Techmeme: Comcast gives 6 months free Internet to the poor and “amnesty” for unpaid bills (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)

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August 5, 2014, 10:35 AM

Top News

Doug Cameron / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Moves Closer to Formal Rules Barring In-Flight Cellphone Calls — Carriers Press for Final Decision to Be Left to Them, Not Transportation Department — The U.S. government is getting closer to its final word on whether to allow cellphone calls on airplanes. And that word appears to be “no.”

Mike Beasley / 9to5Mac:

Apple changing Gatekeeper app signing rules in OS X 10.9.5 & Yosemite, could break some apps — An upcoming change introduced in the latest Mavericks and Yosemite developers previews will require some developers to re-sign their applications and submit updates to the Mac App Store in order to get around Gatekeeper's watchful eye.

More: MacRumors, iMore, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, 9to5Mac, ReadWrite, Inquirer, TUAW, MacNN, SlashGear, MacRumors, BGR, MacRumors, Neowin, MacDailyNews, Softpedia News, iMore, iMore and TechnoBuffalo

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Researcher develops proof-of-concept attack that spoofs wireless key fobs to unlock car doors — Watch This Wireless Hack Pop a Car's Locks in Minutes — Shims and coat hangers are the clumsy tools of last century's car burglars. Modern-day thieves, if they're as clever as Silvio Cesare …

More: SlashGear, Daily Dot and Gizmodo

Tweets: @stevenlevy and @diggtech

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Danny Zappin, Ousted CEO of Maker Studios, Raises $25 Million to Launch Digital Studio — Danny Zappin, who was fired as CEO of Maker Studios and unsuccessfully tried to block a shareholder vote on Disney's acquisition of the mulitchannel network he co-founded, has raised $25 million …

More: Fast Company, Hollywood Reporter, bizjournals, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Tubefilter

Larry Hardesty / MIT News Office:

MIT researchers develop algorithm that extracts audio from silent video footage — Extracting audio from visual information — Algorithm recovers speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag filmed through soundproof glass. — Press Inquiries — Researchers at MIT, Microsoft …

More: Wired.co.uk, Engadget, The Verge, The Next Web, SlashGear, Re/code, TechSpot, BGR, Daily Dot, TIME, Gigaom, Business Insider, Gizmodo and VentureBeat. Tweets: @paulg

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Verizon response to FCC's throttling concerns: everyone's doing it — Verizon Wireless has officially responded to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and his data throttling concerns. The Verge has obtained a copy of the carrier's response, which was written by Kathleen Grillo, the company's SVP of Federal Regulatory Affairs.

More: Washington Post, Re/code, ABC News, Reuters, AppleInsider, Ubergizmo, AppleInsider, CNET, MacRumors, Droid Life, Tech Times and Light Reading

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

IOActive researcher says firmware flaws in communication equipment could leave passenger jets open to attack — Hacker says to show passenger jets at risk of cyber attack — (Reuters) - Cyber security researcher Ruben Santamarta says he has figured out how to hack the satellite communications equipment …

More: Inquirer, Tech Times, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, The Daily Caller, TechSpot, BGR, CNET, SlashGear, SC Magazine UK, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Ubergizmo, DailyTech, Geek.com and NPR

Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:

Uber launches People's Uber, a no-profit ridesharing service in Beijing — Some people might criticize alternative cab service Uber for taking in lots of money through its surge-pricing system for increasing prices when demand is high. But the startup has been lowering its prices …

More: The Verge and VatorNews

Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times:

Gannett Said Near Deal to Buy Rest of Cars.com for $1.8 Billion — The Gannett Company is near a deal to buy the 73 percent of Cars.com that it does not already own for $1.8 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Monday, giving the media company complete control over the online car-sales website.

More: Gannett Company, Inc, Bloomberg, BuzzMachine, Reuters and Wall Street Journal. See also Mediagazer

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Comcast gives 6 months free Internet to the poor and “amnesty” for unpaid bills — Low-income families get cheap Internet access from Comcast. — Flickr user: Karen Bryan — After complaints about a program that offers cheap Internet service to poor people, Comcast today announced it will provide …

More: Comcast Voices Blog, Comcast, The Verge, Electronista, Gizmodo, Maximum PC, Technical.ly Philly, Baltimore Sun, Engadget, Re/code, PC Magazine, Digital Trends, Washington Post, Multichannel News and SlashGear

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

NFL Now app with on-demand highlights and extensive archives coming to Apple TV this month — NFL Now app coming to Apple TV this month — The NFL will be launching a new NFL Now service later this month, and it will be coming to the Apple TV with a dedicated application …

More: USA Today, everythingiCafe, TechnoBuffalo, Macworld, iPhone in Canada Blog, App Advice, The Verge, CNET, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, App Advice, iDownloadBlog.com, SlashGear, MacNN, iMore, MacRumors and MacDailyNews. Thanks:@markgurman

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

comScore acquires MdotLabs, aims to curb ad fraud — Summary: ComScore said its aim is to eradicate non-human traffic from its audience and advertising measurements with MdotLabs' technology. — ComScore, which tracks and analyzes Web and mobile audience reach, said Monday it will acquire MdotLabs, which monitors non-human traffic.

More: AdExchanger, WebProNews, PR Newswire, VentureBeat, Xconomy and Wall Street Journal

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