Director Malcolm Venville is said to have departed bicoastal/international Propaganda Films to join bicoastal 8Media….New York-based executive producer Bill Perna has exited bicoastal M-80….Laura Howard, formerly head of sales and client-direct business at bicoastal Tool of North America, is launching Los Angeles-based production company Slo Graffiti, a division of Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles….Simpson Films, New York, and director Jerry Simpson have gone independent, having ended an affiliation with bicoastal and Chicago-based Crossroads Films. Simpson Films is also currently seeking national representation after parting ways with Lew & Co., New York….Director Brian Scott Weber has joined No Prisoners, the Santa Monica shop headed by executive producer Bruce Martin….Word is that director Ashley Beck is joining Gas.Food & Lodging, Culver City, Calif….Director Tricia Caruso has signed with Highway 61, New York, for exclusive commercial representation. Also, executive producer Marc Rosenberg has come aboard the company as executive producer, succeeding Mark Jaffee, who recently left….Open Frame Productions, New York, has signed director Eric Barbier and the directing team Zoo for U.S. representation. Zoo is a three-man collective consisting of Julian Rambaldi, David Fauche and Mathieu Montovani. Based in France, both Barbier and Zoo are repped in Europe by Big Productions, Paris….Envision It, the Miami shop recently formed by Alana Rothlein, has signed directors Sylvie Jacquemin and Ana Coyne for spot representation….Riot, Santa Monica, has expanded its visual effects department, adding effects producer Alix Eglis and effects artist Claus Hansen….Editor Alan Nay has come aboard FilmCore, Santa Monica. He was with Pinnacle Studios, Seattle….Audio mixer Dona Richardson, formerly of AudioBanks, Santa Monica, has joined 48 Windows Music & Mix, Santa Monica….
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