Network Break 409: Regulators Tap Brakes On Broadcom, VMware; Google Settles Location Tracking Charges For $392M

Take a Network Break! This week we discuss UK and EU regulators wanting a closer look at Broadcom’s VMware acquisition, Google settling with 40 US states over location tracking charges, and the US Federal Communications Commission publishing responses from the 15 biggest US mobile providers regarding customer geolocation data tracking and data retention. Intel announces a consumption-based option for certain accelerators and features on its forthcoming Xeon Scalable Sapphire processors, the UK bans Chinese-made surveillance cameras from government buildings, and Meta has developed an AI agent that can play, and win, the strategy-plus-persuasion board game Diplomacy. Get links to all these stories below. Sponsor: Internet Society Getting Internet access from low-earth-orbit satellites has great promise for addressing the digital divide, supporting disaster response, and creating new opportunities for communication. If you’re curious how about these systems work as well as the technological, and policy implications download the free whitepaper “Perspectives on Low Earth Orbit Satellite Systems for Internet access” by the Internet Society. Just go internetsociety.org/packetpushers. Sponsor: Dell Livestream Join the Packet Pushers and sponsor Dell Technologies on December 13th for a Livestream event on DPUs and the future of distributed infrastructure. We’ll have six short, informative sessions on topics including what network engineers need to know about DPUs, accelerating distributed workloads on DPUs, how VMware’s Project Monterey will affect infrastructure, and more. Sign up for this live, free event at packetpushers.net/livestream. Tech Bytes: VMware vSphere+ Today’s Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by VMware, dives into VMware’s vSphere+. vSphere+ allows you to operate your on-prem workloads and infrastructure as if they were a public cloud. It supports VMs and Kubernetes, and provides admin, developer, and add-on services delivered via SaaS. Show Links: Broadcom / VMware merger inquiry – GOV.UK Competition Policy – European Commission Broadcom takeover of VMware could be derailed by EU antitrust probe – Ars Techinca Google: AG Rosenblum Announces Largest AG Consumer Privacy Settlement in U.S. History – Oregon Dept. of Justice 40 states, including Pa., settle Google location-tracking charges for $392M – Philadelphia Inquirer Google pays nearly $392 million to settle sweeping location-tracking case – NPR ISPs and Customer Data – POTs and PANs