127 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,679 Speaker 1: order of ten billion dollars end quote, according to Meta 128 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: CFO Dave Winner. In other words, because Meta will not 129 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: have access to those users data, the company will not 130 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: make ten billion dollars That should rightfully be Meta's all 131 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: because users want privacy. I mean, how unreasonable, right I 132 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: guess y'all can probably tell I'm not feeling much empathy 133 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: for Meta here. The company protested Apple's announcement about this 134 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,599 Speaker 1: numerous times, taking out full page ads in newspapers to 135 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: cry out about it, and also using the argument you're 136 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: gonna hurt small businesses because they won't be able to 137 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: reach their customers because we can't track everything that their 138 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: potential customer are doing, and using small business to be 139 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: like your straw man argument is pretty low. Not surprising, 140 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: but low, and uh, you know, keep in mind, app 141 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: tracking is not totally gone. It's not like Apple got 142 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: rid of it. It's just that users will be presented 143 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: the option to opt out of it, and some people 144 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: won't opt out, so I mean it's not totally drying 145 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: up though. Um. You know, if you are presented with 146 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: the option to opt out of app tracking, I recommend 147 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: you do that. Anyway, let's talk about something else. Let's 148 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: talk about Meta's division called Reality Labs. That's the part 149 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: of Meta that's actually focused on building out Meta's version 150 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: of a metaverse, whatever that ends up being. Reality Labs 151 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: also covers hardware like the meta quest VR system. Well, 152 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 1: in the Reality Labs division brought in about two point 153 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 1: to seven billion dollars in revenue, and that is a 154 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: lot of money. Two point to seven billion. However, it 155 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,599 Speaker 1: had a net loss of ten point one nine billion 156 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:18,839 Speaker 1: dollars Yoza so in and in that loss of six 157 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: point six two billion dollars, and then a year earlier 158 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen that had a loss of four point 159 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: five billion dollars. So Reality Labs is growing in terms 160 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: of how much money it's losing the company year over year. However, 161 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: we have to keep in mind we are talking about 162 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: division that's trying to build something totally new, and there 163 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,559 Speaker 1: are only a few avenues for revenue right now out 164 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: of that division. So the whole value proposition four Reality 165 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: Labs is that the metaverse is presumably going to be 166 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: the future of online activity, and it will cover everything 167 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: from commerce to entertainment, to socializing to how businesses conduct themselves. 168 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: But for that to happen, it has to be built first, 169 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: and that means you should expect to see losses from 170 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: that kind of division because Meta the Company has to 171 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: pour in the resources to actually make the ding darn 172 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: thing first. So the ten billion dollars, while a shocking number, 173 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: makes sense, it would have been far more perplexing if 174 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: Reality Labs had reported a profit because they don't really 175 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: have anything to sell yet apart from some hardware. Dave Winner, 176 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: remember that's metas CFO or chief financial officer, said that 177 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: the losses will quote likely increase meaningfully in the quote 178 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: this year because they're still building this thing, So that 179 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: I'm guessing scared off some investors as well. Because the 180 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,199 Speaker 1: metaverse is most likely a long term project. It's not 181 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: something that we're going to see launched by the end 182 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: of two A lot of folks are pegging it as 183 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: being another decade or so before we get anything, you know, 184 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: significant in the space of Metaverse. Meanwhile, Meta the company 185 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: is showing a decline in users. As we just mentioned 186 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: people fewer people are using at least Facebook. Some of 187 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: the other apps are doing fine, but in the North 188 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: America of kind of flatlined. Uh. Then you also have 189 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: the problem that Meta is seeing difficulty in reaching new users, 190 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: and you've got these massive losses building out the next 191 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: big thing like they're accumulating, and the next big thing 192 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: is probably not gonna be ready for ten years or so. 193 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: This collective message probably told a lot of investors, you know, 194 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: that this was a dangerous or at least a very 195 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: long term plan, and a lot of them probably just said, Yeah, 196 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: I think I'm just gonna peace out for now and 197 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: I'll check back later. Okay, let's wrap up the meta 198 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: Facebook stuff before we go to break. Nikita Beer posted 199 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: a great tweet which The Verge shared in an article 200 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: about this earnings call, and in that tweet, Nikita laid 201 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: out some of Facebook's big challenges, a couple of which 202 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: we have actually touched on already, and Zuckerberg and his 203 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 1: fellow executives covered a few of these during that earnings call. 204 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: One of those challenges is that a lot of folks 205 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:10,719 Speaker 1: have turned to alternatives when it comes to spending their 206 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: time online, uh namely the TikTok platform. When we'll talk 207 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: more about TikTok much later in this episode. So Meta 208 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: has tried to fight back against that trend by introducing 209 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: TikTok like features on platforms like Instagram, but it hasn't 210 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: really made a huge difference for younger users in particular. 211 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: This also seems to mark a shift in user preferences 212 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: in general. Zuckerberg said that people are showing more of 213 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: a tendency to shift away from interacting with their friends online, 214 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: which is kind of the bedrock of Facebook's model, and 215 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,079 Speaker 1: more toward consuming content that's made by others, which is 216 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: something you might expect on a platform like TikTok or YouTube. So, 217 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: in other words, instead of sharing stuff with friends, folks 218 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: are watching TikTok stars do whatever folks are doing on TikTok. Now, 219 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: I don't know. I deleted TikTok off my phone ages 220 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: ago because I'm old and I don't understand kids, which 221 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: we understand is the law. Nikita also pointed out that 222 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,199 Speaker 1: a tried and true method of growth among big companies, 223 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: that is mergers and acquisitions like the stuff we're seeing 224 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: with Microsoft. Will talk more about that a bit too. 225 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: That kind of thing is a lot more difficult for 226 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: Meta because we're now in an era where antitrust measures 227 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: have regained some importance. We're seeing more regulatory bodies around 228 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: the world examined proposed acquisitions and push back against big companies, 229 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: particularly big tech companies, So that avenue isn't really accessible 230 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: to Facebook, right. If Facebook made a move to buy 231 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: up another competitor like TikTok, they would likely face strong 232 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: opposition among regulators around the world. So, oh, that's one 233 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: method of growth Facebook just can't can't touch. Uh. And 234 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: as we've seen in lots of different companies, especially like 235 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: cable companies. I remember when I talked about Comcast. Comcast's 236 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: main method of growth through most of its history has 237 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: been to acquire other cable companies. That's how Comcast really grew. 238 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: It wasn't so much organically growing the business as it 239 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: was gobbling up regional competitors. So that's something that Facebook 240 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: can't really do anymore because of this increased level of scrutiny. 241 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, Meta has got some big obstacles in the way. Now. 242 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: I am not saying that the company is at the 243 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: beginning of the end, because it's still raked in thirty 244 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:47,239 Speaker 1: nine billion dollars in profit in one not revenue profit 245 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: nearly forty billion dollars. It would be ludicrous to suggest 246 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: a company that has that kind of profit is really 247 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: in danger of going under. But it's definitely at a 248 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: point where the company is possibly too big to get 249 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: much bigger, and that's not great from an investor standpoint. Well, 250 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: we've got a lot more to talk about, but let's 251 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: take a quick break. Okay. Over in Europe, there's a 252 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: little thing called g DPR that stands for General Data 253 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: Protection Regulation and it applies across the European Union. Now, 254 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: the purpose of this regulation is to provide protections to 255 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: EU citizens with regard to how companies can collect and 256 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: use those citizens private data, uh, you know online, particularly 257 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: like the idea being we want to give citizens more 258 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: control over their personal information and not unknowingly just hand 259 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: that over to various parties on the internet. So, generally speaking, 260 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: g d PR requires companies to give citizen in the 261 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: EU the opportunity to opt out of data collection, and 262 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: the companies are also supposed to be transparent about how 263 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: they use you know, user data. So if a company 264 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: does collect data through things like cookies, it's supposed to say, well, 265 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: we collect your your information and this is how we 266 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 1: use it and if you're cool with that, just consent. 267 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: And if you're not cool with that, hit this other 268 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: button and you know, well, part as friends well. The 269 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: Interactive Advertising Bureau of Europe or i a B Europe 270 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: represents advertisers and marketers with businesses in the EU, and 271 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: as part of i a B Europe's services, the group 272 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: developed the Transparency and Consent Framework or TCF, which essentially 273 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: acts as a liaison for various companies, including big ones 274 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:58,959 Speaker 1: like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, and creates methods too. You know, 275 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: present pop ups, and those pop ups are designed to 276 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: get those users consent for data tracking and such. But 277 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: now the Belgian Data Protection Authority or d p A 278 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: says that the TCF is not doing a good job, 279 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: that it is violating gdp R. The d p A 280 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: says that the pop up notifications designed to get consent 281 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: are not sufficiently clear or transparent enough, so a visitor 282 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: is unable to make an informed decision about granting their 283 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: consent in regard for data tracking, which is a big 284 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: no no. Like. The idea is that the average person 285 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: should understand immediately what is being requested and be able 286 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: to make a decision about whether or not they're cool 287 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 1: with it, and according to the dp A, they're saying 288 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: these pop ups are not doing that. In addition, the 289 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: d p A argues that the TCF serves as a 290 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: data controller. Now that's just kind of a formal designation 291 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: within g d p R. It would mean that TCF 292 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: would be held accountable for keeping personal data safe. And 293 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: tc f A said, well, well, well we are. We're 294 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: not a data controller. All we're doing is facilitating these 295 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: consent requests. But one of the things TCF has been 296 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: doing is that it records user responses to consent requests 297 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,880 Speaker 1: and shares that information with other companies that are part 298 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: of the TCF ecosystem. So, in other words, if someone 299 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: in the EU visits let's say Amazon dot com, and 300 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: Amazon presents this consent request to the user and the 301 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: user agrees to it, well, TCF might share that information 302 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: with say Google, And the d p A argues that 303 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: this practice, which includes storing a cookie on the end 304 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: users device, that makes the end user personally identifiable, and 305 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: that means that the consent data constitutes personal information and 306 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: TCF has not been a responsible steward of that information. 307 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: The d p A find I A B Europe two 308 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: fifty thousand pounds, which the organization can appeal, and the 309 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: d p A has also demanded that TCF be brought 310 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: into compliance with g DPR. So many acronyms and initialisms. Anyway, 311 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: they're saying, you have to get this service in compliance 312 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: with g d p R within two months, and that 313 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: all the organizations that are currently using the TCF services 314 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: have to delete that consent data quote without undue delay 315 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: end quote. Now, this decision could force some really big 316 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: changes and how companies have been obtaining consent for the 317 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: use of cookies and such in the EU, which I 318 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,719 Speaker 1: imagine will be nearly as disruptive as the actual ratification 319 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: of g d p R was in the first place. 320 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: Now Here in the United States, Apple is trying to 321 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: convince lawmakers to vote against a bill that would force 322 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: Apple to allow users to download apps that are not 323 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: in the actual Apple Store app store. Uh So, this 324 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: is a practice that we usually call sideloading. That you 325 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: have your you know, standard approved method of getting apps 326 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: that is going through the official store, but that you 327 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: can also side load apps that are not in the 328 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 1: store onto your device. That's something that Android users can do. 329 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: Google often advises caution for people to sideload apps because 330 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: there's no protection system in the way. That means that 331 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: you might be more likely to encounter malware, but you 332 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: can do it on Google devices. But Apple has long 333 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: maintained that the only way was the Apple way. So 334 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: since the launch of the App Store for the iPhone, 335 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: which happened way back in two thousand eight, Apple has 336 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: served as the gatekeeper for all apps on iOS devices. 337 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: Developers have to submit their apps to Apple for review, 338 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: and the company can choose to reject submissions for pretty 339 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: much any reason they like. Sometimes it's practically impossible to 340 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: figure out what that reason was, or sometimes even if 341 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: there were a reason in the first place. But Apple 342 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 1: says that this practice protects users and that without it, 343 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: people would develop malicious apps for iOS devices and then 344 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: try to trick iOS users into downloading those apps, which 345 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: would compromise those users safety and privacy in the process. 346 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: It would also mean the Apple would lose a lucrative 347 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: source of revenue for all those sideloaded apps, because the 348 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: company in most regions anyway, currently forces app developers to 349 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: use Apple's own payment system for all in app purchases, 350 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,719 Speaker 1: and Apple takes a cut out of each and every 351 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: in app purchase. So if you could sideload apps on 352 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: your iOS device. Well, the developers of those apps might 353 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: have their own in app purchasing systems that don't use 354 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: Apple's approach, and Apple would not get a cut of 355 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: those transactions. Um. Also, I feel like it's necessary to 356 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: point out there's already malware for iOS devices that are 357 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: out there. There are some malicious apps that have made 358 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: it through the App store, so Apple's argument about protecting 359 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: privacy loses a little bit of credence there. That being said, 360 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: I do happen to agree that sideloading will likely mean 361 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 1: we'll see a big spike in malware targeting iOS users 362 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: in the future if Apple is in fact forced to 363 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: allow it. Uh, that's just gonna happen. So I generally 364 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: avoid side loading apps. I have done it a few 365 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: times in the past, usually to use an app that's 366 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: in an early stage of development and hasn't yet been 367 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: finalized and released, and I trusted the developers. But I 368 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 1: do not, as a rule do it, even though even 369 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: though I'm aware that I could get access to stuff 370 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: that wouldn't make it through say the original the actual 371 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: Android Store. I UH, I don't feel comfortable sideloading a 372 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: lot of apps, largely because they can be pretty dicey 373 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 1: and shady, So that part I actually do agree with 374 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: Apple with However, I think that the main motivation has 375 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: always been this, uh, this revenue stream that Apple gets 376 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: through all the in app purchases. Of course, there are 377 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: judges that have demanded Apple allow developers to offer alternative 378 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: payment systems that would side step Apple's process. That's something 379 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: that the company is currently appealing. So we'll have to 380 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: wait and see where that goes. And we'll also have 381 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: to see where this sideloading issue goes. Let's talk about 382 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,959 Speaker 1: something else that is kind of a malware that involves Apple, 383 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: but it doesn't involve, you know, people downloading a malicious app. 384 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: So last year I talked a lot about Pegasus. That's 385 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: a product from an Israeli company called the ns A Group, 386 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: and it is a product that compromises iOS devices. Now, again, 387 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: this is not a malicious app. It doesn't involve tricking 388 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 1: someone into downloading an app that's actually a back door 389 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: vulnerability for that device. Pegasus instead would let someone activate 390 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: malware on another person's iOS device by sending a message 391 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: through I message, so the person didn't have to open 392 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: the eye message. They didn't have to click on a 393 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: link and they just had to receive it, and this 394 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: would trigger a vulnerability in the iOS system and the 395 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: attacker would be able to do everything from track a 396 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: person's phone activity to even activating the phone's cameras and 397 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: microphones and turn the phone into a surveillance device from 398 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: a are And um, yeah, creepy, creepy stuff. That alone 399 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: was a huge story. But then n S A group 400 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 1: was upping the anti by selling this product to various 401 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: government bodies and figures who many of which would go 402 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: on to target folks like activists and journalists with this malware. 403 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: Like it was being sold as an anti terrorist tool, 404 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: but a lot of these governments are authoritarian in nature, 405 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 1: is a kind way to put it, and they were 406 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: making use of it to try and target anyone who 407 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: perhaps disagreed with their authoritarian approach. Anyway, recently news broke 408 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: that a second Israeli company, this one called Quadream that's 409 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: qu a Dream, was selling a similar tool that also 410 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: exploited this same I message vulnerability, and that this company 411 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: was operating at the same time as n s O group. 412 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: Quadream also developed its product with government clients in mind. Now. 413 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: According to ns A Group, the two companies didn't coordinate together, 414 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: and if that's true, it would mean that you had 415 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: two different companies independently able to develop a tool that 416 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: leveraged this vulnerability in Apple's iOS. Now. Apple has since 417 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:22,160 Speaker 1: pushed out an update last September that neutralized both Pegasus 418 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: and quadreams surveillance malware. I'm not sure what quadream called 419 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: its product. That company, like, I said, much lower profile 420 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: than n s A Group, and Apple is currently suing 421 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,880 Speaker 1: an s O group for violating the company's user terms 422 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: and services agreement. But there's no telling if Apple will 423 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: pursue similar legal action against the lower profile Quadream. We've 424 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: got a couple more news stories to get through before 425 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: we get to that. Let's take another quick break. Okay, 426 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: I've got another story that involves bowl and malware. Microsoft 427 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: researchers reported recently that a malicious piece of software called 428 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: update Agent has been out in the world and infecting 429 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: Mac computers for perhaps as long as fourteen months, so 430 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: more than a year, and initially the malware appeared to 431 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: be focused on stealing information like the infected machines, model 432 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: number and what version of Mac OS it was running 433 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: and such, which you know, that's concerning, but not not 434 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of things. The scariest outcome of malware. 435 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: And also it appeared to be fairly simple in its 436 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: initial form, but over time the malware developers fleshed out 437 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: update agents, so now it does all sorts of stuff, 438 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: including giving it the ability to facilitate a payload delivery 439 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: two infected computers that could potentially allow backdoor access to machines. So, 440 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: in other words, this was like getting the foot in 441 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: the door and then a subsequent delivery of a payload, 442 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: which would be you know, it would be difficult to 443 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: prevent because the machine has already been compromised, but the 444 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: subsequent payload would give hackers potential administrative access to infected machines. 445 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: That's really bad. But even before that, the malware was 446 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: redirecting AD traffic so that infective computers, whenever they were 447 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: supposed to have ads served up by legitimate you know, servers, 448 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: they were getting ads from the hackers servers instead, So 449 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: they were redirecting streams of AD traffic and effectively stealing 450 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: traffic from legitimate AD servers. Trust me. Using the phrase 451 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 1: legitimate ad servers has kind of an irony that is 452 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: not lost upon me. And according to Microsoft, the malware 453 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: poses as typically like a legitimate apps such as say 454 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: a video app for the Mac, and it also sounds 455 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: like a user. A Mac user first has to be 456 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: tricked into installing the malware first, Like this isn't a 457 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: zero click vulnerability. It's more like you get a pop 458 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: up ad that says, hey, we've got this new video 459 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: app that will work great on your Mac. Download it blease, 460 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: and it turns out that this is just the gateway 461 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: to download and install the Update Agent malware. Um. You know, 462 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: it's interesting because I remember a time when Mac enthusiasts. 463 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: One of the big things they would uh say was 464 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: made Max a superior platform to Windows based machines was 465 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: that the Mac was effectively immune to malware. Now, it's 466 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: true that very there was very little malware that was 467 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: designed for Mac computers, especially compared to Windows based computers. However, 468 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: you also have to remember that back in those days, 469 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: the Mac market share of you know, computer users was 470 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: really small. I guess there were lots of people who 471 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: loved Mac computers, but they were dwarfed in number by 472 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: Windows machine owners, which meant that if you were developing 473 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: malware and you wanted to target as many people as possible, 474 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: you were going to be developing for Windows based machines. 475 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: So a lot of the immunity was through what we 476 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: sometimes call security through obscurity. Uh, not that you know, 477 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: Mac didn't have other anti malware systems in place, but 478 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: you know, it just it didn't make sense to develop 479 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: malware for the Mac platform if you really want to 480 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: hit as many people as possible. Now Max have enough 481 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: of a user base where the that immunity is gone. Uh. 482 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,800 Speaker 1: Doesn't mean that Mac is incredibly vulnerable to malware, but 483 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: rather it's now worth the time to develop malware that 484 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: can affect a Mac computer. So we're likely to see 485 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 1: those kinds of things continue in the future. Now. Earlier 486 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: in this episode, I mentioned TikTok, and if you'll remember 487 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: here in the United States, TikTok was under a ton 488 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: of scrutiny during Donald Trump's administration. TikTok's parent company is 489 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 1: byte Dance and that is based out of China, and 490 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 1: the Trump administration began to push for bite Dance to 491 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: sell TikTok to an American company, citing concerns that a 492 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: popular social networking app in the United States, which presumably 493 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 1: would end up collecting a lot of personal information of 494 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: US users, might send that data on back to China, 495 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: something TikTok denied, and several analysts also pointed out that 496 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: Trump's administration at the time was deep in a trade 497 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: war with China and that perhaps the pressure on TikTok 498 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: had more to do with the trade war than a 499 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: genuine concern for US citizen private to see. But either way, 500 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: it looks like the government was dead set on TikTok 501 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:08,120 Speaker 1: saying bye bye to byte Dance or shutting down, except 502 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: people kept pointing out that there might not be any 503 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:15,479 Speaker 1: legal grounds or legal enforcement that can make that happen, 504 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,840 Speaker 1: and ultimately the whole thing fell through. But there is 505 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: pressure on TikTok again, this time from the Biden administration 506 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: and not just TikTok. There's a proposed regulation of the 507 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: Commerce Department here in the US that, if past, would 508 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:35,360 Speaker 1: require apps that originate out of foreign countries to share 509 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: source code and datalogus with a third party auditor named 510 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 1: by the Commerce Department in order to make sure that 511 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: the app is not, you know, siphoning US citizen data 512 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: for nefarious or exploitative purposes, because come on, that's a 513 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: right that we reserve for US companies to do to 514 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: US citizens. We don't cotton to ding dang furriners doing 515 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: it to us too. No, we want American companies stealing 516 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,520 Speaker 1: our information. That was my sad attempt at satire. Anyway, 517 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: the Commerce Department identifies China as a quote unquote foreign adversary, 518 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: so presumably any app originating from China would qualify for 519 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: this kind of regulation. I'm looking at you, ten cent now. 520 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,400 Speaker 1: Earlier this week, I talked about how Sony is acquiring 521 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: video game studio Bungee for more than three point five 522 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,879 Speaker 1: billion dollars. And of course, Microsoft is currently biting its 523 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: nails as it waits for approval from regulators around the 524 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 1: world so that it can close its deal on Activision Blizzard. 525 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: But whither, I hear you ask goes Nintendo. Is Nintendo 526 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: also gearing up to purchase various game companies around the 527 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,400 Speaker 1: world in an attempt to keep pace with Sony and 528 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: Microsoft In a word, No, that's according to Nintendo president 529 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 1: Shintaro Fukawa, who said the company's philosophy is to pursue 530 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:03,240 Speaker 1: organic growth rather than growing through acquisitions. He said, quote 531 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: our brand was built upon products crafted with dedication by 532 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 1: our employees, and having a large number of people who 533 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: don't possess Nintendo DNA and our group would not be 534 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: a plus to the company. End quote. Now, dismissing for 535 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 1: a moment that this particular phrasing, which I should add 536 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:25,479 Speaker 1: could be the result of interpretive translation, gets a little 537 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,800 Speaker 1: bit creepy. I mean, it kind of sounds like Nintendo 538 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:32,439 Speaker 1: has some sort of genetic purity issues going on from 539 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 1: that phrasing. We can put that aside. I think that 540 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: this is an interesting approach to business. So way back 541 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: in the day, before I was a podcaster or even 542 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: a writer for How Stuff Works, I was employed at 543 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: a human resources consulting firm. If you've seen office space, 544 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,800 Speaker 1: you might remember the characters of the Bob's, the consultants 545 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: who come into help clear out the infotechs employee list 546 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: or whatever. I worked for a company that was effectively 547 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,799 Speaker 1: the Bob's, and through that company, I saw a lot 548 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 1: of cases where you would have, say, a big company 549 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,279 Speaker 1: acquiring a smaller company, and the two companies would have 550 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 1: very different corporate cultures. So inevitably you had a culture 551 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: clash following that would be an awkward period in which 552 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: the two entities tried to find some common ground, and 553 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: it almost always went poorly, or at least it created 554 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: lots of rough patches. There's a lot of friction. So 555 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: from that perspective, I do see how focusing on your 556 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: in house workforce and growing that way by hiring more people, 557 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: and you're just constantly feeding into a uniform corporate culture 558 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: that can make a lot of sense. It removes the 559 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: need to find that common ground with another company that 560 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 1: has its own history and its own culture, because if 561 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: you just keep it all in house, everyone's already on 562 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,399 Speaker 1: the same ground to start with. Anyway, I also feel 563 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 1: like this is the most Nintendo of Nintendo approaches, so 564 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: it makes sense from that perspective. Now, I also think 565 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: that Nintendo is like you could say, yes, Nintendo, Sony, 566 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: and Microsoft are all in the video game space, which 567 00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:18,919 Speaker 1: makes them all competitors with each other, But in many 568 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,920 Speaker 1: ways I don't think of Nintendo as competing with Sony 569 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,320 Speaker 1: and Microsoft. There it's almost like they're playing a different 570 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 1: kind of game to Sony and Microsoft, and that they 571 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:33,360 Speaker 1: focused more on creating uh unique user experiences, some of 572 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: which appeal to me and some of which don't. But 573 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,920 Speaker 1: that seems to be their their course of action, as 574 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: opposed to Sony and Microsoft, which are constantly pushing like 575 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: the bleeding edge of what is possible on video game platforms. 576 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:53,359 Speaker 1: Two very different approaches. I'm not saying one is automatically 577 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: better or worse than another. I like a lot of 578 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 1: Nintendo's approaches, um, but I also like a lot of 579 00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,879 Speaker 1: what Sony and Mike so typically do as well. So 580 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: I think there's a place for everybody anyway. That wraps 581 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,759 Speaker 1: up the tech news for Thursday, February three two. This 582 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,799 Speaker 1: was a long one. I blame Facebook, because I blame 583 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: Facebook for everything. Let's be honest. If you have suggestions 584 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:18,640 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 585 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:22,200 Speaker 1: whether it's a trend in tech, a company, a person 586 00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 1: who's important in tech. Maybe it's a specific technology and 587 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: you just want to learn about its history and how 588 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,959 Speaker 1: it works. Let me know. Send me a message via 589 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 1: Twitter to handle for the show is tech Stuff hs W, 590 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:44,240 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff 591 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,520 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 592 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,319 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 593 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:53,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.