A judge has dismissed a bid to stop renewed negotiations by the Screen Actors Guild with producers after noting errors in the emergency petition.
Attorneys representing SAG President Alan Rosenberg, an ally of the union’s ousted negotiator Doug Allen, had petitioned a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against further negotiations. A complaint filed Tuesday morning alleges that many of SAG’s 71 board members were not contacted about the motion to remove Allen last week.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant denied the petition after noting several errors and ordered Rosenberg’s attorneys to amend the claim. One of his attorneys, Sonia Y. Lee, said she will amend the complaint and seek a hearing Thursday morning.
SAG attorneys appeared at Tuesday’s hearing and pointed out some of the problems with the complaint. They declined comment afterward.
The complaint claims the board needed to approve the action by a two-thirds margin, but that only 53 percent of the board’s members agreed. It claims that “irreparable harm” could occur to SAG members if a new negotiating team strikes a deal.
The union canceled a negotiation meeting with producers that was scheduled for Tuesday morning because of the court action. The union has been in a bitter internal struggle over negotiations with producers. Its members have been working without a contract since June.
The petition also was filed on behalf of Anne-Marie Johnson, SAG’s first executive vice president, actors Kent McCord and Diane Ladd. Among the dozens of board members being sued are actors Adam Arkin, Morgan Fairchild and Kate Walsh.
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