It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, March 05, 2024
Plant Lavender, Marjoram and Ivy on your green wall to clean up the air
Green walls can strip pollution from the air – and some plants do it better than others, according to new research from the University of Surrey.
Researchers planted 10 species on a custom-built 1.4m green wall beside the A3 in Guildford.
Mamatha Tomson, postgraduate researcher at the University of Surrey, said:
“By planting vertically on a green wall, communities can clean up their air without taking up too much street space.
“Our study suggests that this process depends not only on the shape of its leaves but on the micromorphological properties of their surfaces. We think a good mixture of species will produce the most effective green walls – and look forward to carrying out further research to see if we’re right.”
Plants remove air pollution in two steps. First, they catch particles of pollution on their leaves. Then, the rain washes them safely to the ground.
Evergreen Candytuft and Ivy leaves were found to be especially good at trapping pollutant particles, large and small.
Meanwhile, rain was able to wash most of the pollution off the hairy leaves of Lavender. Candytuft and Marjoram also performed well in washing off smaller particles of pollution.
Professor Prashant Kumar, director of the University’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), said:
“We hope that town planners and infrastructure experts can use our findings to think more carefully about what they plant.
“Having a green wall is a great way of removing pollution – but what you plant on it can make a big difference to how successful it will be.”
Exploring the interplay between particulate matter capture, wash-off, and leaf traits in green wall species
Swapping meat for Quorn lowers bad cholesterol by 10-percent
Regularly substituting meat for mycoprotein such as Quorn could help to lower bad cholesterol by 10-percent, which is comparable to switching to a Mediterranean or vegan diet.
Regularly substituting meat for mycoprotein such as Quorn could help to lower bad cholesterol by 10-percent, which is comparable to switching to a Mediterranean or vegan diet.
New research by the University of Exeter, published in Clinical Nutrition, also found substituting meat for Quorn reduces blood glucose and c-peptide concentrations associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.
With one in six UK adults suffering from raised cholesterol, the findings indicate that mycoprotein - the high protein, high-fibre food source that’s the main ingredient in Quorn - could play a key role in cholesterol management and improving heart health.
Dr George Pavis, of University of Exeter, led the study and said: “We’re really excited about these results and what they mean for public health. Previous laboratory studies, where all food eaten is controlled and alcohol and caffeine consumption regulated, have clearly shown that daily consumption of mycoprotein reduces bad cholesterol. But this is the first study of its kind to explore the impact of such a dietary intervention in a real-world, home-based setting where participants were not restricted in terms of what else they consumed or did.
“The findings demonstrate that introducing Quorn foods into a diet on a regular basis helps to significantly lower bad cholesterol, blood glucose and c-peptide concentrations, which is important for boosting heart health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“It was particularly interesting to see the scale of the impact that Quorn consumption had in terms of reducing harmful cholesterol, with its performance over four weeks comparable to what we might expect to see from well-established approaches, such as following a Mediterranean diet.”
The remotely delivered study involved 72 overweight adults with high cholesterol levels. Researchers found that participants who ate 180g of Quorn products on a daily basis - equivalent to two servings of Quorn mince - saw a 10-percent reduction in ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol over the four-week study period. This equates to a 0.3 millimole per litre (mmol/l) decrease in bad cholesterol levels in less than one month.
Research has shown how more wholesale healthy dietary changes, such as switching to a Mediterranean or vegan diet, will typically deliver a 0.2 – O.3 mmol/l reduction in bad cholesterol levels after 12 weeks. Researchers at the University of Exeter also noted that typical doses of atorvastatin, the most popular statin prescribed by the NHS to treat high cholesterol, commonly yield a 0.3 – 1.3 mmol/l reduction after 12 months.
According to medical research, a decrease of 0.39 mmol/l in bad cholesterol levels is associated with a 25% lower lifetime risk of heart and circulatory disease. With pharmaceutical trials suggesting that reductions increase in a linear way over time, the researchers suggested further studies should be undertaken to see if the results improve even further when Quorn is eaten over a longer period.
The study – which saw half of the participants (39) given meat and fish products to eat on a daily basis as part of their regular diet, while the other half (33) were provided with Quorn products – also revealed further heart health benefits.
High blood sugar levels and c-peptide concentrations are commonly associated with diabetes and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. The researchers found that study participants who ate Quorn products experienced, on average, a 13-percent drop in blood glucose levels and a 27-percent fall in c-peptide concentrations, compared with the control group. With current data showing that 2.4 million people are at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the UK based on high blood sugar levels, these findings demonstrate how mycoprotein could also play a key role in tackling a disease that currently costs an estimated £14 billion a year to treat.
The findings come after the latest annual Health Survey for England estimated that well over half (59-percent) of adults suffer from raised cholesterol and one in ten from diabetes, with both conditions known to cause cardiovascular disease - meaning millions of people could be at risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.
Sam Blunt, Quorn’s director of sustainability and corporate affairs, said: “The potential cholesterol-lowering effects of Quorn’s mycoprotein were first identified nearly four decades ago and, since then, numerous studies have helped us to understand more about the extent of its cholesterol management capabilities, with its high-fibre content thought to play a key role in this.
“While the benefits of adopting a Mediterranean diet are clear, it’s not always easy to do and this study highlights how, by simply introducing Quorn products into their diet on a regular basis, people may be able to quickly reduce their cholesterol levels and improve their heart health with minimal effort."
A four-week dietary intervention with mycoprotein-containing food products reduces serum cholesterol concentrations in community-dwelling, overweight adults: A randomised controlled trial
The identification of an eleventh century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. The astronomical instrument was adapted, translated and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish and Christian users in Spain, North Africa and Italy.
Dr Federica Gigante, from Cambridge University’s History Faculty, made the discoveries in a museum in Verona, Italy, and published them today in the journal Nuncius.
Dr Gigante first came across a newly-uploaded image of the astrolabe by chance on the website of the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo. Intrigued, she asked them about it.
“The museum didn’t know what it was,” Dr Gigante said. “It’s now the single most important object in their collection.”
“When I visited the museum and studied the astrolabe up close, I noticed that not only was it covered in beautifully engraved Arabic inscriptions but that I could see faint inscriptions in Hebrew. I could only make them out in the raking light entering from a window. I thought I might be dreaming but I kept seeing more and more. It was very exciting.”
“This isn’t just an incredibly rare object. It’s a powerful record of scientific exchange between Arabs, Jews and Christians over hundreds of years,” said Dr Gigante.
“The Verona astrolabe underwent many modifications, additions, and adaptations as it changed hands. At least three separate users felt the need to add translations and corrections to this object, two using Hebrew and one using a Western language.”
Astrolabes were the world’s first smartphone, a portable computer which could be put to hundreds of uses. They provided a portable two-dimensional model of the universe fitting in their user’s hand, enabling them to calculate time, distances, plot the position of the stars and even forecast the future, by casting a horoscope.
Islamic Spanish origins
Dr Gigante, an expert on Islamic astrolabes and previously a curator of Islamic scientific instruments, dated and located the creation of the ‘Verona astrolabe’ by analysing key scientific, design, construction and calligraphic characteristics. She identified the object as Andalusian, and – from the style of the engraving, and the arrangement of the scales on the back – matched it to instruments made in Al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled area of Spain, in the eleventh century.
One side of a plate is inscribed in Arabic “for the latitude of Cordoba, 38° 30',” while the other side “for the latitude of Toledo, 40°,” لعزض طليطلة م. Dr Gigante suggests that the astrolabe might have been made in Toledo at a time when it was a thriving centre of coexistence and cultural exchange between Muslim, Jews and Christians.
The astrolabe features Muslim prayer lines and prayer names, arranged to ensure that its original intended users kept to time to perform their daily prayers.
The signature inscribed on the astrolabe reads / صنعة يونس[...]لاسحاق, that is, “for Isḥāq [...]/the work of Yūnus.” This was engraved sometime after the astrolabe was made probably for a later owner.
The two names, Isḥāq and Yūnus, that is Isaac and Jonah in English, could be Jewish names written in the Arabic script, a detail that suggests that the object was at a certain point circulating within a Sephardi Jewish community in Spain, where Arabic was the spoken language.
A second, added plate is inscribed for typical North African latitudes suggesting that another point of the object’s life, it was perhaps used in Morocco, or Egypt.
Hebrew inscriptions
Hebrew inscriptions were added to the astrolabe by more than one hand. One set of additions are carved deeply and neatly, while a different set of translations are very light, uneven, and show an insecure hand.
Dr Gigante said: “These Hebrew additions and translations suggest that at a certain point the object left Spain or North Africa and circulated amongst the Jewish diaspora community in Italy, where Arabic was not understood, and Hebrew was used instead.”
Unusually, one of the Hebrew additions, engraved neatly above the Arabic marking for latitude 35°, reads “34 and a half” rather than “34 ½”, which suggests that the engraver was not an astronomer or astrolabe maker.
Other Hebrew inscriptions are instead translations of the Arabic names for astrological signs, for Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries.
Dr Gigante points out that these translations reflect the recommendations prescribed by the Spanish Jewish polymath Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) in the earliest surviving treatise on the astrolabe in the Hebrew language written in 1146 in Verona, exactly where the astrolabe is found today.
Jewish Verona
Twelfth-century Verona hosted one of the longest-standing and most important Jewish communities in Italy. Ibn Ezra’s treatise assumes pre-existing knowledge of the astrolabe among the Verona Jewish community, showing that the instrument must already have been popular.
Ibn Ezra’s description has a lot in common with the ‘Verona astrolabe’ which would have been in circulation by the time Ibn Ezra was in Verona. He warned his readers that an instrument must be checked before use to verify the accuracy of the values to be calculated.
Dr Gigante suggests that the person who added the Hebrew inscriptions might have been following such recommendations.
Close up of the Verona astrolabe showing inscribed Hebrew, Arabic and Western Numerals
Close up of the Verona astrolabe showing Hebrew inscribed (top left) above Arabic inscriptions
CREDIT
Federica Gigante
Incorrect corrections
The astrolabe features corrections inscribed not only in Hebrew but also in Western numerals, the same we use in English today.
All sides of the astrolabe’s plates feature lightly scratched markings in Western numerals, translating and correcting the latitude values, some even multiple times. Dr Gigante thinks it is highly likely that these additions were made in Verona for a Latin or Italian language speaker.
In one case, someone lightly scratched the numbers “42” and “40” near the inscription reading “for the latitude of Medinaceli, 41° 30'”.
Dr Gigante said: “Not only do both numerals differ from the value given in the Arabic, they don’t agree between themselves. It may be that a later user of the instrument thought the original Arabic value was wrong and amended it. But the correct, modern value for the latitude of Medinaceli is 41°15', indicating that the Arabic value was more accurate than either amendment.”
Elsewhere on the instrument, Gigante found similar conflicting and erroneous amendments relating to the latitudes of Cordoba and Toledo.
Star map
The astrolabe features a ‘rete’ – a pierced disk representing a map of the sky – which is one of the earliest known made in Spain. Remarkably, it features similarities with the rete of the only surviving Byzantine astrolabe made in AD1062 as well as with those of the earliest European astrolabes, made in Spain on the model of Islamic ones.
A calculation of the star position allows a rough timing of the sky for which it was created. Dr Gigante explains that “due to a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes, whereby the earth rotates on its axis not in a straight line, but in a “wobbly” manner, like a spinning top about to stop, the stars’ apparent positions above our heads change constantly, about 1 degree every 70 years.”
By analysing the position of the stars on the rete, it is possible to calculate that they were placed in the position that stars had in the late 11th century, and that they match those of other astrolabes made, for example, in AD 1068.
Later life
The astrolabe is thought to have made its way into the collection of the Veronese nobleman Ludovico Moscardo (1611–81) before passing by marriage to the Miniscalchi family. In 1990, the family founded the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo to preserve the collections.
“This object is Islamic, Jewish and European, they can’t be separated,” Dr Gigante said.
References
F. Gigante, ‘A Medieval Islamic Astrolabe with Hebrew Inscriptions in Verona:The Seventeenth-Century Collection of Ludovico Moscardo’, Nuncius (2024). DOI : 10.1163/18253911-bja10095
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
An estimated 1.8 million incarcerated people in the United States have been recently exposed to a dangerous combination of heat and humidity, and on average experience 100 days of these conditions each year—many of them in the 44 states that do not provide universal air conditioning to inmates. Tracking with climate change, in recent decades, the number of dangerous humid heat days in carceral facilities has increased, with those in the south experiencing the most rapid warming.
The findings by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Montana State University, University of Kansas and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) appear in the journal Nature Sustainability.
“Exposure to excess heat and humidity can lead to deadly heat stroke and kidney disease from chronic dehydration, among other health issues, for incarcerated people in the United States,” says first author Cascade Tuholske, PhD, assistant professor of Human-Environment Geography at Montana State University. “The majority of these exposures are happening in state-run prisons and jails in Southern states that do not legally mandate access to air conditioning for the incarcerated. It is concerning because climate change is amplifying dangerous heat extremes in these locations.”
“Dangerous heat impacting incarcerated people has been largely ignored, in part due to perceptions that their physical suffering is justified,” says senior author Robbie M. Parks, PhD, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “Laws mandating safe temperature ranges, enhanced social and physical infrastructure, and focused health system interventions could mitigate the problem. Doing so is critical for incarcerated people, who have severely limited social and political agency.”
Additional findings:
More than half of all dangerous heat and humidity exposures in the U.S. took place in Florida and Texas. The estimated 145,240 people in Texas and 98,941 in Florida housed in state-run carceral facilities in 2018—together 12 percent of all incarcerated people in the U.S.—accounted for 52 percent of exposure (28 percent in TX, 24 percent in FL).
The worst facilities experienced dangerous heat and humidity between one-fifth and one-third of the year. An estimated 118 carceral facilities—largely in southern California, Arizona, Texas, and inland Florida—experienced on average 75 days or more per year of dangerous humid heat. The Starr County Jail in Rio Grande Texas that incarcerated an estimated 249 people in 2018 experienced the largest number of dangerous humid heat days on average during 2016 to 2020: 126.2 days per year.
Areas with jails and prisons experienced 5.5 more dangerous humid heat days annually compared to other locations without carceral facilities. Carceral facilities in Arizona experienced 13.1 more days per year than the rest of the state and 40.9 more days compared to the entire continental U.S. during 1982-2020, on average. Carceral facilities are often built in areas with greater heat and humidity.
Nearly a million incarcerated people are housed in facilities seeing an increase in dangerous humidity and heat. An estimated 915,627 people in the U.S.—45 percent of the estimated total incarcerated population—were housed in 1,739 carceral facilities with an annual increase in the number of dangerous days. Carceral facilities in Florida experienced on-average 22.1 more days in 2020 compared to 1982, the greatest increase in dangerous humid heat days for all continental states.
Incarcerated people are disproportionately susceptible to dangerous humid heat given preexisting health conditions. In fact, 43 percent of the state prison population has a previous mental health diagnosis, and people on psychotropic medications are at increased risk for heat illness.
The researchers estimated heat and humidity using data from the PRISM Climate Group across in 4,078 facilities nationwide with data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Dangerous days were those where the indoor wet bulb globe temperature—a measure of humid-heat stress—exceeded 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit (28°C)—the threshold used by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to limit humid heat exposure under moderate workloads.
Additional co-authors include Victoria D. Lynch, Raenita Spriggs, and Anne E. Nigra of Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Yoonjung Ahn of University of Kansas, and Colin Raymond of UCLA.
Funding support for the study was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC22K1872), National Institutes of Health (R00ES033742, DP5OD031849, P2CHD058486, T32ES007322).
Hazardous heat exposure among incarcerated people in the United States
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
5-Mar-2024
As we approach International Women's Day, we're inspired by the many stories of courageous people in Canada
As we approach International Women's Day, we're inspired by the many stories of courageous people in Canada and around the world who risk everything to defend the rights of women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals. This week, we'll spotlight three brave human rights defenders.
Liz Fong-Jones is a Vancouver-based developer, engineer, labour and ethics organizer, and advocate for trans rights. In 2022, she and a dozen volunteers spent thousands of hours successfully forcing Kiwi Farms, an online hate-speech forum, offline multiple times. Now, she's the target of transphobia, racism, harassment, and threats of sexual violence by the website's supporters.
Liz's experiences shed light on the broader issue of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, which includes cyberbullying, doxing, swatting, and more. These acts disproportionately create an online environment of fear and intimidation, especially for Indigenous, Black and racialized women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
At Amnesty International Canada, we advocate for online spaces where everyone can express themselves freely and without fear. We envision a digital landscape that upholds the dignity and safety of all individuals.
Liz Fong-Jones's persistence reminds us of the importance of collective action to ensure digital spaces are welcoming and secure for everyone. This International Women's Day, let's commit to advocating for a world where everyone is safe, respected, and valued.
In hope and solidarity,
Elishma Khokhar, Gender Rights Campaigner
Amnesty International Canada
Exclusive: Labor unions end Starbucks boardroom fight after progress on bargaining
Updated Tue, March 5, 2024 By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
(Reuters) - A coalition of labor unions is ending its boardroom fight at Starbucks after the coffee chain last week agreed to work toward reaching labor agreements, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, is withdrawing its three director candidates to the coffee chain's 11-member board one week before Starbucks investors were slated to elect directors to oversee corporate strategy at the company's March 13 annual meeting, the sources said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private.
Many large investors told the coalition, which includes the parent of Workers United which represents Starbucks workers, they are optimistic Starbucks is committed to changes and plans to repair its relationship with employees, the sources said.
"Investor concern with the board and management response to ongoing unionization efforts at Starbucks has been loud and clear, but last week's joint announcement from the company and Workers United of a settlement framework was welcome news that we hope means a fundamental change in direction," New York City Comptroller Brad Lander told Reuters.
The fight was closely watched on Wall Street because it marked the first time a labor union used tools traditionally employed by hedge funds to push for board seats at a corporation.
The union coalition argued Starbucks' resistance to unionizing that began in 2021 tarnished the brand and hurt shareholders by weighing on the share price.
This year's other big board room fight is between Disney and two activist investors, Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital.
A Starbucks logo on a store in Los Angeles
The coalition hired lawyers, a proxy solicitor and a communications firm who usually work with large activist hedge funds on big campaigns. It nominated three candidates with White House, National Labor Relations Board and economic policy expertise and was pushing ahead in trying to convince shareholders, including big index funds, that Starbucks needs better oversight as it works to repair labor relations.
"SOC Investment Group led an effective campaign with qualified candidates committed to preserving fundamental workers' rights and increasing long-term value, and the announced suspension of a contentious proxy fight is a win for workers and shareholders," Lander added.
He said Starbucks' investors now expect the company "to continue investing in their workforce, and we will continue to be engaged." The city owned $157 million worth, or 1.64 million shares, of Starbucks at the end of December.
While only about 370 U.S. Starbucks stores are unionized, the movement, as well as the proxy fight launched in November, tapped into growing support for organized labor after unions last year won concessions for Hollywood writers and auto workers.
Now the coalition, which did not reach any concessions with the company, is pinning its hopes on last week's news that Starbucks and the union that represents its workers will work to create a "foundational framework" that could lead to collective bargaining agreements and the resolution of lawsuits.
Its decision follows last week's recommendations by the two main proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis that urged Starbucks shareholders to back all 11 company directors, arguing the coalition had not sufficiently made its case to win seats.
But ISS wrote that the coalition, "has achieved at least a portion of what it ostensibly set out to accomplish."
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chris Reese)
Starbucks Activists Withdraw Candidates for Board Seats
Crystal Tse Tue, March 5, 2024
(Bloomberg) -- An activist group seeking changes at Starbucks Corp. has withdrawn a slate of candidates for the coffee giant’s board, citing progress in improving labor relations at the company.
The Strategic Organizing Center, which advises union pension funds, said Tuesday it withdrew the three candidates it had proposed in a high-profile campaign to add employee representation to the board.
The board challenge by SOC followed a two-year standoff between Starbucks and the union representing about 400 US stores. Tensions eased last week after the two parties agreed to start talks about how to achieve collective-bargaining agreements and provide a fair process for organizing.
SOC said Tuesday that after discussions with other Starbucks investors, “we believe that by and large shareholders are optimistic the company has committed to these changes in good faith and intends to begin to repair its relationship with its workers, which will ultimately enhance performance and shareholder value.”
Starbucks said in an emailed statement that it appreciates SOC’s decision. “Our board’s focus remains on driving long-term value for all stakeholders, including partners, shareholders, customers and farmers,” the company said.
Advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co. last week both counseled Starbucks investors to support the company’s board slate, with Glass Lewis saying Starbucks had “made positive strides to improve its partner relations.”
ISS said that while the company’s initial response to unionization efforts “translated into reputational damage,” SOC hadn’t established a “material link” between that and company underperformance.
ISS added, “It also has to be recognized that the dissident, despite owning only 162 shares, had every right to run this proxy contest, and has achieved at least a portion of what it ostensibly set out to accomplish.”
SOC in November put forward three proposed members of the Starbucks board, saying the company had gone to “historic lengths” to counter employees’ organizing efforts.
--With assistance from Daniela Sirtori-Cortina.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Mark Zuckerberg Called Out For 'Illegal Practices' and 'Surveillance-Based Ads' As Social Media Sees Continued Hot Water Over Privacy Practices
Caleb Naysmith Mon, March 4, 2024
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is again under scrutiny as European consumer organizations take aim at Meta’s alleged illegal practices.
Eight groups from The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) have raised concerns about Meta’s data collection methods. They allege that the social media giant is facilitating a surveillance-based advertising system, disregarding user privacy and flouting data protection laws.
"With its illegal practices, Meta fuels the surveillance-based ads system, which tracks consumers online and gathers vast amounts of personal data for the purpose of showing them adverts. It is also the main way Meta makes its profits," according to the BEUC.
In November 2023, Meta gave users the choice to pay for an ostensibly ad-free service or consent to the company's full commercial surveillance with ads.
"We introduced this choice, called ‘Subscription for no ads', as our consent solution to comply with a unique combination of connected and sometimes overlapping EU regulatory obligations with differing compliance deadlines," Meta said.
While Meta presented this as a solution to comply with EU regulatory obligations, BEUC deemed it unfair and misleading to users, adding to the mounting criticisms against the tech giant.
These recent filings add to the ongoing scrutiny Meta faces, with previous complaints already lodged against the company for misleading and aggressive practices. Leveraging the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and data protection laws, consumer advocates are intensifying their efforts to hold Meta accountable for its actions.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, has incurred many fines from European regulators.
Last year, Meta was fined $1.3 billion for transferring data of users in Europe to the United States as regulators said the company failed to comply with a 2020 decision by the European Union's highest court.
"The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences," said Andrea Jelinek, the chairwoman of the European Data Protection Board.
In addition to that, Meta was also previously fined €390 million ($423.3 million) for forcing users to accept personalized ads as a condition of using Facebook and another €265 million for a data leak.
With 408 million active users in the European Union, regulators are sending a clear message to Meta that serious infringements will have far-reaching consequences.
Spotify calls Apple's €1.84B antitrust fine a 'powerful message,' but cautions that the next steps matter
Sarah Perez Updated Mon, March 4, 2024
Spotify is cheering the European Commission's decision to hold Apple accountable for anticompetitive practices in the streaming music market to the tune of a massive €1.84 billion fine, announced today. The streamer called the fine a "powerful message" that sends a signal that even "a monopoly like Apple" is not able to "wield power abusively" to control how other companies interact with their customers.
"Today’s decision marks an important moment in the fight for a more open internet for consumers. The European Commission (EC) has made its conclusion clear: Apple’s behaviour limiting communications to consumers is unlawful," Spotify shared in a statement on its corporate blog.
Despite the EC ruling favoring Spotify and other streamers over Apple, the company was still cautious about how Apple would proceed. The Cupertino tech giant has already promised to appeal the ruling, and Spotify adds that in cases like this, "the details matter."
"Apple has routinely defied laws and court decisions in other markets. So we’re looking forward to the next steps that will hopefully clearly and conclusively address Apple’s long-standing unfair practices," Spotify wrote.
Apple, notably, cleverly worked around the EC's Digital Market Act requirements, meant to foster new competition in the app store market by allowing developers to launch independent app stores and manage their own payments. But Apple's solution was to charge iOS developers accepting its new DMA rules a new, additional fee, the Core Technology Fee, as a means of recouping its lost revenue.
Spotify is likely concerned that Apple will again find a way to sidestep any new requirements, as well, if not carefully spelled out.
The Financial Times had earlier reported that the fine would be around €500 million (about $539 million USD). As it turns out, they had the decision right, but not the price tag.
Spotify says that Apple's rules "muzzled" it and other streaming music services from communicating with their own customers in their apps about how to upgrade subscriptions, access promotions, discounts and other perks. Apple countered that Spotify doesn't pay Apple anything, but still wants "limitless access to all of Apple's tools."
A part of the issue here is the nature of Apple's App Store commission structure, which charges developers a 15% to 30% commission on subscriptions for digital services, like streaming music, that iOS developers offer to their customers. (In year two, subscriptions drop from 30% to 15%). Spotify argued that Apple's "30% tax" was unfair and that Apple's rules hurt consumers as they prevented developers from informing their app's users about alternative -- and sometimes cheaper -- ways to pay. In other words, Spotify wanted the opportunity to drive customers to its website where they could arguably pay for the subscription directly, which wouldn't involve a commission.
"Spotify pays Apple nothing for the services that have helped them build, update, and share their app with Apple users in 160 countries spanning the globe," Apple stated last month. It also stressed that despite offering subscriptions via its website, Spotify had never lowered its prices. And it noted that Spotify had a 56% share of the music streaming market in Europe, compared with Apple Music's 11% share.
Of course, that's not a fair comparison, given that Spotify offers a free, ad-supported service as well as a paid plan, like Apple's, allowing it to funnel a number of free users into the paid product over time. And, as Apple has repeatedly pointed out, 85% of App Store developers don't pay Apple a fee because they don't offer "digital goods and services" -- a distinction that loses its impact when you think about how services like Uber, Airbnb and others rely on Apple's platform to acquire and sell their offerings to customers.
Following the announcement of the EC's fine, Spotify said the fight was not over.
"Our work will not be done until we succeed in securing a truly fair digital marketplace everywhere and our commitment to helping to make this a reality remains unwavering," it wrote. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also explored this sentiment in a video post on X, where he added that "Apple has a history of skirting these rules," referring to other cases, like the antitrust order in the Netherlands, where Apple ignored the penalty and allowed the fine to increase for half a year before resolving its concerns.
The Coalition for App Fairness, a lobby group that counts Spotify, Deezer, Epic Games and other app developers as members, also issued a statement in response to the fines.
"Today the European Commission sent a clear message that Apple’s anti-steering policies, which prevent developers from communicating directly with consumers, are anticompetitive and illegal," stated CAF Executive Director Rick VanMeter. "Apple's restrictions on app developers have stifled innovation, driven up prices, and limited consumer choice for far too long. We applaud the Commission for taking this meaningful first step towards bringing competition to iOS devices. However, more needs to be done to truly create a fair and open mobile app ecosystem that benefits consumers and developers. In less than 48 hours the Digital Markets Act will be enforced, and consumers and developers across Europe are relying on the Commission to demand real compliance from Apple and Google to ensure the entire app store ecosystem benefits from the promises of the law," he said.
Epic Games' Tim Sweeney calls out Apple's 'bitter griping' after its EU fine over anticompetitive practices
Sarah Perez Updated Mon, March 4, 2024
"Denial is a river that flows through Cupertino!," said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, a notorious Apple critic who also sued the tech giant for anticompetitive practices, in a post on X, weighing in on today's news of the European Commission's historic €1.84 billion fine against the iPhone maker. The EC ruling, which favors Spotify, hinges on Apple's approach to its anti-steering clauses that prevented Spotify and other music streamers from directing users to their websites.
Referring to Apple's response to the EC fine, which the company said it would appeal, Sweeney writes, "Apple's bitter griping simply describes their historic, pre-monopoly relationship with app makers: the device provides great APIs, and apps provide great features to attract users. Everyone profits together."
In other words, Apple's App Store was originally seen as a platform that could help the tech giant sell more iPhones, as having easy access to popular apps, like Facebook -- an early App Store partner -- would be a plus for consumers. But over the years, as Apple grew its services business, it pushed app developers to use in-app purchases to monetize their apps by way of sales of virtual goods and subscriptions. As a result, Apple's interest in retaining its cut of these revenues strengthened. Though it made some concessions for small business developers and others, it sees no model for the App Store that doesn't involve a commission structure.
Although Apple did implement an exception to its rules in 2022 for "reader" apps, like music streamers, it still largely controls the process by dictating who can apply for an exception, when it's granted, how the links should appear, how they can be advertised in the app and more.
Sweeney, undoubtedly, was thrilled with the EU's decision, given his own company's fight against the tech giant over similar matters.
Epic Games has long wanted a way to distribute its popular game, Fortnite, to iOS users without having to go through the App Store or pay Apple a commission on any in-app purchases. The game maker sued both Apple and Google for antitrust issues regarding how their app stores are run. It won its battle with Google, which was tried by a jury, but largely lost its case against Apple after the Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the lower court's ruling that found Apple was not a monopoly.
However, Epic Games won on one count in its court battle with Apple, as the district court judge in Northern California ruled that app developers should be able to point their users to links or buttons that connected to their websites, where customers could learn about other ways to pay beyond Apple's in-app purchases.
As required by the court, Apple said it would permit such links, but decided it would still take a 27% commission on those sales -- a move that Epic dubbed a case of "malicious compliance" and one which Sweeney vowed to fight.
Today, he suggested that the EC's decision has relevance to his case in the U.S., as it describes "lawbreaking by Apple."
"In America, the issue is coming before the District Court in Epic v Apple as Epic challenges Apple’s malicious compliance with the court’s anti-steering injunction," Sweeney wrote.
He also retweeted a Business Insider piece by Peter Kafka which points out that the $2 billion fine is actually an $80 billion problem, as investors' reactions to the EU's decision tanked Apple's stock by as much as 3% in the first few hours of trading, equating to some $80 billion in market cap.
Spotify also reacted to the fine today calling it a "powerful message" but cautioned that Apple has a history of skirting regulations meant to hold it accountable. Sweeney also retweeted Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's video message about the fine and his concerns that Apple will find a way to avoid full compliance.
