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May 12, 2021, 4:00 PM
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Top News

Bloomberg:
US agrees to remove Xiaomi from blacklist that could have restricted American investment in the company, following Xiaomi's lawsuit earlier this year  —  - U.S. to vacate order designating company as military-linked  — Xiaomi had sued U.S. government following the Trump order
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Researcher discovers a series of vulnerabilities, known as Frag Attacks, impacting Wi-Fi devices from the past 24 years, even when WEP and WPA are activated  —  A Belgian security researcher has discovered a series of vulnerabilities that impact the WiFi standard, with some bugs dating …
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Review of Asus' new ZenFone 8 flagship, available for $599-$799: thoughtful and compact design, robust build, and great performance, but battery life is average  —  The ZenFone 8 delivers flagship-level build quality and performance in a small package  —  After a couple of generations making phones …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Epic v. Apple is shining a light on Apple's anti-steering rules, which prevent developers from pointing users to better deals on their website or elsewhere  —  Would ending anti-steering rules fix the App Store?  —  Last week, the judge in Epic v. Apple asked whether Epic really had an antitrust case …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Researcher details an exploit for Apple's Find My network that allows packets of arbitrary data to be transmitted by simulating a Find My broadcast  —  The Find My network is used by Apple to report locations of items and devices via the data connection of any nearby iPhone, Mac, or other Apple device.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Amazon updates the Echo Show 8 and 5 with better cameras, the ability to turn on Alexa's security mode, and adds a $95 Kids Edition of the Echo Show 5  —  Plus a price drop for the Echo Show 5  —  Amazon is refreshing a handful of products in its Echo line: the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 5 …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Instagram will let users list up to four pronouns on their profiles, viewable to friends or the public, available in a “few countries”  —  You can make this public or only viewable to friends  —  Instagram is making it easier to address people by their defined pronouns.
Maya Gebeily / Reuters:
Instagram and Twitter apologize for deleting pro-Palestine posts, blaming technical errors, but critics say their “discriminatory” algorithms are to blame  —  Instagram and Twitter have blamed technical errors for deleting posts mentioning the possible eviction of Palestinians …
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
The US cable industry sees Biden's broadband plan as a grave threat because its language favors fiber and prioritizes funding for locally owned networks  —  The Biden administration's broadband plan read like a dream come true to Donnel Baird.  The $2 trillion American Jobs Plan …
Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon wins appeal over $300M EU tax bill, as EU court annuls a 2017 decision, saying regulators had failed to prove that the company got an illegal advantage  —  Ruling deals a setback to EU competition chief who is seeking to rein in U.S. tech giants  —  Amazon. com Inc. struck a new blow …
Sonia Faleiro / Rest of World:
An in-depth look at how a team of fact-checkers at Alt News in India is struggling against misinformation spread by the ruling BJP party on Facebook services  —  As the pandemic rages across the country, one team of fact-checkers contends with a post-truth dystopia.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Cloudflare, which is already doing all of its computing on the edge, is uniquely suited to a world where politics matter more than economics  —  Manage your Stratechery subscription.  —  Matthew Prince, at the end of his prepared remarks after Cloudflare's recent earnings report, related a story from the company's earliest days:
Tweets: @stratechery
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Deep dive on the DarkSide ransomware gang, which pressures victims into paying via phone calls by affiliates, DDoS attacks, and threats of tipping short sellers  —  The FBI confirmed this week that a relatively new ransomware group known as DarkSide is responsible for an attack …
Erika Kinetz / Associated Press:
Investigation: an army of fake bots covertly amplify Chinese propaganda on Twitter by retweeting posts from diplomats and state media tens of thousands of times  —  BRUSSELS (AP) — China's ruling Communist Party has opened a new front in its long, ambitious war to shape global public opinion: Western social media.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
FBI warns that cybercriminals are abusing search ads to promote phishing sites, often targeting banks, a growing trend since at least mid-2020  —  The Federal Bureau of Investigation says that cybercrime gangs are using search results and search engine ads to lure victims on phishing sites …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Big Time Studios, started by ex-CEO of Decentraland, comes out of stealth with $21M to let game studios offer NFTs in their games  —  Did you miss GamesBeat Summit 2021?  Watch on-demand here!  —  Big Time Studios is going big this week with a funding round of $21 million to bring nonfungible tokens …
More: Bloomberg and CoinDesk
Michael Holden / Reuters:
UK unveils Online Safety Bill which would fine social media firms up to 10% of revenue or £18M if they fail to address online abuses such as racist hate crimes  —  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday a planned new law would see social media companies fined up to 10% of turnover …
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: blockchain-based gaming infrastructure startup Forte raises $185M Series B at a $1B post-money valuation led by Griffin Gaming Partners  —  Forte, a blockchain-based gaming infrastructure startup, recently agreed to raise $185 million at around a $1 billion post-money valuation, according to multiple sources.
Tweets: @danprimack

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:00 PM ET, May 12, 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.

From Mediagazer

Committee to Protect Journalists:
After the building fire, Hong Kong summoned AFP, FT, NYT, AP, Bloomberg, and WSJ journalists, telling them to avoid “trouble making”, and arrested a commentator

Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Samba TV raised up to $60M in venture debt to scale through acquisitions and new AI-powered measurement tools; Samba previously raised $69M in equity funding

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Academy reports fiscal 2025 revenues of $269.2M, up from $263.1M in 2024, after cutting expenses from $220.1M to $208.1M; Oscars revenue grew to $150.5M

More News

Sheelah Kolhatkar / New Yorker:
Profile of Robinhood, whose goal of democratizing finance stems from the Occupy Wall Street movement, as critics fear the app will only reinforce the wealth gap

Earlier Picks

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Acquco, a NY-based startup founded by former Amazon employees that buys and scales Amazon third party sellers, raises $160M Series A in debt and equity
Riley de León / CNBC:
Online mortgage service Better.com to go public via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp. at $7.7B valuation; deal includes $1.5B SoftBank-led investment
MK Manoylov / The Block:
eBay says it will allow NFTs to be sold on its platform and will add new “capabilities” for blockchain-driven collectibles in the coming months
Anna Cooban / Insider:
WhatsApp details the experience for those who don't agree to its new privacy policy, including losing access to calls, messages, and notifications
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