Techmeme
December 19, 2015, 5:10 PM

Top News

Kim Zetter / Wired:
Secret Code Found in Juniper's Firewalls Shows Risk of Government Backdoors  —  Encryption backdoors have been a hot topic in the last few years—and the controversial issue got even hotter after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, when it dominated media headlines.
The Intercept:
An internal US government catalogue details dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and intelligence agencies  —  A Secret Catalogue of Government Gear for Spying on Your Cellphone … THE INTERCEPT HAS OBTAINED a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue of dozens …
Allegra Frank / Polygon:
League of Legends developer Riot Games is now owned entirely by Tencent  —  Riot Games now owned entirely by Tencent  —  The League of Legends studio's remaining shares have been bought up Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, has sold its remaining equity to Chinese online company Tencent Holdings.
John Goglia / Forbes:
FAA Finally Admits Names And Home Addresses In Drone Registry Will Be Publicly Available  —  The FAA finally confirmed this afternoon that model aircraft registrants' names and home addresses will be public.  In an email message, the FAA stated"Until the drone registry system is modified, the FAA will not release names and address.
David Harris / Cargo Facts:
Sources: Amazon building its own overnight US airfreight operation, negotiating with Boeing for twenty 767 widebody freighters  —  [EXCLUSIVE] Amazon building its own overnight airfreight operation, sources say  —  Amazon.com Inc. is creating a logistics operation that will include overnight air operations …
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Evernote is killing Skitch for Android, iOS, and Windows on January 22, but not Mac  —  Note-taking app company Evernote today delivered some sad news for users of the image annotation app Skitch.  The iOS, Android, and Windows versions of Skitch will be going away on January 22.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft acquires Metanautix, an analytics startup that helps big companies navigate their data  —  Microsoft has acquired a young Palo Alto startup called Metanautix, a firm specializing in helping large enterprises filter through their hordes of in-house data.  Terms of the deal haven't been disclosed
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act enacted into law by President Obama after being passed as part of omnibus bill  —  Budget bill heads to President Obama's desk with CISA intact  —  Earlier today, the US House of Representatives passed a 2,000-page omnibus budget bill that contains …
Nandita Bose / Reuters:
Exclusive: Target in initial development of own mobile wallet - sources  —  Target Corp is in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet, three people familiar with the matter said, joining Wal-Mart Stores Inc in posing a threat to recent entrants like Apple Pay.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Zoho CRM Plus in 2025: A year of thoughtful CX improvements  —  2025 marked 11 years of building a customer experience platform designed to support organizations as customer expectations, channels …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Alex And Ranjan's 2026 Outlook: ChatGPT 1 Billion, AI Shopping, Apple's Big Year, AI Love Boom
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Where Is All the A.I.-Driven Scientific Progress?
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:10 PM ET, December 19, 2015.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Jason Cipriani / Fortune:
Michael Mimoso / Threatpost:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet: