Techmeme
June 24, 2020, 9:35 AM

Top News

Alfred Ng / CNET:
Senate Republicans introduce bill calling for an end to “warrant-proof” encryption, citing apps like WhatsApp that use end-to-end encryption  —  The proposed legislation is Congress' latest attempt to weaken encryption from tech giants.  —  A group of Senate Republicans are looking …
Bloomberg:
Central Bank of Brazil tells Mastercard and Visa to stop payments via WhatsApp in the country to evaluate risks and regulations  —  - Authority wants to assess risks to country's payment system  — Lawyer says suspension is an unusual move by the bank
Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:
Ben & Jerry's, Eddie Bauer, and Magnolia Pictures join Patagonia, REI, and others suspending Facebook ads in July to protest amplification of hate speech  —  Eddie Bauer, Magnolia Pictures, Ben & Jerry's and others have suspended campaigns over the platform's content moderation practices.
Ian Hamilton / UploadVR:
Facebook says it will stop selling Oculus Go, ending app submissions for it in December, and vows to no longer make headsets that only track head rotation  —  Facebook will stop selling Oculus Go this year as the company sharpens its focus on fully positionally tracked VR headsets like Oculus Quest.
Janus Rose / VICE:
1,000+ technologists, including some from MIT, Facebook, Google, urge Springer to not publish a paper that describes a system to predict crime based on faces  —  Technologists from MIT, Harvard, and Google say research claiming to predict crime based on human faces creates a “tech-to-prison pipeline” that reinforces racist policing.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
After WWDC, the performance of Apple's silicon chips for Mac remains a mystery, with speed and efficiency claims not yet substantiated through benchmarks  —  There were canned demos but no benchmarks or comparisons  —  For years, Apple has steadily revealed how the ARM-based chips …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Twitter permanently suspends @DDoSecrets account for violating distribution of hacked data policy after it shared links to data stolen from US law enforcement  —  Twitter said DDoSecrets account leaked and promoted BlueLeaks, a huge collection of files stolen from more than 200 US police departments and fusion training centers.
Bloomberg:
Recent pledges by Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft to diversify their workforce come after years of similar claims followed by little progress  —  Spurred by nationwide protests and calls to end systemic racism after the police killing of George Floyd, Google, Microsoft Corp …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
watchOS 7 drops support for Force Touch, a hardware feature that has been available on every Apple Watch model for revealing hidden menus and more  —  watchOS 7 adds a variety of new features, such as sleep tracking and new workout types, but it also drops support for one key feature.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Microsoft releases the first public preview of its Defender antivirus Android app, as Microsoft Defender ATP for Linux becomes generally available for all users  —  UPDATE: Microsoft Defender ATP for Linux has also exited public preview and is now generally available for all users.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Review of email app Superhuman: Elegant, detailed interface but you have to live with its fixed hotkeys, inconsistent filtering, and the steep $30/month price  —  $30 per month is too much for a Gmail app  —  Superhuman is one of the most in-demand startups right now …
Kyle Daly / Axios:
Twitter flags a Trump tweet for breaking rules on abusive behavior; it threatened “serious force” against anyone who may try creating an “autonomous zone” in DC  —  Twitter on Monday opted not to take down or flag a tweet from President Trump that baselessly tied mail …
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Source: Amazon is “actively pursuing” licensing deals to add live and linear TV to complement its Prime Video offerings  —  Amazon is looking to add 24/7 live programming to its Prime Video service, according to multiple job listings posted over the past several weeks.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Open Technology Fund, the US digital speech advocate that funded Signal, faces turmoil after the abrupt firing of entire leadership team and resignation of CEO  —  'There are so many countries and individuals who need this support right now,' says former OTF president
Cara Lombardo / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Dell is examining spinning off its ~$50B stake in VMware as well as other options  —  PC maker is saddled with sluggish shares and heavy debt load  —  Dell Technologies Inc. DELL 1.49% is examining options including a spinoff for its roughly $50 billion stake in VMware Inc …
New York Times:
Over 70 people, mostly women, have shared stories of discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault within the video game live-streaming industry since Friday  —  After more than 70 allegations surfaced on Twitter this weekend, gaming companies and streamers responded with action.
Isaac McIntyre / Dexerto:
Aaron Gordon / VICE:
Former JUMP employees blame the bikeshare company's downfall on Uber applying a software business mentality to a transportation business after acquiring it  —  One morning at the end of May, Mark Miretsky awoke in his San Francisco apartment and groggily browsed his phone.  There was no rush to get up.
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon unveils the Climate Pledge Fund, which will invest an initial $2B in startups building sustainable technologies  —  Tech giant plans to invest in transportation, energy, food and other industries  —  Amazon.  AMZN 2.36% com Inc. is launching a $2 billion internal venture-capital fund focused …

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