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Apple, US States Reach $113 Million Settlement on iPhone Throttling

GetUp, Activist Groups Distort Senator’s Tough Stance on CCP as Racism, Call for Condemnation

Grassroots activist group GetUp has filed a petition for the prime minister to denounce Liberal Senator Eric Abetz for asking three Chinese Australians whether they were willing to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The petition has allegedly garnered over 25,000 signatures and was delivered to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official residence Kirribilli House last week by representatives from GetUp, the Asian Australian Alliance, and Per Capita. The latter two organisations also sent a joint letter to Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge calling for Senator Abetz to apologise for his questions. The Australian Values Alliance, a pro-democracy group comprised of Chinese Australians (many who have suffered at the hands of the CCP) has hit back, sending an open letter to the prime minister, criticising the campaign against Abetz as “unfounded”…

Apple, US States Reach $113 Million Settlement on iPhone Throttling

Apple Inc will pay $113 million to settle allegations from 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that it slowed down iPhones to mask battery issues and get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday.

The deal with a coalition led by Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana is separate from a proposed settlement Apple reached in March to pay affected iPhone owners up to $500 million to stem a class action.

Apple in 2016 quietly updated software on models of the iPhone 6, 7 and SE to throttle chip speeds so that aging batteries on the devices would not send power spikes to the phone’s processor and cause it to unexpectedly shut down. States contended Apple acted deceptively and should have replaced batteries or disclosed the issue.

Millions of users were affected by power shutoffs, according to an Arizona court filing.

“My colleagues and I are trying to get the attention of these big tech companies, and you would hope a multimillion-dollar judgment with more than 30 states will get their attention,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in an interview.

“Companies cannot be disingenuous and conceal things,” he added.

Apple, which has denied wrongdoing, declined to comment on the settlement.

Apple also agreed for the next three years to provide “truthful information” about iPhone power management across its website, software update notes, and iPhone settings. Arizona said Apple’s present disclosures and options are sufficient. The settlement with states is subject to court approval.

The multistate investigation into Apple, which Reuters first reported in July, is part of a wave of probes into the world’s biggest technology providers.

Republican attorneys general in 11 U.S. states last month joined the U.S. Justice Department in an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s Google, and large, bipartisan groups of attorneys general have ongoing investigations into Google and Facebook Inc over potentially deceptive and anticompetitive practices.

Apple acknowledged its update reduced power demands after researchers found unusual slowdowns in 2017. The company publicly apologized and slashed prices on battery replacements.

The settlement includes $5 million to Arizona, $24.6 million to Apple’s home state of California, and $7.6 million to Texas. The latter two states have the nation’s Nos. 1 and 2 affected iPhone user bases. Brnovich said the penalty in his state would help fund more investigations into tech and other companies.

By Paresh Dave and Stephen Nellis

Focus News: Apple, US States Reach $113 Million Settlement on iPhone Throttling

MPs Press Officials on Beijing-Linked Nuctech Bid to Supply Security Equipment to Canada’s Embassies

Opposition MPs pressed government officials on Wednesday to explain why a Chinese state-owned company embroiled in alleged bribery scandals was awarded a standing offer to supply security equipment to Canada’s embassies. In July, high-tech Chinese company Nuctech was awarded a $6.8 million contract with the federal government to install X-ray security equipment for 170 Canadian embassies, consulates, and high commissions around the world. But the deal raised immediate concerns related to security due to Nuctech’s connection to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), having been founded by the son of former CCP leader Hu Jintao, as well as its links to the Chinese military. “My problem is still that the Government of Canada accepted to go forward with a request for standing offer with Nuctech,” Conservative MP…