The AGCM doesn't only handle antitrust violations, they are also responsible of enforcing consumer protection in general, including unfair commercial practices which can be illegal no matter how big or small a company is.
DropBox? There are plenty of competitors.
In the end we will all lose if these overreaching governments get their way.
No, it's likely not. In Italy some contractual clauses cannot be buried in the bandwagon and need to be accepted individually and explicitly.1. What does of 'proper' notification mean? Either you are notified or you are not. Being burred on page 42 of 53 of the TOS is still notification.
Not sure of the state of Smart TVs in general and Italy in particular: I have a Samsung Smart TV in Europe and I have denied consent to data collection. The option was prompted to me and I could simply go ahead without checking the "I agree" box.2. Does Italy not have Smart TVs? Because that's how they all seem to work. Data collection without being able to deny consent with changes that hurt customers frequently being made.
What the contract says and what is legally enforceable are two very different things. In Italy clauses which unfairly disadvantage the consumer are subject to special legislation.3. Isn't unilateral contracts how all service clauses work? Every single product I own basically says they are not responsible for anything. I get messages daily from companies letting me know they change my contract clauses. Just this moment I got an email saying my Samsung Cloud storage is being shut down, even thought I paid for it. Would that be legal Italy?
The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:
- The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
- The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.
it’s their Milan store, beautiful. here’s some tourist capturing the outside and entry into the store.Is that a Waterfall behind Glass ?
Looks pretty cool !
The issue is not whether there is competition: some practices are illegal no matter how much competition there is. In Italy some clauses need to be explicitly accepted individually: they cannot be buried together with all other clauses and accepted together with the contract.I don’t have a problem with an inability to deny consent. Off the top of my head, there’s four different companies that offer the exact same file storage service - they’re all interchangeable, it’s pretty easy to switch from one to another. If you’re not happy with the terms of one, go to any other. There’s probably dozens of little competitors I’m not aware of - it’s not that hard a service to offer.
I don't think so, DropBox is actually being investigated for additional, very specific reasons on top of what is being contested to Apple and Google.That's the theory. I believe maclawyer was referring to the practice. Maybe AGCM just threw in Dropbox as a smokescreen of legitimacy.
Whilst your flippant remark actually is very funny, there's more to it than that.Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...
lololololol
Not sure why some are either quick to defend or quick to condemn Apple.
No, it's likely not. In Italy some contractual clauses cannot be buried in the bandwagon and need to be accepted individually and explicitly.
Not sure of the state of Smart TVs in general and Italy in particular: I have a Samsung Smart TV in Europe and I have denied consent to data collection. The option was prompted to me and I could simply go ahead without checking the "I agree" box.
What the contract says and what is legally enforceable are two very different things. In Italy clauses which unfairly disadvantage the consumer are subject to special legislation.
If the clause says the Cloud Storage can be shut down unilaterally by the service provider at any time without refund I doubt it's legal.
it's the Milan apple store. attention to detail was incredible. it's not a big store but really well done.Is that a Waterfall behind Glass ?
Looks pretty cool !
It's not related to market manipulation, it's related to user data and the ability to suspend information collection.Dropbox?How could they possibly be big enough to warrant investigation?
Let's all go sue Apple because they have lots of cash. BooShakedown, EU style
Someone needs to do it (to all big-tech companies), certainly isn't going to be the US.Shakedown, EU style
If you genuinely think thats all it's about you've got a heck of a lot to learn.Let's all go sue Apple because they have lots of cash. Boo![]()
Not Italian, so this seems weird to me.
1. What does of 'proper' notification mean? Either you are notified or you are not. Being burred on page 42 of 53 of the TOS is still notification.
2. Does Italy not have Smart TVs? Because that's how they all seem to work. Data collection without being able to deny consent with changes that hurt customers frequently being made.
3. Isn't unilateral contracts how all service clauses work? Every single product I own basically says they are not responsible for anything. I get messages daily from companies letting me know they change my contract clauses. Just this moment I got an email saying my Samsung Cloud storage is being shut down, even thought I paid for it. Would that be legal Italy?
Came here to see if anyone had any insight about why Dropbox was looped in with these other companies. Thank you!The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
Right, because the almost complete lack of ancient riches in North America is why we’re all so poor over here.And they really need the money. All the country’s riches were scavenged by the local church empire rendering many of their ancient cities into total ruins.
Italy's GDP has trended more or less in-line with the EU, about -12% this quarter. USA's GDP is at -31% in the same period...