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December 10, 2020, 10:35 AM
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| Federal Trade Commission: |
FTC, in coalition with 46 state AGs, plus Guam and DC, sues Facebook, alleging Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions were used to stifle competition — Agency challenges Facebook's multi-year course of unlawful conduct — The Federal Trade Commission today sued Facebook …
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Federal Trade Commission, AVC, Washington Post, The Guardian, NBC News, Slate, CNBC, XDA Developers, Ars Technica, Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed News, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, Protocol, news.com.au, CNN, Cointelegraph, Axios, ABC News, Bloomberg, Tubefilter, MakeUseOf, Washington Post, Forrester, Washington Post, SiliconANGLE, Reclaim The Net, Platformer, The Register, and ZDNet
Tweets: @fbnewsroom, @sarahfrier, @caseynewton, @newyorkstateag, @mikeisaac, @senwarren, @berniesanders, @aoc, @repkenbuck, @chopraftc, @alexstamos, @chopraftc, @carminesabia, @mikeisaac, @ceciliakang, @alecstapp, @yegg, @walthickey, @davidcicilline, @brooklynmarie, @jgreenblattadl, @mattmfm, @thomasphi2, @munster_gene, @calebjhull, @ashk4n, @chrisinsilico, @stroughtonsmith, @awolfeful, @brentbozell, @gravelinstitute, @migueldeicaza, @elkmovie, @theonion, @slpng_giants, @jason_kint, @elkmovie, @josh_moon, @wongmjane, @kantrowitz, @carolecadwalla, @rileytestut, @jason_kint, @yashalevine, @marietjeschaake, @rmac18, @shiraovide, @rmac18, @rmac18, @will_doran, @rmac18, @kantrowitz, @mattnavarra, @jordannovet, @profgalloway, @karlbode, @stroughtonsmith, @mattnavarra, @chopraftc, @chopraftc, @b_fung, @benedictevans, @shiringhaffary, @joshsternberg, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @markdistef, @ow, @ftc, @ftc, @ftc, @ftc, @sarahfrier, @benedictevans, @caseynewton, @paulmasonnews, @jamestitcomb, @ftc, @benedictevans, @ftc, @ftc, @ftc, @janelytv, @ftc, @edbott, @ericnewcomer, @ftc, @codinghorror, @karlbode, @caseynewton, @alexeheath, @karlbode, @evan_greer, and @karlbode
| New York Times: |
Legal experts say FTC and state AGs will find it challenging to prove their allegations against Facebook because the standards of proof are formidable — The U.S. and states cases against the social network are far from a slam dunk because the standards of proof are formidable.
More:
New York Times, Bloomberg, Wired, and Financial Times
| Jennifer Newstead / About Facebook: |
Facebook responds to the FTC and state AGs, saying the lawsuits they've brought forth are “revisionist history” and their antitrust case is unprecedented — Billions of people use Facebook's products every day. To earn their time and attention, we compete fiercely against many other services across the world.
More:
Wired, About Facebook, CNBC, Fortune, Forbes, Protocol, BIG by Matt Stoller, New York Times, Telecoms.com, MediaNama, Federal Trade Commission, Crunchbase News, Financial Times, Neowin, Silicon Republic, Pocket-lint, Associated Press, ComputerWeekly.com, Reuters, and Pocketnow
Tweets: @ceciliakang, @jmorse_, @chillmage, @rmac18, @migueldeicaza, @alexeheath, @tonyromm, @sarafischer, @ceciliakang, @robinberjon, @mattnavarra, @mylesudland, and @kifleswing
| NY State Attorney General: |
New York AG Letitia James leads a coalition of 48 AGs in suing Facebook, alleging the company uses a “buy or bury” approach toward its competitors — AG James Leads Bipartisan Coalition of 48 Attorneys General Charging Anticompetitive Conduct — Facebook Thwarted Competition, Reduced Consumer Privacy for Profits
More:
NY Attorney General, coinspeaker.com, and Axios
| The Verge: |
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TechCrunch, The Independent, Axios, The Verge, NextPit, The Economic Times, and The Information
Tweets: @grinich, @sal19, @hawleymo, @edmundlee, @caseynewton, @film_girl, @can, @dez_blanchfield, @colorofchange, @tonyromm, @guykawasaki, @brooklynmarie, @teddyschleifer, @mayatcontreras, @swodinsky, @will_duffield, @tayhatmaker, @film_girl, @jrhuddles, @jrhuddles, @jrhuddles, @jrhuddles, @willoremus, @karlbode, @chopraftc, @film_girl, @film_girl, @film_girl, @ow, @sal19, @martinsfp, @rustybrick, @benedictevans, @ldrogen, @joannastern, @ow, @caseynewton, @martinsfp, @broderick, and @caseynewton
| Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: |
Adobe has released its final scheduled Flash Player update for all regions outside of mainland China, says it will block Flash content from January 12 — Adobe releases final Flash update with stronger language asking users to uninstall the app before its EOL.
More:
The Verge, Adobe Help Center, Forbes, XDA Developers, The Next Web, and MakeUseOf
| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
Germany initiates antitrust probe against Facebook for tying Oculus use to possession of a Facebook account — Facebook's bad week just got worse: It's being investigated in Germany for linking usage of its VR product, Oculus, to having a Facebook account.
More:
The Independent, Bundeskartellamt, The Irish Times, and Android Central
| Dan Primack / Axios: |
Airbnb raises $3.5B in its IPO at $68 per share, up from a previous $56-$60 range, giving it a fully diluted valuation of $47.3B — Airbnb on Wednesday raised $3.5 billion in its IPO at a fully diluted valuation of around $47.3 billion, and will begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol ABNB.
More:
Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, ZDNet, TechCrunch, CNET, New York Times, CoinDesk, and PYMNTS.com
Tweets: @eliotwb and @arrington
| Ina Fried / Axios: |
Internal memo: Sundar Pichai apologizes over the handling of AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru's departure and says he will investigate — Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized Wednesday for the company's handling of the departure of AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru and said he would investigate …
More:
New York Times, The Gradient, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Wired, The Overspill, SiliconANGLE, South China Morning Post, and Gizmodo
Tweets: @timnitgebru, @inafried, @rafaelshimunov, @yoda, @kimcrayton1, @azeem, @justkelly_ok, @ohthatflo, @joshsternberg, @jackclarksf, @_alialkhatib, @dinabass, @mer__edith, @wired, @bobbyallyn, @kevinroose, @kevinroose, and @axios. Thanks:@inafried
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Facebook launches Shopping in Instagram Reels, rolling out globally starting today, letting businesses and creators tag products when they create Reels — Instagram today is launching Shopping in Reels, its TikTok competitor. The new feature was announced in October as something the company …
More:
The Verge
| D. M. Moore / Polygon: |
AT&T has agreed to sell Japanese anime streaming service Crunchyroll to Sony's Funimation Global Group for $1.18B — The move consolidates the anime industry in a major way — On Wednesday, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. announced that AT&T and WarnerMedia agreed to sell Crunchyroll to Funimation.| Kyle Hyatt / Roadshow: |
Report: Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to purchase Boston Dynamics, maker of the Spot quadruped robot, from SoftBank for around $921M — The acquisition has been expected since early November. … Hey, remember those deeply unsettling robot dogs that have been creeping out the internet for years and recently went into production?
More:
The Korea Economic …, The Next Web, SlashGear, Gizmodo, and Input
Tweets: @chriskeall and @cpautoscribe
| Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic: |
Inside Ovarit, an invite-only Reddit-like site founded by members of the “trans-exclusionary radical feminists” subreddit r/GenderCritical that Reddit banned — Mary Kate Fain, a 27-year-old engineer and writer living in Houston, has always considered herself a feminist.
Tweets: @sullydish, @elongreen, @sullydish, @fake_minnesotan, @katymontgomerie, @alisonphipps, and @mimmymum
| Shannon Connellan / Mashable: |
Users report issues sending messages on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook's workplace collaboration platform, primarily in Europe — Can't use Messenger right now? It's not just you. — Users reported issues using Facebook and Instagram on Thursday morning, particularly regarding the messaging services of each platform.
More:
Windows Central, 9to5Mac, The Verge, MacRumors, and XDA Developers
| Washington Post: |
National Weather Service says it has an Internet bandwidth problem and proposes limiting users to 60 connections/minute, which could hurt weather apps and sites — Agency floats a solution to problems that could hobble private companies and affect popular weather apps.
Tweets: @ron_miller, @raju, @afreedma, @weather_west, @davidbernardtv, @capitalweather, and @ericgeller
| Mike Butcher / TechCrunch: |
Solactive, which provides tailor-made indexing services for ETFs and other index-linked investments, raise €50M from Summit Partners — German fintech Solactive, a technology-enabled provider of indices and index solutions to the global financial services industry …
More:
Business Wire
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Hibob, which provides cloud-based HR management software, raises $70M Series B led by Seek and Israel Growth Partners, sources say at a ~$500M valuation — Productivity software has been getting a major re-examination this year, and human resources platforms — used for hiring, firing … | Jessie Williamson / Outside Online: |
Profile of eBird, a database created in 2002 that is now a global go-to platform for anyone to log bird sightings; over 120M observations are entered per year — In July 1992, two Danish birders visiting Patagonia, Arizona reported the first-ever, mega-rare cinnamon hummingbird in the United States.
Tweets: @jdflynn, @outsidemagazine, @outsidemagazine, @outsidemagazine, and @birdizlife
| Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal: |
Apple and Google to ban mobile apps that use location trackers from data broker X-Mode, after it was revealed X-Mode provided data to US government contractors — After the data broker came under scrutiny for national-security work, tech giants tell app developers to remove trackers or lose access to their operating systems
More:
Engadget and Business Insider
Tweets: @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @samschech, @ohunt, @anthony, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, and @counternotions
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Boast.ai, which develops software that automates the process of claiming R&D tax credits, raises $23M Series A led by Radian Capital — Boast.ai, a startup developing software that automates the process of claiming R&D tax credits, today raised $23 million in venture capital.
More:
BetaKit, TechCrunch, and The Logic
| Bloomberg: |
Nintendo Switch, distributed in China by Tencent, has sold an estimated 1.3M+ units in 2020, almost 2x the combined 2020 sales of PS4 and Xbox One in China — - Nintendo Switch is China's all-time favorite console — Partner Tencent has leveraged mobile and social dominance
Tweets: @gibbogame, @cvxfreak, @arjunkharpal, and @stealth40k
| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
French data protection agency CNIL fines Google $120M and Amazon $42M for placing tracking cookies without consent — France's data protection agency, the CNIL, has slapped Google and Amazon with fines for dropping tracking cookies without consent. — Google has been hit with a total …
More:
Wall Street Journal, BBC, Reuters, The Verge, Bloomberg, Forbes, The Irish Times, CNBC, RFI, MediaNama, and Fortune. Tweets: @mikebutcher. Thanks:@riptari
| Mark Haranas / CRN: |
Kubernetes cloud management startup Weaveworks raises $36.6M Series C led by AWS with participation from GV, Accel, and others, bringing total raised to $60M — Growing at a triple-digit clip, Kubernetes cloud management startup Weaveworks is attracting top- notch investors including AWS, Ericsson and Google Ventures.
Tweets: @crn and @quinnypig
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