Andrea Marcucci of Agent 99, New York, is handling East Coast representation for A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles. Additionally, Connie Mellors of Connie Mellors & Company, Toluca Lake, Calif., is repping the company on the West Coast….Independent New York rep Barrie Isaacson will handle East Coast sales for music and sound design shop Tonefarmer, New York….Mark Leo has come aboard Cutting Vision, New York, in the newly created position of business development/direct sales…. Delores Hively and Dawn Schiffman of Buzz Management, New York, are handling East Coast representation for New York production shop KanDoKid, and effects house Zoic Studios, Santa Monica. Zoic has also inked a deal for representation in the Hispanic market with Los Angeles-based independent rep Marta Burga….DP Robert Gantz is again available for spots and music videos via The Mirisch Agency, Los Angeles, after wrapping Universal Pictures’ Assault on Precinct 13….Wardrobe stylist Candace Carella has signed with Partos, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation….DP Cesar Charlone, who shot City of God and recently finished The Constant Gardner, is now available for commercialwork through ICM, Beverly Hills, Calif….
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