Techmeme
December 22, 2023, 11:20 AM

Top News

Bloomberg:
China publishes draft rules for online gaming, including setting spending limits and banning daily login rewards; Tencent plunges 10%+ and NetEase 20%+  —  - Tencent, NetEase shares dive in Hong Kong after new rules  — Beijing has in recent years sought to combat gaming addiction
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
ScamSniffer: Google and X ads are promoting sites containing a crypto drainer named “MS Drainer” that has stolen $59M from 63,210 victims since March 2023  —  Google and Twitter ads are promoting sites containing a cryptocurrency drainer named ‘MS Drainer’ that has already stolen $59 million …
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie doubles down on not moderating Nazi content, after 200+ authors criticize the company for “platforming and monetizing Nazis”  —  More than 200 Substack authors asked the platform to explain why it's “platforming and monetizing Nazis,” …
New York Times:
Sources: Apple blocking Beeper Mini has caught the attention of the DOJ, which is in the middle of a four-year-old probe into Apple's anticompetitive behavior  —  Beeper Mini, which offers iPhone messaging on Android phones, has grown fast and its duel with the tech giant has gotten the attention of antitrust regulators.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Memo: Apple won't offer hardware swaps for out-of-warranty Watch models going back to Series 6 in the US during the ITC's ban but will offer help via software  —  - Company will only be able to conduct software-based repairs  — Hardware swaps for broken Apple Watches won't be offered in US
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Ethan Gach / Kotaku:
Hacked files show Insomniac's challenges juggling teams, timelines, and budgets amid possible Sony cuts; Spider-Man 2 cost ~$300M, almost 3x Spider-Man's cost  —  Internal documents show how a big PlayStation studio plans its future  —  Insomniac Games quickly established itself …
Max Ramsay / Bloomberg:
EU member states reject a provisional deal that would have required platforms like Uber and Deliveroo to give full employment status to around 5.5M gig workers  —  - Rules will go through further negotiations with EU lawmakers  — Deal could have cost industry billions of euros annually
More: Fast Company
Financial Times:
How SoftBank's $500M bet on US mortgage lender Better, once valued at $7B, backfired; BETR is down 90%+ since its August 2023 IPO after a US SEC investigation  —  Multibillion-dollar investment in start-up soured as interest rates rose and Spac craze ended  —  In April 2021 …
Leo Schwartz / Fortune:
Paxos plans to expand its products to the Solana blockchain on January 17, 2024, after receiving approval from the NY financial regulator  —  The leading stablecoin issuer Paxos has received regulatory approval to expand its products to the Solana blockchain, which it plans to launch on January 17, 2024.
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Spotify pulls support for two music festivals in France, in protest against a new tax that will impose a levy of 1.5% to 1.75% on all music-streaming services  —  Spotify is pulling support for two music festivals in protest against a controversial new tax directed at music-streaming platforms operating …
More: The Verge
Aisha S Gani / Bloomberg:
Revolut publishes delayed 2022 accounts, removing a hurdle in its UK banking license bid; revenue grew 45% YoY to £922.5M, while pretax loss grew to £25.4Mg2  —  - Auditors at BDO say issues for 2021 data have been resolved  — Fintech reports pretax loss; sees $2 billion revenue this year

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