GCHQ, aided by NSA, intercepted and stored webcam images of millions of global Yahoo users  —  UK spy agency intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users  —  • Optic Nerve program collected Yahoo webcam images in bulk  —  • 1.8m users targeted by GCHQ in six-month period alone

Yellen on Bitcoin: Fed Doesn't Have Authority to Regulate It in Any Way … Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the central bank doesn't have the authority to regulate bitcoin.  —  “The Federal Reserve simply does not have authority to supervise or regulate bitcoin in any way,” …

Amazon Talks to Music Labels About a Streaming Service  —  Amazon gives away movies and TV shows to people who join its Amazon Prime subscription service.  When will it start giving away music, too?  —  Maybe this year.  People have been predicting that Amazon would offer a Spotify …

Google donates $6.8 million to fund free transit rides for San Francisco youth  —  Amid widespread protests over tech companies' use of public transit infrastructure, Google said today it would fund two years of free transit rides for San Francisco youth.  The $6.8 million grant …

Andreessen Offers Defense in Wake of Icahn's eBay Criticism  —  Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen defended the corporate-governance practices of the technology industry and said he recuses himself from boardroom discussions that could involve companies his firm is backing.

Here's How The Comcast & Netflix Deal Is Structured, With Data & Numbers  —  There's been a lot of speculation involving the business and technical details surrounding the recent deal between Comcast and Netflix and plenty of wrong numbers and information being used.

Hands-free Google Voice Search in Chrome  —  If you've ever tried to cook and search at the same time—say, when your hands are covered in flour and you need to know how many ounces are in a cup—you know it can be tricky.  With the latest Chrome Beta, you can search by voice on Google—no typing, clicking or hand-washing required.

It's official: Google Barge moving to Stockton  —  The guessing game about Google Barge's future destination after leaving its current construction site on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is over.  —  CNET has confirmed that Google Barge will be heading to Stockton, Calif. (a move we first reported was imminent).

“Free-to-play” shouldn't include in-app purchases, says European Commission  —  The European Commission has begun talks with tech companies and authorities to crack down on misleadingly advertised “free” games and apps.  —  “Consumers and in particular children need better protection …

California Court: Drivers Can Read Cellphone Maps … FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Drivers in California can legally read a map on their hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.  —  The 5th District Court of Appeal reversed the case of a Fresno man …

Salesforce Q4 Beats Street, as CFO Smith Plans Exit  —  Cloud software company Salesforce.com just announced quarterly earnings results that were slightly better than what analysts had estimated, and the company announced that CFO Graham Smith will retire next year.

ABC will live-stream Oscars on web and mobile only to pay-TV subscribers in select markets  —  ABC Will Live-Stream Oscars to Web, Mobile Apps for First Time — But There's a Catch  —  Alphabet net to offer kudocast through Watch ABC apps and website, accessible only through certain pay-TV partners

How an ad-hoc team of outside coders and troubleshooters revived HealthCare.gov  —  Obama's Trauma Team  —  How an unlikely group of high-tech wizards revived Obama's troubled HealthCare.gov website  —  more than two weeks after the launch of HealthCare.gov—White House chief …

Meet Oppia, Google's New Open Source Project That Allows Anyone To Create An Interactive Learning Experience  —  Google has become an increasingly active participant in the world of education, particularly when it comes to exploring the role technology can play in re-imagining the way we learn.

Netflix engineers experiment with bump-based video sharing and sleep tracking  —  Netflix uses its internal Hack Day competitions to encourage new thinking around its streaming video service, and its latest event has produced a few clever experiments that we wouldn't mind seeing in finished apps.

Apple Explains Exactly How Secure iMessage Really Is  —  Millions and millions of people use iMessage every day.  But how many people know exactly what's going on behind the scenes, or what happens to a message once you send it?  —  Maybe a handful.  Up until now, the vast majority …

Hulu is selling its Japanese service to Nippon TV  —  Hulu Japan is being acquired by the local broadcast giant Nippon TV.  Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the move in a blog post, which read in part: … Hopkins said that the service had grown to a size where a sale to a strategic buyer made sense.