Overnight Tech: EU court deals major blow to Uber | Silicon Valley Dem loses out on top Judiciary spot | Trump hails AT&T bonuses

EU DELIVERS BLOW TO UBER: The European Court of Justice dealt Uber a major blow on Wednesday, declaring that the transportation company should be regulated like a taxi service instead of a technology company.

The top European Union (EU) court said Uber and other similar technology companies are “inherently linked to a transport service” and should be “a service in the field of transport,” according to The Associated Press.

The decision could affect the way governments inside and outside of Europe regulate internet services like Uber that struggle to fit in with long-established laws.

However, the transportation service sought to downplay the ruling in a statement obtained by the AP, saying the court’s decision “will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate under transportation law” and the company would “continue the dialogue with cities across Europe.

Uber said the ruling would only affect its services in Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to the AP.

The case originally came from a complaint raised by a Barcelona-based taxi drivers association that wanted to block the company from establishing itself in the city.

The law firm representing the Barcelona taxi association said the ruling had “great judicial significance.”

Barcelona is not the only European city where Uber has faced challenges.

Read more here.

Please send your tips, comments and holiday wish lists to Ali Breland (abreland@digital-stage.thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@digital-stage.thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We’re also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.

NADLER DEFEATS SILICON VALLEY’S LOFGREN FOR TOP JUDICIARY SPOT: Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday won the top Democratic spot on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, beating back a challenge from Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) to fill the seat held by former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) for almost a quarter century.

The House Democratic Caucus voted 118 to 72 in favor of Nadler, a 13-term Manhattanite known for his constitutional expertise.

The vote marks a victory for the seniority system that could have outsized implications if the Democrats win back the House in 2018 and the investigations into Russia’s election meddling turn up any damning evidence against the Trump administration.

Among the host of hot-button issues under the Judiciary panel’s jurisdiction is that of impeachment — a factor highlighted by Nadler in pitching his colleagues in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s vote.

Read more here.

TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS AT&T BONUS ANNOUNCEMENT: AT&T on Wednesday hailed Congress’s passage of tax cuts and announced it would invest an additional $1 billion in the United States next year, and pay a one-time $1,000 holiday bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. employees.

In a press release, the company, which is in the midst of a proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner that President Trump has criticized, said the bonuses would be paid to all “union-represented, non-management and front-line managers.”

“If the President signs the bill before Christmas, employees will receive the bonus over the holidays,” the press release said.

Read more here.

WHEELER CALLS FOR REGULATING TECH GIANTS: Tom Wheeler, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Obama, on Wednesday called for internet giants like Facebook and Google to be regulated.

“It is time to recognize that the most powerful companies in the country should not be making their own rules,” Wheeler wrote in a blog post for the Biden Forum.

“These are not evil companies or malicious executives,” he continued. “In the absence of ground rules, however, human nature and economic incentive take over. Aided and abetted by their powerful technological capabilities, the companies that control the internet are free to impose their will without permission or oversight.”

Read more here.

ROHINGYA LANGUAGE COULD SOON BE DIGITIZED: The Rohingya — an oppressed Muslim minority group in Myanmar — might soon be able to use their language in emails, texts and on social media.

The Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit in charge of Unicode, the international standard for characters and numbers on computers, is reportedly considering adding the Rohingya language to its list of included languages, according to AFP.

If approved, the move could give a much-needed boost to the Rohingya people, who did not have a written language until the 1980s.

Read more here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Bloomberg: Cable TV’s password-sharing crackdown is coming

The Wall Street Journal: New bitcoin millionaires who forgot their passwords

Rolling Stone: Magic Leaps VR technology is back in the media again

Google is crushing the map game

CTIA extends CEO Meredith Baker’s contract to 2024