Techmeme
December 19, 2014, 4:20 PM

Top News

FBI:
FBI concludes that the North Korean government is responsible for Sony Pictures hack  —  Update on Sony Investigation … Today, the FBI would like to provide an update on the status of our investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).
Re/code:
Obama calls Sony canceling The Interview a “mistake”, says North Korea acted alone; White House contemplating “proportional response”  —  President Obama Says Sony Made “Mistake” in Canceling “The Interview” Film  —  President Obama, speaking at his year-end presser …
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
In new email sent to Sony executives, hackers threaten further release of “sensitive data” pending any “additional trouble”  —  Source: Hackers send new message to Sony  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney)  —  The hackers behind a devastating cyberattack at Sony Pictures …
Rhiannon Williams / Telegraph:
Apple CEO Tim Cook is “deeply offended” by the BBC's labor abuse allegations  —  Apple goes to war with the BBC  —  Exclusive: Chief executive Tim Cook ‘deeply offended’ by allegations made by BBC's Panorama programme that Apple is failing to protect its Chinese factory workers
Andy / TorrentFreak:
MPAA says Google positioning itself as a defender of free speech is shameful  —  Google & MPAA Publicly Slam Each Other Over Piracy  —  Even after running for weeks, the fallout from the Sony hacking fiasco is showing no signs of waning.  In fact in some areas it appears that matters are only getting worse.
Kent Walker / Google Public Policy Blog:
Sean Portnoy / ZDNet:
Intel launches free Easy Migration app to help users transfer files from Windows, Android, iOS to Chromebooks  —  Intel launches free Easy Migration app to transfer files to Chromebooks  —  Summary:The software helps users move files from their Android, iOS, and Windows devices to an Intel-powered laptop running the Chrome OS.
Danny Yadron / Wall Street Journal:
Poll: 45% of Americans have been notified that payment card details were stolen in a data breach  —  Poll Shows Broad Impact of Cyberattacks  —  Just fewer than half of Americans say that a retailer, bank or credit-card company has told them or a household member that their payment card details …
Amy Schatz / Re/code:
T-Mobile settles FTC's cramming charges lawsuit for $90M, will give refunds to customers  —  T-Mobile Settles Government “Cramming” Charges for $90 Million  —  T-Mobile settled a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accused the company of profiting from unauthorized charges placed …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Computer intrusion inflicts massive damage on German steel factory  —  A German steel factory suffered significant damage after attackers gained unauthorized access to computerized systems that help control its blast furnace, according to a report published Friday by IDG News.
More: ITworld.com and Gigaom
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Amazon's smartphone strategy could threaten its retail dominance as local delivery services, retail startups bring innovation to consumers  —  Amazon Not as Unstoppable as It Might Appear  —  Thanks to its ugly spat with book publishers, Amazon has lately been cast as the abominable boogeyman of American commerce.
Owen Thomas / ReadWrite:
Square ports feature that lets you pay by saying your name from discontinued Wallet app to Square Order, offers the service free to merchants  —  Square Is Resurrecting Wallet, Its Pay-By-Name Mobile App, And Giving It Away  —  Wallet, the pay-by-name app that payments company Square introduced …
More: ReadWriteTweets: @mdudasThanks:@owenthomas
Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:
Yahoo announces plans to kill off some regional news sites, sunsets Yahoo Classic Games, alerts, and profile sites  —  Today Yahoo released an updated product report for 2014, which highlights the closure of several regional sites.  —  Yesterday the company shut down regional homepages in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile.
More: Yahoo and WebProNews
Vindu Goel / New York Times:
Instagram purges spambots; popular accounts lose millions of followers, with the company losing the most at 18.9M  —  Millions of Fake Instagram Users Disappear in Purge  —  Social media services like Facebook and Twitter are always battling against spam or fake accounts that hijack hashtags …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Say hello to Zia Answer Bot: Your organization's knowledge, on-demand in every Zoho Lens session.  —  Imagine your technician is halfway through a live remote assistance session.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Are AI Glasses Over?, Big Technology Audience Questions, Alex Stamos on AI Cybersecurity
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Mutiny's Jaleh Rezaei: Walking Away From Millions In Software To Grow Even Faster With Sales AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 3: Differing Visions of an A.I. Future
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
The Race to the Middle
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:20 PM ET, December 19, 2014.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Reuters: