Apple Japan Must Pay $98 Million in Back Taxes

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Apple Japan Must Pay $98 Million in Back Taxes

Apple Japan must pay some $98 million in back taxes after tourists bought iPhones and were incorrectly exempted from paying taxes.

Tourists visiting Japan for less than six months can buy items without paying a 10% tax, but the exemption doesn’t apply to purchases made with the intention of reselling the items.

According to Nikkei, via Reuters, there were a number of bulk purchases at Apple Stores in Japan that should not have been exempt from the tax, since they were obviously for resell. In at least one case, an individual purchased hundreds of phones.

As a result, Apple will have to pay $98 million in back taxes.

Apple Japan Must Pay $98 Million in Back Taxes
Matt Milano

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US May Force ByteDance to Sell US TikTok Operations

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US May Force ByteDance to Sell US TikTok Operations

TikTok’s recent privacy scandals have US officials once again considering the possibility of forcing ByteDance to sell its US TikTok operations.

During the Trump administration, US officials attempted to ban the Chinese social media app, or force its parent to sell of its US operations. Oracle and Walmart, in partnership, emerged as the buyers, but the deal ended up losing steam and was eventually abandoned.

In recent weeks, however, new revelations have come to light about the extent of the threat TikTok poses to privacy and security. The company has been caught lying to Congress about how US user data is processed, and ByteDance admitted just days ago that a company team used TikTok to track Forbes journalists, despite denying the report at an earlier date.

Read more: Congress Passes Bill Banning TikTok From Government Devices

According to The Wall Street Journal, these new revelations are causing US officials to reconsider the social media app’s future, and whether it would be wise to force a sale of the US portion of the business. At the heart of the issue is concerns over TikTok and ByteDance’s ties to China, and the threat they may pose as a result of Beijing’s surveillance and espionage efforts.

The Pentagon and Justice Department are evidently weighing in on the matter, with officials reportedly of the opinion that the only way to ensure TikTok is safe for Americans is to force it out of Chinese ownership.

“We’re talking about a government that, in our own intelligence community’s estimation, has a purpose to move global technology use and norms to privilege its own interests and its values, which are not consistent with our own,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told WSJ, while declining to discuss TikTok specifically. “That’s the perspective I bring to these issues.” 

Only time will tell if these talks lead to definitive action, but the future certainly doesn’t look good for TikTok.

US May Force ByteDance to Sell US TikTok Operations
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Relying on AI Assistants Leads to Less Secure Code

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Relying on AI Assistants Leads to Less Secure Code

Developers that rely on AI assistants to help them end up writing code that is buggier and less secure than developers that don’t rely on AI.

Scientists at Stanford University, via The Register, conducted a study to determine the effects of using an AI assistant for writing code. The results are not encouraging, with a decrease in quality among those developers using AI.

The paper, entitled “Do Users Write More Insecure Code with AI Assistants?”, also demonstrates that AI assistants engender a false sense of confidence.

“We found that participants with access to an AI assistant often produced more security vulnerabilities than those without access, with particularly significant results for string encryption and SQL injection,” the authors state. “Surprisingly, we also found that participants provided access to an AI assistant were more likely to believe that they wrote secure code than those without access to the AI assistant.”

While there’s still much to learn about AI — and the study may not provide a completely comprehensive look at the role of AI in development — it certainly provides food for though and reason for caution.

Relying on AI Assistants Leads to Less Secure Code
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TSMC Readies 3nm Chips for Next-Gen Macs and iPhones

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TSMC Readies 3nm Chips for Next-Gen Macs and iPhones

TSMC is preparing to mass produce its next generation 3nm chips, which will be used in Apple’s Macs and iPhones.

TSMC is the world’s leading chipmaker and the primary one Apple relies on. The company has a significant technological lead over its rivals and is already moving to 3nm chips.

According to DigiTimes, the company is preparing to mass produce the new chips, which Apple will use in its next-gen devices. The outlet reports that TSCM will hold a ceremony on December 29, at Fab 18, to launch production of the new chip.

Apple already has a significant lead, in both performance and battery life, in its mobile devices. Moving to the 3nm semiconductors will only help widen that lead even more.

TSMC Readies 3nm Chips for Next-Gen Macs and iPhones
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Windows Notepad Is Getting Tab Support

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Windows Notepad Is Getting Tab Support

Windows 11 Notepad is getting a major upgrade, with the app poised to receive tab support.

Tabs are commonplace in web browsers and continue to make their way into other applications. Windows 11 File Explorer added tabs earlier this year, and Microsoft appears poised to add tabs to Notepad as well.

According to Windows Central, a Microsoft employee tweeted a screenshot of the feature before deleting it.

Windows 11 Notepad Tabs – Credit Windows Central

The feature will be a welcome improvement to Notepad.

Windows Notepad Is Getting Tab Support
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FTC Orders Mastercard to Stop ‘Illegal Business Tactics’

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FTC Orders Mastercard to Stop ‘Illegal Business Tactics’

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered Mastercard to stop its ‘illegal business tactics’ in an effort to level the debit card payment field.

Debit cards are increasing in popularity, but Mastercard has unfairly dominated the industry. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act known includes a provision known as the Durbin Amendment. The Durbin Agreement “required banks to enable at least two unaffiliated networks on every debit card, thereby giving merchants a choice of which network to use for a given debit transaction.”

According to the FTC, Mastercard flouted “the law by setting policies to block merchants from routing ecommerce transactions using Mastercard-branded debit cards saved in ewallets to alternative payment card networks, including networks that may charge lower fees than Mastercard.”

As a result, the FTC is ordering Mastercard to provide competing networks with the customer data they need to be able to process debit card payments.

“This is a victory for consumers and the merchants who rely on debit card payments to operate their businesses,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Congress directed the FTC to enforce this part of the Dodd-Frank Act and prevent precisely this kind of illegal behavior. We take this responsibility seriously, as demonstrated by our action today.”

FTC Orders Mastercard to Stop ‘Illegal Business Tactics’
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Stack Overflow: Linux Surpasses macOS Among Developers

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Stack Overflow: Linux Surpasses macOS Among Developers

Linux has reached a major milestone, surpassing macOS among developers for both personal and professional use.

Linux has long been the third most popular operating system (OS), after Windows and macOS. Stack Overflow has released its 2022 Developer Survey, and it’s good news for Linux fans.

According to the Developer Survey, Linux use has passed macOS by a significant margin. Linux is used by 40.23% of developers as their primary OS for personal use, while 39.89% use it as their primary OS for professional use. In contrast, macOS is used as a primary OS for personal use 31.07% of developers and for professional use by 32.97%.

Technically, Linux surpassed macOS in Stack Overflow’s 2021 Developer Survey, but only by 0.13%. The latest survey shows a major uptick in usage, one Stack Overflow attributes to the appeal of open source software.

Windows is the most popular operating system for developers, across both personal and professional use. A Linux-based OS is more popular than macOS – speaking to the appeal of using open source software.

Stack Overflow: Linux Surpasses macOS Among Developers
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