Techmeme
April 7, 2019, 5:20 AM

Top News

CNBC:
After a NY Post report that Morgan Stanley offered Lyft's pre-IPO investors a short-selling product, Lyft sends a letter threatening to sue the investment bank  —  - In a letter sent to Morgan Stanley on April 2, Lyft questioned the firm about its role in helping market certain products …
Todd Haselton / CNBC:
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Netflix says it pulled AirPlay support because it is technically unable to ensure a good enough user experience on 3rd party devices now getting AirPlay 2  —  A “technical limitation”  —  With no warning and little explanation, Netflix has removed the easiest way to sling its shows from one Apple device to another: AirPlay.
Cat Ferguson / The Verge:
Webcomics creators, including artists behind XKCD and Dinosaur Comics, talk about their early days, and how social media and Patreon have shifted the economics  —  Featuring the artists behind XKCD, Questionable Content, Dinosaur Comics, and more  —  Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge
Mike Orcutt / MIT Technology Review:
VCs invested $334M in blockchain startups in Q1 2019, well below the 2018 levels when $5.5B was raised, but in line with 2017 levels according to PitchBook data  —  Was cryptocurrency a flash in the pan?  Less than two years ago, Bitcoin's skyrocketing price was making people crypto-millionaires overnight.
The Guardian:
UK regulator launches investigation into auto-renewal, cancellation, and refund practices of online gaming services from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft  —  CMA examines auto-renewal terms for Switch, PlayStation and Xbox subscriptions  —  The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) …
Kevin Carey / The Huffington Post:
A look at “OPMs”, companies which manage online courses for universities like Harvard and Yale, and take a 60% cut typically from tuition fees  —  The price of college is breaking America.  At a moment when Hollywood celebrities and private equity titans have allegedly …
April Glaser / Slate:
Public databases for identifying and mapping plants and birds have had to rebuild infrastructure to hide specific locations of endangered species from poachers  —  Our enthusiasm for sharing birds, plants, and superblooms has unintended consequences.  But we can use the same tools that made the problem to fix it.
Bloomberg:
As Google disbands its external AI ethics board, a look at its internal AI ethics council comprising of senior execs and led by its chief legal officer  —  A board filled with internal executives raises questions about accountability  —  Two weeks ago, Google established an external panel …
Foreign Policy:
How Huawei, once an upstart using licensed and sometimes stolen tech to undercut rivals, became a telecom infrastructure juggernaut during the 4G upgrade cycle  —  The same year, Huawei landed an even bigger and more unexpected contract to completely rebuild and replace Norway's mobile phone network …

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More News

Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Jamie Lauren Keiles / New York Times:
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Earlier Picks

Rachel Kraus / Mashable:
Sam Kim / Bloomberg: