Post Tech by Cecilia Kang

The Circuit: Google Fiber stakes out new ground in Texas

By Hayley Tsukayama

Google Fiber expands to Austin: Google headed to the city of Austin, Tex., on Tuesday to announce that it is making the state capital the next site for its Google Fiber gigabit broadband service.

Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Mayor Lee Leffingwell were there for the announcement that Google will begin connecting Austin homes to the network in mid-2014 and will connect some public institutions to the network for free.

Google faces new E.U. complaint: Microsoft, Oracle, Kayak and other technology and search companies in the FairSearch.org coalition have filed a complaint with the European Union over Google's Android mobile operating system, saying that the platform gives the tech giant an unfair advantage in mobile search.

The European Commission has been reviewing Google's desktop search practices for antitrust violations. FairSearch has complained about Google in the past. After the Federal Trade Commission ruled this year that Google search practices have not hurt consumers, FairSearch said that it would turn its attention to the European Union.

The complaint alleges that Google's free distribution of the Android platform is part of "deceptive conduct" to lock in the mobile search market. When asked about the complaint, Google said in a statement that it continues "to work cooperatively with the European Commission."

LulzSec members plead guilty: Members of the loose hacking collective LulzSec — associated with Anonymous — pleaded guilty to charges that they conducted cyber attacks against Sony, News International and Great Britain's National Health Service in London, according to a report from the Guardian.

Ryan Ackroyd, Jake Davis and Mustafa al-Bassam will be sentenced on May 14, along with Ryan Cleary, who pleaded guilty earlier.

Aereo, networks set up for a fight: Aereo, a Web start-up that uses antennas to pick up broadcast signals for the iPad, is facing a fight from television networks who say the service's business model is tantamount to content theft.

Networks have been unable to stop Aereo in court, and Fox television's parent company said Monday that it might consider taking its shows off of broadcast television and air them solely on cable as a result.

"We won't just sit idle and allow our content to be actively stolen," said Chase Carey, president of News Corp., which owns Fox Television, The Washington Post reported.

For its part, Aereo says that its technology allows consumers to access shows on the public airwaves; the service also gives customers the option to pause and record broadcasts or save TV shows shown live for later viewing.

Aereo, The Post reported, is planning to expand its service to Washington and 21 other markets this summer.

(Aereo is backed by media mogul Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/Interactive Corp. Diller is a member of The Washington Post Co. board of directors.)