Techmeme
November 17, 2021, 4:30 PM

Top News

Ian Sherr / CNET:
Apple announces Self Service Repair, a program starting next year that will publish repair manuals, let customers buy parts and tools, and more  —  The tech giant says it will publish repair manuals and allow everyday customers to buy the same parts and tools certified technicians and repair shops use.
Sam Dean / Los Angeles Times:
LA's iconic Staples Center to be renamed as Crypto.com Arena, sources say in a deal worth $700M+ for 20 years  —  Staples Center is getting a new name for Christmas: Crypto.com Arena.  —  The downtown Los Angeles venue — home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks …
Bloomberg:
Amazon tells UK customers it won't accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK from January 19, 2022, citing high transaction fees  —  - Customers told the change will come into effect in Jan. 2022  — Amazon cites high fees charged by Visa as reason for change
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it is shutting down its standalone mobile messaging app Threads by December 31  —  Instagram's standalone messaging app Threads is shutting down.  The app will no longer be supported by the end of December 2021, the company confirmed to TechCrunch after reports began circulating …
Shannon Liao / Washington Post:
Over 100 Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout on Tuesday, the second in four months, demanding CEO Bobby Kotick step down, after a WSJ report  —  This story has been updated from a previous version.  —  IRVINE, Calif. — Employees at beleaguered video game company Activision Blizzard walked …
Shannon Liao / Washington Post:
A group of shareholders owning less than 1% of Activision Blizzard calls for CEO Bobby Kotick and two of its longest serving board members to resign  —  A day after Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout and called for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick and several other executives …
Wall Street Journal:
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over copyright infringement for selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts; Miramax says it owns screenplay rights  —  Miramax filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Quentin Tarantino of copyright infringement by selling NFTs based on the screenplay for “Pulp Fiction.”
Axios:
Analysis: the top five most-followed accounts on TikTok do not rank in the top 50 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram  —  The creator economy has produced thousands of social media entrepreneurs who have built mega-audiences in the millions — larger than many media companies.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Netlify, which offers a cloud-based service for automating web development projects, raises a $105M Series D at a $2B valuation, bringing funding to $200M+  —  Sign up here.  —  Netlify, a platform as a service that builds, deploys, and hosts websites and apps, today announced …
Reuters:
Profile of Vignesh Sundaresan, aka MetaKovan, who bought the $69M Beeple NFT, as customers and investors in his companies say they lost millions of dollars  —  Vignesh Sundaresan, aka MetaKovan, has amassed a digital art collection worth tens of millions of dollars.  His path to riches was sometimes rocky.
Nina Bambysheva / Forbes:
Nym Technologies, which provides network-level privacy through its blockchain-based “mixnet”, raises a $13M Series A led by a16z at a $270M valuation  —  I cover cryptocurrencies and other applications of blockchain  —  Working to make the internet more private …
Joe Woelfel / Barron's Online:
Baidu beats in Q3 with revenue of $4.95B, up 13% YoY, Core revenue of $3.83B, up 15% YoY, and losses of $2.6B; stock down 5%+  —  Baidu, the Chinese search-engine giant, reported a third-quarter loss of 16.6 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) after recording significant charges, but revenue jumped 13% and beat analysts' estimates.
More: Baidu
Brandy Betz / CoinDesk:
Anoma Foundation, which offers a blockchain for exchanging cryptocurrencies at the best market rate, raises $26M led by Polychain Capital at a $260M valuation  —  Polychain Capital led the round, which valued Anoma at $260 million.  —  The Anoma Foundation, a blockchain technology company …
More: Decrypt
Peter Guest / Rest of World:
Singapore, which is often portrayed as an aspiring techno-utopia, is edging closer to a surveillance state amid a nationwide move toward constant vigilance  —  In the “smart nation,” robot dogs enforce social distancing and an app can claim to neutralize racism.  The reality is very different.

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Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Todd Spangler / Variety: