Techmeme: Ratchet provisions, which promise investors guaranteed returns after IPO, increasingly common (Telis Demos/Wall Street Journal)

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December 28, 2013, 3:30 PM

Top News

Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:

Chromebooks' success punches Microsoft in the gut — Amazon, NPD Group trumpet sales of the bare-bones laptops in 2013 to consumers and businesses — Chromebooks had a very good year, according to retailer Amazon.com and industry analysts. — And that's bad news for Microsoft.

More: AndroidHeadlines.com, gHacks Technology News, Scripting News, SlashGear, CNET, Business Insider and OStatic blogs. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

If not the NSA, who should store the phone data? — A measure that President Obama is considering as a way to curb the National Security Agency's mass storage of phone data is already facing resistance — not only from the intelligence community but also from privacy advocates, the phone industry and some lawmakers.

Tweets: @glynmoody, @hfuhs, @csoghoian and @digiphile

David Kravets / Wired:

Obama's NSA Phone Spying Reforms Might Make Things Worse — President Barack Obama turned heads just days before Christmas when he announced that he is “seriously” considering following the recommendations set forth by an advisory panel, which he appointed, that suggested a major overhaul …

More: The Switch, Gizmodo, Associated Press and Boing Boing

Nitasha Tiku / Valleywag:

Paul Graham Says Women “Haven't Been Hacking For the Past 10 Years” — The Information just proved that it's worth the $400 price of admission. On display in an interview with Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham is the clearest picture of Silicon Valley's unacknowledged sexism to ever find its way in print.

More: Yahoo! News and The Information. Tweets: @alexia, @alex, @tolles, @nitashatiku, @semil, @alex, @alex, @nitashatiku, @valleywag, @paulg, @brycecovert, @ginatrapani, @paulg, @msquinn, @clarajeffery, @mbaratz, @heymatthenry, @antoniogm, @evelynrusli, @matlock, @skinny, @dhh, @tomcoates, @pegobry, @samfbiddle, @mikeloukides, @tomcoates, @riklomas, @antoniogm, @lucymarcus, @wadhwa, @haacked, @dhmspector, @nitashatiku, @house, @ohthatflo, @krystynheide, @debcha, @seldo and @mat

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

As US fiber buildouts spur competion, benefiting consumers, threats to net neutrality loom — How US Internet service might get better—and worse—in 2014 — 2013, like just about every year before it, was the year nearly all of us complained about our Internet service. — “It's too slow!” we said.

The Weekly Wonk:

FCC chairman and former cable lobbyist Tom Wheeler appears to waffle on net neutrality

More: Gigaom. Tweets: @xamat, @nytimesbits and @mediaredef

CoinText.com:

US Department of Treasury's FinCEN backtracks, says Bitcoin miners are not considered money transmitters and don't need to register with the agency — FinCEN Issues Bitcoin-Friendly Ruling for Miners — The US Department of Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) …

More: SlashGear and newsBTC. Tweets: @polemitis, @keybumpkid and @andrewhires. Thanks:@_trendspotter

Jemima Kiss / Guardian:

Facebook ‘dead and buried to teens’, research finds — Comprehensive European research has found that teens are leaving the service in droves - and the biggest deterrent is their parents — Teens are being put off Facebook by friend requests from their parents Getty

More: Digital Trends, Forbes, Telegraph, BetaNews, SlashGear, The Technology Chronicles, PC Magazine, VentureBeat, ReadWrite, WebProNews, ANIMAL, The Next Web, CNET, Wired, Digital Media Wire, SiliconBeat and InvestorPlace

Tweets: @ian_fraser, @rsarver, @mrianleslie, @jackk, @ruskin147, @emmasadleir, @mikebutcher, @qthrul, @nxthompson and @digiphile

Chris Davies / SlashGear:

NVIDIA Tegra Note 7 update adds Always-On HDR, Android 4.3, more — NVIDIA has updated the Tegra Note 7 to Android 4.3, pushing out a new update this morning which also boosts the DirectStylus pen technology for left-handed tableteers, and adds the much-anticipated AOHDR photography system.

More: NVIDIA and AndroidGuys

Telis Demos / Wall Street Journal:

Ratchet provisions, which promise investors guaranteed returns after IPO, increasingly common — Startups Ratchet Up the Risk With Share Promises — Some Early Investors Get Guaranteed Return on Money — As the battle for financing heats up, some startups are making big promises …

Tweets: @drmarkcampbell and @dmac1

Jordan Robertson / Bloomberg:

A New Twist in International Relations: The Corporate Keep-My-Data-Out-of-the-U.S. Clause — By now, we've heard from tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Cisco Systems that the National Security Agency's spying poses a threat to their international business and, in Cisco's case, is already hurting it.

More: Gigaom. Tweets: @paulnemitz

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Google received 235 million DMCA takedown requests in 2013, discarded 9% — Google Discarded 21,000,000 Takedown Requests in 2013 — Since last year copyright holders have started to increase the number of DMCA takedown requests they send to Google. — In 2011 Google was asked …

More: Softpedia News, SlashGear and BGR

Wall Street Journal:

Behind UPS's Christmas Eve Snafu — Unexpected Surge in Online Orders Overwhelmed Louisville, Ky., Hub. In the earliest hours of Dec. 24, packages poured into United Parcel Service Inc. 's main air hub in Louisville, Ky. And they were piling up. Employees responsible for sorting packages …

More: Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com and New York Times. Tweets: @sbanjo, @mikemosswtop and @jeff_jordan

Om Malik / Gigaom:

Dear Quartz, maybe it's you that needs new glasses and a map. 2013 was not a lost year for tech — If anything, in 2013 it became even more fashionable for some of our fellow scribes and righteous founders to lament the lack of innovation in Silicon Valley.

More: Daring Fireball, Trends, PandoDaily, Gigaom Research and Silicon Valley Watcher

Tweets: @antderosa, @chrisyeh, @adamdawood, @monkbent, @rags, @bznotes, @jayrosen_nyu, @eldon and @katiefehren

Thanks:@jeffjohnroberts

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:

The Year Megaplatforms Ruled The Internet

More: Valleywag and The Switch. Tweets: @ryanlawler, @oliverburkeman, @millie and @anildash

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