Court of Justice to rule on Facebook case

Reuters reports that the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is expected today to rule on whether an Austrian privacy activist can bring a class action lawsuit against Facebook for what he says are illegal violations of the privacy of users. Delano has previously reported on Max Schrems, who claims that Facebook has illegally violated the privacy rights of European users, including by helping a U.S. spy agency. Facebook says Schrems, who has published a book, delivers lectures and operates websites discussing privacy issues, has a professional interest in the case and therefore should not be treated as a consumer who can take advantage of consumer protection laws, or be able to sue on behalf of others. Schrems is claiming €500 in damages for each of more than 25,000 signatories to his lawsuit.

 EU fines Qualcomm

The European Union has handed down a €997 million fine to US semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm on Wednesday. The fine follows an investigation that revealed the company had made illegal payments to Apple to make sure that its components were used in iPhones and iPads. “Qualcomm illegally shut out rivals from the market for LTE baseband chipsets for over five years, thereby cementing its market dominance,” said Margrethe Vestager, the Danish European Commissioner in charge of competition. Qualcomm has said it will appeal the decision. “We are confident this agreement did not violate EU competition rules or adversely affect market competition or European consumers,” the company’s executive vice president and general counsel Don Rosenberg is quoted as saying.

 Luxembourg handed manageable draw in Nations League

Luxembourg’s national football team will face Belarus, Moldovia and San Marino in the inaugural UEFA Nations League. The draw for the new competition, which pitches countries of similar ranking against each other in four different divisions, which are then divided into four groups. Group winners are promoted to the next division for the following competition. Luxembourg has experience playing Belarus, beating them 1-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away in the last World Cup qualifying campaign. The Red Lions last played Moldova in a friendly in 2015 that ended in a goalless draw. And San Marino are ranked 204 by Fifa, so should be easy opponents for 84th ranked Luxembourg. The home and away matches takes place between September and November this year.