Technology | The Guardian

Cabinet meets amid divisions as to correct response to European commission ruling ordering company to pay back €13bnIreland’s governing coalition is split over whether or not the state should immediately appeal against the European commission ruling ordering Apple to pay €13bn (£11bn) in back tax to the Irish government, and will hold further talks later this week before reaching a decision.As the cabinet met in Dublin on Wednesday, it emerged that the Independent Alliance, some members of which are government ministers, was not prepared to back an appeal. The group of TDs helps shore up the minority Fine Gael administration. Continue reading...

Rafael Behr is absolutely right that the owners and providers of the global electronic infrastructure believe they can operate without either paying taxes or taking responsibility for the safety of their product (Tech giants know where the power lies, 31 August). The elements of that infrastructure, analogous to aircraft and airlines, leave gaping holes that allow access to hackers, virus-makers, pornographers and other criminals. Their “airports” – service providers – have no security scans for illegal material. All of them provide passage to the dark web. No wonder their profits are so enormous, for they take all the benefits of global markets without assuming any of the responsibility for basic safety and security standards. If they spent the resources they should to develop and provide secure systems, and to give users safe products the way other manufacturers have to, they might at the same time prevent some of the vicious invective that does so much harm to private individuals on social media.

World’s largest smartphone manufacturer unexpectedly halts shipments to mobile phone networks before launchSamsung has delayed shipments of its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, as it conducts additional quality control testing.Local news agency Yonhap reported that deliveries from the Korean electronics firm to three of South Korea’s mobile phone networks, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, which began at the beginning of this week, were halted unexpectedly. Continue reading...

Data appropriation is a form of exploitation because companies use data to create value without providing people with comparable compensationIt is the strangely conspiratorial truth of the surveillance society we inhabit that there are unknown entities gathering our data for unknown purposes.Companies and governments dip into the data streams of our lives in increasingly innovative ways, tracking what we do, who we know and where we go. The methods and purposes of data collection keep expanding, with seemingly no end or limit in sight. Continue reading...

Data stolen in 2012 breach, containing encrypted passwords and details of around two-thirds of cloud firm’s customers, has been leakedPopular cloud storage firm Dropbox has been hacked, with over 68m users’ email addresses and passwords dumped on to the internet.The attack took place during 2012. At the time Dropbox reported a collection of user’s email addresses had been stolen. It did not report that passwords had been stolen as well. Continue reading...

Labor asks privileges committee to examine whether ‘improper interference’ occurred during AFP raids on parliamentLabor has opened a new front in the controversy over the leaked NBN Co documents, asking the privileges committee to examine whether there has been “improper interference” or “attempted improper interference”, with Stephen Conroy’s free performance as a senator.

Sky, BT, TalkTalk and O2, which block access to adult content, could be affected – even if customers opt in

Technical hitches, legalese and tedium bedevil first live broadcast from a New Zealand court as Dotcom fights US extradition bid on online piracy chargesThe live streaming of Kim Dotcom’s extradition hearing in a New Zealand high court kicked off on Wednesday with warped pictures, delayed audio and dwindling viewership as the day wore on.Megaupload founder Dotcom is fighting an extradition order to the United States, where he is wanted on online piracy charges. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday. Continue reading...

Online retailer’s challenge for the likes of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s extends its Prime lock-in for taking the work out of buying toilet roll and detergentAmazon has finally launched its Dash physical instant purchase buttons in the UK, bringing one-push buying of nappies, toilet roll, dishwasher tablets and washing powder to a washing machine near you.

James Comey, the agency’s director, says it is gathering information in preparation for ‘adult conversation’ on balancing privacy with need to fight crimeThe FBI director, James Comey, has warned again about the bureau’s inability to access digital devices because of encryption and suggested investigators wanted an “adult conversation” with manufacturers.Widespread encryption built into smartphones was “making more and more of the room that we are charged to investigate dark”, Comey said at a cybersecurity symposium. Continue reading...

European commission called unfair in move some say could affect tech industry’s future – but others argue Apple shouldn’t just ‘enrich the 1%’

US multinationals Amazon and McDonald’s deny receiving illegal state aid through alleged preferential arrangements with authoritiesThe European commission’s ruling against Apple is the biggest blow dealt by Brussels so far in a long-running battle against multinationals and their tax affairs.Related: The Apple tax ruling – what this means for Ireland, tax and multinationals Continue reading...

Amazon fix | Cryptic crosswords | Carpool Karaoke | Handling Harry with cautionYou don’t have to be a megastar diva like Barbra Streisand, who rang Steve Jobs about a problem with her personal computer (Report, 27 August), to get the chief executive’s assistance. A few years ago I was trying to send a book, via Amazon, to a friend incarcerated on death row in Texas (the prison department only recognised Amazon for the dispatch of books). My problem was to match the way the address was written to the way the Amazon order form was designed. I emailed Jeff Bezos, the chief executive, and he fixed it for me.

The intervention of Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s competition commissioner, has ruffled feathersApple boss Tim Cook is furious. How dare Brussels’ meddling competition regulators retrospectively unpick a tax deal that the iPhone-maker had secured from Ireland a quarter of a century ago. What business is it of theirs? Tax, after all, is a sovereign issue for each individual member state within the European Union. The European commission’s ruling would have a “profound and harmful effect” on investment and job creation in Europe, he said.His political allies at home have waded in too. US Treasury secretary Jack Lew warned last week that the move could have a “chilling effect on US-EU cross-border investment”. The US would have to “consider potential responses”. Continue reading...

iPhone maker tells shareholders it doesn’t consider the European commission’s decision final and does not ‘expect any near-term impact on our financial results’Tech giant Apple told shareholders it did not consider the European commission’s decision to collect $14.5bn in back taxes final on Tuesday and was “confident that it will be overturned”, but analysts warned the picture was more complex.In a note posted to the company’s investor relations page, the company said it did “not expect any near-term impact on our financial results” and that it was prepared to pursue the matter in court for years to come. “While we desire a resolution as soon as possible, the process is likely to take several years,” the company said. Continue reading...

Apple has been ordered to pay a record figure of up to €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland by the European commission. This video explains the ‘sweetheart deal’ that the commission has ruled amounts to illegal state aidApple ordered to pay up to €13bn after EU rules Ireland broke state aid laws Continue reading...

Google’s AI research arm is partnering with the hospital to improve the scans available for radiotherapists by using machine learningGoogle DeepMindhas announced it is working on a project to improve treatment on head and neck cancers, its third major collaboration with the NHS.The London-based AI research arm of the online search firm is partnering with University College London Hospital in an attempt to improve the scans available for radiotherapists by using machine learning. The project will use anonymised scans from up to 700 former patients. Continue reading...

European commission says Apple got illegal help with tax breaks but CEO Tim Cook says ruling threatens investment in EuropeApple has warned that future investment by multinationals in Europe could be hit after it was ordered to pay a record-breaking €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland.The world’s largest company was presented with the huge bill after the European commission ruled that a sweetheart tax deal between Apple and the Irish tax authorities amounted to illegal state aid. Continue reading...

One of the issues Guardian readers have been discussing on Tuesday is the Apple tax ruling. Here are are some of their commentsApple has been ordered to pay up to €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland after the European commission ruled that deals between Apple and the Irish tax authorities amounted to illegal state aid.

It’s far more likely that robots would inadvertently harm or frustrate humans while carrying out our orders than they would rise up against us

Labour leader launches digital democracy manifesto with pledge to act against harassment, including by his supporters

Tech company ordered to pay up to $14.5bn in back taxes over deal with Ireland; Trump rejects former KKK leader’s support; ‘freaks on the peaks’ keep lonely watch for forest firesApple is facing a $14.5bn fine from the European commission over unpaid back taxes, stemming from arrangements it made over nearly 25 years with the Irish government. The ruling found that Dublin afforded Apple illegal state aid, allowing the US tech company to pay as little as 1% corporate tax rate on two-thirds of its global earnings, and levies a heavier fine than expected. The result of the Irish arrangement was that Apple avoided tax on almost all profits from sales of its products across the EU’s single market by booking the profits in Ireland rather than the country in which the product was sold. Ireland’s finance minister said Dublin would appeal against the ruling, which columnist Owen Jones calls a vindication of protest. Here is an explainer. Continue reading...

Yogscast Kim has signed everything from phone covers to a bag of Tabasco sauce, but she’s still amazed that fans queue for hours to meet vloggers as they did at Insomnia 58“You’re a lot shorter in real life than I thought!” says the teenager in front of me, grinning nervously. “Well, YouTube makes me look bigger than I am!” I shoot back. It’s a terrible line, and given how many times my viewers have enthused about my small height, I should really have thought of a better reply by now. But it’s difficult to be sharp when you’re into the third hour of signing autographs, smiling for selfies and trying to hear what people are saying over the pounding music coming from a nearby gaming booth. I’m at Insomnia 58, a video games convention that has grown tremendously in the past couple of years. Previously, it was held in one hall of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, before it spilled out into the adjoining football pitch, and now, Insomnia 58 has taken over the Birmingham NEC and is to get even bigger.Originally, Insomnia was a convention where PC gamers could bring their own PCs and hook them up together in order to play multiplayer video games throughout the night – hence the name. But as Insomnia grew, it started hosting competitive video gaming tournaments, where teams could win big money playing Counter Strike, Call of Duty and StarCraft 2. Now the four-day event has expanded to include Minecraft mini-games, cosplay competitions, merchandise booths, tabletop gaming, video game booths, stage shows and meet and greets with YouTubers such as Syndicate, AmyLee33, The Diamond Minecart, NettyPlays and The Creatures. Continue reading...

The text translator’s blunder put down to crowdsourced suggestions after anger from Saudi officials and social media called for countrywide boycottMicrosoft has been forced to apologise after its Bing translation service suggested that the Arabic name for Islamic State “Daesh” meant “Saudi Arabia” in English.

Nextdoor’s push to combat racial profiling is latest controversy when tech firms find themselves in scandals at intersection of race, social justice and free speechThe racist posts on Nextdoor.com became so frequent that they started to make Shikira Porter feel physically ill.Billed as a “private social network for your neighborhood”, Nextdoor allows users to write public messages to neighbors who have joined the site, which now has more than 110,000 local groups across the US. After Porter, who is black, signed up in her Oakland, California, neighborhood in 2013, she quickly discovered that many of her white neighbors were posting “crime and safety” alerts about “suspicious” people of color. Continue reading...

Labor says material taken in a mid-election campaign police raid over NBN leaks is covered protected, which the privileges committee will now decideThe Coalition has agreed to allow parliament’s powerful privileges committee to determine whether material obtained by the Australian federal police in controversial raids during and after the election campaign will be protected by privilege.

Small-scale fishers hope technology will convince ministers that there are enough stocks to feed communities sustainablyA smartphone app that logs data on fish catches is giving small-scale fishers in South Africa hope they can persuade the government to allocate them more of what they regard as their traditional fishing rights.Abalobi, the app which is named for the isiXhosa phrase abalobi bentlanzi, meaning “someone who fishes”, aims to give small-scale fishers the data to empower themselves and convince others. Continue reading...

Irish officials expect European commission to declare the arrangement with Apple unlawful under state aid rulesApple could face back taxes running into billions with the European commission expected to rule against the company on Tuesday over its arrangements with the Irish government.A ruling by Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, could make Apple liable for billions of euros. Irish officials expect the commission to declare the arrangements unlawful under state aid rules. Continue reading...

With apps to reduce queues for water and to protect women in danger, a project teaching computer skills to girls in India’s Dharavi slum is changing aspirationsAnsuja Madival’s mother, who works as a maid, had never touched a tablet before, so the 15-year-old had to show her which buttons to press. “She was so happy when she saw what I had made,” Ansuja says. “She never knew I was so good at computers.”No one thought schoolgirls from Mumbai’s Dharavi slum could code mobile apps. The girls didn’t even know what an app was until recently. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday. Continue reading...

US authorities opposed the move, but New Zealand judge rules live broadcast can start on Wednesday, as internet entrepreneur battles online piracy chargesInternet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been granted his wish to live stream his bid to avoid extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on online piracy charges.

A further 19 schools reportedly targeted since the site, which is hosted by a platform outside of Australia, was restored last weekA website that hosted sexually explicit images of Australian schoolgirls is back online, with more schools added to users’ lists of desired targets.Earlier this month news broke of a ring that was targeting pupils of more than 70 Australian schools, with users sometimes requesting images of specific individuals. Continue reading...

Police accuse 17-year-old of crippling official home page and posting a demand that A-level tests be postponedSri Lankan police have arrested a 17-year-old teenager accused of hacking into President Maithripala Sirisena’s official website and posting a message calling for the postponement of A-level examinations.The boy was taken into custody on Monday under computer crimes laws and on conviction faces a fine of 300,000 rupees ($2,000) and up to three years in jail. Continue reading...

Apple sent out invites for autumn product launch in San Francisco, where the company may also show new models or features for Apple Watch and MacbookApple is expected to show off a new iPhone next week when the company holds its autumn product launch event in San Francisco.Related: Brussels ruling could hit Apple with billions of euros in back taxes Continue reading...

Interior minister calls for more proactive approach to cracking down on racist and violent posts from usersFacebook should be more proactive in removing racist and violent content from its sites, the German interior minister said on Monday after a visit to the company’s offices in Berlin.“Facebook has an immensely important economic position and just like every other large enterprise it has a immensely important social responsibility,” Thomas de Maiziere said.

It took only two days for an algorithm to highlight a fake story about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. Facebook’s influence on news dissemination makes such mistakes arguably irresponsibleTwo days after Facebook announced it was replacing the humans that write the Trending Topics descriptions with robots, a fake article about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly appeared in its list of trending stories.On Friday, Facebook announced that in a bid to reduce bias it would make the Trending feature more automated and laid off up to 26 contractors hired to write and edit the short descriptions that accompanied each trend. On Sunday a story headlined “Breaking: Fox News Exposes Traitor Megyn Kelly, Kicks Her Out for Backing Hillary” found its way into the list of trending stories – despite the fact that it’s not true. Continue reading...

The power of smartphones is too easily turned against their users. Governments, companies and users must all work together to keep themselves safeThe phone in your pocket gives you powers that were hard to imagine even five years ago. It can talk to you, listen, and give sensible answers to questions. It knows your fingerprint and recognises your face and those of all your friends. It can buy almost anything, sell almost anything, bring you all the news you want, as well as almost all the books, films and music you might want to look at. What’s more, it will even allow you to talk to your friends and to communicate with almost anyone.The problem is that these powers are not yours – at least they don’t belong to you alone. They belong to whoever controls the phone and can be used to serve their purposes as well as yours. Repressive governments and criminal gangs are all contending to break into phones today, and this kind of hacking will increasingly become the preferred route into all of the computer networks that we use – the ones we don’t call “phones”. Continue reading...

Module pushes out false story about Fox’s Megyn Kelly, offensive Ann Coulter headline and a story link about a man masturbating with a McDonald’s sandwich

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday. The Facebook founder and the Pontiff discussed how technology is helping some of the world’s most disadvantaged countries without internet access connect. Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page afterwards adding, ‘It was a meeting we’ll never forget. You can feel his warmth and kindness, and how deeply he cares about helping people.’ Continue reading...

FBI warning does not identify two states targeted by cyber intrusions but reports say Arizona and Illinois voter registration systems were infiltratedThe FBI is urging US election officials to increase computer security measures after it uncovered evidence that hackers have targeted two state election databases in recent weeks, according to a confidential advisory.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Bank Holiday Monday. Continue reading...

The success of Halo saw Bungie grow from small concern to household name. Two years after release, the Destiny franchise looks set to take its developer to new heightsThe first public hint that Bungie was working on a new game – a new franchise – to follow its astonishing run of success with Halo, the iconic first person shooter, came in the form of an easter egg in its penultimate entry in that series, Halo 3: ODST.It was 2009. At that point, development on the new game had barely started. The earliest work was concept art, ideas for characters and weapons showing a fusion of high fantasy swords-and-sorcery and post-Halo space opera. But Bungie already had a name, and a setting. It was enough for the teaser image, which showed the earth, flanked by an artificial moon. The caption: “Destiny awaits.” Continue reading...

A truly unusual and original puzzler, a respectable 3D fighter and the return of a British favouritePS4 (PSN), Sony, cert: 7

Security is finally being taken seriously but the fact that we are increasingly entrusting our lives to self-driving cars creates unease“Car companies are finally realising that what they sell is just a big computer you sit in,” says Kevin Tighe, a senior systems engineer at the security testing firm Bugcrowd.It’s meant to be a reassuring statement: proof that the world’s major vehicle manufacturers are finally coming to terms with their responsibilities to customers, and taking the security of vehicles seriously. Continue reading...

IK prize-winning system matches images from the 24/7 news cycle with centuries-old artworks and presents them onlineSeated against a deep red backdrop, gazing intently at hand-held mirrors, two eunuchs in sparkling saris inspect their appearance before Raksha Bandhan celebrations in the red light district of Mumbai.The photograph from the Reuters news agency is an arresting contemporary scene, but a new Tate Britain project is aiming to inspire deeper reflections with images from its own collection of paintings.

The British YouTube star better known as Stampy has created a hugely popular web channel and educational show, but has no desire to do ‘proper’ TVThe biggest new children’s TV genre of recent years isn’t on broadcast television. It’s people posting videos on YouTube of themselves playing video game Minecraft and racking up billions of views from children around the world. One of those stars is Joseph Garrett, whose YouTube persona is a cat named Stampy. His channel has 7.8 million subscribers and its videos have been viewed 5.3bn times, making him one of the most popular British YouTube stars. Others include Dan Middleton, whose Minecraft-focused the Diamond Minecart channel has 12.2 million subscribers and 8bn views. YouTube’s biggest star so far is also a gamer, Brighton-based Swede Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. His videos are not aimed at children, but he has an audience of 47.5 million YouTube subscribers and 13.2bn views. The popularity of their channels may baffle many parents, but to children these online creators are as influential as pop stars.Still only in his mid-20s, Joseph Garrett has also developed a show called Wonder Quest with Disney-owned Maker Studios. It aims to teach science and maths to children using Minecraft and after 60m views of its first series has just returned for a second season. Continue reading...

Playing a difficult game for the first time can feel like ‘stretching’ your brain, similar to exercising a muscleTravellers stuck in traffic jams this bank holiday weekend, especially with children in tow, may resort to handheld video games when every I Spy answer has been guessed.Luckily, playing video games may actually be very good for the brain - and may even stave off dementia symptoms in later life. This is because if you continue learning to do new things, whether studying a new language, completing sudoku puzzles or working out how to beat a cartoon monster, your brain seems to become better at switching to new ways of doing things and this may slightly delay the onset of some of the more distressing symptoms. Continue reading...

There will be a special salon at the event for viewing increasingly ambitious productions in the new immersive formatVenice, first of the big autumn film festivals, is the most glamorous, attracting big stars to Europe’s most beguiling location. But this year, virtual reality technology could steal the limelight from all the talent posing on the Rialto.The film Jesus VR – The Story of Christ, to be unveiled at the festival on Thursday, marks the biggest investment so far in bringing the immersive world of virtual reality to mainstream cinema. The US-backed film will be 90 minutes long when it is released this Christmas, but 40 minutes are to be previewed in Venice for anyone quick enough to grab a headset. Filmed in 360 degrees, it places its audience as spectators at the nativity, and takes them right through to the resurrection. The film is Venice festival’s way of saying that the future has arrived. Continue reading...