Spain court tells Google to remove links
A Spanish court ruled that Google Inc. must remove links from a search on a man's name, eight months after the case made a European Union court confirm a so-called "right to be forgotten" on the Internet.
Google must cut the link to a notice on social security debtors in La Vanguardia newspaper because it was outdated information about the man, the Audencia Nacional ruled, according to a statement on its website Friday in Spain. Freedom of information rights aren't infringed because the original content is still available in the newspaper's online archive, it said.
Google's refusal to remove a link to a 1998 newspaper notice on a search of Mario Costeja Gonzalez's name pitched the operator of the world's largest search engine against Spain's data-protection authority. The European Court of Justice backed the privacy regulator last year, saying all search engines should cut links on request if the information is outdated and irrelevant.
Google declined to comment on the case because it had only just received the news release, said Al Verney, a spokesman for the company in Brussels.
-- Bloomberg News
Apple buys music-based data analyzer
Apple has acquired Semetric, a company that analyzes data about music online, a move that may hint at Apple's ambitions as it prepares to revamp iTunes and Beats Music.
In documents filed last week with public regulators in the United Kingdom, where Semetric is based, the company changed its address to one in London associated with Apple, and named an Apple lawyer, Gene Levoff, as a company director. A person briefed on the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Apple had bought Semetric, although further details, including the price, could not be confirmed.
An Apple spokesman said: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." A representative of Semetric did not respond to inquiries. The news was first reported early by the website Music Ally.
Semetric, known for its service Musicmetric, is one of a growing number of companies that record labels, artist managers and others turn to for data about how music is consumed online.
-- The New York Times
New T-Mobile deal to forgive bad credit
NEW YORK -- T-Mobile says it will offer deals on new smartphones to customers with bad or no credit, regardless of how they pay, and charge no interest.
The nation's No. 4 wireless carrier said last week that such deals were previously only available to people with good credit. Customers with no or poor credit could only use prepaid accounts, which generally require buying a phone up-front -- but now they can purchase new smartphones through installments the same as people with good credit. To qualify for the program, customers must pay for wireless service on time for 12 straight months.
The move follows T-Mobile's announcement last month that it will allow customers to carry over unused cellular-data allotments. Under that plan, customers can stash away unused data allotments for up to a year.
It's all part of a program T-Mobile calls "Un-carrier," meant to describe offerings that go against the grain of longstanding industry practices.
-- The Associated Press
Uber raises $1.6B in Goldman Sachs deal
NEW YORK -- Popular ride-hailing app Uber raised $1.6 billion last week in a deal with Goldman Sachs wealth management clients.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Andrea Raphael said the financing comes in the form of a bond that can later be converted into stock when Uber goes public. Goldman said the deal is one of the largest private convertible debt offerings on record.
Last month, San Francisco-based Uber raised $1.2 billion in financing that valued the company at $40 billion. That puts it in the ballpark of public companies such as DirecTV and Kraft Foods.
Uber is working on expanding internationally, though it faces regulatory hurdles and opposition from traditional taxi companies in many countries. Uber could not immediately be reached for comment.
-- The Associated Press
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