European Parliament OKs Highly Contentious EU Copyright Reform Bill
via European Views | Big tech and Internet freedom activists have remained staunchly opposed to the new EU Copyright Directive.
Google’s Playbook to Succeed in China
L.B. Chong via Caixin | The cat is out of the bag: Google LLC is reportedly working on a trial version of a filtered search app for China after a hiatus of eight years. Although Google subsequently reiterated that it was not close to launching a search service in China, this is still big and deeply divisive news.
Spain To Introduce The First “Real” Digital Tax In The EU
The Treasury will impose a 5% tax on foreign and Spanish companies’ digital services. This new tax will be on the intermediary services and the publicity and sale of digital data up to 5% of the turnover of all companies which offer these services in Spain.
Spanish House Purchases in 2018: What Can Google Tell Us?
The bullish cycle of the real estate sector consolidated in 2017, as shown by more than 460,000 homes being sold in Spain, up by 14.6% on the previous year. Will Spanish house purchases continue to rise at such a considerable rate? “According to Google search data, the outlook is promising,” say CaixaBank Research economists.
Startups in Google’s Campus Madrid create 2,354 jobs against overall 11,000, raise €37.5 mln funding
The startups in Google’s Campus Madrid have created 2.354 jobs and raised over 37.5 million euros in financing since it began in 2015, according to the company’s annual report on this project. Google points out that the contribution from Madrid to the total jobs created by all the Campuses “is relevant”, given that as a whole, the six centres across the world have created over 11,000 jobs.
Google Resists Europe’s Fiscal Pressure
What’s going on with technology giant Google, and other similar firms like Amazon or Apple, is really scandalous. The company with headquarters in Mountain Valley, and now called Alphabet, posted spectacular pretax profits of 19.651 billion dollars (26% of its income of 75 billion). But it hardly paid any tax abroad.
New Technology Stocks Are The Only Ones Creating Real Value In The US Markets
F. Barciela /F.G. Ljubetic |The stock market valuations of new technology firms have reached dizzy heights in the US over the last few years. And it doesn’t look as if their stratospheric rise has stopped. Google, now Alphabet, has a stock market value of 491 billion dollars, while Apple’s is 484 billion. Facebook is worth 345 billion dollars and Amazon 337 billion.
Telcos, OTTs compete on unequal terms in multimillion euro market
Despite the fact the implantation of the digital economy in the western world is unstoppable, the problems and the barriers remain. Proof of that is that the European Union has lost its digital leadership. The creation of a Single European Digital Market could redress that situation.
Corporation tax: Irish soften stance amidst growing international pressure
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | The OECD´s announcement this week that it was initiating a plan to combat tax avoidance schemes from multinationals has been met with almost universal approval across Europe. Ireland in particular has been the subject of criticism from its EU partners. Until recently, the country had determinedly defended its tax policy, famously refusing to negotiate on the issue when the country was in need of an EU bailout back in 2009.
EU rules against Google in ‘right to be forgotten’ case
MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | The EU highest court backing the right to be forgotten has taken Google by surprise. The Internet giant cannot longer refuse to erase personal information of citizens who request it. The sentence, which is setting a crucial precedent in the history of the Web, has raised an intense debate about censorship and the boundaries of tech giants. From now on, no matter how powerful online providers are, in EU soil they will need to comply with European law unless they have “legitimate” reason to do otherwise.