Microsoft says Hotmail case met standard for a court order, adds new safeguards to policy  —  Strengthening our policies for investigations  —  Deputy General Counsel & Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft  —  We believe that Outlook and Hotmail email are and should be private.

Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Ashton Kutcher join $40M investment round of AI firm Vicarious  —  Zuckerberg, Musk Invest in Artificial-Intelligence Company Vicarious  —  Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook.  Ashton Kutcher portrayed Apple founder Steve Jobs in a movie.

Apple explores Spotify-like streaming service, iTunes app for Android as downloads decline  —  Apple Mulls Launching Spotify Rival, Android App as Downloads Decline (Sources)  —  The iPhone maker explores multi-pronged strategy to shore up double-digit drops in iTunes downloads, according to IFPI and RIAA data.

Twitter's Sara Haider to join Secret as Android lead, VP of Analytics plans departure as well  —  More Departures at Twitter as VP of Analytics Exits, Android Lead Leaves for Secret  —  Looks like plenty more birds are flying Twitter's coop.  —  Sara Haider, a mobile engineer and technical lead …

Turkish citizens use Google public DNS to circumvent Twitter ban  —  Turkish citizens use Google to fight Twitter ban  —  Turkish citizens have found away to circumvent yesterday's reported block of Twitter: Google DNS.  —  After being implicated in a corruption scandal through recordings …

iPad's longer replacement cycle mirrors Macs, TVs more than it does iPhones  —  iPad replacement cycle: Like an iPhone?  Mac?  Or (worse still) TV?  —  How customers buy and use iPads affects the device's long-term prospects, says CIRP.  —  FORTUNE — For Apple (AAPL) …

Glassdoor: Employees rank LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner as CEO of the year; Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg loses top spot  —  Career website Glassdoor today released its latest report highlighting 2014′s top 50 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), and once again the tech world played a big role in the list.

After Acquisition, OpenTable Plans To Shut Down Ness On April 21  —  Ness, the personalized restaurant recommendation app acquired by OpenTable last month, now has an expiration date.  The company announced that the app would be discontinued on April 21, just a few months after the acquisition first was announced.

Who Should Pay for Netflix?  —  I saw Reed Hasting's blog yesterday from Netflix asserting in rather dramatic fashion (with diagrams) that ISPs should build facilities (he said provide, but those facilities have to be built) to accept all of Netflix's content - indeed all of the content on the Internet - without charge.

Marissa Mayer meets with Satya Nadella, still wants out of Microsoft/Yahoo search pact  —  Field of Search Dreams: If Marissa Mayer Builds It, Will Microsoft Let Yahoo Leave?  —  Just after he was named CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella got a visit from Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.

NSA revelations costing companies billions in lost deals and new investment for circumvention  —  Fallout From Snowden Hurting Bottom Line of Tech Companies  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft has lost customers, including the government of Brazil.  —  IBM is spending more than a billion dollars …

Sprint lays off 330 techs, shutters 55 stores as part of broader cuts  —  Sprint recently cut a significant chunk of its staff dedicated to repairing and refurbishing phones and shut down its slower-performing stores, part of a broader effort to reduce the company's costs in the face of continued financial struggles.

BlackBerry Suffers Blow as White House Tests Samsung, LG Phones  —  The White House is testing smartphones from Samsung Electronics Corp. and LG Electronics Inc. for internal use, a person familiar with the matter said, threatening one of the last and most high-profile strongholds of BlackBerry Ltd.