Techmeme
April 16, 2021, 1:30 PM

Top News

Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
A look at Positive Technologies, a Russian cybersecurity firm sanctioned by the US, which sources say provides hacking tools and ops support for Russian spies  —  Washington has sanctioned Russian cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies.  US intelligence reports claim it provides hacking tools and runs operations for the Kremlin.
NBC News:
US sanctions Russia for 2020 election interference and SolarWinds hack, blacklisting six tech companies that provide support to Russian intelligence services  —  The United States is hitting Russia with fresh sanctions for interference in the 2020 presidential election …
Associated Press:
Naaman Zhou / The Guardian:
Australian Federal Court rules Google misled Android users into thinking it would not collect their location data when they turned location history off  —  Google collected data on some Android and Pixel phones even when customers ticked ‘No’ or ‘Do not collect’
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
In a letter to artists, Apple says it pays a penny per stream, roughly double Spotify, which pays an average of about one-third to half a penny per stream  —  Music-streaming services, seeking to win credibility and subscribers, open up about artist payouts
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Firefox and major Chromium browsers, including Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi, decline to join FLoC, Google's proposed ad technology to replace third-party cookies  —  Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, and Mozilla are all out  —  Google is going it alone with its proposed advertising technology to replace third-party cookies.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Apple's App Store hosted kids' games that became crypto-based casinos if launched from some non-US locations  —  Kosta Eleftheriou has found another iOS scam  —  In popular culture, access to an illicit gambling den is as easy as stumbling into the right shop and saying the password — or greasing some palms.
David Priest / CNET:
Jeff Bezos says Amazon Prime now has 200M+ subscribers, up 50M from the beginning of 2020  —  A new letter to shareholders from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that the tech giant's Prime service now has over 200 million subscribers.  That's up 50 million from the beginning of 2020.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Google's Project Zero updates its vulnerability disclosure policy to include a 30-day cushion before publishing bug details to give users time to apply patches  —  The Google Project Zero security team has updated its vulnerability disclosure guidelines today to add a cushion of 30 days …
The Guardian:
Facebook planned to remove a network of fake accounts that artificially inflated the popularity of an MP in India, until it realized it was for a BJP politician  —  Whistleblower points to double standard in Facebook's enforcement of rules against powerful  —  Facebook allowed a network …
Sam Machkovech / Ars Technica:
Executives from Intel, Nvidia, and TSMC say the global chip shortage will likely continue at least into 2022 and maybe into 2023  —  Companies reeling from natural disasters and massive demand from OEMs, consumers.  —  How many years will the ongoing chip shortage affect technology firms across the world?
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that started out as a joke in 2013, now has a market cap of $40B after growing nearly 400% in the past seven days  —  - Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on the “Doge” meme, which rose to popularity in late 2013.  It started out as a joke.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Officials say USAGM CEO Michael Pack and others pushed to subsidize software built by Falun Gong adherents, diverting OTF money from other tech for dissidents  —  Of all the disruptions unleashed by the Trump White House on how the federal government typically works, the saga of one small project …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
The central nervous system of your business  —  Used by 80% of Fortune 100 companies, Airtable combines AI with the scale of an infinitely flexible, no-code system.  With all your data in one place, it's like mission control for your company.
Intel:
5G's most deployed platform  —  Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN.  That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
Zoho MCP: Launching the future of work  —  Picture your SDR's Monday morning.A deal just closed.  Normally that means: update the CRM record, create a Books invoice, open a Desk ticket for onboarding …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Cheeky Pint:
Bret Taylor of Sierra on AI agents, outcome-based pricing, and the OpenAI board
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Invest Like the Best:
Shyam Sankar - Celebrating Heretics
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Sierra Is Pulling Ahead in the AI Race | Co-founder Bret Taylor
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The most successful AI company you've never heard of | Qasar Younis
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Revenue Explodes, Dario's Memo, McDonald's CEO's Baby Burger Bite
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World
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 1:30 PM ET, April 16, 2021.

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.

More News

Megan Graham / CNBC:
Reuters:
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Cameron Faulkner / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Wall Street Journal:
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Politico:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac: