Tag Archives: request

First Apple, Now Facebook Under Pressure To Turn Over User Data

Brazilian federal police arrested the head of Facebook ‘s ( FB ) Latin America operations early Tuesday for not complying with police requests to access WhatsApp messages linked to an organized-crime and drug-trafficking case, the Wall Street Journal reported. The arrest is expected to draw the attention of other U.S. tech companies watching the combat taking place between Apple ( AAPL ) and the U.S. government. The U.S. Justice Department recently requested that Apple unlock an iPhone that belonged to a terrorist involved in a mass shooting last year in San Bernardino, Calif. Apple has said that it won’t comply, seeking to safeguard product users’ privacy. In the WhatsApp case, Diego Dzodan was arrested on his way to work in São Paulo and is being held under “preventative arrest,” according to a police spokeswoman in the state of Sergipe, where a judge’s order was issued, the WSJ said. A Facebook spokesman said that the company is “disappointed with the extreme and disproportionate measure” of taking Dzodan into custody. The Facebook spokesman said that Dzodan was detained for questioning, not arrested. Facebook owns WhatsApp, but WhatsApp operates separately from Facebook. According to the court, Facebook was fined about $250,000 — more than BRL 1 million, the local currency — for not complying with three previous requests, said the WSJ. This is the second time in three months that Facebook has clashed with Brazilian authorities, the report said. In December, a different judge ordered the shutdown of WhatsApp throughout the entire country for 48 hours after the service didn’t comply with a criminal investigation. The ruling affected millions of users but was overturned the next day. WhatsApp is popular in Brazil, where half of the country’s 204 million residents rely on the free text- and voice-messaging service. Many poorer Brazilians depend on WhatsApp for their day-to-day communications, the WSJ said, since texting in Brazil is about 55 times more expensive than in the U.S., according to advisory firm Activate. WhatsApp says that it doesn’t store its users’ messages after they’ve been delivered and has also been rolling out end-to-end encryption so that it can’t intercept or compromise those messages, according to the WSJ. “This means police have arrested someone over data that doesn’t exist,” a WhatsApp spokesman said. “We cannot provide information we do not have.” Both the police and the court declined to provide additional information about the case. Facebook stock was up 2% in afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 71. Apple stock was up 3%, near 100. Apple executives and FBI officials are making their cases Tuesday at a House Judiciary Committee meeting.

Instant Gratification A Hit For Amazon.com With Prime Now

With the lofty goal of delivering vast swaths of his mighty e-commerce firm’s sprawling inventory within one hour, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) CEO Jeff Bezos has struck cybergold — shoppers have flocked to the latest iteration of his Amazon Prime loyalty program, Prime Now. Amazon executives have described rapid delivery as both difficult and expensive — and have acknowledged that customers love it. And Amazon loves its customers, so much that Bezos repeatedly has said the company will forego profits to please them. Cowen & Co. Tuesday released results of its survey of 1,200 Amazon Prime customers that it says shows one in four already have adopted Prime Now. It’s basically free. With order via a mobile app, Prime Now will deliver a large number of Amazon-bought goods within two hours in areas of the nation where the service is available. Customers can use the app for one-hour delivery as well, but there’s a $7.99 charge for that. Prime Now is one Amazon salvo in a multiyear campaign to snatch more of the household budget. Amazon.com stock was up more than 3.5%, near 573, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . The company carries an IBD Composite Rating of 78, where 99 is the highest. Cowen analyst John Blackledge, in the research report, says that Bezos’ approach with Prime Now complements Amazon’s same-day and two-day services, and adds more value to its grocery operations Pantry and Fresh. Wal-Mart Vs. Amazon Heating Up Wal-Mart ( WMT ) — by far the largest brick-and-mortar retailer — makes bank on its grocery business, which accounts for about half of its top line, according to ChannelAdvisor ( ECOM ) Executive Chairman Scot Wingo. But Amazon is encroaching on Wal-Mart’s business. “We view Prime Now as one of the pathways Amazon is using to gain share in the $1 trillion grocery market,” Blackledge wrote. “Our early survey work suggests the strategy is working.” The survey indicated that 70% of those responding bought goods via Prime Now multiple times a month — and about a third of shoppers bought groceries from a local store that elected to list its items on Prime Now. The service is available in 24 markets that account for nearly half of the U.S. gross domestic product, says Blackledge. Food delivery is available in seven markets. Prime Now’s success is also a blow to eBay ( EBAY ), which continues to struggle to maintain relevancy for shoppers. Plagued by problems such as a significant data breach and SEO challenges following a change in Alphabet ( GOOGL ) subsidiary Google’s search engine algorithm, eBay has been unable to match Amazon’s double-digital growth rate. Disagreeing with recent investor sentiment — eBay stock has had a choppy beginning to 2016 — Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer says that eBay has potential, albeit as a hedge against a potentially slowing global economy. And for its part, eBay has been making significant bets on restructuring the way it lists items. But as Amazon continues to innovate its way to riches, some say that its position as the dominant e-tailer is impenetrable . That hasn’t stopped rivals, however. Privately held Jet.com is making a stab, also offering two-day shipping, and Alibaba ( BABA )-backed ShopRunner is also taking aim at Amazon. ShopRunner executives have told IBD that the company plans to take on Amazon in categories where the Seattle-based company doesn’t have a strong foothold, such as fashion.

AT&T Aims To Outdo Verizon, Dish With Streaming-Video Offensive

Leveraging its acquisition of DirecTV, AT&T ( T ) announced today that it will roll out a national Internet-video service by year-end, a national video-streaming service tailored for mobile phone users, and a Web offering targeting millennials. AT&T says the “DirecTV Now,” “DirecTV Mobile” and “DirecTV Preview” products will be available in the fourth quarter. While Verizon Communications ( VZ ) has launched an ad-supported mobile video service, Go90, and Dish Networks ’ ( DISH ) “Sling” streaming service has some 500,000 subscribers, AT&T aims to set itself apart from rivals with a broad range of video offerings. AT&T surpassed Comcast ( CMCSA ) as the biggest pay-TV provider with the DirecTV purchase, which closed in July. AT&T had 25.4 million U.S. video subscribers as of Dec. 31 — 5.6 million fixed-line U-verse customers and 19.8 million satellite TV subscribers. AT&T has negotiated with content companies for digital streaming rights. AT&T says there will be limits on how many people can log onto the services via smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, PCs or other devices. It says consumers will have options to buy premium content for its online, or over-the-top, video services. “Having the largest number of pay-TV subs in the U.S. gives AT&T the scale it needs to compete in the OTT market, enabling it to acquire mobile and out-of-home rights,” said UBS analyst John Hodulik in a research report. “The ability to sell pay-TV subscriptions nationally is one of the keys to AT&T’s segmented mobile-video strategy.” AT&T in January announced a wireless product with unlimited data, but only for new or existing subscribers at DirecTV or its U-verse landline business in 22 states. AT&T did not say in its announcement today how many channels would be included in the new video-streaming products. “These new video subscription models reflect the flexible content choices, viewing options and simple, transparent pricing that consumers want,” John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group, said in the company’s news release. AT&T says its “DirecTV Now” product will be available via fixed-line broadband from any Internet service provider or AT&T’s wireless network, when bundled with a wireless plan. “Bundling OTT video with wireless should provide the stickiness that is missing from stand-alone OTT services,” said Hodulik. DirecTV Now will include on-demand and live programming as well as premium add-on options. The less expensive “DirecTV Mobile” package will be accessible from any wireless service provider. Some short-form content will be tailored for mobile devices. The ad-supported “DirecTV Preview” service will feature content for millennials, including video from Otter Media, a joint venture of AT&T and the Chernin Group. Verizon’s Go90 mobile video service is available as an app for any wireless network. Dish Network’s Sling is included in T-Mobile US ’ ( TMUS ) “Binge On” service, in which video does not count toward monthly data caps. Image provided by Shutterstock .