Uber now banned in Italy
On Friday, an Italian court decided that Uber created unfair competition and banned the transportation company in Italy. The ruling came from a lawsuit filed by Italy’s taxi associations. The ban will not only prohibit Uber from running its service in Italy, but will also prohibit its advertisements in Italy.
According to Reuters, Uber’s Italian branch said they were “shocked” by the ruling and will likely appeal.
In other European nations, Uber service is limited, but Italy was the first to completely disallow the service.
U.N. report shows global renewable energy increase
According to a recent U.N. report, the world set a record increase in renewable energy capacity in 2016. The total cost of the renewable investments was about a quarter lower than that of last year due to the decreasing cost of renewable energy. Projected costs decreased faster than expected for wind; The cost of offshore wind power decreased by a third since 2012.
The report also notes that although costs have plummeted, major nations are scaling back investments in renewables. The majority of the reduction in investments is due to reduced costs and a drop in demand for electricity. Mandated government standards, the use of more LEDs and other factors led to the decline in electricity demand. Advocates of the Paris Agreement, which many nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change signed, worry the drop in investment in renewables can be a step backwards in fighting global warming.
“Things are heading the right way, and the learning and technical costs of renewables have done a large part of their job. But investments are not yet there to meet the structural change agreed in Paris,” Ulf Moslener, a co-author of the report, said, according to BBC News.
Congresswoman pushes to restore privacy protections
Congresswoman Jacky Rosen recently introduced H.R. 1868, an appeal to require broadband services to adhere to privacy rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October of 2016. The bill would reverse the recently passed S.J. Res. 34 that strips internet privacy protections. The proposal was cosponsored by two other congressmen.
“As someone who has first-hand experience as a computer programmer, I know that keeping privacy protections in place is essential for safeguarding vulnerable and sensitive data from hackers,” Congresswoman Rosen said in a press release.
YouTube requires 10,000 views for partner program
YouTube recently changed its rules for channels to collect monetary ad revenue. New channels must get 10,000 lifetime views before they can partner with YouTube to earn money. The new requirement will reduce inappropriate content and the number of fake channels.
“After a creator hits 10k lifetime views on their channel, we’ll review their activity against our policies,” Ariel Bardin, vice president of product management at Youtube, wrote in a blog post. “If everything looks good, we’ll bring this channel into YPP [YouTube Partner Program] and begin serving ads against their content.”
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