Stockholm-based animation house FilmTecknarna has garnered new spot and music video representation in the U.K. for several of its directors via HSI London. HSI will handle all FilmTecknarna directors except for Jonas Odell and Johanna Andersson who continue to be repped in England by Nexus Productions, London….Amy Zale of bicoastal/international @radical.media has been promoted to East Coast sales agent for the company….Foundation Post, Chicago, has secured independent firm Hilly Reps, Chicago, to handle the Midwest…..Musikvergnuegen, the Hollywood-based music production/audio branding house, has brought account exec Andria Ellis on board. She will be active in marketing, PR and handle West Coast sales both for Musikvergnuegen and its production music library division Beyond….MassiveMusic, New York and Amsterdam, has signed Ezra Burke as its West Coast rep….Jeff Lewis of Encino, Calif.-based TDN Artists has signed DP Jamie Rosenberg for feature and spot representation. Rosenberg just wrapped a shoot for MJZ director Marcus Nispel….Production designer José E. Montaño has joined The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation….Having wrapped his first feature–Cleaner directed by Renny Harlin–production designer Richard Berg is again available for spots and music videos through Orlando Management, Sherman Oaks, 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