Tag: Tech

Categories
News News Blog

Facebook Inc. Faces Multi-State Lawsuit

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

On Wednesday, December 9th, Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III brought Tennessee into a bipartisan national coalition of 48 attorneys general filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook Inc. stifles competition to protect its business interests, classifying the multi-billion-dollar company as a monopoly. Specifically, the coalition argues that Facebook Inc. has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, in addition to multiple violations of Section 7 in the Clayton Act.

Throughout the lawsuit, the bipartisan coalition alleges that Facebook illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner, while cutting services to smaller rival platforms in an attempt to deprive their competitions users of benefits. The lawsuit also alleges that the tech giant reduced privacy protection and services during its rapid rise as a way of creating barriers for newer tech companies attempting to enter the market.

[pullquote-1-center]

“This vast coalition of Democrats and Republicans agree — Facebook’s unlawful behavior is reducing choice, stifling innovation, and degrading privacy protections,” said General Slatery. “This lawsuit stands up for millions of Americans and small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook.”

Facebook Inc.’s business strategies have been criticized by others in the past. Though Facebook has operated as a “free” personal social networking service since 2004, they have been known to use a variety of methods to forge what their founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and controlling shareholder Mark Zuckerberg calls a “competitive moat” around the company. Methods have included outright buying smaller rivals and tucking them under the Facebook name or the suppression of third-party developers from utilizing the Facebook platform.

One of the key problems pointed to in the lawsuit is the alleged overarching reach that the tech giant has over its competition’s advertising opportunities and its users’ personal data. The bipartisan coalition argues that, through Facebook’s rapid acquisition of smaller rivals and dominance over advertising, the site is able to make decisions about what content users see and what users don’t see while also using users’ personal data to further their business interests. They also argue that the elimination of potential rivals has created a system in which no group can compete with Facebook.

Through the lawsuit, the coalition plans to halt Facebook Inc.’s expansion by restraining the company from making further acquisitions valued at or in excess of $10 million without first notifying the states included in the lawsuit and to divestiture or restructure what the coalition of state attorney generals are calling “illegally acquired companies” and current Facebook assets or business lines.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also filed a lawsuit in coordination with the bi-partisan coalition levying their own set of charges. The full coalition lawsuit can be read here.

Categories
News News Blog

Tech Nonprofit CodeCrew Receives Major Donation

CREDIT: bbb.co.uk

Courtesy of CodeCrew

Students practice computer coding with CodeCrew.

Memphis nonprofit CodeCrew was donated $50,000 by Verizon to help the tech startup continue to impact the city of Memphis. The donation also marked a partnership between Verizon and CodeCrew. Through the donation, Verizon has pledged to co-sponsor and fund CodeCrew’s after-school and summer programs at Lester Community Center and to establish four new after-school programs at local schools.

“We are proud to invest $50,000 into CodeCrew programs to further their impactful work in our most underserved communities,” said Sheleah Harris, local and state government affairs officer for Verizon. “With a hyper-local focus, Verizon will continue to cultivate relationships with grassroots organizations to actively address the digital divide in Memphis.”

CodeCrew was founded in 2015 as a summer camp program at Lester Community Center and, since then, has taught more than 2,000 thousand students across Memphis. Students in the CodeCrew program learn a wide variety of topics ranging from web and mobile app development to robotics and drone programming.

“CodeCrew is excited to partner with Verizon as they empower us to continue eradicating the digital divide through tech and computer science education,” said Meka Egwuekwe, CodeCrew’s Executive Director.

CodeCrew’s after-school program is geared around teaching kids in grades 5-12 how to use the entry-level coding language scratch, build Android apps, practice JavaScript coding, and work on entry-level game development. During their Hour of Code of events in December and May, students get the opportunity to show off their skills to friends and family. CodeCrew’s Summer Program functions in a similar light with students competing in an annual hackathon after the camp.

More information about the code crew program can be found here.

Categories
News News Blog

TECH: St. Jude Shares Patients’ Stories Using Virtual Reality

CREDIT: St. Jude

St. Jude

A dozen 50-foot statues in the likenesses of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients line the St. Jude Hall of Heroes.

They aren’t actual statues, though. Instead, they stand in the virtual reality world.


In partnership with Facebook and its VR company, Oculus, St. Jude worked with the 12 patients to memorialize their stories through a VR experience. Each child worked with a 3D artists from the creative agencies BBDO New York and Flight School to create a superhero-stylized statue that best represents the patients’ battle with cancer.

Users can explore the collection of virtual statues, walk up to each, and hear directly from the patients and their families.

St. Jude

Screenshot of VR experience

The VR experience will be available for demo on Oculus Quest devices in select Best Buy stores beginning December 6th. The experience will officially launch early next year on Oculus’ Quest and Rift headsets.

Learn more about the 12 patients and preview the experience here.

This isn’t the first time St. Jude has used VR to tell the stories of its patients. The hospital uses VR to share its No More Chemo parties, confetti-filled celebrations where doctors and staff give patients a send-off after their final chemotherapy treatments.

Dan Yohey of ALSAC said when the first party was shot it was a “Eureka moment. I was like ‘we have it.’ That was pretty much the genesis for the Hall of Heroes.”

President and CEO of St. Jude’s fund-raising arm ALSAC, Richard Shadyac Jr. said the St. Jude Hall of Heroes was inspired by the hospital’s “spirit of leading-edge change.”

“The rapid acceleration of VR technology allows for the exciting reimagination of the way we tell stories, connect to communities, raise funds, and drive fundamental change,” Shadyac Jr. said.

TECH: St. Jude Shares Patients’ Stories Using Virtual Reality (2)