Techmeme
March 21, 2014, 5:00 PM

Top News

John Frank / Microsoft on the Issues:
Microsoft says Hotmail case met standard for a court order, adds new safeguards to policy  —  Strengthening our policies for investigations  —  Deputy General Counsel & Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft  —  We believe that Outlook and Hotmail email are and should be private.
Alex Hern / Guardian:
Yahoo, Google and Apple also claim right to read user emails  —  Like Microsoft, other webmail giants all reserve the right to read user emails, if ‘deemed necessary’  —  Microsoft is not unique in claiming the right to read users' emails - Apple, Yahoo and Google all reserve that right as well, the Guardian has determined.
Reed Albergotti / Wall Street Journal:
Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Ashton Kutcher join $40M investment round of AI firm Vicarious  —  Zuckerberg, Musk Invest in Artificial-Intelligence Company Vicarious  —  Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook.  Ashton Kutcher portrayed Apple founder Steve Jobs in a movie.
Mike Isaac / Re/code:
Twitter's Sara Haider to join Secret as Android lead, VP of Analytics plans departure as well  —  More Departures at Twitter as VP of Analytics Exits, Android Lead Leaves for Secret  —  Looks like plenty more birds are flying Twitter's coop.  —  Sara Haider, a mobile engineer and technical lead …
Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:
Turkish citizens use Google public DNS to circumvent Twitter ban  —  Turkish citizens use Google to fight Twitter ban  —  Turkish citizens have found away to circumvent yesterday's reported block of Twitter: Google DNS.  —  After being implicated in a corruption scandal through recordings …
Chris Taylor / Mashable:
Ed Christman / Billboard:
Apple Mulls Launching Spotify Rival, Android App as Downloads Decline (Sources)  —  The iPhone maker explores multi-pronged strategy to shore up double-digit drops in iTunes downloads, according to IFPI and RIAA data Apple has opened exploratory talks with senior label executives about the possibility …
Roger Cheng / CNET:
Sprint lays off 330 techs, shutters 55 stores as part of broader cuts  —  Sprint recently cut a significant chunk of its staff dedicated to repairing and refurbishing phones and shut down its slower-performing stores, part of a broader effort to reduce the company's costs in the face of continued financial struggles.
Will Connors / Wall Street Journal:
BlackBerry Suffers Blow as White House Tests Samsung, LG Phones  —  The White House is testing smartphones from Samsung Electronics Corp. and LG Electronics Inc. for internal use, a person familiar with the matter said, threatening one of the last and most high-profile strongholds of BlackBerry Ltd.
Claire Cain Miller / New York Times:
NSA revelations costing companies billions in lost deals and new investment for circumvention  —  Fallout From Snowden Hurting Bottom Line of Tech Companies  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft has lost customers, including the government of Brazil.  —  IBM is spending more than a billion dollars …
Tweets: @clairecm
Tony Romm / Politico:
Barack Obama to meet again with tech CEOs about NSA  —  President Barack Obama will huddle with “tech CEOs” on Friday to “continue his dialogue with them on the issues of privacy, technology, and intelligence,” according to a White House official.  —  The Obama administration declined …
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
After Acquisition, OpenTable Plans To Shut Down Ness On April 21  —  Ness, the personalized restaurant recommendation app acquired by OpenTable last month, now has an expiration date.  The company announced that the app would be discontinued on April 21, just a few months after the acquisition first was announced.
More: App Advice
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Bitcoin software gets fix for weakness that helped bring down Mt. Gox  —  The software driving Bitcoin transactions on the Internet has been updated to fix a weakness that contributed to the downfall of Mt. Gox, once one of the biggest exchanges for the digital currency.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

The Intercept: