Techmeme
November 12, 2021, 2:20 PM

Top News

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
US contract lawyers say remote work surveillance programs, which utilize facial recognition, have become widespread in the industry  —  The attorneys worry that if law firms, traditionally the defenders of workers' rights, are turning to the programs, why wouldn't every other business?
Politico:
A look at the relationship between Frances Haugen and the anti-tech lobbying group Reset, which guided her through the complex world of European policymaking  —  As soon as Frances Haugen landed in Europe, she was given the VIP treatment.  She met senior officials in Paris, Berlin and London.
Andrew Perrin / Pew Research Center:
Survey: 16% of US adults, including 43% of men aged 18 to 29, say they have invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency  —  The vast majority of U.S. adults have heard at least a little about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether, and 16% say they personally have invested in …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Instagram tests paying $10,000+ bonuses to select Reels creators, as part of a program announced in July  —  Instagram really wants you to post Reels — they'll even pay you up to $10,000 for one, if you're lucky.  —  As TikTok surpasses the 1 billion monthly active users mark …
Robin Sloan / The Society of the Double Dagger:
Web3 notes from a sci-fi writer and “enemy” of the tech: it shows new protocols are still possible, but is expensive, undemocratic, and impedes ephemerality  —  It's possible you have, in recent months, seen people writing with excitement (or curiosity, or consternation) about “Web3”.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify acquires audiobook distributor Findaway and says it expects the deal to close in Q4 2021  —  In an effort to expand beyond music, Spotify has been investing hundreds of millions to build out its podcasts business.  Now the company has set its sights on another form of audio …
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Google researchers found a watering hole attack in August exploiting a macOS zero-day and targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy sites; Apple patched on September 23  —  “The nature of the activity and targeting is consistent with a government backed actor,” the Google researchers say.
Reuters:
Foxconn beats estimates as Q3 net profit rose 20% YoY to $1.33B and warns its smartphone business revenue could slide more than 15% in Q4  —  Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW), which assembles iPhones for Apple (AAPL.O), reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Friday …
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Discord CEO Jason Citron says the service has no plans to add crypto and NFT tools, following a backlash to an internal concept he shared on Twitter  —  Discord founder and CEO Jason Citron sought to reassure users Wednesday that the company doesn't have impending plans to shift its business toward NFTs.
Maxwell Strachan / VICE:
Interview with Sam Lessin and YouTuber Marina Mogilko about a $1.7M investment in her, in exchange for 5% of her creator-related earnings for the next 30 years  —  She gets $1.7 million.  Sam Lessin's venture firm gets 5% of her creator earnings for 30 years. “it's def not indentured servitude,” he says.
Tweets: @lessin

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Earlier Picks

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