Category: Technica Aquarius

(credit: Dave Rutt)

Two Democratic lawmakers introduced a new bill on Wednesday that would institute a host of new regulations to scrutinize mergers, including a prohibition of those valued at more than $5 billion.

The Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), would also prevent mergers and acquisitions that would increase market share among sellers and buyers beyond certain thresholds and would give regulators additional tools to unwind mergers.

While the $5 billion threshold, indexed to inflation, may capture headlines, this bill is perhaps most notable because it attempts to limit companies’ dominance as an employer, too, by preventing any one firm from controlling more than 25 percent of a labor market.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Scammers pushing iOS malware are stepping up their game by abusing two legitimate Apple features to bypass App Store vetting requirements and trick people into installing malicious apps.

Apple has long required that apps pass a security review and be admitted to the App Store before they can be installed on iPhones and iPads. The vetting prevents malicious apps from making their way onto the devices, where they can then steal cryptocurrency and passwords or carry out other nefarious activities.

A post published Wednesday by security firm Sophos sheds light on two newer method being used in an organized crime campaign dubbed CryptoRom, which pushes fake cryptocurrency apps to unsuspecting iOS and Android users. While Android permits “sideloading” apps from third-party markets, Apple requires iOS apps to come from the App Store, after they’ve undergone a thorough security review.

Enlarge / The lord of all he surveys… in terms of sales, that is. (credit: FromSoftware)

If you’ve even talked to someone who plays a lot of video games lately, you shouldn’t be surprised that Elden Ring—with its combination of open-world exploration and punishing Souls-like difficulty—is a huge hit. Still, we were taken aback when developer FromSoftware announced last night just how big of a hit the new IP has been already: 12 million worldwide sales as of March 14, just 17 days after the game launched.

That’s obviously a huge number, and FromSoftware is already promising to expand the new franchise “beyond the realm of games.” But just how big is 12 million sales for a game like Elden Ring? And what does it mean for a company that’s been slowly building up a dedicated audience for its Souls-like games for over a decade now?

We crunched the numbers to put those 12 million sales into context, as you can see in the graphs below. The comparisons make clear that Elden Ring is more than just a massive hit for FromSoftware. Elden Ring is already one of the most popular open-world games in recent memory.