Skype's Twitter, Facebook, and blog hacked by Syrian Electronics Army demanding an end to spying  —  We're not even through the first day of 2014 and cyber attacks are back again.  Earlier today, some person(s) breached Skype's security and hacked its Twitter account, Facebook page, and blog.

Happy Re/new Year!  —  We are thrilled to announce that we are forming our own new and independent media company, Revere Digital, with a pair of respected investors and partners — the NBCUniversal News Group and Terry Semel's Windsor Media.  Revere will be operating news sites and apps, as well as a series of conferences.

Nest Raising Huge New Round From DST, Valuing Smart Home Startup at Upwards of $2 Billion  —  Nest Labs, the innovative smart home startup, is close to completing a deal to raise upwards of $150 million in a new round of financing that values it at more than $2 billion, according to sources close to the situation.

NYT editorial board calls for clemency or a plea bargain for Snowden  —  Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower  —  Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency's reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe …

LG's webOS TV revealed in leaked image  —  LG has been rumored to be planning a webOS resurrection for a TV, and now a leaked image appears to offer the first look at the upcoming television.  Evleaks has posted a photo of the rumored LG webOS TV, and the image includes a brief look at the webOS Cards interface.

AOL Sells Winamp And Shoutcast Music Services To Online Radio Aggregator Radionomy  —  Some more detail on the fate of Winamp and Shoutcast, the legacy digital music services that owner AOL (which also owns TechCrunch) originally planned to shut down but then halted pending a sale.

Firms Offer Re-Engineered Phones,Encryption After NSA Revelations … PARIS—A crypto war is coming to your pocket.  —  In the Paris area, two security contractors are jumping into a burgeoning market for secure mobile phones and encrypted communications as revelations of widespread U.S …

Amazon starts charging sales tax in Indiana, Nevada, and Tennessee  —  New Year Rings in Sales Tax for Amazon Shoppers in Three States  —  Attention Amazon.com shoppers in Indiana, Nevada and Tennessee: Starting Wednesday, you'll have to pay sales tax on your purchases.

Alleged Snapchat hackers explain how and why they leaked data on 4.6 million accounts  —  The individual or team claiming responsibility for SnapchatDB has responded to The Verge's requests for comment the morning after the database went online, containing a leaked collection …

The top four tech legal cases to watch in 2014  —  While we're all wiping the champagne-induced sleep from our eyes, inevitably we have to sober up for 2014.  The new year will mark new beginnings for all of us, but it will also mark the continuation (and perhaps conclusion) of a number of high-profile tech legal cases.