MPs brush aside by Tom Bergin

A panel of British MPs criticised a again-tax deal among Google and uk tax authorities on Wednesday, calling it "disproportionately small" and branding the agency's explanation of its tax planning as disingenuous.

the general public money owed Committee, which scrutinises public spending, also criticised the tax authority, pronouncing it seemed "to have settled for much less organization tax from Google than other countries are inclined to just accept".

It changed into "no longer viable to judge whether or not a one hundred thirty million-pounds tax settlement agreed among Google and HMRC is honest to taxpayers," the Committee said in its document, including that extra transparency became wanted in corporate tax affairs.

Google, now a unit of keeping organization Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), said it observed all tax rules. "After a six-year audit with the aid of the tax authority we are paying the amount of tax that HMRC is of the same opinion we ought to pay," a spokesman said.

The tax authority, Her Majesty's revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it "does now not accept a penny less than is due under the law from multinationals".

The net seek massive precipitated a political storm last month while it announced the settlement, which was hailed by British finance minister George Osborne as a "fantastic achievement".

The Labour celebration defined it as derisory and said it showed the government's failure to behave against corporate tax avoidance, a warm topic for austerity-weary Britons.

The committee questioned Google's argument that it merely followed tax legal guidelines handed via politicians.

"that is disingenuous. there's nothing inside the regulations that asserts you must set up two agencies in eire and send massive royalty payments, through the Netherlands, to a employer this is tax resident in Bermuda," the report stated.

BOOMING uk enterprise, FEW earnings

Google generated around 24 billion pounds of sales in Britain between 2005 and 2015 -- the length protected by means of the agreement.

however the back tax deal added its general tax bill for the duration to less than one hundred eighty million pounds.

"The sum paid by using Google seems disproportionately small when in comparison with the size of Google's enterprise inside the uk," the committee stated.

The Committee said reports that tax authorities in France and Italy were seeking an awful lot larger sums from Google, raised questions about whether or not HMRC turned into being too gentle on big businesses like Google.

Google enjoyed profit margins of round 30 percentage during the last decade, suggesting its united kingdom sales generated earnings of around 7 billion kilos between 2005 and 2015.

but, Google’s tax invoice for the length implies that it become deemed to have taxable uk income of simply six hundred million pounds, according to Reuters calculations based on winning tax charges.

Google says it reports tremendously little earnings inside the uk due to the fact most of its profits are derived from intellectual property like pc codes evolved overseas, instead of the sales team of workers, administrators and programmers based within the uk.

HMRC told the committee in advance this month that the tax invoice meditated "the whole fee of the economic activities carried on by means of Google inside the united kingdom” and that the reality most of the profits from Google's united kingdom income ended up in Bermuda failed to impact its calculations.

different tax authorities can take a more difficult approach. A decade in the past, the U.S. internal sales carrier (IRS) demanded billions of greenbacks in lower back taxes from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The IRS rejected GSK's argument that the majority the profits derived from selling a drug inside the u.s.a. related to the drug method, which turned into owned inside the united kingdom. alternatively, the IRS argued, over 1/2 the income need to be attributed to the marketing efforts of the U.S. operation, which made the drug a commercial achievement.

by means of assessment, the HMRC agreement manner Google has stated around eight.five percent of the earnings derived from united kingdom income, in Britain, in line with Reuters calculations.

BlackBerry buys cyber safety consultancy

BlackBerry said on Wednesday that it has obtained U.k.-based totally cyber safety consultancy Encription, transferring the business enterprise deeper into the services enterprise as it keeps to morph into a greater software-focused entity amid its ongoing turnaround.

The smartphone industry pioneer, that's pivoting to focus extra on protection software and offerings as the recognition of its gadgets have waned, stated it sees huge potential in the vicinity, with cyber safety consulting presently well worth an predicted $sixteen.5 billion a yr globally.

The terms of the Encription deal, which closed Friday, were no longer disclosed.

the acquisition will convey a team of approximately forty cyber security experts, who've helped take a look at network vulnerabilities for each authorities businesses and huge corporate entities, into the BlackBerry fold.

"this is a herbal extension of what we do proper now," said James Mackey, BlackBerry's head of company improvement. "we're very excited about this new offering and we think it's miles highly complementary and a pleasing addition to our safety portfolio."

the purchase will provide BlackBerry the opportunity to additionally move-sell some of its very own safety products, stated Mackey.

BlackBerry said the brand new consulting services and gear, along side its present safety services, will help its customers to pick out the modern cyber safety threats, increase mitigation strategies, and put in force the important IT security requirements to guard in opposition to cyber assaults.

the purchase of Encription is the latest in a string of software and services centered acquisitions made by using BlackBerry within the last yr.

In September, the business enterprise agreed to collect rival security software maker suitable generation for $425 million. That deal came quickly after its acquisition of privately-held AtHoc, a issuer of comfy, networked disaster communications.

BlackBerry is trying to enhance sales from software and services to offset the sales declines from its cellphone unit and legacy machine access expenses.

THE SNOWDEN impact

U.S. cops have lengthy fought for new legal guidelines to keep access to non-public information that is tougher to seize as humans flow to digital gadgets from conventional phone traces - which with the aid of regulation ought to be tappable.

maximum lately, the tech enterprise has fought off severa efforts to get encryption law thru Congress, including an strive ultimate yr that died after President Obama declined to help it.

FBI Director James Comey has been especially outspoken in arguing that regulation enforcement efforts are hobbled via encryption, which he calls a secure haven for terrorists.

The FBI did now not respond to a request for touch upon this tale. different cops have said the tech enterprise fears are exaggerated, or in Apple's case, even a advertising ploy.

Apple, Google, fb and other groups also have accelerated efforts to put in force encryption inside the wake of Snowden's disclosures approximately U.S. spying - which includes a program known as Prism that culled private facts from a number of the largest U.S. tech businesses.

The revelations prompted groups to combat the belief that they had been arms of the authorities and dented the remote places income of organizations along with Cisco (CSCO.O)and IBM(IBM.N), as countries including China shunned U.S. merchandise.

Apple's iPhones now have longer passcodes tied to underlying encryption, making them far tougher to hack. facebook's WhatsApp and others have followed protocols below which they do not have the way to free up consumer communications.

The fight between Apple and the authorities ought to supply such safety efforts a brand new urgency. it can additionally undermine accept as true with in automated software updates, which have until now been considered as one of the great ways to repair safety flaws.

because U.S. prosecutors requested Apple to appoint a software program replace as a means to break into the cellphone tied to the San Bernardino shootings, users now worry that updates could compromise the safety of their devices, stated Orion Hindawi, leader executive of protection company Tanium.

"you will see quite a few people who notion auto-replace turned into appealing backing far from that," he said.

Apple's fight with U.S. could velocity improvement of government-proof gadgets by way of Joseph Menn and Julia Love

The criminal showdown among Apple Inc (AAPL.O)and U.S. law enforcement over encryption, irrespective of the outcome, will probably boost up tech enterprise efforts to engineer safeguards in opposition to authorities intrusion, tech industry executives say.

Already, an emerging industry is advertising and marketing great-secure phones and cell applications.

An Apple executive stated the corporation will reinforce its encryption if it wins its courtroom conflict with the federal authorities, which ultimate week secured a courtroom order requiring Apple engineers to help extract statistics from a telephone associated with the mass shootings in San Bernardino.

The executive spoke on situation of anonymity. An Apple spokesperson declined to remark publicly.

If Apple loses the court docket case, the prison precedent ought to provide the U.S. authorities extensive authority to order agencies to help in breaking into encrypted merchandise.

but even a government victory should have unintended outcomes for law enforcement, doubtlessly prompting a wave of funding with the aid of U.S. tech companies in security structures that even their very own engineers can't get admission to, stated Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard college's Berkman center for internet & Society.

"A achievement for the authorities in this case may additionally similarly spur Apple and others to increase gadgets that the makers aren't privileged to crack," he said.

the fast-growing on-line garage issuer field has already made it a priority to provide customers sole custody of statistics, said Joel De la Garza, chief records protection officer on the organisation. The motive is to make it impossible for the organization to access its customers' information - even under a government order, he said.

"Our aim is to achieve a `zero-expertise' state" for the corporation, he said, "wherein our clients have general manipulate over their information."

it's uncertain whether or not Apple can - or would even need to - make smartphones the enterprise cannot get admission to.  Apple personnel acquainted with the organisation's protection method said the corporation had no such plans.

Smartphone app to forecast risk of crop failure in Brazil

in spite of years of enjoy, Charlei Sousa unearths himself struggling to develop maize. A lack of rain took half of his ultimate crop, and he says uneven rainfall has for years become a worsening problem in his fields in Montes Claros.

"We do not know anymore how and whilst to grow," said Sousa, a own family farmer who plants about 30 hectares (seventy four acres) of maize in the north of Minas Gerais country, which lies within a semi-arid place of Brazil.

changes in climate styles connected to climate alternate are challenging the traditional expertise of circle of relatives farmers in Brazil, in particular those in traditionally dry regions of 9 northern states, in which land is used particularly to develop subsistence quantities of maize, rice, beans and cassava.

however help may be on the manner. This season, Sousa will take a brand new ally to the field with him: a telephone app. Used as a form of in-subject diary, it'll record what is planted and whilst, how a good deal fertiliser is used, geographical statistics approximately the field, pictures and other details.

some hundreds kilometres away, in São José dos Campos, in São Paulo state, scientists get hold of the records in real time. The records produced by way of Sousa and different own family farmers will feed a brand new system designed to display the hazard of crop failure in Brazilian semi-arid regions.

“there may be no such tracking being finished in actual time, with statistics coming directly from the producer,” said Ana Paula Cunha, a researcher at national middle for monitoring and Early caution of natural disasters (Cemaden).

The centre, collectively with implemented structures evaluation and the country wide Institute of technology and technology, developed the app referred to as Agrisupport.

With the help of farmers, scientists at Cemaden say they will be able to expect up to two months earlier whether or not the semi-arid vicinity faces a threat of crop failure.

alongside the records from farmers, researchers will depend upon measurements of humidity, temperature, wind and solar radiation coming from tracking system installed in nine states.

those will be fed into mathematical fashions that researchers run at the institute’s computer systems, and became forecasts for farmers and others in Brazil.

"We want to offer information approximately the crop productiveness loss for all municipalities of the semi-arid region,” said Regina Alvalá, a coordinator at Cemaden. the first document is expected to be to be had through the quit of 2016.

making plans FOR PAYOUTS

The forecasts are predicted to be specially vital for the federal authorities. because 2003, Brasilia has provided financial repayment for family farmers from semi-arid regions who lose at the least 50 percent in their crop. This type of insurance is known as “crop-guarantee”.

"For the decision maker, facts at the chance of crop failure is vital due to the fact it's miles feasible to have a better view of ways a great deal can be paid for insurance," Alvalá said.

"however the statistics is also relevant to the manufacturer,” she said. "as an example, if a farmer desires to make bigger the planted area but the forecast shows the weather conditions won´t be correct sufficient for the type of crop raised, the farmer can keep the seeds.”

in step with authorities statistics, around sixty three,000 circle of relatives farmers carried out for crop-guarantee insurance payouts remaining 12 months. The authorities gives 850 Brazilian reais (around $215) per manufacturer, paid in 5 installments. but many farmers bitch the quantity is just too low and doesn’t cover their prices.

get admission to to the Agrisupport app could be every other manner of slicing farmer losses in dry regions. Reinaldo Oliveira, an agronomist at Technical assistance and Rural Extension (Emater), a kingdom organization, is running without delay with farmers to assist them use the device.

“The cell phone is already utilized by circle of relatives farmers on a each day basis. but to ship records thru the app it’s additionally essential to have a good internet connection, which isn't always always possible in a few areas,” he stated.

nonetheless, farmers able to send thru a image of a crop pest, as an instance, can get feedback on what do approximately it in as low as a few minutes, Oliveira said.

Sousa has already examined the app. except providing statistics approximately what he’s planning to develop and how much of it, he'll also document on his harvest and get hold of recommendation on a way to take higher care of his crop.

"I suppose this software will assist small farmers to organise themselves higher. we shall understand earlier that's the quality time to start planting. This records can help us to keep cash," Sousa said.