Techmeme
May 2, 2020, 8:45 PM

Top News

New York Times:
How Eric Schmidt is reinventing himself as the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the US military  —  The former Google C.E.O. has reinvented himself as the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the military-industrial complex.  —  In July 2016, Raymond Thomas …
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Companies are turning to intrusive monitoring of work-from-home employees, with always-on webcam rules, daily check-ins, and not-so-optional company happy hours  —  Always-on webcams, virtual “water coolers,” constant monitoring: Is the tech industry's new dream for remote work actually a nightmare?
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Researchers detail the increasingly prevalent LockBit ransomware, which may one day reach parity with other feared ransomware packages like Maze or Ryuk  —  You've probably never heard of LockBit, but that's likely to change.  —  Ransomware has emerged as one of the top threats facing large organizations …
Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:
A look at TikTok's efforts to repair its reputation in DC, where Bytedance has spent $300K on lobbying in 2020 and has hired former Internet Association chief  —  For hundreds of millions of fans around the world, TikTok is the place to go for videos of dancing celebrities, cooking advice and teenage hormones on overdrive.
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Sources: the owners of Virgin Media and O2 are discussing a merger to create a new TV and mobile company that would challenge BT and Sky in the UK  —  Owners of telecoms giants set to team up and challenge major sector players  —  The owners of Virgin Media and O2 are in talks to create …
More: Engadget
Sirin Kale / WIRED UK:
An inside look at the dropshipping scene in Bali, where expats typically purchase items on AliExpress and have them shipped directly to buyers in the West  —  In Bali, western immigrants are selling products they've never handled, from countries they've never visited, to consumers they've never met
The Economic Times:
India's government has mandated all private sector employees to download its COVID-19 contact tracing app, following its mandate for all the public sector staff  —  Privacy activists said a diverse group of organisations and individuals had endorsed a representation to the Prime Minister's Office …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Automatic Labs, which was recently acquired by SiriusXM, shuts down its vehicle-tracking service, tells users to remove its connected car adapters from vehicles  —  Automatic has announced that it'll be abruptly shutting down on May 28th because “the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted our business.”

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