Techmeme: Net neutrality looks doomed in Europe before it even gets started (David Meyer/Gigaom)

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November 21, 2014, 12:00 PM

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Chet Kanojia / All Aereo:

Aereo files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, says “challenges have proven too difficult to overcome” — The Next Chapter — A little over three years ago, the team at Aereo set out to build a better television experience for the consumer. — We began this journey because we were frustrated …

Dennis Schaal / Skift:

Sources: Amazon to launch hotel booking service in January 2015 — Exclusive: Amazon to Get Into Hotel Booking With Launch of Travel Site — Amazon.com is poised to launch its own travel service, featuring booking at independent hotels and resorts near major cities, Skift has learned.

More: PC Magazine, The Next Web, Street Fight, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, Neowin, VatorNews, Inc.com, TechSpot, Engadget, Electronista, GeekWire, WebProNews, Mashable and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @johnlegere, @vijayshekhar, @rolfewinkler and @monkbent

Sean Hollister / Gizmodo:

How Magic Leap Is Secretly Creating a New Alternate Reality — Don't you hate it when someone claims to have a magical new technology, but won't tell you how it works? When I saw that a super stealthy startup called Magic Leap had raised $542 million to make animals appear out of thin air …

More: Turnstyle and PSFK. Tweets: @tamsword

Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:

PCH International In Talks To Buy Fab For $15 Million — Multiple sources have confirmed that Fab is in talks to sell to PCH International for $15 million, and possibly as much as $50 million, in a half cash and half stock deal. — Contractual agreements are in the very early stages between …

More: PandoDaily, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal and VentureBeat

Tweets: @tommaxwelll, @om, @evelynrusli, @alex, @trengriffin, @danprimack, @evelynrusli, @liamstack, @mattrosoff and @amir

Thanks:@sarahbuhr

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

Music agents rely on data to identify potential hits, entrenching repetitive, derivative songs — The Shazam Effect — Record companies are tracking download and search data to predict which new songs will be hits. This has been good for business—but is it bad for music?

More: New Yorker, Matt Mullenweg, Gizmodo and Re/code

Tweets: @ttunguz, @petersuderman and @thestalwart

Matthew Weaver / Guardian:

UK moves to shut down Russian hackers streaming live British webcam footage — UK to take action to close down Russian website streaming images from British webcams including baby monitors and those in gyms and bedrooms — The UK is to take international action to close down a Russian website …

More: Guardian, Computerworld, consumer.ftc.gov, ITProPortal, Tech Times, Tech Times, PC Magazine and Agence France-Presse

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Net neutrality looks doomed in Europe before it even gets started — Leaked documents from the Italian presidency of the Council of the European Union show that member states want net neutrality “principles” and “objectives” rather than the strict rules agreed to by the European Parliament earlier this year.

More: EDRi, La Quadrature du Net, ComputerworldUK.com and National Journal

Reuters:

Obama's immigration plans will make it easier for advanced degree holders to work in the US, but won't reduce backlog of H-1B visa holders awaiting green cards — Obama's immigration tweaks leave Big Tech wanting more — (Reuters) - Silicon Valley expects President Barack Obama to make life …

More: New York Times, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Vox, Associated Press, Reuters, Newsweek, Washington Post, Dice News and Computerworld

Geoff White / Channel 4:

UK's Cable and Wireless, bought by Vodafone, helped GCHQ get internet data of millions of worldwide users from undersea cables — Spy cable revealed: how telecoms firm worked with GCHQ — One of the UK's largest communications firms had a leading role in creating the surveillance system exposed …

More: Business Insider, Wired.co.uk, NevilleHobson.com, The Register and The Intercept

Tweets: @koenrh, @geoffwhite247, @geoffwhite247, @geoffwhite247 and @geoffwhite247

Reuters:

Google, Rockstar agree to settle patent litigation: filing — (Reuters) - Google Inc has agreed to settle litigation with patent consortium Rockstar, though terms of the deal were not disclosed in a court filing made public this week. — Rockstar, which counts Apple Inc as an investor …

Re/code:

Re/code drops comments on its site, noting that most discussion takes place on social media — A Note to Re/code Readers — Like all websites, Re/code is in a constant process of iteration. So, starting today, you'll notice a few changes on our site, and we wanted to let you know about them.

More: Macworld and Poynter. Tweets: @antderosa, @inafried, @inafried, @mathewi, @c_davies, @mikeisaac, @digiphile, @fmanjoo and @thestalwart. See also Mediagazer

Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:

Microsoft Adds Skype Chat to Office Online — Hey, you got your Skype in my web browser — If you use Outlook.com or OneDrive, you have probably noticed that you can initiate Skype chats from their web-based UIs. Well, now that capability is coming to some of Office Online …

More: Office Blogs, TechOne3, The Next Web, WinBeta and The Fire Hose

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Google's Project Loon can now launch up to 20 balloons per day, and they fly 10 times longer than in 2013 — Google today shared an update from Project Loon, the company's initiative to bring high-speed Internet access to remote areas of the world via hot air balloons.

More: Project Loon, Engadget, Washington Post, Network World, Mashable, Inc.com, ITProPortal, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, SlashGear and Fast Company. Thanks:@harrisonweber

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Former Fake Steve Jobs and HubSpot content marketer Dan Lyons to head up Valleywag in January — Dan Lyons Used to be Fake Steve Jobs. Now He's the Chief Valleywag. — Valleywag's chief editor Nitasha Tiku just left for the Verge. Here's her replacement: Dan Lyons …

Tweets: @jyarow, @fromedome, @nichcarlson, @glennf, @jyarow, @a_greenberg, @mkapor, @edbott and @joshsternberg. See also Mediagazer

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Exodus of revived Valleywag's original team complete as Nitasha Tiku heads to The Verge to bolster Silicon Valley coverage

More: FishbowlNY and Poynter. Tweets: @nicknotned and @nitashatiku

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