Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
South Korea's competition watchdog plans to fine Google at least 207.4 billion won (US$177 million) for allegedly blocking smartphone makers like Samsung from using other operating systems, in what would be one of the country's biggest antitrust penalties ever.
Google said it plans to challenge the fine. It has accused South Korean authorities of disregarding how its software policy benefits hardware partners and consumers.
Tuesday's announcement came as South Korea also began enforcing a revised telecommunications law that prohibits app market operators like Google and Apple from requiring smartphone users to pay with their in-app purchasing systems. It is the first nation to adopt such regulations.
South Korea has always closely scrutinized how foreign technology companies behave in its market. Much of the focus in recent years has been on Google and Apple as officials vowed to prevent them from abusing their dominant market positions in mobile internet.
Joh Sung-wook, chairwoman of South Korea's Fair Trade Commission, said Google has hampered competition since 2011 by obligating its electronics partners to sign "anti-fragmentation" agreements. This has prevented the companies from installing modified versions of Google's operating systems on devices like smartphones and smartwatches. That gave Google an easy way to cement its leadership in mobile software and app markets, she said.
Joh said manufacturers like Samsung and LG had to agree to the terms when signing contracts with Google for app store licensing or early access to computer codes so that they could build devices in advance before Google released new versions of its Android and other operating systems.
In an emailed statement, Google said the FTC is ignoring how Android's compatibility program, which defines the requirements for device makers and developers to achieve compatibility with the operating system, has spurred "incredible hardware and software innovation, and brought enormous success to Korean OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and developers."
"This in turn has led to greater choice, quality and a better user experience for Korean consumers," Google said. "KFTC's decision released today ignores these benefits, and will undermine the advantages enjoyed by consumers. Google intends to appeal the KFTC's decision."
Joh pointed out that Samsung, the maker of the globally popular Galaxy Android phones, suffered a huge setback in 2013 when Google forced it to abort its plans to use a customized version of Google software on its Galaxy Gear smartwatches.
Samsung switched to a little-known operating system called Tizen but gave up on the software after struggling with a lack of applications. The company's new smartwatches are now powered by Google's Wear OS. LG was also thwarted from releasing smart speakers based on customized Google software.
The fine announced for Google would be the ninth largest the FTC has ever imposed. The company may end up paying even more.
Kim Min-jeong, another FTC official, said the amount announced by her commission was tentative, based on the revenue Google generated in South Korea from 2011 to April this year. She said the finalized fine, which could be announced in October or November, might be slightly higher.
"We will ban (Google) from requiring device manufacturers to sign anti-fragmentation agreements in relation to (business contracts) regarding Play Store licensing and early access to operating systems," Joh said in a news conference.
"Our corrective measures ... will allow domestic device manufacturers to release 'fork' devices in the domestic and foreign markets and foreign manufacturers to release `fork' devices in the domestic market," she said, referring to devices powered by customized operating systems.
The FTC began examining the case in 2016 and is conducting other investigations of Google, including its behavior in mobile applications and advertising markets.
Earlier Tuesday, the Korea Communications Commission, the country's telecommunications regulator, said a revised telecommunications law prohibiting Google and Apple from requiring developers to use their in-app purchasing systems has taken effect.
The tech giants face global criticism over forcing developers to use in-app purchasing systems, for which the companies receive commissions of up to 30%. The companies say the commissions help pay for the cost of maintaining the app markets.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.