Techmeme
September 6, 2018, 9:10 PM

Top News

BuzzFeed News:
Twitter permanently suspends Infowars and Alex Jones' accounts, saying they violate “abusive behavior” rules, will suspend other accounts he registers or uses  —  After weeks of equivocation, Twitter today permanently suspended the accounts of Infowars and its founder Alex Jones …
The Intercept:
Interviews and documents show IBM used NYPD surveillance footage in 2012 to develop object identification tech that could search by skin color and more  —  In the decade after the 9/11 attacks, the New York City Police Department moved to put millions of New Yorkers under constant watch.
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
DOJ announces hacking charges against a North Korean government spy, linked to the Lazarus Group, in connection with the 2014 Sony hack  —  The Justice Department will announce computer hacking charges Thursday against a North Korean government spy in connection with the 2014 attack …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google announces an event for October 9 in NYC where it is expected to announce the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL  —  Gosh, I wonder what it's announcing?  —  Google has sent out invites for an October 9th event that will almost certainly be the official announcement of the thoroughly leaked Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones.
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Goldman Sachs CFO says reports about the company abandoning plans to open a cryptocurrency desk are “fake news”  —  - The price of bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies tumbled after a report that the bank was ditching plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk.
Mehedi Hassan / Thurrott.com:
Microsoft begins testing Cortana and Alexa support for the Xbox One, letting users power the console on and off and start games and apps  —  Microsoft's Xbox One is getting a whole lot easier to use.  The company today announced a new Xbox Skill for Cortana and Amazon Alexa …
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Sources detail how Spotify has quietly signed direct licensing deals with some artists, a move that is worrying major record labels  —  For decades, the path to stardom in the music industry has usually gone through a major record company.  —  Almost every artist today who reaches the top of the charts …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
MasterClass, which offers online classes from well known experts for a $180 annual fee, raises $80M Series D led by IVP  —  Filmmaking taught by Martin Scorsese?  Comedy taught by Steve Martin?  Chess taught by Garry Kasparov?  Tennis taught by Serena Williams?  Cooking taught by Gordon Ramsay?
Erin Griffith / New York Times:
A look at the rise of smart home fitness equipment startups, such as Mirror, which recently raised $25M, and Tonal, which makes a weight-lifting machine  —  Paul Wright, a smiling, impeccably jacked personal trainer, stared at me from the large screen mounted to the wall.
Peter Kafka / Recode:
A recap of Facebook and Twitter hearings: Republican claims of bias, Democratic claims of political manipulation, and appearances by Alex Jones and Laura Loomer  —  A capsule review of tech's visit to Washington: The Senate seemed serious, the House did not, and Republicans aren't done complaining about bias.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple to launch a web portal by the end of 2018 for authenticated law enforcement officers to submit data requests and is developing an online training module  —  Apple this week announced it will be launching a dedicated web portal by the end of 2018 for authenticated law enforcement officers …

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Fathin Ungku / Reuters:
James Vincent / The Verge: