DMU (a.k.a. The Shadow) v. Super-GAFA

March 11, 2020 - The UK Government takes a first measure to curb the progression of a devastating global, viral phenomenon across the nation by announcing a new Digital Markets Taskforce (and that coronavirus thing, which claimed its first British life the previous week? well... let's just wait and see, keep partying, and zoom towards herd immunity).

April 7, 2021 - The Digital Markets Unit is officially launched within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Announced last November, the DMU is pitched as a tough superhero powerful enough to tame such supervillains as Google, Facebook, or Amazon, the 'SMS' level baddies (that's Strategic Market Status).

For the moment our superhero regulator is a 'shadow' without a proper license, and without any legal weapons, that will only become operational next year. Because we're talking about a launch "in 'shadow' non statutory form ahead of legislation granting its full powers. (...) The government will consult on the design of the new pro-competition regime this year and legislate to put the DMU on a statutory footing as soon as Parliamentary time allows."

Which leaves lobbyists plenty of time to show their muscle - picture Clark David Kent Cameron entering a BT phone booth to change into Supermean (BTW the Ofcom will be a key partner for The Shadow).

We've already seen plenty of action earlier - remember Facebook's memorable move, and Australia lawmakers pledging to defend the orphan and widow news companies? Frankly, I can't wait for the Netflix version of the novels published by the Taskforce ahead of Christmas: GAFA's answers to their Call For Information. My favorite remains Amazon's - the way they dismiss the need to even define their kind, the way they use the words 'care' and 'harm' when one of the key regulatory fights will be over the expected 'Duty of Care' for harmful contents... they've got great screenwriters for this Digital Markets Universe!

'A tough new regulator' - at least according to the Government's press release (20210407)

mot-bile 2021

iPhone Worm Raises Its Ugly Head : Rick Astley

Worse than I Love You ? Never Gonna Give You Up.

Rick Astley made history as the first iPhone worm... down under. Not in the charts, but in Oz land : victims are plagued with Astley wallpapers on their handsets*.

After Monty Python's SPAM, England brings us another laughingStock (Aitken, Waterman) for online generations to come : the ultimate musical junk from the 80s already gave its name to "Rickrolling".

Why Astley ? Because Ashley. "Ashley Towns, a 21 year-old unemployed programmer from Wollogong, Australia", guilty for creating the worm and furthermore, for his terrible musical taste.

mot-bile 2009


* "First IPhone Worm Spreads Rick Astley Wallpaper" (PCWorld - 20091108)

Branson vs Murdoch : Virgin Mobile + NTL in the UK, and more to come

Since Sir Richard confessed in China, Virgin Mobile had to get specific today : "The Board of Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK) plc (‘Virgin Mobile’ or ‘the Company’) confirms that it has received an approach from NTL Incorporated that may or may not lead to a formal offer being made for the Company."
UK's leading cableco (after wolfing Telewest down) could help Virgin build a significant competitor to BSkyB, which had already been hunting for preys in the telecom sector (some game with a little more flesh than OneTel).
NTL already purchased Virgin.net a few years ago. They need a brand and should offer more than their initial $1.4bn to please Virgin shareholders.
From Branson's point of view, focusing on such core assets as branding or retailing could make sense. And this partnership should lead to other ones, even more devastating for the competition. The sooner the better : new M-VNOs are popping up across the world and Sir Richard is bound to harrass Sir Rupert the other side of the Atlantic, not to mention Australia or even China.