Neowin News Feed for: Regulator

U.S. bans import of routers due to "severe cybersecurity risks"

Usama Jawad — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:50:01 +0000

The U.S. just made a bold move against foreign routers, and it could quietly impact millions of households across the country. Read more...

Microsoft under fire for allegedly pushing OEMs to exclusively bundle Edge in Windows PCs

Usama Jawad — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:49:19 +0000

Microsoft is in hot water again as regulators check if its Jumpstart program nudges PC makers to favor Edge over other browsers. Read more...

Microsoft 365 price hikes 'deliberately mislead' consumers, company sued

Usama Jawad — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 04:36:01 +0000

Microsoft has been sued in Australia for "deliberately misleading" customers regarding recent price hikes for Microsoft 365. Read more...

Ofcom takes decisive action against powerful tool of malicious actors

Paul Hill — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:10:01 +0000

Ofcom has announced that it's banning the leasing of Global Titles to help protect people from malicious actors who use Global Titles to intercept calls and messages. Read more...

Indian antitrust body finds Amazon, Flipkart guilty of violating laws with Samsung, others

Karthik Mudaliar — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 17:30:01 +0000

India's antitrust regulator has found Amazon and Flipkart guilty of colluding with smartphone companies such as Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and others. Read more...

UK regulator finally takes action on inflation-linked mid-contract price hikes

Paul Hill — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 12:58:01 +0000

Ofcom has finally put an end to inflation-linked price rises for UK customers in phone, broadband, and pay-TV contracts. However, it is too late to help those walloped by the recent inflation. Read more...

UK anti-competition regulator looking to HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks

Paul Hill — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:52:01 +0000

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Hewlett Packard Enterprise's acquisition of Juniper Networks. It said that phase 1 of the investigation will close in August. Read more...

Microsoft's partnership with AI startup Mistral avoids probe by UK's CMA

Paul Hill — Sat, 18 May 2024 09:46:01 +0000

The CMA is no longer looking into Microsoft's partnership with Mistral AI, where it was given a minority stake. This means the regulator doesn't believe the partnership is a threat to competition. Read more...

Shell Energy fined £1.4 million for not telling customers to review contracts

Paul Hill — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 18:42:02 +0000

Shell Energy was fined £1.4 million by the regulator Ofcom for not properly informing customers that they were out of contract or that their contract was coming to an end. The issue is now resolved. Read more...

The average download speed in the UK has hit 69.4 Mbit/s

Paul Hill — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 13:28:01 +0000

According to Ofcom, the UK broadband situation has improved over the last year. It said download and upload speeds had improved and that peak-time usage was having a bit less impact on speeds. Read more...

The US could get a new federal agency to regulate big tech

Paul Hill — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 20:16:01 +0000

A bipartisan bill called the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act could give the United States a new regulator that could police big tech and deal with potential new threats like AI. Read more...

Privacy protection amendments for encrypted messages added to UK bill

Paul Hill — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:20:01 +0000

A new amendment to the Online Safety Bill will require a report to be submitted by an expert before Ofcom can decrypt people's messages. It's designed to add balance to the safety bill. Read more...

Broadcom's VMware acquisition has been provisionally cleared by CMA

Paul Hill — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:32:01 +0000

The UK's CMA has provisionally cleared Broadcom's acquisition of VMware. It will hear feedback from interested parties and give its final decision on the matter by the middle of September. Read more...

Adobe's Figma acquisition held up by CMA, has five days to offer proposals

Paul Hill — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 15:54:01 +0000

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has said that it's not happy with Adobe trying to buy Figma. It has asked the companies to provide legally-binding remedies within five days. Read more...

Poor UK households could save £200 on broadband but are unaware of social tariff deals

Paul Hill — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 02:20:01 +0000

Just 5% of eligible households in the UK are subscribed to a social broadband tariff. They are priced more reasonably for people on welfare who have tighter budgets but still need internet access. Read more...

Ireland data regulator: We should not blindly ban AI-powered chatbots

Usama Jawad — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 07:20:01 +0000

Although some European countries are rushing to ban ChatGPT and related technologies, Ireland is taking a more measured approach where it wants to fully understand the benefits and risks of AI. Read more...

Japan's antitrust regulator approves Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Usama Jawad — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 13:32:02 +0000

Japan has become the latest country to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion. It seems like the tides are finally turning in Microsoft's favor. Read more...

The UK now says the Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard won't affect console gaming

John Callaham — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 14:30:01 +0000

The UK Competition & Markets Authority's provisional conclusion says Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard "will not result in a substantial lessening of competition" for UK console gaming. Read more...

Court declines to halt Meta's acquisition of Within in major setback for FTC

Usama Jawad — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 07:54:07 +0000

A U.S. court has declined a request to halt Meta's acquisition of VR fitness company Within, dealing a major blow to the FTC. It's unclear if the regulator will continue the fight in other avenues. Read more...

Google promises to make major changes to Android in India

Usama Jawad — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 17:26:02 +0000

Google has agreed to make major changes to how it conducts business with partners and phone-makers in India. There are also some significant changes planned for the operating system as a whole. Read more...

UK CMA launches investigation into $61 billion Broadcom-VMware deal

Usama Jawad — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 16:58:01 +0000

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has kicked off an investigation into Broadcom's $61 billion acquisition of VMware. Results of Phase 1 are expected after a couple of months. Read more...

Microsoft to face antitrust probe over Slack complaint about Teams

Usama Jawad — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 16:06:01 +0000

Microsoft could soon be facing an antitrust probe from the European Commission regarding bundling Teams in the Microsoft 365 suite. The root of the potential probe is a Slack complaint from 2020. Read more...

EU reportedly gearing up to investigate Microsoft over Teams antitrust complaints from Slack

Usama Jawad — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 01:46:01 +0000

The European Commission (EC) is reportedly preparing to launch an antitrust probe into complaints made against Microsoft Teams by competitor Slack. The two firms have clashed many times in the past. Read more...

Porn websites aren't doing enough to protect the children, says Ofcom

Paul Hill — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 08:48:01 +0000

Ofcom has warned that some websites are not doing enough to tackle adult video content on their platforms. Its concerns fell mainly on smaller websites, which could be hurt by the measures. Read more...

Ofcom announces probe into cloud offerings from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google

Paul Hill — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:42:01 +0000

Ofcom has launched a study into large cloud service providers, communications apps such as WhatsApp, and connected devices like smart TVs and smart speakers. It wants to identify competition concerns. Read more...

UK regulator puts up big hurdle in Microsoft-Activision deal, starts Phase 2 investigation

Usama Jawad — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 15:49:53 +0000

Microsoft has faced a major setback in the UK where the country's regulator has put up a hurdle in the form of a "Phase 2" investigation of the multi-billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Read more...

Google and Meta fined in South Korea for displaying targeted adverts without user consent

Usama Jawad — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 09:56:02 +0000

Meta and Google have collectively been fined $72 million in South Korea for not clearly informing users prior to collecting their data to analyze their interests and behaviors to display custom ads. Read more...

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision: UK regulator cites concerns, wants a detailed probe

Usama Jawad — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 13:00:01 +0000

UK's regulator isn't giving Microsoft a free pass in its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It has stated that the deal is anti-competitive in nature and wants a more detailed probe. Read more...

EU to not appeal ruling against Qualcomm's $991m antitrust fine

Steve Bennett — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 10:12:01 +0000

EU antitrust regulators have decided not to appeal Qualcomm's victory against the €997 million ($991 million) fine it received back in 2018 for paying Apple to use its chips in iPhones and iPads. Read more...

Saudi Arabia is the first country to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Paul Hill — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:56:01 +0000

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft now needs approval from every other country that it plans to sell products in. Read more...

Apple retaliates against UK regulator complaining about its walled garden approach

Usama Jawad — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 17:04:01 +0000

Apple has published a 47-page retaliation against the UK Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) complaining about its walled garden approach when it comes to the iPhone, App Store, and WebKit. Read more...

UK regulator turns the screws on Microsoft for more flexible Xbox subscriptions

Usama Jawad — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 07:38:01 +0000

Following an investigation, a UK regulator has reached an understanding with Microsoft about giving more flexibility and clarity to gamers when they subscribe to an Xbox subscription like Game Pass. Read more...

Facebook and Google fined by France over cookie opt-out breaches

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 15:40:01 +0000

Facebook and Google have been fined by the French regulator CNIL. It levied the fines because the companies make it too difficult to reject cookies. They now have to make it easier to reject cookies. Read more...

Ofcom says recent changes to mobile and broadband services are saving people millions

Paul Hill — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:18:01 +0000

The UK's digital regulator has revealed data pertaining to some changes it introduced last year to help customers. It said its changes to broadband and mobile costs were saving people millions. Read more...

UK phone networks to block foreign internet phone calls to fight spam

Paul Hill — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:10:01 +0000

Ofcom has asked phone networks to block internet calls from abroad posing with UK numbers. It hopes that it will make a dent in the number of spam calls that people in the UK receive. Read more...

Ofcom: A third of users found hate speech on video sites in the last 90 days

Paul Hill — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 01:02:01 +0000

The UK's digital regulator Ofcom has published new findings about hateful content online. The statistics accompany new rules which could see adult websites introduce age-verification checks. Read more...

O2 hit with £10.5 million fine for overcharging customers

Paul Hill — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 14:20:01 +0000

Ofcom has fined O2 £10.5 million for overcharging customers between 2011 and 2019. The carrier has also refunded those who were affected and is donating to charity where it can't find the customer. Read more...

UK: 4.7m families struggled to pay telecom bills this year

Paul Hill — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 14:12:02 +0000

Ofcom's research should that one in five have been struggling to keep up with their telecom bills. It has called on broadband providers to offer tariffs for those living on a low income. Read more...

Gigabit broadband available in 25% of UK homes

Paul Hill — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:48:01 +0000

Ofcom has released its Connected Nations report today and it states that gigabit broadband is available in 25% of homes. The government's aim is to reach 85% connectivity by the year 2025. Read more...

UK creates a new unit in the CMA to regulate big tech

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 03:32:01 +0000

The UK government has created a new unit within the Competition and Markets Authority which will regulate big tech firms. The government said that the body will boost innovation and consumer choice. Read more...