Techmeme: Exclusive: EBay recruits users in push against sales tax legislation (Alistair Barr/Reuters)

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April 22, 2013, 10:00 AM

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Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Facebook Home passes 500,000 installations on Google Play one week after launch — Facebook's new Home Android launcher has passed the 500,000 download mark on the Google Play store after a little over a week in the wild, though it continues to accumulate mostly negative reviews and has sunk to an average rating of 2.2.

More: TechCrunch, VentureBeat, BGR, 9to5Google, ZDNet, Inquirer, MobileBurn.com, WebProNews, UnleashThePhones, Electronista, The Register, VatorNews, The Verge, Softpedia News, Ubergizmo, Mobile Entertainment, Forbes, Neowin, PhoneArena, The Droid Guy, Android Beat and Wired. Tweets: @benedictevans

Alistair Barr / Reuters:

Exclusive: EBay recruits users in push against sales tax legislation — (Reuters) - EBay Inc Chief Executive John Donahoe began emailing millions of users of the company's online marketplace on Sunday in an unprecedented lobbying effort to change looming Federal sales tax legislation.

More: Ars Technica, CNET, The Verge, TECH.BLORGE.com and bizjournals

Brendan Sasso / Hillicon Valley:

Senate poised to back Internet sales tax — The Senate is expected to pass legislation this week that would empower states to tax online purchases. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has filed to end debate on the bill, which is called the “Marketplace Fairness Act.”

More: GeekWire, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Karin Matussek / Bloomberg:

Google Fined 145,000 Euros Over Wi-Fi Data Collection in Germany — Google Inc. (GOOG), operator of the world's largest Internet search engine, was fined 145,000 euros ($189,230) by a German regulator for collecting wireless-network data by its cars taking photos for the Street View service.

More: New York Times, The Verge, Engadget, ZDNet, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, Hillicon Valley, TechCrunch, NEWS.com.au, Associated Press, Computerworld and SlashGear

Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:

Google Now for Google's Homepage in Testing — It looks like Google Now won't be limited to Android, iOS and Chrome, it will also be added to Google's homepage. Some code from a page that's tested by Google offers more information about this feature. … That's how Google introduces the new feature.

More: Engadget, The Next Web, TechCrunch, Softpedia News and Neowin

BBC:

Google boss defends UK tax record to BBC — Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has defended his company paying just £6m in UK corporation tax. — His comments came after a committee of MPs last year denounced multinationals - including Google - who pay little tax on their UK earnings, as “immoral”.

More: Telegraph, Inquirer, The Register, Reuters, Stop The Cyborgs, SlashGear, Forbes and Tech Digest

Reuters:

Apple's dimming luster roils suppliers, investors — (Reuters) - Apple Inc marketing chief Phil Schiller let slip during last August's courtroom battle with Samsung that when setting forecasts for new iPhones, the inside joke was that people should assume sales would equal all previous versions combined.

More: TechEye, iPhone and Cult of Mac

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

The rise and fall of AMD: How an underdog stuck it to Intel — In part one of this two-part series, we look at the evolution of AMD from a second-source supplier for companies using Intel processors towards CEO Hector Ruiz's ideal of a “premium” chipmaker that could sell to the likes of Dell and Intel.

More: iDownloadBlog.com

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Comedy Central to Host Comedy Festival on Twitter — Next week, Comedy Central will host a five-day comedy festival that includes a lineup of legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner alongside popular young comics like Amy Schumer and the director Paul Feig. — But there will be no smoky comedy clubs.

More: CNET, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Softpedia News, The Inquisitr and The Verge. See also Mediagazer

Ian Steadman / Wired.co.uk:

Japanese police ask ISPs to start blocking Tor … The authorities in Japan are so worried about their inability to tackle cybercrime that they are asking ISPs there to block the use of Tor. — According to The Mainichi, the National Police Agency (NPA, a bit like the Japanese FBI) …

More: BBC, ZDNet, TechEye, SlashGear and The Register

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

Boston police chief: facial recognition tech didn't help find bombing suspects — While the whole country is relieved that this past week's Boston Marathon bombing ordeal and subsequent lockdown of the city is finally over, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told the Washington Post …

More: Felix Salmon, Washington Post, IPVM, CNET, NYT Bits, AllThingsD, The Week Magazine, Gizmodo and Mercury News. Tweets: @nycjim. See also Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:

The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution — Google's Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, fresh from a visit to North Korea in January, on why the Internet is far from an unalloyed good to the citizens of dictatorships around the world. — How do you explain to people that they are a YouTube sensation …

More: Guardian and Guardian. Tweets: @garyrosenwsj and @ericschmidt

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