Techmeme
April 10, 2021, 2:10 PM

Top News

Raymond Zhong / New York Times:
China says it is imposing a record $2.8B fine on Alibaba for monopolistic business practices; Alibaba says it will accept the penalty “sincerely”  —  The penalty is Beijing's toughest action to date in its campaign to tighten supervision of the country's internet Goliaths.
Sarah Manavis / New Statesman:
A look at Tattle Life, a gossip forum where users dox celebrities and influencers, dissect their personal lives, and target them with vicious comments  —  When the lifestyle influencer Jessie Lethaby - better known as SunbeamsJess - announced she was pregnant in December …
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
1,200+ Alphabet employees have signed a letter asking the company to stop protecting harassers, following a NYT op-ed by an ex-employee who alleged harassment  —  Organizers say the demands of the Google Walkout still haven't been met  —  More than 500 Alphabet employees have signed …
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony's PlayStation organization has shifted its development focus to prioritize AAA games at the expense of projects from its niche teams and studios  —  Sony Corp.'s Visual Arts Service Group has long been the unsung hero of many hit PlayStation video games.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google denies reports Pixel 5a 5G is canceled, says it'll be available this year in the US and Japan and announced in line with last year's a-series phone  —  Despite rumors this morning to the contrary, Google has just issued an on the record statement that the “Pixel 5a” does indeed exist and will not be canceled.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon wins enough votes to beat union effort in Alabama; of the 3,215 ballots cast, there were 1,798 votes opposing the union and 738 votes in favor  —  - Amazon on Friday secured enough votes to defeat the unionization drive at one of its Alabama warehouses.
About Amazon:
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
In a letter to Tim Cook, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee “strongly urge” Apple to reconsider refusal to provide a witness for upcoming hearing on app stores  —  ‘We strongly urge Apple to reconsider its position,’ the senators said  —  Senate Judiciary Committee leaders …
Bloomberg:
Current and ex-employees say inattention to data protection at Verkada is emblematic of a “bro culture” that tolerated sexual harassment, misleading customers  —  Verkada Inc.'s security camera customers were livid.  Hackers had breached footage from thousands of surveillance devices trained …
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Researchers say Facebook has known for years about exploits similar to the one that used its “contact importer”, enabling the scraping of 533M users' data  —  Software makers can't catch every bug every time, but Facebook had ample warning about the privacy problems with its “contact import” feature.

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