Techmeme
October 21, 2020, 5:25 PM

Top News

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Quibi is shutting down following lower-than-expected viewership, disappointing download numbers, and a lawsuit; the startup raised $1.75B  —  Quibi Holdings LLC is shutting itself down, according to people familiar with the matter, a crash landing for a once-highflying entertainment startup …
The Information:
Sources: Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to sell Quibi's catalog to NBCUniversal and Facebook, but both passed  —  Jeffrey Katzenberg may be nearing the end of the road with his mobile video streaming service Quibi.  He recently tried to sell its catalog of programming to companies such as NBCUniversal and Facebook.
Anna Irrera / Reuters:
PayPal will let users buy and sell cryptocurrency using its online wallets in the coming weeks and shop at merchants on its network starting in early 2021  —  LONDON (Reuters) - PayPal Holdings Inc joined the cryptocurrency market on Wednesday, allowing customers to buy …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
DOJ's lawsuit against Google is appropriately narrow, focusing on search and providing a template for Congressional action against Big Tech even if it fails  —  Manage your Stratechery subscription.  —  So it finally happened: the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Google …
New York Times:
A look at the well-funded Big Tech opponents, from lawyers to academics, that have helped guide potential government regulation like Google's antitrust suit  —  An unlikely collection of lawyers, activists, economists and academics are fueling the tech backlash, armed with funding from billionaire sponsors.
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
Wall Street Journal:
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Report: at least 2,000 US law enforcement agencies, including 49 of the 50 largest police departments, have the tools to access locked, encrypted phones  —  At least 2,000 law enforcement agencies have tools to get into encrypted smartphones, according to new research, and they are using them far more than previously known.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
iPad Air (2020) review: has an excellent screen, very fast processor, and is compatible with iPad Pro accessories, but it's expensive and has no 128GB option  —  Despite the higher cost, this iPad is the one to get  —  If you're looking to get an iPad right now and can afford it …
Ina Fried / Axios:
Over 430,000 viewers tuned in simultaneously to watch Rep. Ocasio-Cortez play Among Us on Twitch, the third highest ever for an individual Twitch stream  —  More than 430,000 people tuned in simultaneously to Twitch on Tuesday night to watch Rep. Alexia Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) play a hit video game as part of an effort to promote voting.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook confirms it is testing a feature for users to connect with their neighbors, as rival Nextdoor considers options for going public  —  - Product for local connections is being tested in Canada now  — Nextdoor is considering options, including a public offering
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Netflix plans to test a 48-hour free weekend in India, dubbed StreamFest and scheduled for Dec. 4, and may bring the promotion to other countries later  —  Netflix is looking to promote its service with a 48-hour free streaming event, confirmed COO Greg Peters during the company's Q3 2020 earnings call Tuesday afternoon.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Israeli startup Mine, which helps users control their data, raises $9.5M Series A led by Google's Gradient Ventures and has helped send 1.3M deletion requests  —  TechCrunch readers probably know that privacy regulations like Europe's GDPR and California's CCPA give them additional rights around …
More: Geektime
The Intercept:
Documents show Google Cloud will be used for its AI capabilities by the CBP in conjunction with Anduril Industries' surveillance tech on the US-Mexico border  —  After years of backlash over controversial government work, Google technology will be used to aid the Trump administration's efforts …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese tech companies including Huawei have expressed strong concerns to local regulators about Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Arm  —  - China is unlikely to grant its unconditional blessing  — Arm may become another flashpoint in the U.S.-China tech war
More: Wccftech
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Filings for Q3 lobbying: Facebook spent $4.9M, up 1.5% QoQ, Google spent $1.9M, up 14.2%, Microsoft spent $1.9M, down 35.4%, Apple spent $1.6M, up 5.4%  —  - Google ramped up lobbying spend in the third quarter as regulators and lawmakers prepared to make public their findings of antitrust violations.
More: NPRTweets: @lauren_feiner

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Anna Wiener / New Yorker:

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Jake Tapper / CNN: