Techmeme: Australian Attorney General Wants To Make It A Criminal Offense To Not Turn Over Private Encryption Keys (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)

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March 17, 2014, 11:35 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft Office for iPad will be unveiled this month — Satya Nadella is planning to host his first press event as Microsoft CEO next week. The software maker has been inviting members of the media to a special cloud- and mobile-focused event in San Francisco on March 27th.

More: ZDNet, LiveSide.net, Computerworld, Re/code, Bloomberg, LAPTOP Magazine, GeekWire, everythingiCafe, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Reuters, Gotta Be Mobile, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, Pocketnow, Cult of Mac, WinBeta, iDownloadBlog.com and SlashGear. Tweets: @backlon

Matt Brian / Engadget:

Apple reportedly launching a cheaper 8GB iPhone 5c on March 18th (updated) — Apple doesn't talk about how many iPhone 5c devices it sells, but the rumors are that it's not doing as well as its two siblings. According to leaked documents from O2 Germany, Cupertino is looking to boost …

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Lightning iPad 4 could make its return tomorrow alongside 8GB iPhone 5c — Indications from several sources (including our own) indicate that the iPhone 5c is set to see an expansion tomorrow with a less-expensive, lower-capacity 8GB model. But that might not be only Apple iOS device reshuffle announcement for tomorrow.

More: MacRumors, iMore, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, iDownloadBlog.com, The Mac Observer, TechnoBuffalo and iLounge. Tweets: @markgurman

Steven Millward / Tech in Asia:

iPhone 5c reportedly accounts for 2% of active iOS devices in China, compared to 12% for iPhone 5s, and 15% for iPhone 5

More: Cult of Mac, Benedict Evans, App Advice, CNET and BGR

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

This is Healthbook, Apple's major first step into health & fitness tracking — Seven years out from the original iPhone's introduction, and four years past the iPad's launch, Apple has found its next market ripe for reinvention: the mobile healthcare and fitness-tracking industry.

Jan Koum / WhatsApp Blog:

WhatsApp founder: Facebook “partnership” won't change values, not collecting new data on users — Setting the record straight — Since announcing our upcoming partnership with Facebook, we've been truly humbled by how much attention our story has received.

More: iPhone Hacks, Phandroid, Wall Street Journal, CrackBerry.com, The Switch, Business Insider, VatorNews, N4BB, The Verge, Consumerist, SlashGear, AndroidGuys and WebProNews

Tweets: @alex, @counternotions, @kaepora and @kaepora

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Set Top Box Will Be A Dongle Like Chromecast, Could Feature OnLive-Style Streaming — Amazon is readying a game console/set top box of its own, and we've learned from multiple sources familiar with the device that the Lab126-produced gadget will have a form factor similar to the Chromecast …

More: The Verge, TechHive, Digital Trends, Electronista, Liliputing, TechSpot, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, Engadget and BGR. Tweets: @zseward

See also Mediagazer

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Seattle limits number of ride-sharing drivers on the road to 150 per company at any given time — Seattle City Council approves cap on Lyft, UberX, Sidecar drivers — Councilmember Mike O'Brien speaks at Monday's Seattle City Council meeting. — After nearly one year of deliberation …

More: Gigaom, TechCrunch and KPLU News for Seattle …

Tweets: @avitaniainsea, @naveen_jain_ceo and @levie

John Arlidge / TIME:

Apple Designer Jonathan Ive Talks About Steve Jobs and New Products — Apple's design chief helped transform computing, phones and music. The company's secrecy and Ive's modesty mean he has never given an in-depth interview—until now. John Arlidge 5:45 AM ET 'Hello.

More: The Sunday Times, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac, Guardian, TechnoBuffalo, Tech Trader Daily, TUAW, Computerworld, Business Insider, The Verge, PadGadget and Engadget

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Airbnb hopes to offer services for “the entire trip”, including transport, cleaning, and more — Inside Airbnb's Grand Hotel Plans — HOW BRIAN CHESKY, THE MILLENNIAL IMPRESARIO BEHIND RED-HOT AIRBNB, TEAMED UP WITH CHIP CONLEY, THE HOTEL INDUSTRY'S LAST BLACK-SHEEP INNOVATOR …

More: TechCrunch and Business Insider. Tweets: @ebboyd, @thenickfrost, @austincarr, @rafat and @dmac1. Thanks:@_trendspotter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Dropbox Acquires Zulip, A Stealthy Workplace Chat Solution Still In Private Beta — Dropbox has quietly acquired Zulip, the makers of a workplace chat solution for desktop and mobile, which had yet to publicly launch. Though still in private beta at the time of the acquisition …

More: VentureBeat and Ubergizmo

Will Oremus / Slate:

Quakebot algorithm reacts to alerts from U.S. Geological Survey, writes story for LA Times — The First News Report on the L.A. Earthquake Was Written by a Robot — Ken Schwencke, a journalist and programmer for the Los Angeles Times, was jolted awake at 6:25 a.m. on Monday by an earthquake.

More: TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times, Nieman Journalism Lab, Poynter and Business Insider. Tweets: @adamclarkestes

See also Mediagazer

Gawker:

GitHub co-founder on leave is Tom Preston-Werner, wife said to have intimidated others at the company — Meet the Married Duo Behind Tech's Biggest New Harassment Scandal — Sam Biddle and Nitasha Tiku — GitHub, an immensely popular and influential social network for software code …

More: CNET, Wired, PandoDaily, Global Nerdy, Gigaom and Business Insider

Tweets: @therealdvorak, @jbrodkin, @nitashatiku, @adrjeffries, @mikeisaac and @tpdubs2

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft launches free OneNote for Mac, freemium OneNote for Windows, and OneNote cloud API for apps — Microsoft today revealed three major announcements regarding its OneNote offering: a free version of OneNote for Mac, a freemium version of OneNote for Windows, and a new cloud API …

TechCrunch:

Microsoft's Free OneNote Hints At Its Larger Strategy

More: SuperSite for Windows, The Windows Blog and TechnoBuffalo

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Comcast and Time Warner Cable lost 1.1 million video customers in 2013 — Comcast, Time Warner Cable (TWC), and all other top cable companies lost pay-TV subscribers in 2013, but the companies were able to boost their total broadband Internet subscribers, according to research by Leichtman Research Group.

More: Rapid TV News, WorldScreen.com, Leichtman Research Group, FierceCable, Digital Trends, Broadband TV News, DSLreports and VentureBeat

See also Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:

YouTube Enlists ‘Trusted Flaggers’ to Police Videos — Google has given roughly 200 people and organizations, including a British police unit, the ability to “flag” up to 20 YouTube videos at once to be reviewed for violating the site's guidelines. — The Financial Times last week reported …

More: Engadget, The Information, Naked Security, Tubefilter, The Verge and Gizmodo UK. Tweets: @lisafleisher

See also Mediagazer

Dan Froomkin / The Intercept:

Department of Homeland Security gets license plate data from private sector, doesn't need its own system — Reports of the Death of a National License-Plate Tracking Database Have Been Greatly Exaggerated — Screengrab from Vigilant Solutions YouTube demo of its location-tracking service.

Tweets: @dustinslaughter

Washington Post:

Government computers running Windows XP will be vulnerable to hackers after April 8 — The deadline for installing secure operating systems on federal government computers will pass next month with the job incomplete, leaving hundreds of thousands of machines running outdated software and unusually vulnerable to hackers.

More: Techdirt and Digital Trends. Tweets: @csoghoian

Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:

Dorian S. Nakamoto hires lawyer to ‘clear his name’ of bitcoin claim — Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto insists he is not the creator of bitcoin. (Jonathan Alcorn / Bloomberg / March 13, 2014) — Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto of Temple City, the man recently named by Newsweek as the mysterious creator of bitcoin …

More: Newsweek, Engadget, TechCrunch, New York Times, Quartz, VentureBreak, The Switch, The Verge, CNET, Gawker, Digital Trends, Betabeat, Mashable, Boing Boing, Salon, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal and Consumerist

Tweets: @felixsalmon and @mikko

Thanks:@obrien. See also Mediagazer

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Australian Attorney General Wants To Make It A Criminal Offense To Not Turn Over Private Encryption Keys — The Attorney-General's department in Australia is apparently pushing for new laws down under that would force anyone who's asked to hand over their private encryption keys — and that covers both end users and service providers.

More: Sydney Morning Herald, iTnews.com.au, Delimiter, Boing Boing, TechEye and Slashdot. Tweets: @csoghoian

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Paper Does Its First Content Collaboration With Exclusives From TED — In hopes of luring in fresh audiences, Facebook Paper announced its first experiment in working with an outside group to populate the Ideas section of its stylized content reader standalone app.

More: The Next Web, Re/code, VentureBeat, and Inside Facebook

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Apple flips the switch on paid chat support, introduces Here to Help program for AppleCare employees — Following our report late last month that Apple was preparing to start charging for out-of-warranty online chat support, we've been informed that today Apple support has finally flipped …

More: AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks and The Mac Observer. Thanks:@justinkahnmusic

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