TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 Google accounts show 11 billion euros moved via low tax ‘Dutch sandwich’ in 2014 AMSTERDAM/LONDON: Google The tax strategy is known to of just 6 percent on its non-US profits about a 130 million pounds ($186 mil- moved 10.7 billion euros ($12 billion) accountants as the “double Irish, Dutch last year, around a quarter the average lion) back tax bill, agreed with the through the Netherlands to Bermuda Sandwich’. It allows Google, now part tax rate in its overseas markets. British tax authority in January, that the in 2014, as part of a structure which of holding company Alphabet Inc, to Bermuda charges companies no Opposition Labour party described as allows it to earn most of its foreign avoid triggering US income taxes or income tax. Corporate tax avoidance “derisory”. income tax free. Accounts for Google European withholding taxes on the has risen to the top of the political The deal brought Google’s total Netherlands Holdings BV published on funds, which represent the bulk of the agenda in European in recent years British tax bill for 2005 to 2015 to Thursday show the unit transferred group’s overseas profits. and Google in particular has been around 200 million pounds, whereas almost all its revenue, mainly royalties A Google spokesman said the com- under pressure for the low tax it pays its UK revenue amounted to 24 billion from an Irish affiliate through which pany follows the tax rules in all the on profits generated from sales in the pounds. Google Netherlands Holdings most non-US revenue is channelled, to countries where it operates. The continent. NV, which has no employees, had a a Bermuda-based, Irish-registered affili- decade-old arrangement allowed Last week Google was called to tes- Dutch tax bill of just 2.8 million euros, ate called Google Ireland Holdings. Alphabet to enjoy an effective tax rate tify to a UK parliamentary committee its accounts showed. — Reuters Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro reunite at game summit LAS VEGAS: “Pacific Rim” filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and “Metal Gear Solid” video game creator Hideo Kojima had big plans for their top-secret interactive collaboration. “We had great ideas that I think would have done fantastic,” del Toro said on stage Thursday at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science’s annual D.I.C.E. Summit. The writer-director of such films as “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Crimson Peak” reunited with Kojima for a talk at the 15th annual gathering of elite members of the video game indus- try. The appearance marked the pair’s first public appearance together since their video game, “Silent Hills,” was canceled last year by publisher Konami. The title was intended to be the next installment in the long-running “Silent Hill” horror franchise and feature “The Walking Dead” actor Norman Reedus. Del Toro and Kojima teased it last year with the release of a mysterious PlayStation 4 demo called “P.T.” “‘P.T.’ itself was meant to be sort of a decoy,” del Toro said. “We were thinking it would take (players) 10 days, two weeks to solve it. They solved it in three days.” The pair - fans of each other’s work - first met when del Toro was in Japan to promote “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” They quickly became friends, and del Toro invited Kojima to SAN FRANCISCO: People watch Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer deliver the keynote address Thursday, Feb 18, 2016, at the his “man cave,” populated with the quirky filmmaker’s games, Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference in San Francisco. — AP toys and other geeky collectibles. Kojima, who was affiliated with Konami since 1986, is being Yahoo CEO tries to reassure inducted this year into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. After finishing work on “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” he is now working on a PS4 game mobile partners amid turmoil with a newly formed studio, Kojima Productions. “I feel extremely free right now,” the Japanese game SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer fastly insisted that Yahoo Inc will still have a Yahoo with enough clout to become a major designer said through a translator. “I’m trying to make a very found herself in an awkward situation bright future after her latest overhaul. Mayer player in mobile. big game with an extremely small team. I am doing exactly Thursday at the struggling Internet compa- touched upon that theme Thursday as she what I want to do.” Despite the duo moving on to other proj- ny’s annual conference for the makers of emphasized that that Yahoo is still investing Small share ects, del Toro is hopeful that he’ll again collaborate with mobile apps. She had to persuade an audito- heavily in mobile devices despite the massive None of Yahoo’s apps are among the Top Kojima. “I’ll do whatever the (expletive) he wants,” the film- rium full of programmers and advertising cutbacks in other areas of the company. 70 in Apple’s app store for the iPhone and its maker said with a big grin, motioning to Kojima. — AP partners that Yahoo will grow into an “There is incredible potential here,” she share of the mobile ad market remains small increasingly important player in the mobile assured the mobile developers. “Together, even though its revenue from smartphones market. This while the company is dramati- we can build the future of mobile.” and tablets is rapidly rising. Yahoo’s mobile cally shrinking to appease restless sharehold- Unlike her appearance at Yahoo’s inaugu- ad revenue totaled $1.05 billion last year, a ers threatening to overthrow management ral mobile conference last year, Mayer gave a 36 percent increase from last year. Yet its unless things get better. brief presentation before leaving most of the share of the $72 billion worldwide market for Just before Mayer’s appearance, Yahoo talking to executives that joined her manage- mobile ads decreased slightly to 1.5 percent tried to underscore its long-term commit- ment team after the company bought last year to place it behind Google (with a ment to mobile by projecting this statement mobile analytics service Flurry for $270 mil- share of nearly 34 percent), Facebook (17 on a huge screen hanging above the stage: lion in 2014. In another departure from last percent), Alibaba, Baidu, Twitter and Tencent, “Imagine what the next seven years will year, Mayer didn’t hold a news conference according to the research firm eMarketer. bring.” after her onstage appearance, allowing her At Thursday’s conference, Yahoo intro- It’s not even clear that Yahoo will exist in to avoid further questions about Yahoo’s duced a variety of improvements to Flurry’s its current form seven months from now, giv- fate. app and other tools in an attempt to attract en that some of its shareholders want the Mayer’s job security is shaky because more mobile advertising partners. The com- company to sell its Internet operations after 3 Yahoo’s stock has sunk by more than 40 per- pany is also trying to plant its search engine 1/2 years of declining revenue under Mayer’s cent since the end of 2014, reflecting Wall into more apps as a way to sell more ads. leadership. Mayer and the rest of Yahoo’s Street’s frustration with her inability to deliv- Cheetah Mobile, a maker of device man- board is exploring “strategic alternatives” er on her promise to revive Yahoo’s revenue agement apps such as Clean Master, has that could include a sale while the Sunnyvale, growth. The company’s revenue, after sub- been impressed with its results since it start- California, company sheds 15 percent of its tracting ad commissions, fell 7 percent last ed working with Yahoo, said marketing head workforce and closes unprofitable services. year. David Wu. “We all read the news, so we are LAS VEGAS: Hideo Kojima, from right, game designer at The Flurry deal is widely seen as one of obviously aware of the problems at Yahoo, Kojima Productions, Guillermo del Toro, film director at Bright future Mayer’s savviest moves since she defected but all the numbers have been moving in the Del Toro Films, and Geoff Keighley, president of Even though she is deviating from an from Google to Yahoo in July 2012, but that right direction for us, so we hope they can GameSlice, participate in a panel discussion at the D.I.C.E. original turnaround plan, Mayer has stead- acquisition still hasn’t been able to provide stick around,” Wu said. — AP Summit Thursday, Feb 18, 2016, in Las Vegas. — AP TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 Profit or patriotism? What’s driving fight between US, Apple? WASHINGTON: Apple Inc and the US government are making their cases before anyone steps into a courtroom over a judge’s order forcing Apple to help the FBI hack into an iPhone in a terrorism case. Their legal arguments are expected to pit digital privacy rights against national security interests, and could affect millions of cellphone users. Apple has until Tuesday to protest in court the decision by a US mag- istrate judge in California. But the public relations campaigns are already under way. Is Apple adequately cooperating with federal agents investigating last year’s deadly attack in San Bernardino, California? Is this simply a dispute to recover information from an iPhone used by the gun- man, or more broadly a fight affecting the privacy rights of citizens who use Apple’s flagship product? Is this about profits or patriotism? The Justice Department asked the judge to order Apple to create sophisticated software that the FBI could load onto the phone to bypass a self-destruct feature that erases all data after 10 consecutive, unsuccessful attempts to guess the unlocking pass- code.