Techmeme
April 5, 2020, 5:00 AM

Top News

Valerie Strauss / Washington Post:
Zoom is being banned over security concerns by some US school districts, including NYC, which is directing teachers to switch to Microsoft Teams  —  Some school districts around the country have started to ban the use of Zoom for online learning from home during the coronavirus crisis …
New York Times:
Analysis: thousands of people are organizing via private group chats, message boards, Twitter, Instagram, more to execute coordinated “Zoombombing” campaigns  —  Zoom, the videoconferencing app, has become a target for harassment and abuse coordinated in private off-platform chats.
Micah Lee / The Intercept:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Sources: Apple is in the process of acquiring the California-based VR startup NextVR in a deal valued around $100M  —  It's no secret that Apple has ambitious plans for augmented reality and a future AR-focused headset.  Apple is practically building the platform for its future headset out in the open with ARKit.
Dave Gershgorn / OneZero :
Washington state's facial recognition law, which is championed by Microsoft, was sponsored by State Sen. Joe Nguyen, who also is a program manager at Microsoft  —  Plus, live facial recognition updates and the week's A.I. research  —  Welcome to General Intelligence, your weekly dive into the A.I. news and research that matters.
Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
US Small Business Administration issues new guidance for the $350B stimulus program that still seems to exclude most VC-backed startups  —  Under new guidance issued by the Small Business Administration it seems non-profits and faith-based groups can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program loans designed …
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Telecom engineers, considered essential workers in the UK, are facing harassment from anti-5G conspiracy mongers, linking the deployment of 5G to coronavirus  —  EE suspects telephone mast engulfed by fire in Birmingham was an arson attack as celebrities claim Covid-19 caused by new network
J.M. Porup / CSO:
Critics say bug bounty programs buy researcher silence, may violate labor law, and are less effective when they are closed and have NDAs placed on them  —  When Jonathan Leitschuh found a catastrophic security vulnerability in Zoom, the popular videoconferencing platform …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Apple's deal with Amazon to allow the Prime Video app to process some in-app payments on its own shows how arbitrary, unfair, and outdated App Store rules are  —  Apple and Amazon very, very quietly unveiled a monumental app deal this week, without fanfare or, sadly, much in the way of transparency.

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Earlier Picks

Aliya Chaudhry / The Verge:
Reuters: