Facebook, like any other major tech company, is no stranger to facing multiple lawsuits at any given moment. However, the recent string of lawsuits from the US federal regulators and more than 45 state prosecutors appears to be a real threat as they seek to break up the company over anti competitive practices.

According to a BBC report, the lawsuit being faced by the social media giant is accusing the company of taking illegal actions to buy up its rivals to stifle competition. Thus, the officials are also asking the court to consider breaking up the company, which also owns other major social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp as well. Facebook stated that the deals that are under scrutiny now were approved by the regulators years ago.

Editor’s Pick: Microsoft confirms Xbox cloud gaming is coming to PCs and iOS next year; more countries too

As per Jennifer Newstead, Facebook general counsel, “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final.” She further added that the company has invested millions into both Instagram and Whatsapp and would “vigorously” fight any attempts to break the company apart. Facebook also said that “Antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful businesses,” however, the government’s arguments seems like “revisionist history.”

At the moment, the lawsuits filed by the different states and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are targeting the company’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp. The lawsuits accuses the company of following the method of “buy or bury” towards any potential rival. This effectively hurts competition as every major or popular platform falls under one major corporation. The officials even brought up the various acts of data collection, citing that users have lost control of their own data to support revenue streams from advertising.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite with up to 9 days battery power launched for the global market

The post Major lawsuits in the US seek to break up Facebook over anti competitive practices appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in 2019, Qualcomm‘s policy of “no-license, no-chips” was deemed as anti competitive by a US judge. But now, the Ninth Circuit has overruled the verdict entirely, handing Qualcomm a huge win.

For those unaware, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) had argued that the chipmaker was pushing out competitors within the field by adding a tax whenever OEMs bought chips from rival companies. This forced companies to pay royalties for Qualcomm’s standards-essential patents, even if they weren’t using the company’s products. In other words, it essentially made the products of the rival companies more expensive than the chip and patents bundle Qualcomm was offering.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei surpassed Apple in the Global smartphone market for the first time in 2019: Survey

The antitrust lawsuit faced by Qualcomm has had it face anti competitive charges in multiple countries. This includes $975 million to China, $854 million to South Korea and $1.2 billion to the European Union. The company had also settled a lawsuit by paying a fine of $774 million in Taiwan back in 2018. At the moment, it is still possible that Qualcomm can be charged for violating the concept of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms.

These terms are in place to keep companies from unfairly exploiting patents and provide every company a fair chance. However, Judge Callahan has suggested that this matter is for a different court. Unless the matter reaches the Supreme Court, Qualcomm would basically be granted the green light for its alleged anti competitive practices. Furthermore, it might even be bolder from here on out. According to FTC’s Bureau of Competition, “The court’s ruling is disappointing and we will be considering our options.”

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+: Specs Comparison

The post Qualcomm wins in US Court, ‘no-license, no-chips’ antitrust ruling overturned appeared first on Gizmochina.

Early last week, the US Federal Trade Commission took chip maker, Qualcomm to court. The reason being that Qualcomm has been engaging in unfair patent licensing practices.

A few days after that, Apple decided to file a separate lawsuit against Qualcomm, saying that it was being charged excessive royalties for using basic cellular standards developed by Qualcomm years ago.

You might think that is where it ends for Qualcomm but there is more. Before the FTC lawsuit and Apple filing its own suit, Qualcomm was under investigation by the South Korean Federal Trade Commission for its unfair business practices. Unfair business practices in this case is actually Qualcomm forcing phone manufacturers to pay high amounts in royalties for patents which is practically the same reason Apple and the US FTC is suing them.

Apple was contacted by the Korean authorities during the investigation and cooperated with them. Qualcomm probably enraged at this decided to withhold almost $1 Billion in rebates “as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them” as the result of the investigation led to Qualcomm being fined $853 million.

Apple is asking for $1B as compensation for Qualcomm’s unfair actions.

Below is Apple’s official statement on the matter:

Qualcomm is not quiet on the whole matter as the company’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Don Rosenberg said in a statement that “while it is reviewing the complaint in detail, it s quite clear that Apple’s claims are baseless”. He goes on to say that Apple has downplayed the importance and value of the technology Qualcomm has invented and also accuses them of encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business in various jurisdictions around the world.

READ MORE: Foxconn Building Third Shenzen Campus for Apple Prototypes 

He concludes by saying “We welcome the opportunity to have these merit-less claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple’s practices and a robust examination of the merits”.

If Qualcomm loses the case in court and others too as it is challenging the Korean FTC’s fine also, it will have to pay nearly $2 billion in fines and redraw its licensing agreements with all affected parties.

(Source: 1 & 2)

The post Apple Takes Qualcomm To Court Over Excessive Royalties: Wants $1 Billion; Qualcomm Responds appeared first on Gizmochina.