A former Netflix tech executive was sentenced Monday to 30 months in federal prison for doling out lucrative contracts to nine Netflix tech vendors in exchange for bribes and kickbacks, said DOJ. A San Jose jury convicted Michael Kail, 52, in April on 28 of 29 counts of mail fraud, money laundering and other charges in connection with a pay-for-play scheme he ran until his three years as Netflix vice president-internet technology operations ended in July 2014, it said. Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds said Kail used his “highly compensated Netflix position to siphon cash and valuable stock options from his tech vendors, the same vendors whose Netflix contracts he signed and whose technologies he pushed his teams to use.” Kail pocketed more than $500,000 in cash and stock options from the outside vendors, using his kickback payments to pay his personal expenses and to buy a home in Los Gatos, California, said DOJ. When personally questioned by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about potential wrongdoing, Kail falsely denied he was receiving improper compensation from Netflix vendors, said Kail's April 2018 indictment. Hastings testified at Kali's trial as a prosecution witness. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ordered Kail to surrender March 8 to begin serving his sentence. Neither Kail's lawyers nor Netflix responded Wednesday to requests for comment.
The FTC is considering issuing an FTC Act Section 18 rulemaking to limit privacy abuses and ensure “algorithmic decision-making” doesn’t result in “unlawful discrimination,” OMB said. This came in the commission’s annual regulatory priorities submission to OMB, which recently published the submissions. “Algorithms are used everywhere, and their malicious use causes real harm to Americans every day,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement. He said he was glad to see Chair Lina Khan and the agency "take this step to crack down on companies using discriminatory algorithms.”
A Manassas, Virginia, man pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding Amazon of more than $300,000 by running a mail fraud scheme to buy high-end products, claim a refund, then return a similar item of significantly lesser value, said DOJ. Farhaad Riyaz, 34, operated the scheme from his home through multiple Amazon accounts he opened between 2017 and 2020, it said. During the scheme, said DOJ, Riyaz fraudulently got a $37,000 home theater system by returning a $2,000 alternative for a full refund of the original purchase. He’s scheduled for sentencing on March 22 and faces a maximum 20-year prison term. Attempts to reach his lawyers for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. Amazon didn't comment.
Silicon Valley Bank parent SVB Financial bought MoffettNathanson, it said Monday. SVB CEO Greg Becker said this adds tech equity research. MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett said SVB's relationships "will not only bring our clients unique opportunities to participate in the value creation cycle of earlier-stage growth companies, they will also provide our analysts with unique insights into the competitive forces that will shape the destinies of the largest companies in our coverage universe.”
The evolution of the metaverse will be characterized by decentralization of power, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Friday. He noted the internet is led by large technology companies, including social media businesses, “that seek to control their environments and profit off of their user bases (including through ad sales) without compensating those users proportionately.” In the metaverse, users will drive the space with user-generated content (UGC), including non-fungible tokens, he said. Creators can sell UGCs, “with the sale recorded on the blockchain and the user receiving compensation in the form of fiat money,” he said. Powerful creation engines and toolsets are lowering the barriers to entry for development for the masses, Pachter said, which should drive engagement “to levels far beyond those currently seen in gaming and elsewhere.” The metaverse will create new businesses and economies “with success likely proportional to the levels that the user base is incentivized to participate,” including through favorable financial terms, he said: “Greater participation will be a key element of the Metaverse’s ultimate success.”
Italian antitrust regulators fined Amazon the U.S. equivalent of about $1.3 billion Thursday for harming competitors in the e-commerce logistics services market. The Italian Competition Authority said Amazon harmed competitors by forcing third-party sellers to use its logistics service. The regulator imposed behavioral remedies: “Amazon will have to grant sales benefits and visibility on Amazon.it to all third-party sellers which are able to comply with fair and non-discriminatory standards for the fulfilment of their orders.” Amazon "strongly" disagrees with the decision, and "we will appeal," a spokesperson emailed. "The proposed fine and remedies are unjustified and disproportionate." Small and medium-sized businesses have multiple channels to sell products online and offline, the company said: "We constantly invest to support the growth of the 18,000 Italian SMBs that sell on Amazon."
A group of Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and public affairs entities plans listing on London’s Alternative Investment Market, a submarket of the London Stock Exchange, in mid-December. Public Policy Holding companies are Crossroads Strategies, Forbes Tate Partners, Seven Letter, O'Neill & Associates and Alpine Group Partners. The groups represent many tech and telecom companies and industry groups.
Texas is appealing a U.S. district court’s decision to pause the state's social media law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a filing Tuesday, as expected in case 1:21-cv-00840 (in Pacer, and see 2112030033). Texas has raised legal questions never considered by the 5th Circuit of the Supreme Court regarding common carriers and the First Amendment, the state argued: A stay pending appeal is “warranted given the serious, novel legal questions at issue." The appeals court should have the opportunity to consider the issues before the injunction is implemented, argued Texas, calling the plaintiffs’ standing “highly questionable” and the injunction “vague and overbroad.”
Intel hasn't decided on the conditions, pricing and timing of a mid-2022 initial public offering to take Mobileye public through newly issued stock, said the chip maker Monday. Intel will remain Mobileye’s majority owner after the IPO is complete, it said. Intel expects Mobileye to deliver 40% or more of revenue growth this year on 41 new “program wins” with 30 global automotive OEMs, it said. “We see a lot of value creation over the next four or five years for Mobileye from being part of the Intel asset,” CEO Pat Gelsinger told a Credit Suisse investor conference last week. Intel bought Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion in an all-cash transaction under then-CEO Brian Krzanich (see 1708010051).
Streaming video services competition isn’t a good reason to refrain from tightening cable service quality rules, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel commented Friday at the state’s Board of Public Utilities. Cable operators resisted rules at a hearing last month including by arguing that over-the-top providers are unregulated (see 2111030030). "Although program viewing alternatives may exist, cable service providers maintain a stronghold on customers, despite increasing prices and often persistent troubled service,” said the Rate Counsel in docket CX21010010. Frequent customer problems show additional service quality standards are warranted and the board has statutory authority here, it said.