An incentive package designed to thwart runaway Hollywood production has been approved by the Los Angeles City Council.
The seven-point measure doesn’t contain tax credits, but the so-called “Ugly Betty” package has provisions designed to make it easier to shoot in Los Angeles and it directs city staff to develop guidelines for a business tax break.
The action was motivated by the move of ABC’s comedy “Ugly Betty” to New York last year. An economic analysis found that a one-hour TV show generates more than 180 direct jobs, supports 540 indirect jobs, and produces $2.2 million in state income taxes and $880,000 in state sales taxes.
The city will now help producers find parking options for crews, reduce parking costs and install utility power nodes to eliminate the need for generators.
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