Category Archives: Big Tech

Amid declining sales and evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, in the 1950s tobacco companies undertook PR campaigns to reinvent themselves as socially responsible and to shape public opinions. They also started funding research into the relationship between health and tobacco. Now, Big Tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google are following the same playbook to fund AI ethics research in academia, according to a recently published paper by University of Toronto Center for Ethics PhD student Mohamed Abdalla and Harvard Medical School student Moustafa Abdalla.

The coauthors conclude that effective solutions to the problem will need to come from institutional or governmental policy changes. The Abdalla brothers argue Big Tech companies arent just involved with, but are leading, ethics discussions in academic settings.

The truly damning evidence of Big Tobaccos behavior only came to light after years of litigation. However, the parallels between the public facing history of Big Tobaccos behavior and the current behavior of Big Tech should be a cause for concern, the paper reads. We believe that it is vital, particularly for universities and other institutions of higher learning, to discuss the appropriateness and the tradeoffs of accepting funding from Big Tech, and what limitations or conditions should be put in place.

An analysis of tenure-track research faculty at major AI research MIT, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Toronto included in the report found that nearly 60% with known funding sources have taken money from Big Tech.

Last week, Google fired Timnit Gebru, an AI ethics researcher, in what Google employees described as a a retaliatory fire following unprecedented research censorship. In an interview with VentureBeat earlier this week, Gebru said AI research conferences are heavily influenced by industry and said the world needs better options for AI research funding than corporate and military funding.

The Grey Hoodie project name is meant to hark back to Project Whitecoat, a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the impact of second-hand smoke that started in the 1980s. The Partnership on AI (PAI), the coauthors argue, takes the role of the Council for Tobacco Research, a group that supplied funding to academics studying the impact of smoking on human health. Created in 2016 by Big Tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google, PAI now has more than 100 participating organizations, including the ACLU and Amnesty International. By participating in meetings, research, and other initiatives, coauthors argue that nonprofit and human rights groups end up legitimizing Big Tech companies.

In a December 2019 account published in The Intercept, MIT PhD student Rodrigo Ochigame called AI ethics initiatives from Silicon Valley strategic lobbying efforts and quoted an MIT Media Lab colleague as saying Neither ACLU nor MIT nor any non-profit has any power in PAI.

Earlier this year the digital human rights organization Access Now resigned from the Partnership on AI, in part because the coalition has been ineffective in influencing the behavior of corporate partners. In an interview with VentureBeat responding to questions about ethics washing, PAI director Terah Lyons said it takes time to change the behavior of Big Tech companies.

In addition to funding academic research, Big Tech companies also fund AI research conferences. For example, coauthors say the Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) conference has never had a year without Big Tech funding, and NeurIPS has had at least two Big Tech sponsors since 2015. Apple, Amazon Science, Facebook AI Research, and Google Research are all among platinum sponsors of NeurIPS this year.

Abdalla and Abdalla suggest academic researchers consider splintering AI ethics into a separate field from computer science, akin to the way bioethics is separated from medicine and biology.

The Grey Hoodie Project follows analysis released this fall about the de-democratization of AI and a compute divide forming between Big Tech, elite universities, and the rest of the world.The Grey Hoodie Project paper was initially published this fall but was accepted for publication by the Resistance AI workshop, which takes place Friday as part of the NeurIPS AI research conference, the largest annual gathering of AI researchers in the world. In another first, this year, NeurIPS authors were required to state financial conflicts of interest and potential impact to society.

The topic of corporate influence over academic research came up at NeurIPS on Friday morning. During a panel conversation, Black in AI cofounder Rediet Abebe said she will refuse to take funding from Google, and that more senior faculty in academia need to speak up. Next year, Abebe will become the first Black woman assistant professor ever in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department at UC Berkeley.

Maybe a single person can do a good job separating out funding sources from what theyre doing, but you have to admit that in aggregate theres going to be an influence. If a bunch of us are taking money from the same source, theres going to be a communal shift towards work that is serving that funding institution, she said.

The Resistance AI workshop at NeurIPS explores how AI has shifted power into the hands of governments and corporations and away from marginalized communities and how to shift power back to the people. Organizers count among them the founders of groups like Disability in AI and Queer in AI. Workshop organizers also include members of the AI community who describe themselves as abolitionists, advocates, ethicists, and AI policy experts, such as J Khadijah Abdurahman, who this week this week penned a piece about the moral collapse of AI ethics, and Marie-Therese Png, who coauthored a paper earlier this year about anticolonial AI and how to make AI free of the exploitative or oppressive technology.

A statement from Google Brain research associate Raphael Lopes and other conference organizers said the Resistance AI group was formed following a meetup at an AI conference this summer and is designed to include people marginalized in society today.

We were frustrated with the limitations of AI for good and how it could be coopted as a form of ethics-washing, organizers said. In some ways, we still have a long way to go: many of us are adjacent to big tech and academia, and we want to do better at engaging those who dont have this kind of institutional power.

Other work presented today as part of the event includes the following:

On Saturday another NeurIPS workshop will examine harm caused by AI and the broader impact of AI research on society.

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What Big Tech and Big Tobacco research funding have in common - VentureBeat

Of the Big Four tech companies, Google was the first to be targeted by the federal government this year, but that likely wasnt the end of the legal actions against the search giant.

The Justice Department lawsuit, filed in late October with 11 state attorneys general, centers on Googles conduct in the search market. Separate probes by the DOJ and states into Googles power in digital advertising markets continue, as does the Justice Departments review of Googles proposed acquisition of Fitbit Inc. FIT, +0.28%.

Their focus is the fact that 86% of internet searches are done through Google, a staggering number that gives the unit of Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -0.22% GOOG, -0.27% nearly unilateral control over the distribution of information.

For more:Big Techs antitrust woes grow, but will it actually matter?

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta of the District of Columbia, the judge in the Justice Departments case, should also oversee class actions and other cases alleging antitrust violations against Google, according to a Nov. 5 court filing. Attorneys general in 11 states including Florida, Georgia and Texas have joined the DoJs case.

Google continues to stiff-arm the charges, offering its products superiority as a defense. We repeatedly have underscored that people go to Google search because they want to, not because they have to, Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in a DealBook interview on Nov. 18. Google rose to the position that it has because it is a better product. We keep innovating and investing in such technology as machine learning.

Google Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker called the DOJs case deeply flawed in an Oct. 20 blog post, though the Silicon Valley powerhouse is employing a battalion of attorneys from prestigious law firms such as Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to represent it.

This indicates to Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, that the antitrust lawsuit will proceed slowly, and could erode. Not enough Democratic state AGs got behind the DOJs actions in the first place as in none, Chakravorti told MarketWatch. It was rushed through by [Attorney General William] Barr and an all-Republican cast of state AGs.

A majority of states investigating Google did not sign on to the Justice Departments suit, and could still bring charges.

See also: After charges against Google, road map to antitrust changes contains many potential routes

With House Democrats seeking a more comprehensive review of Big Techs powers, the antitrust lawsuit contains a risk that it would detract from that much more holistic approach to tackling the power of Big Tech beyond Google alone, Chakravorti said. They may want to push the Google lawsuit back into the annex.

Still, the evidence remains compelling. Yelp Inc. YELP, +1.74% has long held that Google favored its own products and services in search, often to the exclusion of Yelp and at the expense of consumers. Google also allegedly stole content from developers, such as restaurant reviews from Yelp.

In the risk factors section of its 10-Q filing on July 31, Yelp warned that search engines have made changes in the past to their ranking algorithms, methodologies and design layouts that have reduced the prominence of links to our platform and negatively impacted our traffic, and we expect they will continue to make such changes from time to time in the future.

Yelp claims Googles update to its search algorithm in the fourth quarter of 2019 may have harmed, and may be continuing to harm, its traffic. Similarly, Apple, Google or other marketplace operators may make changes to their marketplaces that make access to our products more difficult, according to the filing.

From a broad business perspective, this is going to take a long time, years to play out, just like Microsoft, Yelp Chief Financial Officer David Schwarzbach told MarketWatch. We welcome the scrutiny, but remain focused on our own business. They [Google] are part of the competitive landscape we face. It is an element of the competition we face.

U.S. regulators might also consider their legal path forward, following a series of antitrust charges by the European Union that resulted in nearly $10 billion in fines but little change in the competitive landscape. (In 2017, the EU fined Google $2.8 billion for abusing its market dominance by giving an illegal advantage in search results to Google Shopping.) The reason? European lawmakers largely left it to Google to fix the problems, antitrust lawyers and Google competitors warn.

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Google and antitrust: Big Tech's first target could face more legal action - MarketWatch

We have a saying in right-wing politics that there is a stupid party and an evil party in the United States; when they do something both stupid and evil, its called bipartisanship.

So when almost every state attorney general in the nation, Republicans and Democrats, come together for a single cause, count me as a skeptic.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is leading a new lawsuit against Facebook, joined by 47 of his colleagues from around the country. They allege Facebook is harming consumers with its services that cost consumers $0.

The attorneys generals suit is coordinated with a separate Federal Trade Commission suit, both of which accuse the social media company of anti-competitive conduct.

Facebook, which has invested millions in data centers in Iowa, acquired the photo sharing app Instagram and the instant messaging service WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014, with approval from federal and foreign regulators.

The company grew Instagram from a tiny firm into a major social media service. It eliminated the subscription fee and enhanced privacy features on WhatsApp, creating a free and secure alternative to SMS messaging across the world.

Consumers liked that, as evidenced by the apps wild success. State and federal governments hate it. Theyre seeking to restrict Facebooks future business transactions and potentially break up the company.

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Facebooks market dominance means users have nowhere else to go for its services, and the company is able to make decisions that put profits over the interests of users, the Iowa Attorney Generals Office wrote in a statement announcing the lawsuit against Facebook.

Nowhere else to go? In fact, pretty much all of Facebooks services are offered by competing firms. The industry trend is for social media companies to duplicate each others features. We have Fleets, Snaps, Stories and TikToks, take your pic.

Millers lawsuit is the latest in a series of political and legal attacks against tech companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon. In essence, the companies are accused of offering products that are too useful to consumers.

Google discovered that it could increase the number of clicks and its own profits by ranking ads to promote those with greater relevance, Republican attorneys general wrote in a federal lawsuit filed this year accusing Google of monopoly behavior.

Panic over Big Techs influence has grown out of control since 2016, when Democrats convinced themselves that a relatively small number of poorly crafted Russian memes unduly swung the election in Donald Trumps favor. Theyre joined by Republicans who think the liberal tech workforce is distorting public discourse to benefit the left. Evidence on both sides is tenuous.

It is a rare point of agreement among elite Republicans and Democrats: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and the foreigners who made TikTok are bad guys who threaten our democracy, our economy and our very way of life. Politicians copied and pasted moral outrages of the past and updated a few details to fit the current narrative.

Big Techs denigrators are as diverse as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard. Proposed solutions range from perverting internet law to make social media companies liable for content users post, to outright busting the companies up.

Regardless of whether any of the court cases against tech companies are successful, theres a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress that something must be done. When Republicans and Democrats get together to do something for the sake of doing something, Americans often suffer from unintended but foreseeable consequences.

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The quest to bolster competition could well backfire. Facebook, for its part, welcomes a new regulatory regime to address the perceived issues.

We have called for new regulation to address some of them on an industrywide basis. ... Those hard challenges are best solved by updating the rules of the internet, Facebook general counsel Jennifer Newstead wrote in a blog post responding to the new lawsuit brough by Miller at his peers.

Those rules of the internet are certain to carry extra compliance costs that Facebook and other huge corporations are prepared to cover, with their legions of well compensated lawyers and lobbyists. Its small companies, Facebooks potential competitors, that would be stifled by complicated new regulations. The rules would enrich existing firms at the expense of consumer choice.

When Ted Cruz, Elizabeth Warren and Mark Zuckerberg all agree on something, Americans ought to be skeptical.

adam.sullivan@thegazette.com; (319) 339-3156

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Iowa is leading the two-party tizzy over Big Tech - The Gazette

Companies across multiple industries including the Big Tech will go shopping for competitors over the next five years as extended lockdowns amid Covid-19 and other pandemic-related dislocations have squeezed the profit margins of many businesses globally, leading to record levels of corporate defaults, a new report said on Monday.

The economic shock is poised to result in a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as stronger companies acquire weakened rivals, technologies, and assets at bargain prices, said the report titled The great shakeout by leading global management consulting firm Kearney.

Over the next five years, the influence and size of companies and industries already wielding sizable market share are likely to grow as struggling competitors are eliminated during this great shakeout.

In the meantime, with more than $1.5 trillion in capital and a sea of financially weakened targets made available as a result of Covid-19, private equity groups have deployed their record levels of dry powder in the months following the pandemic, making more than 5,500 deals in the first nine months of 2020.

Stronger companies in sectors benefiting from the pandemic such as grocers, e-commerce and digital companies are likely to seek growth and additional capabilities by acquiring rivals or new technologies to improve business efficiency.

Between January and May 2020, tech giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft announced their highest number of acquisitions since 2016 a total of 19.

In the third quarter of 2020, both big technology companies and other players continued technology deals, with transactions surging to more than $200 billion levels not seen in two decades, the report noted.

Such acquisitions are enabling companies to position themselves in areas likely to grow during and after Covid-19, such as automation, fintech, digital services, and food delivery.

The activity is further spurred by both the availability of attractive valuations and rising fears of tighter M&A regulations.

For example, Facebook spent $5.7 billion on a 9.99 percent stake in Indias digital platform Jio, Microsoft acquired IoT and cybersecurity company CyberX, and European food delivery platform Just Eat Takeaway agreed to acquire the United States GrubHub for $7.3 billion.

Indeed, tech start-ups that are unable to compete with the giants will become more vulnerable to acquisitions as the latter seek to minimize competition, improve capabilities, and boost revenue streams, the report mentioned.

Obstacles to Covid-induced M&A activity are also starting to materialize, said the report, driven by a mix of protectionism and anti-monopoly sentiment.

In October, a congressional investigation into big tech companies recommended breaking up giants and stronger antitrust laws, just before the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying elsewhere as well, with antitrust probes against tech giants, including Facebook, Apple, and Amazon underway in the EU, Australia, Brazil, and Canada, according to the Kearney report.

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Big Tech to shop for Covid-hit competitors in next 5 years: Report - Express Computer

The European Commission detailed two proposed pieces of legislation on Tuesday aimed at curbing the power of tech giants including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL). The institution, which is responsible for introducing proposed legislation and implementing laws in the European Union, is aiming to reduce the influence of Big Tech and create a more favorable environment for smaller software companies.

The legislation has yet to be voted on by EU member states, but policy experts believe that the suggested changes could be rapidly adopted, according to a report published by CNBC. If enacted, the proposed rules would require mobile operating system owners, including Apple and Alphabet, to allow users to uninstall default software from their devices. The proposed legislation also includes a provision that would bar platform owners from giving priority to their own applications in search engines.

Image source: Getty Images.

If the new legislation is passed, companies would likely face stiff fines if found to be intentionally violating standards or be forced to break up their business units if they want to continue operations in the European Union.

Building an expanded ecosystem that ties products and services into each other has been a central component of many large tech companies' growth initiatives. However, this approach could become less viable depending on the regulatory climate.

Governments around the globe have recently been taking a tougher stance against large tech companies.Social media giants including Facebook and Twitter are notably under scrutiny in the U.S., and Chinese regulators have been putting pressure on domestic tech leaders including Alibaba and Tencent. Tech giants still have huge advantages compared to smaller competitors, but investors will have to weigh these strengths against mounting evidence that regulators will move to curb their power.

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New EU Regulations Could Spell Trouble for Apple, Alphabet, and Others - The Motley Fool

Written by Dana Sanchez

Dec 15, 2020

Bitcoin has been surging for a while along with traditional markets, removing any doubt that the No. one digital currency and the overall crypto market have some correlation with the stock market.

In March 2020, when the Nasdaq, Dow Jonesand S&P 500 fellto their one-year lows, bitcoin crashed to $3,800 its one-year low.

When the Federal Reserve announced unlimited money printing to sustain the market, the new money supply and its expectations became the most important factor for both the stock and crypto markets which tend to rise when liquidity is made freely available, Blockchain News reported.

Since then, both the stock and the crypto markets started a bull run. The Nasdaq, Dow Jonesand S&P 500 reached record highs, as did ethereum and bitcoin, which reached $19,920.53 according to data-provider Coindesk. As of this writing, bitcoin is trading at $19,374.

Here are five things to know about bitcoins risky correlation with big tech, risk assets and the stock market.

Being the de facto world currency, the U.S. dollar is the value benchmark for everything else including assets and other fiat currencies, aka U.S. dollar colonization. Although bitcoin and other crypto can function like currencies such as payments and store of value, the market cap of cryptocurrencies is small compared to traditional finance, and most financial activities are based on fiat money, Blockchain News reported.

In other words, the financial inclusion of cryptocurrencies is not enough. If bitcoin and other crypto replace more traditional financial functions, that may reduce the role of the U.S. dollar and other fiat money, and the relationships between bitcoin and other fiat money will change.

If bitcoin is a safe haven, why has it been tanking when the going gets rough?

The positive correlation between bitcoin and the benchmark S&P 500 stock index means that bitcoins price movements are consistent with those in equity markets, Bloomberg reported. When President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus in early October, the stock market dropped but bitcoin dropped even further. Gold witnessed a small rally.

The S&P 500 lost 6 percent from its September high, while bitcoin was down about 15 percent since from its mid-August peak. The movement was counter to the often-touted narrative that bitcoin is a haven.

Usually, a safe haven is something of value most famously, gold that grows during tough times such as recessions. Since its launch, bitcoin has been defined as a safe haven.

Thats not necessarily true. Bitcoin isnt exactly a safe haven asset yet but its monetary policy and its long-term trajectory shows that its working its way there, according to a post by Norwegian Block Exchange (NBE), a cryptocurrency exchange.

Crypto investors say bitcoin is digital gold and should hold a similar place to gold as a reliable fallback in times of crisis. So why did bitcoin fall when times were tough?

Some analysts argue that while bitcoin is highly correlated with traditional equities, it will not be the case forever.

Institutional investors on Wall Street are increasingly moving into and crypto. Bitcoins reputation as digital gold got a boost earlier this year when investor Paul Tudor Jones said he was buying it as a hedge against inflation that he sees coming as a result of Federal Reserve and central bank money-printing, Forbes reported.

Payments companies PayPal and Square are both betting on bitcoin.

Its shortsighted to think that bitcoin cant be a safe haven because it fell when the U.S. stock marketfell in March 2020, NBE reported. Thats because the digital coin has only been around since 2009. Covid-19 is the first major test of the theory that its digital gold and consequently, a better safe haven. Until covid is over and global markets have truly rebounded, it wont be reasonable to conclude what served as a safe haven during these times.

Technology stocks including Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Bitcoin outperformed them all including Amazons massive 2020 stock price rally and Nasdaqs increase.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Partys sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.

London-based digital asset management firm CoinShares recommended investors allocate 4 percent of their portfolios to bitcoin, arguing that in its growth phase, it behaves like a tech stock, Forbes reported in August.

As a disruptive technology, bitcoins risk profile is rather similar to that of a technology stock: if it reaches its potential, the value could be immense, but at the same time, there is a chance it fails entirely, leaving the value of bitcoins close to zero, wrote CoinShares research strategist James Butterfill.

Gold is still the leading safe-haven asset by a mile with the top cryptocurrency acting as a risk asset, Cryptobriefing reported. The value proposition of bitcoin is that its asuperior, digitalversion of gold. This thesis does hold merit, but the behavior of market participants doesnt add up. Bitcoins place as a safe haven asset beenquestioned over and over. Each time, the evidence says the top digital asset is a risk-asset.

Investors dont buy BTC en masse during times of economic uncertainty, Ashwath Balakrishnan wrote for Cryptobriefing. Since the global market crash of March 2020, bitcoin followed equities closely and cemented its position as a better risk-adjusted play on a post-covid recovery. It does have hedging properties but not the kind that makes it an economic hedge yet.

Todays environment is plagued by economic uncertainty, and investors seem to believe this isnt an ideal situation for bitcoin, Balakrishnan wrote. Theres no doubt that the genesis cryptocurrency has a sound thesis rooted in a changing economic system, but the broader market is yet to realize this. Gold is still the foremost safe haven asset without a shadow of a doubt and BTC is a risk-on asset.

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5 Things To Know About Bitcoins Risky Correlation With Big Tech, Risk Assets And The Stock Market - Moguldom

LONDON The EU's competition chief has suggested that tech giants will have to change how they promote themselves as the bloc prepares to revise its competition rulebook.

The European Union is due to announce an overhaul of digital regulation later this month, which could hurt the business models of Big Tech. The new rules will seek to have stronger oversight over illegal and harmful content, but also ensure that smaller firms can compete against major multinationals operating in Europe.

"With power, with strength comes responsibility and part of that is, for instance, that you don't promote yourself when your services (are) in competition with other services," Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition policy in the EU, told CNBC on Friday.

Often tech giants show their products at the top of online search engines, which increases the chances that customers will opt for their services. This is known as self-preferencing and was the reason why Spotify brought up a complaint against Apple in 2019.

The Swedish digital music service complained that Apple had abused its AppStore dominance to favor its own music service and thus distorting the level playing field. This is one of the issues that the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, wants to address by upgrading its rulebook.

Speaking to CNBC, Vestager explained that "the point is not so much the size" of companies but to ensure fair competition in the EU's market.

"That is the point, that if you have grown into this size that you actually do exercise control on yourself and that you enable other people to do their business in a way that is fair and square," she said.

European policymakers have often asked for a revision of competition rules, arguing they were not designed for a digital economy.

In addition, Vestager has led many investigations against Big Tech since 2015, but there is some frustration among policymakers that they have not yielded practical changes.

For instance, in 2017, the European Commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.81 billion) for promoting its own shopping comparison service rather than allowing similar access to rival companies. Google made some changes in the wake of that case, but a study by Lademann & Associates showed in September that not much has changed. According to the study, less than 1% of traffic through Google Shopping was transferring users to rival shopping websites.

Vestager also told CNBC that sanctions against companies disrespecting market rules need to have a more "restorative" role going forward.

"The fine only has the role to punish past illegal behavior, the second part is of course that you stop what you're doing because it is illegal, and the third element is where we are pushing things because we see how business, they suffer from illegal behavior in the marketplace," she said.

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EU's Vestager hints Big Tech will have to end 'self-preferencing' under new competition rules - CNBC

InvestorPlace

Back in July, I recommended seven of the best stocks to buy for 2021 and beyond. As a group, theyve done very well over the past three months. For instance,Livongo Healthwas acquired by Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) on Oct. 30 for $11.33 per share in cash and 0.592 times shares in Teladoc.But looking for a bit of a twist on my stock selection process, Ive decided that this list will be based on the first letter of all 12 months. That means my stock pick for January will have a corporate name beginning with J, then an F for February and so forth.All 12 will also have a market capitalization of $2 billion or more and positive free cash flow for the trailing 12 months. By this time next year, Im confident that my picks, on the whole, wont disappoint.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips7 Cheap Stocks Ready for Big Gains in 2021So, without further ado, here are my 12 best stocks for a brand new year:Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS)McDonalds (NYSE:MCD)Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE)MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI)Jeld-Wen Holding (NYSE:JELD)Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)SVB Financial (NASDAQ:SIVB)Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS)NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE)Dollar General (NYSE:DG)Stocks to Buy: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)Source: Alexander Tolstykh / Shutterstock.comJohnson & Johnson represents the month of January on my list of best stocks to buy for 2021. Right now, its having a sideways kind of year in the markets. Its year-to-date (YTD) total return through Dec. 4 is just 2.6%.Based on a trailing 12-month free cash flow (FCF) of $18.3 billion and a current enterprise value (EV) of over $399 billion, JNJs FCF yield is a reasonable 4.7%. It might not be value territory I consider anything above 8% to be cheap but its pretty darn good.As InvestorPlace colleague Faisal Humayun recently stated, JNJ stock has an excellent product offering.From a business perspective, the company provides diversified exposure to the segments of consumer health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The companys pharmaceutical segment growth for Q3 2020 was impressive with most therapeutic areas delivering strong numbers.Not to mention, JNJ is still very much in the Covid-19 vaccine race. That suggests that 2021 could be a breakout year for this Dividend Aristocrat.Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)Source: Maryna Pleshkun/Shutterstock.comNext on my list of best stocks to buy is Fidelity National Information Services, representing the month of February. This payment processor is having an underwhelming year relative to the U.S. markets as a whole. Currently, FIS stock has a YTD total return of just over 7%, about half the markets rate of return in 2020.Based on a trailing 12-month free cash flow of $2.57 billion and an enterprise value of $109.75 billion, though, Fidelity Nationals FCF yield is very decent at 3.8%.You wont find a lot of commentary from InvestorPlace contributors on this stock, despite the fact it does have a part to play in the technology side of the financial services industry.However, on Nov. 19, the Florida-based company announced that it earned the top spot for the sixth consecutive year in a ranking of 100 leading providers of risk and compliance technology.Additionally, while Covid-19 has slowed the rate at which FIS can process transactions, it still has managed to generate organic revenue growth during its third quarter of 1% to about $3.2 billion. The company also increased adjusted net income by 18% to $887 million.7 Growth Stocks Flying Under the RadarSo, this is not a glamorous stock but its services are certainly in demand.McDonalds (MCD)Source: CHALERMPHON SRISANG / Shutterstock.comTo represent March for the coming year, Ive picked the golden arches of MCD stock. Like many of the names on this list, McDonalds has an okay year going, up 7.11% YTD today. Thats better than many of its restaurant peers, but its trailing the U.S. markets as a whole.Thanks to Covid-19 shutdowns, McDonalds trailing 12-month free cash flow isnt nearly as strong as it usually is, now at $4.25 billion. Currently, the industry leader has an FCF yield of 2.7% based on an enterprise value of about $205 billion.Despite operating in one of the hardest-hit industries, McDonalds has continued to look beyond the novel coronavirus, continually finding ways to transform its business without upsetting the core customer.For instance, the company recently gave Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) the cold shoulder by announcing it would be testing a line of meatless alternatives in 2021, including the McPlant burger. Interestingly despite developing the plant-based burger with Beyond Meats input the fast-food company decided to go its own way.The decision to go on its own was a result of two reasons. First, MCD didnt want to alienate its meat-loving customers. Secondly, its not a fan of letting licensees and other brands into its house. Beyond Meat would have surely taken some shine off of the Golden Arches.McDonalds has had a tough time, but it always bounces back. That makes it one of the best stocks to buy for the upcoming year.Adobe (ADBE)Source: r.classen / Shutterstock.comAdobe, the mastermind behind the PDF and so much more, is my pick for the month of April. Its having an excellent year in the markets right now, with a YTD total return of over 47%. Thats considerably better than both its software peers and the U.S. markets as a whole, making it one of the best stocks to buy right now.Adobes trailing 12-month free cash flow is $4.9 billion, while its enterprise value is nearly $232 billion for an FCF yield of 2.1%. Both its enterprise value and EV-EBITDA multiple have also risen dramatically in the past five years. In 2016, the company had an enterprise value of $48 billion and an EV-EBITDA of 26.1. Presently, the stock has an EV-EBITDA multiple of 48.3.7 Stocks to Sell for DecemberIn early February, I said ADBE stock was all but certain to hit $400 in 2020. It did and then some. Moving forward, I think its all but certain to hit $500 perhaps $600 in 2021.MercadoLibre (MELI)Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.comMercadoLibre is sometimes referred to as the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) of Latin America, although it more closely resembles Alibaba (NYSE:BABA). For my list of best stocks to buy in 2021, it represents the month of May.Currently, MELI stock is having a fantastic year in the markets with a YTD total return of over 170%. Like Adobe, MercadoLibre is faring far better than both its internet retail peers and U.S. markets as a whole.This companys trailing 12-month free cash flow is $810 million, while its enterprise value is almost $76 billion for an FCF yield of 1.1%. While that might seem low, MercadoLibres free cash flow has never been higher. Likewise, its revenues are on fire and growing like weeds. True to the Amazon comparison, this name will also probably see exponential growth in its free cash flow over the next few years.Ive been a fan of the company since as far back as 2013, when it was trading around $120. At the time, I argued that it had a dominant position in Latin American e-commerce and its stock would benefit from that.As I write this, shares are priced around $1,555 and moving higher in 2021.Johnson Controls (JCI)Source: ShutterstockThere arent a lot of great companies with a J as the first letter in their name. There are even fewer with strong free cash flow. Nonetheless, Johnson Controls represents the month of June on my list of best stocks to buy.Interestingly, while its only generally matching the YTD performance of the U.S. markets as a whole, JCI stock is doing better in 2020 than it has in some time. Over the past five years, its delivered an annualized total return for shareholders of about 9.1%, well below the markets.However, up almost 14% over the past three months, the company appears to be gathering speed heading into 2021.In early November, Johnson Controls also announced its fourth-quarter results, which were excellent despite the challenging business environment. In fiscal 2020, it had sales of $22.3 billion and net income of $1.69 billion, flat to a year earlier.Thats not bad for a company that manufactures, installs and services products designed for offices, industrial properties and other types of commercial real estate all of which were hurt by the pandemic.Johnson Controls trailing 12-month free cash flow is nearly $1.8 billion, while its enterprise value is about $39 billion for an FCF yield of 5.3%.The 7 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy for DecemberI view JCI as a nice stock for risk-averse investors who also like a little dividend income its dividend yield is 2.27% at the moment.Jeld-Wen Holding (JELD)Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.comBy far the smallest of the 12 names on this list, JELD stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion. This maker of windows and doors represents the month of July on my best stocks to buy list.Back in late January of 2017, Jeld-Wen went public at $23 a share.Now, though if you bought shares in its IPO and are still holding youve made almost no money on your investment. Year-to-date, its got a total return of just 2.7%, well below the booming returns of its building products and equipment industry peer group. Those stocks have mostly benefited from Covid-19.The companys trailing 12-month free cash flow is $250 million, while its enterprise value is $3.8 billion for an FCF yield of 11.3%.However, on Nov. 3, the company reported third-quarter results that were better than analyst expectations. On the top-line, revenue was $1.11 billion, $2 million higher than the consensus estimate. On the bottom line, it had adjusted earnings per share of 52 cents, eight cents higher than analyst expectations. President and CEO Gary Michel said the following:Consumers focus on their homes, coupled with our strategy to deliver profitable market share with key customers, is driving increased demand for products in both residential new construction and repair and remodel channels.As the focus remains on homes in 2021, I expect Jeld-Wen to snap out of its funk and do well.Apple (AAPL)Source: WeDesing / Shutterstock.comFor August, the famous maker of the iPhone is the next pick of this list. However, if there were a month beginning with the letter B, Id recommend Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B) because its a much better value play and happens to own almost 965 million shares of AAPL stock.Apples YTD total return is over 66%, which sounds rather ordinary, given its almost 30% annualized total return over the past 15 years. Id take it every day of the week.As for free cash flow and enterprise value, they are almost $73.4 billion and $2.1 trillion, respectively. Thats an FCF yield of 3.5%, an excellent valuation for one of the worlds largest public companies.Put simply, Apple has become so much more than a maker of smartphones.According to AppleInsider.com, Apples new M1-equipped Mac mini has jumped to the number one position in sales in the Japanese market for desktop computers after only two weeks of availability. Further, Apple now has a 27% market share in Japan, up from roughly 13% a year earlier.10 Best Stocks to Buy for Investors Under 30So, I dont think you can go wrong owning Apple over the long haul. Clearly, its one of the best stocks to buy for the coming year.SVB Financial (SIVB)Source: ShutterstockNext, representing the month of September is my favorite U.S. bank. SVB Financial is the holding company that operates Silicon Valley Bank, the Santa Clara-based financial institution that focuses on entrepreneurs and innovators.Right now, its having an awesome year compared to peers in regional banking. While SIVB stock is up nearly 43% YTD, most of its peers are down. Its also leaving the U.S. markets in the dust. That said, I wont bother noting the free cash flow for this name because its not meaningful for banking institutions. Instead, the balance sheet matters most.SIVB reported Q3 2020 results that included earnings per share of $8.47, almost double the $4.42 per share it earned the year prior. The president and CEO of SVB Financial, Greg Becker, noted:We had an exceptional quarter driven by outstanding balance sheet growth, higher core fee income, strong investment banking revenue, solid credit resulting in a reduction of reserves, and outsized equity gains related to client IPO activity [] These results reflect the resilience of our markets and our ability to execute effectively.SIVB was on my 2013 list of the five best stocks to buy for the next 20 years, right up there with Amazon. I think you owe it to yourself to check it out in 2021.Otis Worldwide (OTIS)Source: rafapress/shutterstock.comBack in early April, this elevator company spun off from United Technologies, which merged with Raytheon (NYSE:RTX) to become one of the worlds largest aerospace and defense companies.While it wont have a full 12-month track record until April, this representative for the month of October has risen 43.5% YTD, suggesting 2021 could deliver an excellent performance.In the trailing 12 months, Otis has a free cash flow of $1.47 billion andan enterprise value of about $33 billion. That makes for an FCF yield of 5.2%, so its reasonably priced.Whats more, the companys third-quarter results demonstrate that its holding its own during the pandemic. Top-line organic sales fell 1.2% in Q3 2020 to $3.3 billion while its operating profit grew 7% on an adjusted non-GAAP basis. Also, operating margins increased 120 basis points to 15.4%.In November, Toronto-based portfolio manager Christine Poole made OTIS stock one of her three top picks on BNN Bloombergs Market Call, suggesting that its 17% global elevator market share makes it an excellent long-term investment with an excellent balance between sales and service, at 57% and 43% respectively.7 Value Stocks That May Come Back into Style After the PandemicThat makes it worthy of this best stocks to buy list for 2021. Can you say recurring revenue?NextEra Energy (NEE)Source: madamF / Shutterstock.comRecently, I recommended this Florida-based utility company because of its renewable energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, which generates almost 40% of overall earnings. I maintain that NEE stock is one of the best stocks to buy for 2021, representing the month of November on this list.NEE stock is a thing of beauty if consistent returns are your thing. YTD, its up about 20%. Over the past three-, five- and 10-year periods, it has annualized total returns of 25.1%, 26.8% and 20.5%, respectively. Lets say its crushing its peers over any of those periods.NextEras free cash flow in the trailing 12-months is $2.1 billion, while its enterprise value is $190 billion, for an FCF yield of -3.2%. So, its certainly not cheap.But InvestorPlaces Mark Hake made an interesting observation on Nov. 25 when he suggested that NextEra would buy another utility with its strong share price. As Hake would agree, thats Capital Allocation 101.NextEra made overtures to Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) and Evergy (NYSE:EVRG). Both rejected the offers. However, Im sure something will shake out soon enough. Like Hake said, a bid might come with more cash.What I do know for certain is that NextEra is one of North Americas best-run utilities.Dollar General (DG)Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.comRepresenting the final month of the year is Dollar General, the dollar-store discount chain with 17,000 locations in 46 states. Its having another strong year, up almost 37% YTD. Combine that with a 10-year annualized total return of 20.8%, and youve got one heck of a long-term investment.As for trailing 12-month free cash flow, it has $3.1 billion, along with an enterprise value of nearly $64 billion. Right now, its FCF yield is 5.9%.On Nov. 14, the company announced the opening of its 17,000th store in Fountain, Colorado. As a nice gesture to the community, Dollar General donated $17,000 to one of the local schools. In the companys press release heralding the occasion, CEO Todd Vasos said:Since our founding more than 80 years ago, we have remained focused on helping customers save time and money.In my book, helping customers save time and money are the hallmarks of any successful business.Back in November, I also recommended Dollar General as one of three stocks of relative values compared to Nio (NYSE:NIO), the Chinese electric vehicle maker. And while I like Nio long-term, it isnt a name to buy for the short-term at current prices. DG stock is much more down-to-earth.8 Tech Stocks That Could Benefit from a Biden PresidencyAs long as working folk need to save money, Dollar Generals business remains a solid bet. In turn, that makes it one of the best stocks to buy going into the uncertainty of 2021.On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where hes appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.More From InvestorPlaceWhy Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONGTop Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% WinnerRadical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil MarketsThe post The 12 Best Stocks to Buy for a Whole New Year of Returns in 2021 appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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Breaking up big tech not the right solution: Box CEO - Yahoo Tech

President Trump tweeted late Tuesday that he is considering vetoing the must-pass defense authorization bill unless Congress approves changes to the legal shield that protects tech companies from liability from third-party content. Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images hide caption

President Trump tweeted late Tuesday that he is considering vetoing the must-pass defense authorization bill unless Congress approves changes to the legal shield that protects tech companies from liability from third-party content.

Updated at 10:58 a.m. ET

President Trump is threatening to veto a critical defense spending bill unless Congress agrees to repeal a liability shield for social media companies.

The president tweeted late Tuesday that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act is "a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity."

Section 230 provides legal protection for technology companies over content from third parties and users. Trump referred to the provision as a "liability shielding gift" to "Big Tech."

If he doesn't get his way, Trump is threatening to nix this year's National Defense Authorization Act a crucial piece of annual legislation that covers authorization for pay raises and other spending needs for the nation's military.

The veto threat is the latest move by the president in his war against social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter. He and other conservatives believe tech companies are biased against conservative political views censoring posts they don't like. However, the social media platforms say they are only trying to stop the spread of false claims and disinformation.

Trump previously threatened a veto of the NDAA in July because it included language renaming U.S. military installations honoring Confederate generals.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, who have largely rejected a wholesale repeal of Section 230, have nonetheless proposed revisions, in part to modernize the policy, but no concrete legislative steps have been taken.

Lawmakers on the NDAA conference committee are set to meet Wednesday over the legislation.

This is the 60th year Congress has crafted an annual defense policy bill and it usually passes with overwhelming bipartisan, veto-proof majorities.

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Section 230: Trump Vows To Veto Defense Bill - NPR

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Google, Facebook and Microsoft have agreed to sign onto a French initiative that outlines principles for global tech companies to follow including agreeing to pay their fair share in local taxes while Amazon and Apple have not done so, highlighting Frances intent to move forward with establishing a taxation framework for these companies despite strong pushback from Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed the so-called Tech for Good Call that has been signed ... [+] by multiple U.S. Tech giants.

The so-called Tech for Good Call has been pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron amid public anger about U.S. tech businesses flourishing despite the pandemic-driven downturn, Reuters reported.

According to the report, executives from 75 tech companies including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft President Brad Smith have agreed to sign the initiative.

Apart from agreeing to fair taxation, signatories of the initiative have also committed to preventing the dissemination of content featuring child sexual abuse, terrorism or extreme violence.

The report added that Apple is currently engaged in talks with French officials and it could still join the initiative, however, Amazon has declined to sign up; Forbes has reached out to the e-commerce giant for a comment.

Though not legally binding, the agreement on fairly paying local taxes represents a push back against the outgoing Trump administration, which has clashed with France and other European nations on the issue.

Some have questioned the effectiveness of such a non-binding agreement and have argued that the 2018 summit in Paris that led to this agreement was nothing more than a photo-op. Writing for TechCrunch Romain Dillet noted: The Tech for Good summit was created for photo opportunities. Tech CEOs want to be treated like heads of state, while Macron wants to position himself as a tech-savvy president. Its a win-win for them, and a waste of time for everyone else In 2018, hundreds of organizations signed the Paris Call. In 2019, the biggest social media companies signed the Christchurch Call. And now, we have the Tech for Good Call. Those calls cant replace proper regulation.

In June, France and other European countries vowed to press forward with plans to implement a unilateral digital tax after the U.S. pulled out of negotiations led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on an internationally agreed-upon tax. The U.S. refused to even agree upon an interim change to global taxation laws that would mostly impact U.S. tech companies, and the Trump administration threatened retaliatory action if the European countries pressed on unilaterally. The European Union and its member nations have long been arguing that companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook pay minimal taxes, despite generating large profits from the regions market.

In June, the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Inter Radio that the U.S.s exit from the negotiations was a provocation as they were a few inches from an agreement on the digital giants. Le Maire then vowed that France will indeed have a taxation law in place of the digital giants in 2020.

While it is unclear what President-elect Joe Bidens stance on the international taxation talks will be, some believe that Bidens willingness to engage with multilateral institutions might help move things forward. Before the elections, Anna Diamantopoulou, one of the candidates to become the next OECD chief in 2021 told CNBC: We know that Biden is more conventional and more friendly to the international organizations generally. An Ernst & Young report from earlier this month noted that the OECDs taxation plan closely aligns with changes that Biden has proposed to the U.S.s existing global minimum tax rules. Thus, one might expect a Biden Administration to continue to be supportive of that part of the project, the report noted.

Amazon, Apple stay away from new French initiative to set principles for Big Tech (Reuters)

Dozens of tech companies sign Tech for Good Call following French initiative (TechCrunch)

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Amazon, Apple Refuse To Sign French Big Tech Initiative That Outlines Taxation Principles - Forbes