Law & Regulation
Ranking Was the Exclusivity Clause. It Cost 5.2bn
China's regulator fined Trip.com 5.2 billion yuan on 25 July for exclusivity delivered through traffic allocation. Your contract will not show you that conduct.
Law & Regulation
Law & Regulation
Wiping a Phone at the Border Is Now a Criminal Charge
US prosecutors charged a traveller under 18 U.S.C. 2232 after a duress passcode wiped his phone at Atlanta airport. What it changes for European travel policy.
Law & Regulation
Google Has 60 Days to Let You Bill Outside Its Store
The EU fined Google 890 million euros under the Digital Markets Act on July 23. The order to let developers bill outside Google Play is what touches your margins.
Law & Regulation
BritCard Is Dead, But the Hiring Deadline Is Not
Britain's new prime minister scrapped the BritCard digital ID on his first day. The mandatory right-to-work check it was meant to power is untouched, and a new code of practice still lands on 1 October.
Law & Regulation
Brussels Fined the Risk Assessment, Not the Fakes
The Commission fined AliExpress EUR 550 million under the DSA. Read the findings and the infringement is about staffing and self-assessment, not only counterfeits.
Law & Regulation
Britain Cancels Digital ID, Not Your ID Duty
Andy Burnham is cancelling Britain's digital ID scheme as he takes office, and the Office for Budget Responsibility had costed it at 1.8 billion pounds. The duty it was meant to carry does not disappear with it, and employers still hold it.
Law & Regulation
Ofcom Says Guessing a User's Age Is Not Enough
Ofcom opened a section 12 investigation into TikTok's age assurance on 16 July 2026. The real target is age inference as a method. What UK-facing operators should ask now.
Law & Regulation
Brussels Called the Audit Weak and Approved It
The Board for Digital Services found X's audit measures, and therefore its whole DSA action plan, insufficient on 15 June. On 16 July the Commission accepted the plan with clarifications and enhanced supervision. The first independent check is up to a year away.
Law & Regulation
A Cookie Complaint From 2021 Just Came Back
The EDPB found no abuse of rights and sent a 2021 cookie complaint against VRT back to the Belgian authority to be assessed on its merits. What owners should draw from it.
Law & Regulation
Vet a paid partner, lose the EU hosting shield
The Court of Justice held on 16 July 2026 that Google's pre-contract review of a YouTube channel means Article 14 hosting immunity does not apply. What owners who pay content partners should do now.
Law & Regulation
Brussels Just Put a Price on Google's Search Data
On 16 July 2026 the European Commission adopted two binding DMA specification decisions on Google. Search data must be shared from January 2027 and Android opened to rival AI assistants from July 2027. No fine landed, and the data is not free.
Law & Regulation
Four US Clouds Now Report to a UK Regulator
From 13 July 2026 the Bank of England, PRA and FCA directly oversee the resilience of AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle. The liability for an outage still sits with the firm, not the regulator.
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The Operator Brief
One considered note on infrastructure, governance, and measurement, most mornings. No theory.