In case you spent the weekend in a cave or otherwise cut off from world news: a US district court judge on Friday ordered Apple to let companies in the App Store accept payments outside of Apple’s in-app purchase system, which charges a 30% commission. The change could cut billions of dollars from Apple profits. The decision is sure to be appealed but it’s still a rare victory for the rebels against Big Tech.
The new agency’s mandate would be to address unfair or deceptive data practices and to improve data security and guard against identity theft.
Microsoft is relatively benign as Big Tech overlords go, but don’t imagine it’s any less interested in grabbing your data. Its latest gambit is to purchase TakeLessons, a web marketplace for online and in-person classes. TakeLessons offers mostly consumer-oriented subjects, which expands Microsoft’s reach beyond the business-oriented classes it already offers on LinkedIn Lessons.
Salesforce has reversed course on its bid to acquire data management and integration platform Informatica a source has told Reuters. Informatica itself said that it is not in talks to be acquired. Salesforce stocks rose on this latest news while Informatica’s fell.