Sean Sullivan of Sullivan Creative Management, Chicago, has been named to handle Midwest representation for Incubator Films, the Los Angeles-based shop featuring director Tom De Cerchio. Incubator continues to be repped by indie reps Siobhan McCafferty and Peter McCann on the West and East Coasts, respectively….The Directors Network, Encino, Calif., has signed fashion/beauty director Skott Snider and DP Billy Velten….Tim Hayes has shuttered his longstanding independent rep firm, Timothy Hayes & Company, New York, to open Hayes Is For Horses, East Hampton, N.Y. The unique career transition will find Hayes serving as a "natural horsemanship clinician" (horse whisperer), giving seminars and demonstrations in the art of horse/human communication….Blue Goose Productions, Los Angeles, has secured rep Marti Ski to handle sales on the West Coast….TeamHeavy, New York, has added Andrea Mergentime as director of sales…. Sales reps Sophie Edwards and Stephanie Naccari have joined New York-based post/effects shop Creative Bubble and its audio division, Burst@Creative Bubble. Edwards and Naccari will handle national sales for the companies….Crawford Post Production, Atlanta, has added Tim Cowling as senior account executive, and James Knight as account executive….Ty Van Huisen has been named director of marketing for the film and commercial division of Picture Mill, a Hollywood-based digital motion graphic design house. Picture Mill has also hired Dawn Clarke for representation on the West Coast and Nikki Weiss to handle the Midwest….DP Jonathan Taylor has just wrapped Spider-Man 2 and is again available exclusively through the Lyons• Sheldon•Prosnit Agency, Los Angeles….
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More