|
August 14, 2020, 3:05 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
By weaponizing Fortnite and with Apple as its primary target, Epic Games is well positioned to lead the fight for a change in app store policies — Epic Games executed its most ambitious Fortnite live event yesterday, leading both Apple and Google to remove one of the world's most popular games from their app stores.
More:
Ars Technica, CNET, Engadget, AppleInsider, International Business Times, Liliputing, Reuters, CNBC, and Protocol. Tweets: @samerkamal
| Russell Brandom / The Verge: |
Epic files a suit against Google alleging that its Play Store payments restrictions constitute a monopoly, also accuses Google of being anti-competitive — Just like Apple — Epic Games has filed suit against Google over alleged antitrust violations, just hours after being dropped … | Dieter Bohn / The Verge: |
Google removes Fortnite from its Play Store, argues that although its Android ecosystem is open, Epic's decision violates store policies — You can still install it directly from Epic, however — Following its removal from the Apple App Store, Fortnite has also been kicked off of the Google Play Store for Android.| Austen Goslin / Polygon: |
Accompanying its lawsuit, Epic released a 1984-inspired Fortnite short, parodying Apple's iconic Macintosh commercial — Epic is taking on the Apple App Store, with a video and a lawsuit — Epic premiered a new short video in Fortnite on Thursday called “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite.”
More:
GamesIndustry.biz, The Guardian, ZDNet, GamesIndustry.biz, Fortune, and Engadget
Tweets: @fortnitegame, @nickwingfield, @gibiz, @tomwarren, @__apf__, @thighsncum, @ow, @jb_firebrand, @ibxtoycat, and @michaelpachter
| Nick Statt / The Verge: |
Epic Games files an antitrust suit against Apple, arguing the App Store is a monopoly, seeking no damages but just injunctive relief to “allow fair competition” — Epic has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit following Apple's removal of Fortnite from the App Store
More:
Epic Games, Financial Times, New York Times, Axios, Fortune, Observer, SamMobile, Seeking Alpha, BBC, Micky, Crunchbase News, Politico, ExtremeTech, Telecoms.com, FOSS Patents, Android Authority, Memeburn, CyberNews, VG247, CryptoGlobe, WRAL TechWire, MediaNama, and Firstpost Tech
Tweets: @fortnitegame, @pkafka, @timsweeneyepic, @reckless, @josephfcox, @eringriffith, @tomphillipseg, @kt_so_it_goes, @albertwenger, @radicalbytes, @balajis, @stevekovach, @esportslaw, @mgsiegler, @slasher, @kfury, @willsmith, @hardyluski, @protonmail, @dmc_ryan, @timsweeneyepic, @zhugeex, and @nickstatt
| Andrew Webster / The Verge: |
More:
CNN, The Next Web, New York Times, VentureBeat, Lifehacker, CNET, TechRadar, Micky, 9to5Mac, TechSpot, OnMSFT.com, and International Business Times
Tweets: @markgurman, @ballmatthew, @pkafka, and @briannawu
| Nick Statt / The Verge: |
| New York Times: |
Internal docs show TikTok classified more than a third of its 49M US DAUs in July as 14 years old or younger, raising concerns about safeguards for preteens — Three current and former employees expressed concerns about the Chinese-owned app's safeguards for preteen children.| Jason Schreier / Bloomberg: |
Ubisoft fires Ashraf Ismail, the creative director of its newest Assassin's Creed game, following an investigation into misconduct allegations — Ubisoft Entertainment SA has dismissed the creative director of the newest Assassin's Creed game, the latest result of a MeToo reckoning …
More:
Kotaku, Gamasutra, The Verge, GameSpot, VentureBeat, Windows Central, USgamer.net, Polygon, and GamesIndustry.biz. Tweets: @jasonschreier
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Facebook didn't apply hate speech rules to at least four flagged individuals and groups in India, showing a pattern of favoritism to Modi's party — Company executive in vital market opposed move to ban controversial politician; some employees allege favoritism to ruling party
Tweets: @jeffhorwitz, @rmac18, @william_fitz, @adityakalra, @peegeekay, @preddy85, @derektmead, @jaskiratsb, @rmac18, @rmac18, @newley, @alfunk, and @dseetharaman
| Bloomberg: |
A legal analysis and risk evaluation of the US antitrust cases against Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook shows the cases won't be a slam dunk — U.S. tech giants have enormous influence over what we buy, read, see and think. But is their market power illegal?
Tweets: @business and @halsinger
| Katyanna Quach / The Register: |
Mozilla confirms a deal to keep Google as the default search provider in Firefox; source says the deal is worth $400M to $450M a year between now and 2023 — $2.5m-a-year CEO set to take a pay cut, so that's all right, then — Mozilla has renewed its lucrative nine-figure deal with Google …
More:
ZDNet, PCMag, Thurrott, Forbes, Android Headlines, PC Gamer, and gHacks Technology News
Tweets: @bull500, @steveklabnik, and @thinkprivacy_
| Tom Simonite / Wired: |
Adobe to add tech to Photoshop later this year to cryptographically tag images with metadata to help identify deepfakes and verify authenticity of images/videos — Adobe is adding technology to tag images with metadata, part of an effort to identify deepfakes and other efforts at manipulation.
More:
Pocketnow and Neowin
Tweets: @jillpresser, @mattnavarra, @privacydigest, @_mounir_ibrahim, @tsimonite, @cengizyar, @wired, @evanderburg, and @truepicinc
| Washington Post: |
Google ends direct cooperation with Hong Kong authorities on data requests, and will instead direct officials to a treaty where requests go through the DOJ — Google will stop responding directly to data requests from Hong Kong authorities, according to a person familiar with the matter …
More:
CNET, Android Headlines, Android Central, Fortune, Engadget, and Reuters. Tweets: @shibanimahtani
| Eva Xiao / Wall Street Journal: |
China says it will expand a pilot program of its digital currency, led by its central bank People's Bank of China, to include a number of large cities — Testing efforts are being led by the People's Bank of China — HONG KONG—China's Commerce Ministry said it would expand a pilot program …
More:
Decrypt, Cointelegraph, NEWS.8BTC.COM, Modern Consensus, Nikkei Asian Review, Coinspeaker, Cryptonews, and Nikkei Asian Review
Tweets: @coindesk, @cate_long, @xrpcryptowolf, @jchengwsj, @milinddeora, and @wsj
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Warner Music acquires IMGN, which creates and tracks viral social media content in categories like e-sports, gaming, and ASMR, source says for just under $100M — It's a whole new playing field these days for music labels and publishers, and today one of the big three made an acquisition … Thanks:@ingridlunden
| Aaron Mak / Slate: |
Google's Ad Exchange is demonetizing pages that merely mention issues of race and LGBTQ rights, classifying them as “dangerous or derogatory content” — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, the Atlantic decided to recirculate King's famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” … | Patrick Frater / Variety: |
Baidu's video streaming service iQIYI says it is being probed by SEC, after a report in April accused it of inflating its 2019 revenue by around $1.13B — Mystery surrounds the subscriber numbers of Chinese video streaming company iQIYI, which revealed that it is being investigated by the U.S.'s Securities and Exchange Commission.
More:
South China Morning Post, The Next Web, CNN, CNBC, and Financial Times
| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
Google updates travel search results with information about COVID-19 cases at destination, percentage of available hotel rooms and operating flights, more — Google has already introduced a number of updates to help people get around during widespread closures and travel disruptions due to COVID-19.
More:
The Keyword, Fox News, Firstpost Tech, Android Headlines, Pocketnow, and Silicon Republic. Tweets: @google
| Gannon Burgett / Digital Photography Review: |
Russell Kirsch, inventor of the pixel and algorithms that laid the foundations for image processing and image pattern recognition, dies at 91 — Computer scientist Russell Kirsch, best known for inventing the pixel, passed away August 11 at his home in Portland, Oregon. He was 91-years-old.
More:
Oregonian and PetaPixel
Tweets: @stymiedthoughts, @sparkshot_io, @chasejonez, @drgstoothpix, @transdescendent, @suhaibkhan, @9voltdc, and @rogoway
Sponsor Posts
Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Zoho People in 2025: A year in review — As we wrap up 2025, we're taking a moment to look back on a year filled with progress and transformation at Zoho People. Our team has been constantly pushing boundaries …
Zoho People in 2025: A year in review — As we wrap up 2025, we're taking a moment to look back on a year filled with progress and transformation at Zoho People. Our team has been constantly pushing boundaries …
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.
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
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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 3:05 PM ET, August 14, 2020.
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.
From Mediagazer
Paul Glynn / BBC:Ken Vogel / @kenvogel:
Nicholas Henriquez / New Yorker:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Kim Lyons / The Verge: |
More:
GeekWire, Reuters, Mashable, Gizmodo, CNBC, The Hill, Ars Technica, and Engadget
Tweets: @benktallmadge, @delrey, @delrey, @fox5sandiego, and @baekdal
| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Earlier Picks
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
More:
Wall Street Journal, TechRepublic, Business Wire, Neowin, and Computer Business Review
Tweets: @ajassy, @q_disclosure, and @phirisamueljr
| Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: |
| Shannon Vavra / CyberScoop: |
More:
Gizmodo, ZDNet, Ars Technica, and Threatpost
Tweets: @nsacyber, @ridt, @us_cybercom, @fbi, @780thc, @secpompeo, @anthomsec, @soychicka, and @chicagocyber
| Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch: |
More:
Android Headlines. Tweets: @fbnewsroom, @facebook, @vanitaguptacr, @nprinskeep, @timharper1, @cruellaisdevine, @lalasoo, and @theleadcnn
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |