The Directors Network, Encino, Calif., has signed New York-based humor director Wayne Gibson and Los Angeles-based director/cameraman Stephen Vidano. Additionally, longform helmer Lorraine Senna has returned to The Directors Network for spot representation….Sean Sullivan of Sullivan Creative Management, Chicago, has been named to handle Midwest representation for Incubator Films, the Los Angeles-based shop featuring director Tom De Cerchio. Incubator continues to be repped by indie reps Siobhan McCafferty and Peter McCann on the West and East Coasts, respectively….Cinelande & Associates, Montreal, and Industry Films, Toronto, have forged a strategic alliance whereby the companies will represent each company’s directors in the other’s market….Lisa Cleff has rejoined bicoastal Attik as VP of business development and marketing. She departed the company in 2001 to serve as director of sales and marketing for R!OT Manhattan before joining creative studio Goodspot, Santa Monica…. Sabrina Manhas Hutchinson and Stacey Jones have joined Modern Digital, Seattle, as account executives….Stylist/costume designer Marcelle McKay is now repped by Aimee Rivers at The Lyons•Sheldon•Prosnit Agency, Los Angeles….
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