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Apple rival paves way for ban on some iPhones in Germany

US chipmaker Qualcomm said Thursday it had fulfilled the requirements set out by a court in a patent dispute case against Apple to ban the sale of older iPhone models in Germany.

Apple rival paves way for ban on some iPhones in Germany
File picture shows customer with a new iPhone 7 in hand, and an iPhone 6 on the table. Photo: DPA

The court in the German city of Munich had ruled in favour of Qualcomm last month but said an injunction banning sales of affected iPhones could only be imposed immediately if the company put down a security deposit.

“(Qualcomm) has posted security bonds totalling €1.34 billion euros. The bonds are required for Qualcomm to be able to enforce the remedies ordered by the Court on December 20th, 2018,” it said Thursday.

SEE ALSO: Apple wins case, could lead to iPhone ban in ban in Germany: Court

The court set the large sum as it could be the amount awarded to Apple in terms of revenue losses if the iPhone maker manages to get the Munich ruling overturned by a higher court.

A court spokeswoman said she could not confirm the payment as the case is no longer in the tribunal's remit.

An Apple spokesman told AFP that it had been “disappointed” by the Munich ruling and would appeal.

“All iPhone models remain available to customers through carriers and resellers in 4,300 locations across Germany,” he said.

“During the appeal process, iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models will not be available at Apple's 15 retail stores in Germany.”

However Qualcomm insisted in a statement that the court had “ordered Apple to recall infringing iPhones from third party resellers in Germany”.

The two Californian tech giants have been locked in a long-running battle over patents and royalties that has played out in courts and administrative bodies worldwide.

At the heart of the dispute in the German case are chips made by one of Apple's suppliers used in iPhones, with both parties at loggerheads on how the chips actually work, said the court.

Among the functions of the chip is the conservation of battery power.

The Munich court said it had to go with Qualcomm's explanation of how the chip worked as Apple would not give details on its functioning, citing the industrial secrecy interests of its supplier.

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COURT

French court orders Twitter to reveal anti-hate speech efforts

A French court has ordered Twitter to give activists full access to all its documents relating to efforts to combat racism, sexism and other forms of hate speech on the social network.

French court orders Twitter to reveal anti-hate speech efforts
Photo: Alastair Pike | AFP

Six anti-discrimination groups had taken Twitter to court in France last year, accusing the US social media giant of “long-term and persistent” failures in blocking hateful comments from the site.

The Paris court ordered Twitter to grant the campaign groups full access to all documents relating to the company’s efforts to combat hate speech since May 2020. The ruling applies to Twitter’s global operation, not just France.

Twitter must hand over “all administrative, contractual, technical or commercial documents” detailing the resources it has assigned to fighting homophobic, racist and sexist discourse on the site, as well as “condoning crimes against humanity”.

The San Francisco-based company was given two months to comply with the ruling, which also said it must reveal how many moderators it employs in France to examine posts flagged as hateful, and data on the posts they process.

The ruling was welcomed by the Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF), one of the groups that had taken the social media giant to court.

“Twitter will finally have to take responsibility, stop equivocating and put ethics before profit and international expansion,” the UEJF said in a statement on its website.

Twitter’s hateful conduct policy bans users from promoting violence, or threatening or attacking people based on their race, religion, gender identity or disability, among other forms of discrimination.

Like other social media businesses it allows users to report posts they believe are hateful, and employs moderators to vet the content.

But anti-discrimination groups have long complained that holes in the policy allow hateful comments to stay online in many cases.

French prosecutors on Tuesday said they have opened an investigation into a wave of racist comments posted on Twitter aimed at members of the country’s national football team.

The comments, notably targeting Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, were posted after France was eliminated from the Euro 2020 tournament last week.

France has also been having a wider public debate over how to balance the right to free speech with preventing hate speech, in the wake of the controversial case of a teenager known as Mila.

The 18-year-old sparked a furore last year when her videos, criticising Islam in vulgar terms, went viral on social media.

Thirteen people are on trial accused of subjecting her to such vicious harassment that she was forced to leave school and was placed under police protection.

While President Emmanuel Macron is among those who have defended her right to blaspheme, left-wing critics say her original remarks amounted to hate speech against Muslims.

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