JP Morgan Creates New Crypto, Paris Sues Airbnb, and Google Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi Spots in Lagos.

Africa

Google, UBA roll out Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria

Google, in collaboration with United Bank for Africa and Backbone Connectivity Network, a data management company in Nigeria, is rolling out Wi-Fi hotspots in Lagos State. The Google Station will be launched across 11 branches of UBA, and is part of plans to roll out 200 stations across the country. The Google Stations, which will be accessible for free, would help solve the financial challenges that the USSD platform has failed to achieve.

Nigerian bank to help develop off-grid energy fund

Nigeria’s Bank of Industry, in partnership with All On, is developing an off-grid energy fund to increase access to clean, reliable energy in the Niger Delta, it has been reported. All On is a Nigerian energy investment company that focuses on underserved communities in Nigeria. The partnership will facilitate access to capital needed to roll out energy solutions in off-grid sites across the Niger Delta.

Europe

Paris to sue Airbnb over ad

The city of Paris is suing Airbnb to the tune of €12.5 million for allegedly displaying 1,000 illegal adverts. Under Parisian laws, homeowners can only rent out their apartment for 120 days in a calendar year. To do so, the homeowners must register as businesses and display their registration numbers in any advert they publish. Illegally posting ads, however, would cost Airbnb a fine of up to €12,500 per advert under a 2018 French law, Reuters is reporting. “The goal is to send a shot across the bows to get it over with unauthorized rentals that spoil some Parisian neighborhoods,” Paris Mayor, Ann Hidalgo told reporters. Aribnb and others like it have been accused of posing unfair challenges to hotels and also turning neighbourhoods into expensive, tourist communities. France is also Airbnb’s second largest market after London.

Russia plans to unplug from the internet

Russia is taking plans to temporarily unplug from the internet as part of its preparation for a future cyber-war, the BBC has reported. A new draft law dubbed the Digital Economy National Program, requires Russian ISPs to ensure they are able to operate in the event that hostile powers try to isolate the nation by cutting it out from the rest of the world. As part of the test, Russia plans to build its own DNS to limit damage caused by cutting the country’s access to foreign servers. None of the 12 organisations that oversee the root servers of DNS is based in Russia. The test will be rolled out before April 1, though the actual date is not clear.

Germany moves to toughen rules for telecoms suppliers

The German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, is supporting a proposal to toughen security regulations for foreign network companies. Reuters is reporting this could mean more scrutiny over Huawei devices rather than a complete ban. This would mean an amendment to the Telecommunications Act and would be applied to all telecoms operators from outside Germany.

The Americas

Tencent reported investment in Reddit stirs backlash

A report that Tencent was investing in Reddit has sparked backlash over censorship fears, the BBC says. Reports had said Chinese tech giant, Tencent, was investing between $150 million and $300 million in Reddit. But the announcement has prompted criticism due to China’s famous Great Firewall which restricts free speech and regulates public discourse. Reddit allows users to publish any content of their choosing, but has a democratic voting system that pushes relevant information up or down depending on the number of up-votes and down-votes. Reddit is currently inaccessible in China.

JP Morgan creates first cryptocurrency

Investment bank, JP Morgan, has created a cryptocurrency to settle payments as part of the bank’s payments systems. The digital currency, JPM Coin, is the first crypto backed by a major bank in the US. “We are supportive of crypto-currencies as long as they are properly controlled and regulated,” Umar Farooq of JP Morgan said.

Amazon cancels New York City HQ

Amazon has cancelled its plans to build a second headquarters at Long Island, New York City, a report by BBC has said. The news comes after Amazon had named New York City and Virginia as locations for its two new HQ. However, backlash from city and local politicians about the $2 billion it would receive in incentives forced the tech giant to reverse its decision. There were also fears that despite the jobs Amazon would bring to New York City, situating the company there would cause a spike in rent prices.

Researchers create AI that writes fake news

Researchers in San Francisco are refusing to release an artificially-intelligent writer because it is capable of producing malicious content, BBC has reported. The team, OpenAI, is backed by Silicon Valley and had used unsupervised machine learning to produce natural language. The artificially-intelligent writer scrapes information from web pages across the world to create stories. However, the team realised the system they produced was also capable of generating very convincing fake news on a mass scale.

Asia

India investigating Google for allegedly abusing Android

India’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), is said to open investigations into claims Google abused Android in a bid to block its rivals, according to internal sources who spoke to Reuters. The case is similar to another charge that saw Google pay up to $5 billion in fine to the EU. The charge by the EU had found Google guilty of forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on their android devices. Last year, the CCI imposed a $19 million on Google for search bias and abuse of platform.

Huawei to bolster security in a bid to win the 5G kit race

Huawei is ready to subject itself to tough security measures in a bid to remain in the race to build 5G networks across east and central Europe, it has been reported. The US cautioned leaders in the region against installing Huawei tech as it could hamper relationships between the countries and America. Spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, has accused Washington of using state power to suppress legitimate growth of Chinese firms. In response to questions about security, though, Huawei said it was ready to work with foreign governments who wished to test the source codes of their products, Andy Purdy, chief security officer at Huawei Technologies USA, said.