By Zoya Sheftalovich | @zoyashef | send tips to zsheftalovich@politico.eu | subscribe for this daily column: http://politico.eu/registration/ | if you prefer to read this on your desktop click here
GOOD MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, your cyber warrior in the battle of EU tech politics and policy.
— WHAT’S HAPPENING
UN CYBER LAW: A new UN cyber-security plan will be released later this month or in early fall, and Russia and the U.S. are at loggerheads over it. Russia has criticized the U.S. over its treatment of North Korea as a result of the Sony hack (a refresher: http://bit.ly/1xaqUXS), accusing the U.S. of proceeding with sanctions despite lacking evidence that North Korea was responsible. But the real fight is over whether the document should explicitly mention that countries are able to act in self-defense when it comes to cyber attacks — something Americans want and Russians don’t. Paywalled from POLITICO U.S.: http://politico.pro/1IYvNaA
TECH = JOBS: Rather than destroying jobs, the rise of technology has created new ones, according to a study of English and Welsh Census data by the consultancy Deloitte. Though the employment rate of farmers and laundry workers has considerably declined since 1871, technology has boosted jobs in knowledge-intensive sector as well as in the luxury industry. http://bit.ly/1EzgQI1
WORLD HEARTS NETFLIX: Old-school television is still king in Europe, but online streaming service Netflix is taking root in the market, a study from Futuresource Consulting has shown. Of the EU countries surveyed, the French are the most faithful to the box, with terrestrial television the primary viewing choice for 75 percent of the population, compared to 59 percent in both U.S. and U.K. And in the U.K., 20 percent of people have Netflix. http://bit.ly/1JcDRpK
FRENCH TAKE ON NETFLIX: While their countrymen still love traditional TV, French media veterans Pierre Lescure and Jean-David Blanc want to take on Netflix. The men are looking to raise about €100 million for their new venture Molotov, a live TV version of Netflix. They have already signed up all the major French broadcasters and plan to start operating by October. Unlike Netflix, which offers a library of shows and movies for streaming, Molotov will broadcast TV channels. It will also contain an archive of previously aired content and record TV shows. http://bloom.bg/1Jos6i1
SAFE HARBOR SETTLEMENT: Cybersecurity firm IOActive, accused by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission of misrepresenting compliance with EU privacy protections, will settle with the regulator. So-called safe harbor provisions allow American companies to certify themselves as meeting EU regulations to allow them to process Europeans’ personal data. The program has faced significant scrutiny after revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on EU citizens and is currently under review. http://politico.pro/1JdFsvt
ROUTER DANGER: Hackers are exploiting vulnerable routers and other devices that respond to universal plug and play requests online for distributed denial-of-service attacks, a report from cloud services provider Akamai Technologies claims. DDoS attacks are on the rise, with an increase of 132 percent compared to the same period last year. The attacks are less powerful, but they last longer. http://bit.ly/1gUtZFY
GOOGLE ROUTER: Google will start selling its own Wi-Fi router, the latest move in the company’s efforts to get ready for the connected home. The cylinder-shaped router, named OnHub, can be pre-ordered for $199.99 at online retailers at at some stores. http://reut.rs/1hmKRpR
KLARNA IN US: Swedish payments app Klarna is advancing on the U.S. The company, which pays retailers instantly before recouping invoices in a lump sum at the end of a fortnight from consumers, is set to launch with at least 10 merchants in the coming months. Universal one-click checkout has long been the holy grail of online shopping, with research showing that the more information consumers have to enter before making a purchase, the more likely they are to drop out before the transaction is complete. Klarna is now worth over €2.03 billion, almost double its initial valuation. http://on.wsj.com/1WC51Mk
RUSSIANS LOSE FAITH: Back to Russia, where citizens are increasingly losing trust in their television news, according to a survey of 28,000 people in 50 cities, and turning to the Internet instead. In the first half of this year, 43 percent of those surveyed said they looked for reliable information online, while 35 percent said they trusted TV news — the lowest level in 14 years. In Russian: http://bit.ly/1J1pSQ8
DT EXEC SAYS “MAKE ‘EM PAY”: A Deutsche Telekom executive wants Google and Facebook to pay for users’ mobile data because advertising on their platforms eats into data allowances. In the now-deleted post on Linked-In, Tomasz Gerszberg, senior vice-president of technology strategy, governance and programs, called for zero-rated ads for consumers, with advertisers charged instead. DT has distanced itself from the post. http://on.ft.com/1NqX60E
COPYRIGHTING RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a review of copyright rules, due September 15, which will reassess the way collecting agencies in the country work. Putin has taken issue with what he sees as a lack of transparency among the three main copyright groups in the country. In Russian: http://bit.ly/1TRoUjE
GERMAN REFUGEES GET WI-FI: Speaking of Germans and data access, all refugees in Baden-Württemberg will be given free access to wireless Internet, according to a spokesman for the German Ministry of Integration. It will not be cheap — Baden-Württemberg takes in 13 percent of all new refugees in Germany — and will be funded through donations. http://bit.ly/1LiG0m7
BUNDESTAG IT SHUTDOWN: The German Parliament’s computer system will shut down for security maintenance from close of business Thursday and be back online Monday. The maintenance was supposed to happen last week, but was delayed due to the vote on the Greek bailout package. http://bit.ly/1LiIUaw
OFFICE SOFTWARE COSTS: A study commissioned by an Italian local government has found it might be cheaper to stick to Office 365 than to switch to OpenOffice because of large deployment and IT support costs. Productivity also suffered because of a lack of compatibility between software types. http://zd.net/1JoED4Z
FAIR TRADE MUSIC: Music streaming platform Baboom, which sets itself apart from similar services like Spotify and Apple Music by giving musicians 90 percent of the revenue made by the company, has gone live. It runs on a freemium model, with a free version if you are willing to put up with ads and a €6.62-ish-a-month premium subscription for those wanting ad-free music. http://bit.ly/1Mwa64j
BIT OF FLUFF: Google’s new Android operating system will be called Marshmallow, the company has announced on their developers’ blog: http://bit.ly/1TR9nAz. But the new operating system doesn’t adequately address the security flaws exposed in recent months, says Re/code: http://on.recode.net/1J02KkM
RISQUÉ DATA DUMP: Hackers claim to have made good on their threat to release data they stole in a breach last month of Ashley Madison, the dating website to help people cheat on their spouses. The New York Times reported the group of hackers dumped 9.7 gigabytes worth of stolen user account and payment information online. The data included login details, email addresses, payment transaction details and encrypted passwords. http://nyti.ms/1TSsZUI
DATA FOR BRAZIL: Concerned about low numbers of smartphone use in the country, the Brazilian government, local telecoms companies and Qualcomm, the world’s largest mobile phone chipmaker, are introducing a system that allows Brazilians to access phone banking without incurring data costs on their smart phones. The move comes after a bank noticed that use of its Internet banking app was down, while phone and teller banking up as a result of a lack of access to data in the country. http://bloom.bg/1WCenbd
CHINA CRACKS DOWN: Police in China said on Tuesday they had arrested about 15,000 people for crimes that “jeopardized Internet security,” Reuters reported. Police have investigated 7,400 cases of cyber crime, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website. It did not make clear over what period the arrests were made, but referred to a case from December. http://reut.rs/1MCanEc
— WHAT’S COMING
EDRI MEETS OETTINGER: Günther Oettinger, the European commissioner for the digital economy and society, is meeting Joe McNamee, executive director of the European digital rights lobbying group EDRi August 25 to discuss the EU’s incoming net neutrality rules, part of the telecoms single market package. EDRi has been critical of the net neutrality negotiations, but warmed to the final net neutrality proposal, agreed to in the dying breaths of the Latvian presidency of the Council. http://bit.ly/1JeAmyX
BETA PEOPLE: The People in Beta Festival is on again in Berlin August 29. It’s a celebration of startups and the collaborative economy. Lots of talks, workshops and the finale of the annul BetaPitch competition. Fun for all ages: http://bit.ly/1JonwA9
Elise Bédier and Antoine Sander contributed to this newsletter.