Google being investigated by South Korea for antitrust claim News
Google being investigated by South Korea for antitrust claim

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) [official website], South Korea’s antitrust regulator, confirmed [FT report] on Friday that the country is investigating whether Google [corporate website] violated the country’s antitrust laws. The KFTC’s statement comes as a surprise as a local news outlet reported that the KFTC had cleared Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, of all antitrust claims against the technology giant. It is alleged that Google requires mobile-phone producers to pre-load the company’s apps on phones using its Android operating system. Earlier this year, the EU Commissioner of Competition, Margeth Vestagar [official profile], launched a probe [JURIST report] in regards to the same matter.

Google has faced numerous legal suits both in the US and internationally. In 2015 the EU filed an antitrust claim [JURIST report] against Google claiming that Google structures its search results to favor its own services over those of rivals. Earlier that year, privacy software company Disconnect [corporate website] filed antitrust charges [JURIST report] against Google with the European Commissioner. That January a representative for Google signed an agreement [JURIST report] to rewrite the company’s current privacy policy in response to pressure from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office [official website]. Also in January of last year Google was among four tech companies that reached a $415 million settlement [JURIST report] in a class action lawsuit claiming the companies unlawfully agreed to reduce employee compensation and mobility. A Hong Kong court ruled [JURIST report] in August 2014 that Chinese businessman Dr. Albert Yeung Sau Shing may continue his defamation suit against Google over the autocomplete function of the company’s search engine, which suggests links connecting Yeung to organized crime groups in China. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in May 2014 that programming interfaces in Oracle’s Java technology can be protected under US copyright law, allowing Oracle to pursue its legal case against Google.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.