Techmeme
December 20, 2018, 1:05 PM

Top News

Ime Archibong / Facebook:
Facebook confirms Spotify, Netflix, Dropbox, and RBC had read/write/delete access for messaging integrations, says it was experimental and ended three years ago  —  In the past day, we've been accused of disclosing people's private messages to partners without their knowledge.
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed News:
Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Apple says it will stop selling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 in its 15 retail stores across Germany after Qualcomm was granted an injunction by a Munich court  —  - Last week, a Chinese court ordered an injunction against Apple over an alleged patent violation filed by chipmaker Qualcomm.
BBC:
UK's Gatwick airport was shut down on Wednesday and Thursday after drones were seen flying over the runway; about 760 flights were due to fly on Thursday  —  Tens of thousands of passengers have been disrupted by drones flying over one of the UK's busiest airports.
CNBC:
DOJ charges two alleged members of China's state sponsored hacking unit APT10 with stealing data from at least 45 US tech companies and government agencies  —  - They are accused of stealing information from at least 45 U.S. tech companies and government agencies.
Washington Post:
Sources: US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Germany to issue an unprecedented mass condemnation and impose sanctions on China for IP theft and cyberattacks  —  The Trump administration and international allies are expected to call out Beijing on Thursday for what they say are China's persistent efforts …
Arno Schuetze / Reuters:
Amazon gives a German Alexa user, who requested his personal data under GDPR, access to 1,700 audio files of another user; Amazon says it was due to human error  —  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A user of Amazon's (AMZN.O) Alexa voice assistant in Germany got access to more than a thousand recordings …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple says some 2018 iPad Pros ship with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis due to their manufacturing process but doesn't consider it to be a defect  —  Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some of its 2018 iPad Pros are shipping with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis.
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Sources: blockchain incubator ConsenSys, which helps ~36 startups, will spin some of them off; source speculates layoffs will be between 600 and 700  —  As many as 50 to 60 percent of the company's employees could be let go  —  Layoffs are coming to ConsenSys, the Ethereum-focused startup incubator …
More: CoinDesk
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Flexible car ownership marketplace Fair.com raises $385M Series B led by SoftBank and says it leases cars to over 20,000 users  —  California startup Fair.com is aiming to turn the car market on its head by providing price-friendly, easy options for people to lease vehicles instead of buying them …
Scott Moritz / Bloomberg:
Sources: T-Mobile is delaying the launch of its TV service, which was planned for this year, after the project proved more complex than expected  —  - Carrier has been touting project as a way to disrupt cable TV  — Delay comes at awkward time for Sprint deal's regulatory push
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Slack is deactivating accounts it says are linked to Iran to comply with US sanctions without warning the users  —  ‘They are either incompetent at OFAC interpretation or racist’  —  This morning, many Slack users with ties to Iran discovered their accounts had been abruptly deactivated.
More: 9to5Mac
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify settles the $1.6B copyright lawsuit by music publisher Wixen, which represents artists like Tom Petty, Missy Elliot, Stevie Nicks, and Neil Young  —  Spotify has settled the $1.6 billion lawsuit filed by music publisher Wixen Music Publishing in December 2017.
More: Variety
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Congress approves bill aimed at speeding quantum computer development by establishing a National Quantum Initiative Program; Trump is expected to sign it  —  The emerging technology has potentially revolutionary uses in cybersecurity and other areas  —  WASHINGTON—Congress on Wednesday approved …
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft releases out-of-band security update for Internet Explorer that fixes a remote code execution vulnerability allowing attackers to hijack computers  —  Microsoft has released an out-of-band security update that fixes an actively exploited vulnerability in Internet Explorer.

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Windows Experience Blog:
Ian Hamilton / UploadVR:
Washington Post:
Peter Bright / Ars Technica: