Warrantless Entry Memos and the $800 Million Epic-Google Deal

This episode covers a controversial new ICE memo allowing warrantless home entries and a secret multi-million dollar partnership between Epic Games and Google.

[00:00] Evelyn Hartwell: From Neural Newscast, I'm Evelyn Hartwell.
[00:04] Frederick Moore: And I'm Frederick Moore.
[00:06] Evelyn Hartwell: Immigration and customs enforcement officers are now authorized to enter private homes without a judicial warrant under a newly revealed internal memo.
[00:18] Evelyn Hartwell: This directive, which dates back to May 2025, allows officers to bypass neutral third-party
[00:26] Evelyn Hartwell: arbiters when pursuing targets on private property.
[00:30] Frederick Moore: The internal document targets undocumented people through administrative warrants signed
[00:37] Frederick Moore: by executive branch employees instead of judges.
[00:42] Frederick Moore: Civil liberties experts say this shift eliminates the standard legal requirements for probable cause and judicial oversight.
[00:53] Evelyn Hartwell: This policy represents a significant departure from centuries of established legal protections for private property owners,
[01:03] Evelyn Hartwell: Law professor Emmanuel Malayan describes the memo as crossing a historic line for federal law enforcement authority.
[01:13] Frederick Moore: The Fourth Amendment has traditionally protected all people within the United States from warrantless searches by government agents.
[01:22] Frederick Moore: This internal guidance remained hidden from public view until a whistleblower complaint
[01:29] Frederick Moore: surfaced earlier this week.
[01:31] Evelyn Hartwell: The Department of Homeland Security claims the directive helps manage the most intense
[01:37] Evelyn Hartwell: surge of enforcement in history.
[01:40] Evelyn Hartwell: A spokesperson for the agency notes that many targets already have final orders of removal
[01:47] Evelyn Hartwell: issued by immigration courts.
[01:49] Frederick Moore: However, critics point out that hundreds of thousands of these orders were issued in the
[01:56] Frederick Moore: absence of the defendants.
[01:58] Frederick Moore: Minnesota Governor Tim Walls has called the move an assault on the privacy and freedom
[02:05] Frederick Moore: of every American.
[02:06] Evelyn Hartwell: Turning now to a major development in tech, Epic Games and Google have formed a secret
[02:14] Evelyn Hartwell: $800 million partnership.
[02:17] Evelyn Hartwell: This deal involves joint product development and marketing for the Unreal Engine and the game Fortnite on Android.
[02:25] Frederick Moore: Federal Judge James Donato revealed the financial details during a hearing on the long-running antitrust battle between the companies.
[02:36] Frederick Moore: The agreement came to light as both sides attempt to finalize a settlement regarding App Store competition.
[02:44] Evelyn Hartwell: The court is investigating whether this massive financial commitment serves as an incentive for Epic to soften its demands.
[02:55] Evelyn Hartwell: Judge Donato questioned if the deal would discourage Epic from seeking changes that benefit smaller app developers.
[03:03] Frederick Moore: The proposed settlement would allow alternative app stores to operate more easily within the Google Play ecosystem.
[03:13] Frederick Moore: Epic CEO Tim Sweeney testified that the deal is essential for his company's future growth
[03:21] Frederick Moore: in the metaverse.
[03:23] Evelyn Hartwell: Sweeney maintains that the payment to Google is for cloud services and does not represent
[03:30] Evelyn Hartwell: a conflict of interest.
[03:31] Evelyn Hartwell: He told the court that Epic has always rejected sweetheart deals that exclude other software
[03:39] Evelyn Hartwell: developers from the market.
[03:40] Frederick Moore: Google has declined to comment on the specific terms of the $800 million commitment.
[03:48] Frederick Moore: The judge will decide later this week whether to approve the final terms of the antitrust
[03:55] Frederick Moore: settlement.
[03:56] Evelyn Hartwell: I'm Evelyn Hartwell.
[03:59] Frederick Moore: And I'm Frederick Moore.
[04:00] Frederick Moore: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed.
[04:05] Frederick Moore: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.

Warrantless Entry Memos and the $800 Million Epic-Google Deal
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