Google aims for China launch of Google Play app store next year: sources

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Google, part of Alphabet Inc, aims to launch the China version of its Google Play smartphone app store next year, according to people familiar with the matter, its first major foray in the market since ending localized product support in 2010. The Google Play app store would be set up specifically for China, and not connected to overseas versions of Google Play, two of the people said.

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Google refuses French order to apply ‘right to be forgotten’ globally

(This version of the July 30th corrects story to read “partly” of a political nature, not “mostly” in paragraph 10) By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google Inc is refusing to bow to an order from the French privacy watchdog to scrub search results worldwide when users invoke their “right to be forgotten” online, it said on Thursday, exposing itself to possible fines. The French data protection authority, the CNIL, in June ordered the search engine group to de-list on request search results appearing under a person's name from all its websites, including Google.com. Google complied with the ruling and has since received more than a quarter of a million removal requests, according to its transparency report

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U.S. judge says Internet streaming service should be treated like cable

By Andrew Chung NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that online television service FilmOn X LLC should be treated like a traditional cable system in order to transmit the programs of the nation's broadcasters over the Internet. The ruling, coming as consumer TV-watching habits are increasingly migrating to the Internet, is the first to first to view a streaming service like a cable provider and could have major implications for broadcasters if it is upheld by higher courts.

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Bullish options bets on Google set to pay off big

Some bullish bets on Google Inc’s shares, placed ahead of its second-quarter results on Thursday, look set to reap big profits with the shares up 9.5 percent in trading after the bell. Headed into the earnings report, trading in Google’s call options, usually used for bullish bets on the shares, were unusually active. Calls on Google shares rising above $600, $620 and $630 by Friday were among the most heavily traded Google options contracts over the last two days.

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Internet the key front in China’s battle with Western hostile forces: military paper

The Internet is the most important front in China’s ideological battle against “Western anti-China forces”, the country’s military newspaper said on Wednesday, adding that online controls were essential to the government’s survival. Calls to reject Western thought and values have grown stronger under President Xi Jinping, who has urged more “ideological guidance” at universities and the study of Marxism.

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