Techmeme: Trump signs TRACED Act into law to increase robocall fines, extend statute of limitations from 1 to 4 years, and require carriers to deploy STIR/SHAKEN protocol (Devin Coldewey/TechCrunch)

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January 1, 2020, 6:40 PM

Top News

Fred Wilson / AVC:

Big trends and takeaways from the 2010s: the “capital as a moat” model has failed, machine learning has become table stakes for tech companies, and more — My friend Steve Kane suggested I take a longer view in my pair of year end posts this year: … And so I will.

More: AVC and Business Insider

Tweets: @carnage4life, @_jcmurray, @mrp, @audsnyder4, @mdudas, @fredwilson, @bwertz, and @semil

ProPublica:

IRS amends its deal with tax prep software firms, now barred from hiding free products from search, and ends its ban on making its own online filing system — Finding free online tax filing should be easier this year for millions of Americans. — The IRS announced significant changes Monday …

Fox Business:

WSJ: Cloud Hopper, a hacking campaign by Chinese state-sponsored group APT10, was larger than formerly known, and may have been active as late as November 2019 — The hackers seemed to be everywhere. — In one of the largest-ever corporate espionage efforts, cyberattackers alleged …

Source: Wall Street Journal. More: The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @kentthornhillmp, @dnvolz, @lewisshepherd, @robert_spalding, @kennwhite, @jessefelder, @carter_pe, @ericgarland, @mitchparkerciso, @jamesliamcook, @jchengwsj, @petertinti, @batchelorshow, and @dnvolz

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:

Trump signs TRACED Act into law to increase robocall fines, extend statute of limitations from 1 to 4 years, and require carriers to deploy STIR/SHAKEN protocol — The Pallone-Thrune TRACED Act, a bipartisan bit of legislation that should make life harder for the villains behind robocalls, was signed into law today by the president.

More: The White House, CNET, AppleInsider, Engadget, CNN, ZDNet, International Business Times, New Jersey Online, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @83txochair, @agcurtishill, @senschumer, and @uscto

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

ProtonMail launches E2E encrypted calendar app ProtonCalendar in public beta, tied to users' paid ProtonMail accounts, encrypting event info and participants — Encrypted email provider ProtonMail has officially launched its new calendar in public beta. The move is part of the Swiss …

More: The Verge, ProtonMail Blog, Engadget, Tom's Hardware, XDA Developers, Neowin, Android Police, Gizmodo, SlashGear, BetaNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, Understandably, Input, and The Mac Observer

Tweets: @protonmail and @infosecsherpa

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Sensor Tower: $277M was spent on apps across Google Play and App Store on Christmas Day, up 11.3% YoY; PUBG, the top grossing game, earned $8.5M, up 431% YoY — Consumer spending on mobile games grew 8% to $210 million on Christmas, according to a report by mobile analyst firm Sensor Tower.

More: Sensor Tower Blog. Tweets: @dez_blanchfield

Brenda Goh / Reuters:

Huawei's Rotating Chairman Eric Xu estimates the company's 2019 revenue grew 18% YoY to $122B, says it shipped 240M smartphones, but forecasts “difficult” 2020 — SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said its full-year revenue would likely jump 18% in 2019 to 850 billion yuan …

More: Axios, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, ZDNet, Nikkei Asian Review, Gizchina, TechCrunch, Tom's Hardware, TechSpot, Thurrott, International Business Times, cnbctv18.com, and Slashdot

Tweets: @hardmaru, @danwwang, @yuanfenyang, @reutersbiz, and @jchengwsj

Bloomberg:

Uber, Postmates sue CA to block AB-5, days ahead of bill taking effect, say law unconstitutionally targets gig economy companies and benefits other industries — - Companies call labor rights measure unfair, unconstitutional — A.B. 5 will qualify many contractors for employment benefits

More: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Postmates, Los Angeles Times, NEWS 1130, Silicon Valley Business …, PYMNTS.com, WebProNews, The Hill, Engadget, and SiliconANGLE

Facebook: Lydia Olson. Tweets: @sergioaved, @a_w_gordon, @carnage4life, @veenadubal, @gregbensinger, @sozh, @leimer, and @yoda

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

Twitter execs including VP of Product Kayvon Beykpour talk about their focus on Lists and Topics, which help new users find tweets relevant to their interests — The service now lets you follow subjects you love—from anime to archaeology—and is upgrading its long-dormant lists feature.

Tweets: @kayvz, @harrymccracken, @dsgnrsteve, @yun, @carnage4life, and @harrymccracken. Thanks:@technologizer

Joanna Glasner / Crunchbase News:

Analysis: VC funding in North American consumer electronics startups was $1.74B in 2019 vs. $2.45B in 2018, with significant slowdown at the Series B stage — Venture investors love technology. But lately they've been much less keen on the kind you buy in a box and take home from the store.

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Microsoft wins court order to seize 50 domains run by North Korean cyber-espionage group Thallium, the fourth APT Microsoft has combated with this tactic — Microsoft takes control of 50 domains operated by Thallium (APT37), a North Korean cyber-espionage group.

More: Microsoft on the Issues, CyberScoop, CNN, Financial Times, Gizmodo, CNN, HackRead, Tom's Hardware, CNET, New York Post, WinBuzzer, Dark Reading, Beyond Search, GeekWire, Softpedia News, CNBC, PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, CircleID, Reuters, Input, MSPoweruser, Seeking Alpha, and BleepingComputer

Tweets: @jfslowik, @tomburt45, @rungrage, @w7voa, @blaw, @cristingoodwin, and @campuscodi

Toby Sterling / Reuters:

2018 tax filings: Alphabet will no longer use the IP licensing scheme commonly called the “Double Irish, Dutch sandwich”, which had let it delay paying US taxes — AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O), the parent company of Google, will no longer use the intellectual property …

More: The Verge, International Business Times, Wccftech, Telegraph, 9to5Google, WebProNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @dave_universetf, @dhh, @steveklabnik, @ron_miller, @lindsaytedds, and @dhh

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From Mediagazer

Washington Post:

More than 500 Voice of America contractors are expected to lose their jobs by June 30; Kari Lake says 584 total employees were terminated across USAGM

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Sources: New York Sun owner Dovid Efune is launching a new “British bid” to buy The Telegraph with backing from Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking and Nadhim Zahawi

Financial Times:

Sources: BT is in advanced talks to sell its 50% stake in TNT Sports UK to WBD, its joint venture partner, and could announce the deal as early as next week

More News

Dougal Shaw / BBC:

A look at dating apps like Lumen and OurTime that cater exclusively to users over 50, who often find being approached by much younger users unsettling

Nicole Wetsman / The Verge:

Study of depression management and suicide prevention apps shows many aren't following best practices and some even contain inaccurate hotline contact info

Tweets: @coyneoftherealm and @ethics13

Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Interview with AMD CTO Mark Papermaster on AMD's release schedule and future products, partnerships with TSMC and Samsung, driving industry standards, and more

More: Wccftech. Tweets: @anandtech. Thanks:@iancutress

Politico:

A look at the increasing prevalence of facial recognition and AI tech across the globe, as the US and EU governments' efforts to limit their use have stalled

More: MacDailyNews. Tweets: @mikelarsenoh, @viacristiano, and @vmanancourt

Dan Sabbagh / The Guardian:

UK surveillance watchdog: public bodies have insufficient government guidance on when it's appropriate to use facial recognition, lip-reading tech, and more

Tweets: @ioannislianos and @petterbb

Celia Chen / South China Morning Post:

Research shows Tencent participated in 108 investment deals this year, compared to 162 in 2018, spending ~$4.9B in total, less than half of its 2018's total

Earlier Picks

Eric Feng:

Analysis of PitchBook data since 2005 shows that in 2019, the number of enterprise-focused seed deals overtook consumer-focused seed deals for the first time

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @ljungman, @tanayj, and @semil

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Sonos should rethink its Trade Up program's “Recycle Mode”, which bricks old Sonos devices for a discount on newer ones, and consider a policy of reuse

Kate Eichhorn / MIT Technology Review:

Obsessive documentation of one's life online has made it hard for young people to shed their past identities and might have bad effects for society at large

Tweets: @warmoth, @abigaillynnbru2, @derekeb, @robotnr7312, @ministryprivacy, @thechrislarsen, @techreview, @calamur, and @jencyjac

Hannah Frishberg / New York Post:

Report: in January, YouTube will expand limitations on the data that videos aimed at kids can collect and stop showing personalized ads to underage viewers

More: Wall Street Journal, Input, Silicon Valley Business …, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @glenngabe, @empo11on, @wsjpolitics, @conorsen, @blmohr, and @jreidenberg

Aria Bendix / Business Insider:

Amazon is set to open a homeless shelter in its Seattle HQ with the capacity to serve 275 people, through an expanded partnership with nonprofit Mary's Place

More: Input, TechCrunch, and Slashdot

Tweets: @pennycrosman, @jeremiahlee, and @mikeplewis

Yahoo News:

Overview of the ongoing efforts by the US to modernize its spy operations, to contain the damage from the 2014 OPM breach, be more resilient to tracking, more