Monday, May 2, 2022

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EU charges Apple over NFC payment restrictions on iOS devices

Posted: 02 May 2022 04:50 AM PDT

As the European Commission continues to look into whether Apple has abused its market dominance by restricting mobile payments on iOS devices, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager today confirmed that it has formally charged the iPhone maker, which could result in a hefty fine if it is upheld.

In a statement, Vestager said that the Commission had "indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple's devices," adding that the company "may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its own solution."

Developers, the Commission argues in its Statement of Objections, have been barred from "accessing the necessary hardware and software" to create their own NFC payment services on Apple devices. Contactless payments are popular across Europe, but Apple Pay remains the only contactless option for in-store payments on iPhone and iPad.

With this in mind, the Commission opened a dual review into both Apple's in-app and NFC payment systems in June 2020, noting that the company's choice could stifle competition and therefore reduce consumer choice. The Commission says that today's announcement relates only to the "NFC input by third-party developers of mobile wallets for payments in stores" and not online restrictions against or "refusals of access to Apple Pay" for competing services.

Apple has previously said that it limits third-party access to contactless payments in order to boost security. It claims that its own technology prevents fraudulent payments by using a secure chip inside the iPhone antenna. 

A Statement of Objections provides Apple with a list of exceptions that it argues go against EU antitrust rules. The company will now be invited to reply to the issues raised and request a meeting with officials, which means it could be some time before an official decision is reached.

Engadget has contacted Apple for comment and will update the article should we receive a reply.

Amazon's Kindle e-readers are up to 41 percent off right now

Posted: 02 May 2022 02:50 AM PDT

Over the past few days, Amazon has begun slashing the price of its own gadgets as part of a wider Mother's Day sale. Yesterday, we saw the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 15 fall back to all-time lows, and today it's the turn of the retailer's popular Kindle e-readers, which are now offering savings of up to 41 percent.

Leading the way is the Kindle Paperwhite, which is typically priced at $140, but has fallen back to an all-time low of $105 in this particular sale. The standard Kindle is also down to $55, just $5 off its lowest ever price.

Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon - $105Buy Kindle at Amazon - $55

The fifth-gen Paperwhite, which was refreshed for the first time in three years this past September, has a larger screen than the previous model at 6.8 inches (compared to the six-inch display on its predecessor). Amazon says the 300 ppi screen looks like real paper and its glare-free screen enables "easy reading" in all conditions, even direct sunlight. Not only is it compact, but it has a waterproof design that will ensure it remains operational when splashed. There's also support for USB-C fast charging.

If you're looking for something a bit more premium, the Kindle Oasis is on sale too. The 8GB model, which typically costs $250, is currently available for $200. The e-reader has previously been as low as $175, so it's not currently near its all-time low, but still offers $50 off its usual price. The Oasis features a 300 ppi display, though the screen is slightly larger than the Paperwhite at seven inches. It has physical page turn buttons, an IPX8 waterproof rating and a color-adjustable front light.

Buy Kindle Oasis at Amazon - $200

It may also be a good time to encourage your child's love of reading. Amazon is selling the Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $120, or a full $40 below the usual price. The standard Kindle Kids is also on sale for today at $65 with a decent $45 (or 41 percent) discount. They both come with a two-year "worry-free guarantee," a protective cover and a 12-month Kids+ subscription with access to thousands of books.

Embracer is buying Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and three Square Enix game studios

Posted: 02 May 2022 02:15 AM PDT

Swedish game company Embracer Group has just made a blockbuster deal to acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal for what seems like a bargain $300 million price, the company confirmed in a press release. The deal includes a "catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games from Square Enix Holdings," it wrote. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. 

Those studios represent around 1,100 employees across eight global locations, the company noted. When the deal is finalized, Embracer will have 14,000 employees, 10,000 game developers and 124 internal studios. It has more than 230 games in development, with 30 of those being AAA titles. "This acquisition will bring additional scale to Embracer's current AAA segment, and Embracer will have one of the largest pipelines of PC/Console games content across the industry, across all genres," it said. 

As part of the deal, Eidos Montreal plans to revive Deus Ex and use new Unreal Engine 5 technology, the studio said during the acquisition conference call, as Shack News reported. "At this time, we are crazy people who have decided to revive the Deus Ex IP as our first game," Eidos Montreal Studio Head David Anfossi said. "A new team, a very complex production, a new tech, and a new studio, an easy challenge." Anfossi noted that Deus Ex console sales have exceeded 12 million units. 

Last month, Crystal Dynamics announced that it was developing a new Tomb Raider game, also based on Unreal Engine 5, with plans to "push the envelope of fidelity." The studio also developed Marvel's Avengers, among other titles. Eidos Montréal created Thief 4, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and more, and is "working on a host of AAA projects including both new releases from beloved franchises and original IP," according to the Embracer press release. 

As we detailed in a feature last year, Embracer is perhaps "the biggest games publisher you've never heard of," founded by Swedish entrepreneur Lars Wingefors. It made a string of acquisitions over the last couple of years, most significantly purchasing Saber Interactive for $525 million and Gearbox Software for $1.3 billion.

It now own quite a list of iconic franchises, particularly in the classic category. On top of the newly acquired IP, it controls Saints Row, Goat Simulator, Dead Island, Metro, TimeSplitters, Borderlands, Darksiders, MX vs ATV, Kingdoms of Amalur, Satisfactory, Wreckfest, Insurgency and World War Z. For some of those like TimeSplitters, the company has promised new titles from the original developers.

Apple's 2021 iPad mini falls to a new all-time low of $400

Posted: 02 May 2022 01:45 AM PDT

Apple's latest iPad mini has been on sale for a little under a year, but we've seen numerous price reductions on the (almost) pocketable slate. Having hovered around the $459 price point in recent times, Amazon has now discounted the 64GB iPad Mini further, bringing it down to a new all-time low of $400. That's $99 off the original price or a savings of 20 percent.

Buy 2021 Apple iPad Mini (64GB) at Amazon - $400Buy 2021 Apple iPad Mini (256GB) at Amazon - $540

If you're looking for a bit more storage, Amazon has also reduced the 256GB model, which now costs $540. That means you'll save $109 or 17 percent compared to the retailer's list price.

The 2021 iPad mini received a score of 89 in our review, gaining marks for its "all-screen" design without the home button its predecessors have. It has a Liquid Retina 326ppi panel with a 2,266 x 1,488 resolution. The tablet's edges are flat, and also sports a TouchID-capable power button, dropping the Lightning port for USB-C charging.

The slate features a new 12-megapixel ultra-wide front camera with Center Stage support, which like Facebook's Portal devices will automatically pan and zoom to keep you at the center of the screen during video calls. 

Thanks to the A15 Bionic chip powering the tablet, it was also able to handle we threw at it. It typically lasts up to 12 hours between charges and it also supports the second-gen Apple Pencil so you can use it for doodling or note-taking while on the go.

The Wikimedia Foundation won't accept crypto donations anymore

Posted: 02 May 2022 01:00 AM PDT

After Wikipedia editors voted to drop cryptocurrency as a donation option last month, the Wikimedia Foundation has confirmed that it will no longer accept Bitcoin or other forms of crypto, The Verge reported. As part of that decision, it's closing its Bitpay account to prevent any future donations. 

"The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to discontinue direct acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of donating. We began our direct acceptance of cryptocurrency in 2014 based on requests from our volunteers and donor communities. We are making this decision based on recent feedback from those same communities. Specifically, we will be closing our Bitpay account, which will remove our ability to directly accept cryptocurrency as a method of donating," the WMF wrote in an update. 

"We will continue to monitor this issue, and appreciate the feedback and consideration given to this evolving matter by people across the Wikimedia movement. We will remain flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers," it added. 

Wikipedia editor GorillaWarefare (aka Molly White) wrote a proposal for the foundation to stop accepting cryptocurrencies, calling them "extremely risky investments." She also pointed out that they may not align with the foundation's commitment to environmental sustainability, as annual crypto production uses more energy than entire countries. White also cited the Mozilla Foundation's change of heart in its decision to accept Bitcoin after facing a heavy backlash from users. 

Wikimedia welcomed requests for comments (RfC) to GorillaWarfare's proposal, with 232 voting in favor of it and 94 against. The WMF said it would take all that into account before making a final decision. "I'm really proud of my community for making what I feel was the ethical decision after a lot of thoughtful discussion," White told The Verge in a statement. "There are just too many issues with crypto for any potential donation revenue to be worth the cost of helping to legitimize it."

Apple orders season two of historical drama ‘Pachinko’

Posted: 01 May 2022 02:31 PM PDT

Apple is moving forward with a second season of its critically-acclaimed adaption of Min Jin Lee's best-selling novel Pachinko. The company announced the renewal shortly before the show's season one finale premiered this past Friday on Apple TV+.

Published in 2017, Lee's multi-generational tale won accolades for its portrayal of a Korean family that immigrates to Japan before the outbreak of the Second World War. What's striking about both the novel and Apple's drama series is how they effortlessly weave history and the deeply personal stories of their characters together. From Japanese colonialism in Korea to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and later Japan's economic boom in the 1980s, history has a profound effect on Pachinko's characters and yet the story always feels intimate.

Friday's season one finale pulled from a scene that occurs about a third through Lee's approximately 500-page novel, so there's plenty of story left for Apple's TV+ series to adapt. The company didn't say when season two will begin filming or when it plans to stream the new episodes. All of that just means you have time to catch up on Pachinko if you've been sleeping on it.

Amazon's Echo Show 8 returns to an all-time low of $90

Posted: 01 May 2022 01:08 PM PDT

For the first time since February, Amazon has discounted the Echo Show 8 to $90. That's a $40 saving over the smart display's usual $130 price. We gave the second-generation model a score of 87 when Amazon released it midway through last year. We liked the Echo Show 8's vibrant 1,280 by 800 resolution display and handy video calling functionality. It comes with a digital pan-and-zoom face-tracking feature that follows you while you move around. Best of all, that feature works with every video chat platform available for the device, including Skype and Zoom.

Buy Echo Show 8 at Amazon - $90Buy Echo Show 15 at Amazon - $200

In addition to discounting the Echo Show 8, Amazon has also put the Echo Show 15 on sale. At the moment, you can buy the device for $200, down from $250. The Show 15 is the most niche option in Amazon's smart display lineup. While you can place it on a desktop stand, Amazon sells that accessory separately. You'll get the most use out of the Show 15 by mounting it on a wall in your home. 

Outside of a device like Meta's Portal Plus, there aren't many smart displays that feature a screen as big as the one found on the Show 15. It's bright, and the picture frame design does a lot to enhance its best qualities. But don't buy the Show 15 for its video calling capabilities. At best, we found they were average. Also, don't expect a great speaker. It's okay for playing music while you're cooking, but you won't be entertaining guests with the Show 15.

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Amazon ends paid COVID-19 leave policy for workers

Posted: 01 May 2022 11:28 AM PDT

As of May 2nd, Amazon will no longer offer paid time off for workers who test positive for COVID-19, according to CNBC. Starting Monday, the company will instead grant frontline staff up to five days of unpaid leave, with the option for workers to use their accrued sick time if needed.

Announced in a memo the company sent out on Saturday, the new policy sees Amazon once again scaling back the protections it offers workers. At the start of the pandemic, the company gave workers up to 14 days of paid time off. In January, it cut COVID-19 leave in half.

Citing the wider availability of rapid testing, Amazon also said it would no longer grant workers excused time off while they wait for their COVID-19 test results. At the same time, the company will end its vaccine incentive program. The initiative saw Amazon pay workers $40 for every COVID-19 vaccine dose they went out to get. And unless required to do so by local law, the company says it will no longer notify entire sites of positive COVID-19 cases.

"The sustained easing of the pandemic, ongoing availability of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and updated guidance from public health authorities, all signal we can continue to safely adjust to our pre-COVID policies," the company said in the notice, according to CNBC.

Amazon's updated COVID-19 policies will go into effect the same day we'll find out if workers at the company's LDJ5 warehouse in Staten Island voted to unionize. Like with nearby JFK8, the Amazon Labor Union, led by former employee Christian Smalls, hopes to represent the workers at the facility. Smalls gained international recognition when he led a walkout at JFK8 at the start of the pandemic to protest Amazon's COVID-19 safety policies.

Apple’s second-generation AirPods are back down to $100

Posted: 01 May 2022 09:42 AM PDT

If you missed the chance to buy Apple's second-generation AirPods when they were $100 a few weeks ago, Amazon has once again discounted them to that price. While we think most people are better off purchasing the third-generation AirPods or AirPods Pro due to their more comfortable fit, Apple's older Bluetooth earbuds still have a lot to offer to iPhone owners. Like their more expensive siblings, the second-generation AirPods come with Apple's H1 wireless chipset, meaning they include features like hands-free Siri and seamless pairing with the company's other devices.

Buy Apple AirPods at Amazon - $100Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon - $99.95Buy Apple AirPods Pro at Amazon - $175

Amazon has also discounted the Beats Studio Buds. At the moment, they're $50 off, making them $99.95. If you don't mind the design of Beats products, they're a better purchase than the second-generation AirPods. The Studio Buds come with active noise cancellation and IPX4-certified protection against sweat and moisture, two features you won't find on Apple's most affordable AirPods. They also feature a customizable fit with interchangeable silicone ear tips. The only thing you won't find on the Studio Buds is Apple's H1 chip, but they still come with one-touch pairing and hands-free Siri support.

Lastly, we'll note Amazon is still selling the AirPods Pro for $175. While they're a few years old now, the AirPods Pro remain among the best Bluetooth earbuds you can pair with an iPhone. We like them because they feature a customizable fit, IPX4 protection against sweat and active noise cancellation.

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‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ drops to a new low of $40

Posted: 01 May 2022 08:08 AM PDT

Nintendo's first-party titles almost never go on sale, and even when they do, they're rarely discounted by much. That's what makes Amazon's latest promotion so notable. The retailer has discounted Animal Crossing: New Horizons to $40, marking the first time you've been able to pick up Nintendo's cozy life sim from Amazon for $20 off.

Buy Animal Crossing: New Horizons at Amazon - $40

A few things to note about this deal. If you're not a Prime member, you won't see the discounted price until you add it to your cart. The discount is also only valid on the physical edition of New Horizons, so you'll have to wait for the company to deliver you the game before you can begin playing it. But chances are if you've waited this long to buy Animal Crossing, you won't mind waiting a few extra days to start the experience.

New Horizons is a far more meditative and relaxing experience than almost any other game you can play. There is no plot to complete or bosses to overcome. Instead, you're prompted to spend your time gardening, catching bugs and chatting with the anthropomorphic animals that live on your island. Released at the beginning of the pandemic, New Horizons was the perfect game at a time when everything felt so uncertain. That quality hasn't changed, and we can't recommend it enough if you're looking for something to relax with after a long and challenging day out in the world.

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Hitting the Books: Dodge, Detroit and the Revolutionary Union Movement of 1968

Posted: 01 May 2022 07:00 AM PDT

After decades on the decline intro, America's labor movement is undergoing a massive renaissance with Starbucks, Amazon and Apple Store employees leading the way. Though the tech sector has only just begun basking in the newfound glow of collective bargaining rights, the automotive industry has a long been a hotbed for unionization. But the movement is not at all monolithic. In the excerpt below from her new book, Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, journalist Kim Kelly recalls the summer of 1968 that saw the emergence of a new, more vocal UAW faction, the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement, coincide with a flurry of wildcat strikes in Big Three plants across the Rust Belt.

fight like hell
Simon and Schuster

Excerpted from Fight Like Hell, published by One Signal/Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Copyright © 2022 by Kim Kelly.

As of 2021, the U.S. construction industry is still booming and the building trades are heavily unionized, but not all of the nation's builders have been so lucky. The country's manufacturing sector has declined severely since its post–World War II high point, and so has its union density. The auto industry's shuttered factories and former jobs shipped to countries with lower wages and weaker unions have become a symbol of the waning American empire. But things weren't always this dire. Unions once fought tooth and nail to establish a foothold in the country's automobile plants, factories, and steel mills. When those workers were able to harness the power of collective bargaining, wages went up and working conditions improved. The American Dream, or at least, a stable middle class existence, became an achievable goal for workers without college degrees or privileged backgrounds. Many more became financially secure enough to actually purchase the products they made, boosting the economy as well as their sense of pride in their work. Those jobs were still difficult and demanding and carried physical risks, but those workers—or at least, some of those workers—could count on the union to have their back when injustice or calamity befell them.

In Detroit, those toiling on the assembly lines of the Big Three automakers—Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors—could turn to the United Auto Workers (UAW), then hailed as perhaps the most progressive "major" union in the country as it forced its way into the automotive factories of the mid-twentieth century. The UAW stood out like a sore thumb among the country's many more conservative (and lily-white) unions, with leadership from the likes of former socialist and advocate of industrial democracy Walter Reuther and a strong history of support for the Civil Rights Movement. But to be clear, there was still much work to be done; Black representation in UAW leadership remained scarce despite its membership reaching nearly 30 percent Black in the late 1960s.

The Big Three had hired a wave of Black workers to fill their empty assembly lines during World War II, often subjecting them to the dirtiest and most dangerous tasks available and on-the-job racial discrimination. And then, of course, once white soldiers returned home and a recession set in, those same workers were the first ones sacrificed. Production picked back up in the 1960s, and Black workers were hired in large numbers once again. They grew to become a majority of the workforce in Detroit's auto plants, but found themselves confronting the same problems as before. In factories where the union and the company had become accustomed to dealing with one another without much fuss, a culture of complacency set in and some workers began to feel that the union was more interested in keeping peace with the bosses than in fighting for its most vulnerable members. Tensions were rising, both in the factories and the world at large. By May 1968, as the struggle for Black liberation consumed the country, the memory of the 1967 Detroit riots remained fresh, and the streets of Paris were paralyzed by general strikes, a cadre of class-conscious Black activists and autoworkers saw an opportunity to press the union into action.

They called themselves DRUM—the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement. DRUM was founded in the wake of a wildcat strike at Dodge's Detroit plant, staffed by a handful of Black revolutionaries from the Black-owned, anti-capitalist Inner City Voice alternative newspaper. The ICV sprang up during the 1967 Detroit riots, published with a focus on Marxist thought and the Black liberation struggle. DRUM members boasted experience with other prominent movement groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panthers, combining tactical knowledge with a revolutionary zeal attuned to their time and community.

General Gordon Baker, a seasoned activist and assembly worker at Chrysler's Dodge Main plant, started DRUM with a series of clandestine meetings throughout the first half of 1968. By May 2, the group had grown powerful enough to see four thousand workers walk out of Dodge Main in a wildcat strike to protest the "speed-up" conditions in the plant, which saw workers forced to produce dangerous speed and work overtime to meet impossible quotas. Over the course of just one week, the plant had increased its output 39 percent. Black workers, joined by a group of older Polish women who worked in the plant's trim shop, shut down the plant for the day, and soon bore the brunt of management's wrath. Of the seven workers who were fired after the strike, five were Black. Among them was Baker, who sent a searing letter to the company in response to his dismissal. "In this day and age under the brutal repression reaped from the backs of Black workers, the leadership of a wildcat strike is a badge of honor and courage," he wrote. "You have made the decision to do battle, and that is the only decision you will make. We shall decide the arena and the time."

DRUM led another thousands-strong wildcat strike on July 8, this time shutting down the plant for two days and drawing in a number of Arab and white workers as well. Prior to the strike, the group had printed leaflets and held rallies that attracted hundreds of workers, students, and community members, a strategy DRUM would go on to use liberally in later campaigns to gin up support and spread its revolutionary message.

Men like Baker, Kenneth Cockrel, and Mike Hamlin were the public face of DRUM, but their work would have been impossible without the work of their female comrades, whose contributions were often overlooked. Hamlin admitted as much in his book-length conversation with longtime political activist and artist Michele Gibbs, A Black Revolutionary's Life in Labor. "Possibly my deepest regret," Hamlin writes, "is that we could not curb, much less transform, the doggish behavior and chauvinist attitudes of many of the men."

Black women in the movement persevered despite this discrimination and disrespect at work, and they also found allies in unexpected places. Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese American Marxist philosopher and activist with a PhD from Bryn Mawr, met her future husband James Boggs in Detroit after moving there in 1953. She and James, a Black activist, author (1963's The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker's Notebook), and Chrysler autoworker, became fixtures in Detroit's Black radical circles. They naturally fell in with the DRUM cadre, and Grace fit perfectly when Hamlin organized a DRUM-sponsored book club discussion forum in order to draw in progressive white and more moderate Black sympathizers. Interest in the Marxist book club was unexpectedly robust, and it grew to more than eight hundred members in its first year. Grace stepped in to help lead its discussion groups, and allowed young activists to visit her and James at their apartment and talk through thorny philosophical and political questions until the wee hours. She would go on to become one of the nation's most respected Marxist political intellectuals and a lifelong activist for workers' rights, feminism, Black liberation, and Asian American issues. As she told an interviewer prior to her death in 2015 at the age of one hundred, "People who recognize that the world is always being created anew, and we're the ones that have to do it — they make revolutions."

Further inside the DRUM orbit, Helen Jones, a printer, was the force behind the creation and distribution of their leaflets and publications. Women like Paula Hankins, Rachel Bishop, and Edna Ewell Watson, a nurse and confidant of Marxist scholar and former Black Panther Angela Davis, undertook their own labor organizing projects. In one case, the trio led a union drive among local hospital workers in the DRUM faction, hoping to carve out a place for female leadership within their movement. But ultimately, these expansion plans were dropped due to a lack of full support within DRUM. "Many of the male leaders acted as if women were sexual commodities, mindless, emotionally unstable, or invisible," Edna Watson later told Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin for their Detroit: I Do Mind Dying. She claimed the organization held a traditionalist Black patriarchal view of women, in which they were expected to center and support their male counterparts' needs at the expense of their own agenda. "There was no lack of roles for women... as long as they accepted subordination and invisibility."

By 1969, the movement had spread to multiple other plants in the city, birthing groups like ELRUM (Eldon Avenue RUM), JARUM (Jefferson Avenue RUM), and outliers like UPRUM (UPS workers) and HRUM (healthcare workers). The disparate RUM groups then combined forces, forming the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. The new organization was to be led by the principles of Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism, but the league was never an ideological monolith. Its seven-member executive committee could not fully cohere the different political tendencies of its board or its eighty-member deep inner control group. Most urgently, opinions diverged on what shape, if any, further growth should take.

'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' has promise, and the usual frustrations

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 09:00 PM PDT

There are reasons that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds exists beyond the need to keep the Trek content pumping so nobody thinks too hard about canceling Paramount+. It's designed to quell some of the discontent in Star Trek's vast and vocal fanbase about the direction the live-action shows have traveled under the stewardship of uber-producer Alex Kurtzman. It's also a slightly bewildered response to the criticism of its predecessors, Discovery and Picard, made by the same people behind those two shows. In short, it's designed to appeal to people who, when asked what their favorite live-action Trek show is, unironically say The Orville.

We open on Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the once-and-future captain of the Enterprise after his sojourn leading Discovery in its second season. There, a magic time crystal told him that, in less than a decade, he'll be non-fatally blown up in a training accident. Armed with a standard-issue Grief Beard™, he refuses the call to return to the stars until the siren song of non-serialized space adventure becomes too great. It isn't long before he and Spock are reunited to rescue Rebecca Romijn's Number One from a spy mission on a pre-warp planet gone wrong. Sadly, Paramount's restrictive embargo on discussing the first few episodes forbids me from discussing much of what I've seen, so things will get vaguer from here on out.

It looks like it was August 2020 when Alex Kurtzman said that the show would be episodic rather than serialized. This was a way to address the criticism of the heavily serialized, go-nowhere, do-nothing grimdark mystery box stories that sucked so much of the joy from Discovery and Picard. Strange New Worlds is, instead, a deliberate throwback in the style of The Original Series, albeit with serialized character stories. So while we visit a new planet each week, characters still retain the scars, and lessons learned, from their experiences.

There are more refreshed Original Series characters than just Pike, Spock and Number One along for the ride. Babs Olusanmokun is playing a more fleshed-out version of Dr. M'Benga, while Jess Bush takes over for Christine Chapel. André Dae Kim is the new Chief Kyle, who has been promoted from intermittent extra to transporter chief. Then there's Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Uhura, whose semi-canonical backstory is now firmly enshrined as a Dead Parent / Troubled Childhood narrative. Uhura aside, most of these roles were so under-developed in the '60s that they're effectively blank slates for the reboot. Oh, except that everyone is now Hot and Horny, because this isn't just Star Trek, it's Star Trek that isn't afraid to show characters in bed with other people.

Rounding out the cast is Christina Chong as security chief La'an Noonien-Singh, a descendant of Khaaaaan! himself, Trek's in-series Hitler analog. From what we learn of her so far, she also gets saddled with a Troubled Childhood / Dead Parent narrative, as well as a case of the nasties. I expect her character will soften further over time, but right now she's officially the least fun character to spend time with. Of more interest is Melissa Navia's hotshot pilot Erica Ortegas who can launch the odd quip into the mix when called upon, and Hemmer. Hemmer is a telepathic Aenar (a type of Androian first introduced in Enterprise) played by Bruce Horak. Horak plays Hemmer as an old-fashioned lovable grump and mentor figure for some of the other characters and will clearly become a fan-favorite.

And having now seen the first half of the first season (a second is already in production) I can say that Strange New Worlds will be a frustrating watch for fans. Frustrating because there are the bones of a really fun, interesting Star Trek series buried deep inside Strange New Worlds. Sadly, it's trapped in the usual mix of faux-melodrama, clanging dialogue and dodgy plotting with the usual lapses in logic. Many writers are blind to their own flaws, which is why it's so amusing that this is what Kurtzman and co. feel is a radical departure from their own work.

Maybe I'm being unfair, but this is the seventh season of live-action Star Trek released under Kurtzman's purview. The three lead characters all had a full season of Discovery to bed in, too, so it's not as if everyone's starting from cold. But despite the gentlest of starts, the show still manages to stumble out of the gate, trying to do too much and not enough at the same time. The first four episodes, especially, feel as if someone's trying to speed-read you through a whole season's worth of plot in a bunch of partly-disconnected episodes.

An aside: Ever since the mid '80s, Paramount was desperate to reboot Star Trek with a younger cast to cash-in on that Kirk/Spock brand awareness. It eventually happened, but only in 2009 with J.J. Abrams' not-entirely-successful attempt to reboot the series in cinemas. While a Young Kirk movie made sense in the '80s, mining that seam for nostalgia today seems very weird indeed. After all, most people under the age of 50 will likely associate TNG as the One True Star Trek. The fact that not-so-closet Trek fan Rihanna's favorite character is Geordi La Forge speaks volumes about where millennial love lies. But I'd imagine a La Forge spin-off series was never going to fly with any generation of Paramount executives.

Now let's talk about that emotional continuity, because while people will take their experiences with them, little effort has been made to pre-seed conflicts before they erupt. Arguably the weakest episode of the bunch tries to cram four (4!) A-plots into its slender runtime. One of which is a coming out narrative for one crewmember – and once they've come out, another character reveals a deep-seated antipathy toward that group. It would be nice, if we could have let this particular battle brew, but it's introduced about 25 minutes in and resolved with a punchfight by minute 40. We're not shown the person wrestling with the decision to come out and risk their professional and personal relationships beforehand, either. Just… punchfight.

A lot of these episodes don't properly resolve themselves either, which is the standard problem for any 50-minute TV show. It's hard to build a new world, flesh out new characters, establish and resolve their problems in the space of two episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But at least three episodes feature conclusions that either aren't clear or take place entirely off screen, explained away with a line of dialogue. I don't know if it was a production problem, or if a majority of the show's 22 (yes, twenty-two) credited producers signed off on it, but it feels a hell of a lot like cheating. It's almost as if the writers wanted to provoke surprise in the subsequent scene — how did this get resolved!? — over concocting a satisfying emotional and narrative catharsis on-screen. 

In fact, I'm going to harp on about this one particular episode because it's not content with just dropping one major character revelation. The episode basically stops 10 minutes early in order to – shock horror – drop another Kinda Dark Secret About A Crewmember You Barely Know. One thing I said when Discovery started was that if you never get to know the characters in their default state, it's not valuable to see their bizarro-world counterparts straight away. It's the same here, Strange New Worlds refuses to do the painstaking work of filling in these characters before they start changing as a result of their experiences together.

The cast is all solid, and clearly working hard to elevate the material they've been given, because the dialogue here is so rough that I think they all deserve danger money. Now, nü-Trek dialog has always been awkward and/or impenetrable, but it's beyond dreadful here. Kurtzman and co. forgot the whole "show, don't tell" nature of screenwriting, and so characters just stand there and tell you everything, constantly. This is made worse because rather than giving space for these talented, well-paid actors to act, they're instead forced to say what they're feeling.

Here's an example of that: In one episode, a character is trying (and failing) to remember a key memory from a traumatic experience in childhood that holds the key to saving the day. But rather than use the performer to convey that, they have the actor in question stand there, blank-faced, and say "I am trauma blocked." Then there are scenes in which two characters describe what's happening in front of them with the sort of faux-gravitas that only Adam West could pull off.

Remember when I said there was promise? There really is, and you feel like if the writers could get out of their own way, things could improve massively. There's one episode you could easily describe as the (actually fun) comedy romp of the season and it's great. Every Trek fan knows that The One With The Whales is the most financially successful Trek property ever made. And yet whenever a new Trek property is made, it's always with the promise of more grimness, more darkness, more grit, more realism. Yet here we are, with the fun episode reminding you why you watch Star Trek in the first place, and making the characters fun people to hang out with. If the series could continue in that slightly slower, more relaxed groove, then Strange New Worlds could be brilliant.

I haven't talked much about the production design or effects, both of which are great – this new Enterprise is gorgeous inside and out. Nor the series music, with Nami Melumad's score being smart, subtle and lush in all of the right places. That's a compliment not shared with Jeff Russo's now standard fare, which neither matches the delicacy of a good prestige drama intro nor the soaring bombast associated with Star Trek. The best and worst thing I can say about the intro theme is that it sounds like it came from one of Interplay's mid '90s CD-ROM games.

Fundamentally, I can only really damn Strange New Worlds with the faintest of praise – it can be fun, every now and again. I would imagine, and hope, that things will improve as time goes on, and the show's makers won't indulge their worst impulses. Given that I walked away from Picard after the end of its first dreary-as-hell run, the fact I'm at least prepared to stick around here speaks volumes.

Netflix cancels 'Space Force' after two seasons

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 02:51 PM PDT

Netflix has canceled Space Force, according to Deadline. The comedy series from Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels won't get a third season. The cancelation comes only weeks after season two of Space Force premiered on February 18th. Very much inspired by the Trump administration's decision to create a space force, the series starred Steve Carell as a four-star general. And despite surrounding Carell with a star-studded cast that included the likes of John Malkovich and Ben Schwartz, the show never lived up to its premise.

Deadline reports Netflix caned Space Force for its usual reasons. The series failed to attract enough of an audience to justify its production budget. The cancelation comes mere days after Netflix laid off a significant number of the writers and editors it had hired to run its Tudum fan site website. On April 19th, the company revealed it lost about 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, its first such loss in a decade.

Lyft and Uber will cover legal fees of drivers sued under Oklahoma abortion law

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 01:56 PM PDT

Much like they did in Texas, Lyft and Uber have pledged to cover drivers sued under Oklahoma's forthcoming SB1503 law. The so-called Heartbeat Act prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy – a timeframe before many women know they're pregnant.

And like its Texas counterpart, SB8, the legislation allows private individuals to sue anyone who assists a woman attempting to skirt the ban, including rideshare drivers who face fines of up to $10,000. The Oklahoma House passed SB1503 on Thursday, and Governor Kevin Stitt is expected to sign the bill sometime within the next few days.

On Friday, Lyft CEO Logan Green said the company would extend its commitment, first announced in September, to cover 100 percent of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 to include those impacted by SB1503. Additionally, Green said Lyft was working with healthcare providers to create a program to cover the cost of rides for out-of-state abortion care. The company also plans to cover travel costs for insured employees, if those laws force them to travel more than 100 miles to find care.

"Women's access to health care is under attack again, this time in Oklahoma," Green said on Twitter. "We believe transportation shouldn't be a barrier to accessing healthcare and it's our duty to support both our rider and driver communities." Women's health activists

After Green's tweet, Uber said it would offer similar protections for drivers. "Like in TX, we intend to cover all legal fees for any driver sued under this law while they're driving," a spokesperson for the company told CNBC.

Microsoft Edge will soon include a free built-in VPN

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 11:53 AM PDT

Microsoft has consistently tried to get more people to use Edge. Some of the ways it has pursued that goal have been less well-received than others, but its latest effort to do so could make for a useful addition to the software. In a support page spotted by The Verge, the company revealed it's adding a free built-in VPN service dubbed Edge Secure Network to its web browser. 

The company says the tool will encrypt your internet connection. You can use that functionality to protect your data from your internet service provider. As with most VPNs, you can also use Edge Secure Network to mask your location, making it possible to access services that might otherwise be blocked in the country where you live or are visiting.

If you find yourself frequently traveling, chances are Edge Secure Network won't replace a paid VPN. The feature limits you to 1GB of data usage per month. It's also worth noting you'll need a Microsoft account to use the service. Microsoft has yet to begin testing the VPN. But once the feature is available, you'll be able to enable it through Edge's three-dots icon. A new option titled "Secure Network" will turn the VPN on. Once you're done browsing, it will automatically turn off again. 

India seizes $725 million from Xiaomi

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 10:31 AM PDT

India has seized assets worth approximately $725 million from Xiaomi India after the country's anti-money laundering agency found the subsidiary had broken local foreign exchange laws. According to Reuters, India's Enforcement Directorate announced Saturday it recently determined Xiaomi had made illegal remittances when it attempted to pass off some transfers as royalty payments.

That money went to three foreign companies, including one under the wider Xiaomi banner. The Enforcement Directorate found Xiaomi designed the payments to benefit itself. "Such huge amounts in the name of royalties were remitted on the instructions of their Chinese parent group entities," the agency said. The Indian Enforcement Directorate began investigating the subsidiary, among a handful of other local Chinese firms, last December. It accused Xiaomi of providing "misleading information to the banks while remitting the money abroad."

On Twitter, Xiaomi said it believes its payments were legitimate. "These royalty payments that Xiaomi India made were for the in-licensed technologies and IPs used in our Indian version products," the company stated. "We are committed to working closely with government authorities to clarify any misunderstandings." We've reached out to the company for additional information and comment.

As of last year, Xiaomi was India's leading smartphone manufacturer, with a dominant 24 percent share of the market. But like many Chinese firms in India, it has recently been forced to navigate a regulatory regime that has become less welcoming of Chinese business interests. In 2021, India temporarily banned TikTok following the country's border dispute with China and later reportedly withheld WiFi device approvals to encourage domestic production.

New York lawmakers want to limit warehouse productivity quotas

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 08:54 AM PDT

New York State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assembly Member Latoya Joyner have introduced a new bill meant to limit production quotas for warehouse workers. The bill, called the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, takes aim at Amazon's labor practices. It expands upon and strengthens the language of a similar bill in California that was signed into law back in 2021, making the state the first in the US to have legislation that regulates warehouse quotas.

Productivity quotas prevent workers from complying with safety standards and contribute to rising injury rates in warehouse, Ramos notes in a statement. She explains that if the bill passes, it can "ease the bargaining process" for workers seeking to make demands for health purposes in their workplace. Warehouses will have to go through an ergonomic assessment of all tasks if the bill becomes a law, and companies could face penalties if they're found to be lacking. The New York State Department of Labor will enforce rules established under the bill. 

As Motherboard reports, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act will require employers with at least 50 employees in a single warehouse or 500 workers statewide to describe their productivity quotas in a written description. They also have to explain how their quotas are developed and how they can be used for disciplinary purposes. If the bill passes, it can make sure employees are giving their workers bathroom breaks and rest periods, as well.

Amazon made it to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health's most dangerous workplaces in the US for the third time this year. The advocacy group included Amazon for having an injury rate more than double the industry average and highlighted the deaths that took place in its facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Workers' rights advocates also recently accused the e-commerce giant of using its charity work placement scheme to conceal true injury rates in its warehouses.

Cat adventure game ‘Stray’ delayed to summer 2022

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 08:18 AM PDT

Cat aficionados will have to wait a bit longer to get their paws on Stray. Developer BlueTweleve Studio's feline simulator won't release in early 2022 as previously announced. It's now slated to come out sometime this summer. Sony shared news of the delay in a tweet spotted by The Verge. "Releasing summer 2022," says the video accompanying the message.

The clip includes footage from the gameplay walkthrough publisher Annapurna Interactive shared last summer. And if you're curious what Stray is all about, that video provides a few clues. In it, we see the game's feline protagonist explore a neon-soaked city populated by robots of all shapes and sizes. Gameplay involves using his abilities as a cat to solve environmental puzzles. Partway through your journey, you'll meet B-12, a drone that will allow you to converse with the city's inhabitants. Naturally, as the cat, you can also do things like scratch furniture and rub up against the legs of robots you meet.

Intel CEO says chip shortage could continue until 2024

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 07:11 AM PDT

Experts and tech industry veterans have long expected the global semiconductor shortage to last for years, but Intel chief Pat Gelsinger now says it could go on longer than previously expected. The CEO told CNBC's TechCheck that he expects the issue to drag on until 2024, because the shortage has now hit equipment manufacturing. That could make it difficult for companies to obtain key manufacturing tools and hit production goals that might be bigger than before due to growing demand. 

Gelsinger told the publication:

"That's part of the reason that we believe the overall semiconductor shortage will now drift into 2024, from our earlier estimates in 2023, just because the shortages have now hit equipment and some of those factory ramps will be more challenged."

Lockdowns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic had severely impacted the chip industry at a time when demand was ramping up. It forced not just tech companies, but also automakers like GM and Ford, to limit and even to suspend production. Apple's MacBook and iPad shipments faced delays due to component shortages, and smartphone shipments in general fell in late 2021. This negative impact on the tech and auto industries translated to devastating economic consequences — according to CBS News, the global chip shortage cost the United States $240 billion in 2021 based on expert estimates.

Gelsinger previously said that he believes the situation will last until 2023, which falls in line with analysts' and other industry execs' expectations. After Gelsinger became Intel's CEO, the company had announced several massive investments meant to expand chip manufacturing outside Asia. (To note, a Bloomberg report from back in late 2021 claimed that the White House "strongly discouraged" Intel from ramping up its chip production in China.) Intel said it's spending $20 billion to build two chip factories in Arizona, and another $20 billion at least to build "the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet" in Ohio.

Apple extends update deadline for outdated apps in danger of being deleted

Posted: 30 Apr 2022 02:36 AM PDT

Apple recently sent notices to some indie developers, warning them that their app will be pulled from the App Store if it's not updated within 30 days. The tech giant has had a policy in place against outdated and abandoned applications since 2016, but the move suggests that it's now more rigorously enforcing that rule. Some of the letters' recipients criticized the policy for being a barrier to indie developers, what with how tough it is to keep up with platform changes and how much work it takes to roll out even a minor update. Now, Apple has published a post clarifying why some old apps are in danger of being removed, along with the announcement that it's giving developers more time to update their applications. 

In the post, the company said that it will only send removal notices to developers whose apps haven't been updated in three years, as well as to devs whose apps have not "been downloaded at all or extremely few times during a rolling 12 month period." Apple said that dropping outdated apps makes newer ones more discoverable and also ensures users can enjoy games and tools that have been optimized for its latest OS and devices. 

As a lot of people know, there are older apps don't work as well on the latest generation of phones, tablets and laptops anymore, delivering a subpar user experience. Still, 30 days might not be nowhere near enough time for smaller developers to conjure up an update. The good news is that Apple has extended its grace period and is now giving them up to 90 days to update their applications. Users will get to keep apps that are already installed on their devices even if they end up getting deleted, and developers can continue earning from them through microtransactions. 

Jack Dorsey: ‘Nothing that is said now matters’

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 05:02 PM PDT

Jack Dorsey is at it again. The twitter co-founder shared another rambling tweetstorm, in which he mused about Twitter's shortcomings, user trust and whether or not the platform should be permanently banning users.

The comments come on the heels of a turbulent week for Twitter, which is facing uncertainty about what will happen to its platform with Elon Musk at the helm. But if people were hoping Dorsey could add some clarity to the discussion, they'll likely be disappointed.

"Every decision we made was ultimately my responsibility," he said. "In the cases we were wrong or went too far, we admitted it and worked to correct."

The comments may have been an oblique reference to Elon Musk's earlier tweets targeting a top Twitter policy official, but he didn't directly address the situation. Instead, he shared some vague thoughts about what Twitter should do to fix itself.

"Some things can be fixed immediately, and others require rethinking and reimplementing the entire system," he said. "A transparent system, both in policy and operations, is the right way to earn trust. Whether it's owned by a company or an open protocol doesn't matter _as much as_ deliberately deciding to be open about every decision and why it was made."

Dorsey also seemed frustrated by what current CEO Parag Agrawal has referred to as "noise" about what's happening to the company. "Doing this work means you're in the arena," Dorsey tweeted. "Nothing that is said now matters. What matters is how the service works and acts, and how quickly it learns and improves. My biggest failing was that quickness part. I'm confident that part at least is being addressed, and will be fixed."

Dorsey added that it's "crazy and wrong" that "individuals or companies bear this responsibility," in an apparent reference to past unpopular decisions. "I don't believe any permanent ban (with the exception of illegal activity) is right, or should be possible. This is why we need a protocol that's resilient to the layers above."

Musk's buyout has rocked Twitter, a company whose own executives have told employees they are unsure what direction Musk will take the platform. Musk, who has said he has "no confidence" in the company's current leadership, has suggested that he would drastically scale back the company's existing content moderation policies and, potentially, its staff.

Whether Musk has Dorsey's backing has been a major source of speculation. Dorsey said earlier in the week that "Elon is the singular solution I trust," and said that his buyout is getting the company out of an "impossible" situation in which it is tied to an ad-based revenue model. Both Dorsey and former Facebook board member Peter Thiel reportedly encouraged Musk to take Twitter private, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Musk has reportedly floated the idea of charging organizations to embed tweets on other websites, and ramping up Twitter's subscription product Twitter Blue. He also reportedly wants to replace Agrawal with an executive of his own choosing, Reutersreported Friday.

Dorsey's comments are also notable for what he didn't say. He didn't mention Musk by name, and he didn't defend Twitter's employees, though he said "the company has always tried to do its best given the information it had."

CWA accuses Activision of threatening employees for discussing work conditions

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 02:28 PM PDT

The union working to organize Activision Blizzard workers — the Communications Workers of America — filed a complaint today with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing the video game company of forbidding workers from discussing ongoing sexual and workplace harassment lawsuits. This isn't the first time Activision has been accused of shutting down workplace dissent. Last September, CWA accused Activision of union-busting and intimidating workers who engaged in walkouts and other protests.

CWA filed its latest complaint after an incident in which an Activision worker posted a link to an article on their departmental Slack channel about an ongoing California Department of Fair Housing and Employment lawsuit against the company. The union shared no details about whether the worker was fired or reprimanded. Engadget has reached out to CWA for more information about the incident and will update when we hear back. Under federal law, employees have the right to discuss matters relating to wages, hours and working conditions.

Former Blizzard test analyst Jessica Gonzalez said Activision used "similar tactics" during her time at the company after she spoke out about workplace sexual harassment. "It is unfortunate that Activision continues to take the low road, but my hope is that everyone in the video game community understands how having a union on the job can encourage a workplace free from harassment and discrimination, which translates to better video games," said Gonzalez in a statement.

Airbnb will stop offering refunds when a host or guest contracts COVID-19

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 01:15 PM PDT

Airbnb bookings made on or after May 31st will no longer be eligible for refunds for COVID-19-related issues. The upcoming change to the extenuating circumstances policy will apply to cases where a host or guest contracts COVID-19.

The company says the host's standard cancellation policy will apply instead. It says nearly two-thirds of active offer policies that allow guests to cancel up to five days (under the moderate policy) or up to 24 hours before check in (as per the flexible policy).

Reservations made before the end of next month may still be eligible for a COVID-19-linked refund if they meet the terms of Airbnb's policy. There are exceptions for domestic reservations in South Korea and mainland China. Airbnb said refunds will still be available there for some COVID-19-related circumstances for the foreseeable future.

"Some in the travel industry stopped this type of policy months ago, while others didn't provide one at all," Airbnb wrote in a blog post. "After consultation with our medical advisors, as well as our community, we feel the time is now right to take the same step."

For what it's worth, Airbnb will soon start offering travel insurance. The product will be available in the coming months. Until then, the company says, those concerned that COVID-19 may disrupt their travel plans can buy insurance elsewhere.

The onset of the pandemic devastated the travel industry and Airbnb wasn't immune from the impact. The company laid off 25 percent of its workforce, or around 1,900 jobs, in May 2020. It seems Airbnb is hoping to get back to business as usual. It noted that "many countries have now implemented living with COVID-19 plans."

Still, the pandemic is not over. Around a third of the global population has yet to receive at least one vaccine dose. Data shows that, on average, 629,798 cases have been recorded worldwide in each of the last 14 days.

Former Apple worker says Epic refused to hire her over labor advocacy

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 12:09 PM PDT

The worker who founded the #AppleToo movement has accused Epic Games of taking a similarly anti-labor stance. The Washington Postreports former Apple employee Cher Scarlett has filed a National Labor Relations Board complaint alleging Epic refused to hire her because she backed a labor organization, is cooperating with the NLRB and is otherwise fighting unfair working conditions. She claims Epic balked two days after she shared details of her advocacy work and federal testimony with recruiters for a senior web developer position.

Epic spokesperson Elka Looks denied any wrongdoing in a statement to The Post. She said Scarlett's labor rights efforts didn't factor into the hiring decision, and that the company had already settled on someone else before Scarlett shared details of her activities. The winning candidate simply "scored higher," Looks stated.

Whether or not the assertions hold up, it's no secret that Scarlett is known for challenging allegedly abusive and unfair workplaces. She helped draw attention to misconduct at Activision Blizzard by describing sexual harassment between 2015 and 2016. Scarlett also has three ongoing cases against Apple, including an NLRB complaint about a hostile work environment. Another NLRB complaint from February says Mozilla discriminated against her job application at that firm.

The complaint against Epic also comes as tensions have risen between tech companies and staffers demanding better labor practices. Amazon, Apple and other companies have been fighting unionization attempts, and there have long been concerns these brands might be firing outspoken employees. Even if Scarlett doesn't succeed, she'll highlight problematic behavior across the industry.

Update 4/29/22 7:18pm ET: Scarlett reached out on Twitter to add some additional details regarding the candidacy process. She claims most of the Epic employees at most levels of the interview process were "well aware" of her background in organizing and many "thought it was awesome." She further insinuated that decision had been made by people above those layers of management.

Salesforce and Slack will loosen NDA restrictions for all US employees

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 11:45 AM PDT

Salesforce says it will loosen non-disclosure agreements for all of its employees in the US, including those at subsidiary Slack. The company was required to do so for workers in California under the state's Silenced No More Act, though it will extend the measures to workers across the country.

The law gives employees more freedom to discuss instances of workplace harassment and discrimination even if they have signed NDAs. It took effect on January 1st. Salesforce says it will extend the protections to all US employees by the end of this year. "Our employees are key stakeholders, and it's critical that we offer them the support to ensure they're happy, healthy and protected," the company wrote in a blog post.

A group called the Transparency in Employment Agreements Coalition has been using shareholder proposals to pressure the likes of Salesforce, Meta, Alphabet and Apple to extend Silenced No More protections to all employees, as Protocol notes.

Alphabet affirmed in an SEC filing this month that even if they had signed NDAs, employees are free to discuss workplace assault, harassment or discrimination as well as any retaliation for reporting or opposing those. Before the law came into effect, Pinterest said it would not enforce NDAs in cases of racial and gender-based discrimination.

In a proxy statement in January, Apple said that "employees are permitted to speak openly about unlawful acts in the workplace, including harassment and discrimination." For that and other reasons, it urged shareholders to vote against a proposal that would require the company to prepare and publish a report that examines the possible risk to the company related to "concealment clauses in the context of harassment, discrimination and other unlawful acts." However, shareholders approved that proposal at a meeting in March. Meanwhile, the SEC is reportedly investigating Apple's use of NDAs following a complaint by a whistleblower.
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