Techmeme
June 16, 2020, 7:00 AM

Top News

CBS Boston:
Six former employees of eBay charged with leading a cyberstalking campaign against a couple they believed was critical of eBay in an online ecommerce newsletter  —  BOSTON (CBS) - Six former eBay executives and employees are facing federal charges after they allegedly led a cyberstalking campaign …
David Pierce / Protocol:
Basecamp debuts Hey, an email service for $99/year that tries to reimagine email, blocks tracking pixels, but needs its own client and can't import old email  —  David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founder and CTO of Basecamp, is trying very hard to not say “I told you so.”
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram says that, amid concerns it may “shadowban” Black voices, it will review harassment and verification rules, and check for bias in recommendations  —  Instagram's top executive says the company will review its harassment and verification policies, as well as how the app recommends content …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
T-Mobile underwent a major phone and text message outage across the US on Monday  —  T-Mobile appears to be having problems.  —  Customers are reporting that they can't make or receive phone calls, although data appears to be unaffected.  Some customers say that text messaging is also affected.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple says its App Store facilitated $519B in commerce globally in 2019, citing a study from Analysis Group  —  Amid increasing antitrust scrutiny by U.S. regulators, Apple announced an update on its App Store ecosystem.  While the company normally shares some App Store metrics during its WWDC keynote …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
EU opens two antitrust investigations into Apple's practices regarding the App Store and Apple Pay  —  Both investigations begin today  —  The European Commission is opening two antitrust investigations into Apple's App Store and Apple Pay practices today.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft moves its Windows 10 Insider Program from rings to channels, to focus more on release quality rather than frequency of builds  —  For the last few years, Microsoft has given Windows enthusiasts the ability to opt in to early release “rings,” with the choice to pick between “fast” …
Olivia Solon / NBC News:
Dozens of Tunisian, Syrian, and Palestinian activists and journalists say their Facebook accounts have been deactivated recently on the pretext of terrorism  —  “Facebook doesn't care.  It closes our accounts on the pretext of terrorism.  We are against terrorism and violence," one journalist said.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Epic Games, which owns Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and Houseparty, is close to raising $750M at a ~$17B valuation, with investors including T. Rowe, KKR  —  - Epic owns Fortnite video game, Unreal Engine and Houseparty  — T. Rowe, KKR, Baillie Gifford to participate in round
Ifeoma Ozoma / @ifeomaozoma:
[Thread] Former Pinterest public policy exec Ifeoma Ozoma shares stories of her time at the company that call into question its declared solidarity with BLM  —  I shouldn't have to share this story in the year of our Lord, 2020 - but here we are. I'm an alum of Yale, Google, FB, in the WaPo Tech 202 Network, etc...and recently decided to leave @Pinterest, which just declared ‘solidarity with BLM.’ What a joke. 🙃1/ #BelieveBlackWomen
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Cameo launches Cameo Live, where people can, instead of a prerecorded shoutout, book a 10-minute Zoom call with celebrities  —  Jeremy Piven charges $15K for 10 minutes  —  Cameo has a new way for fans to interact with celebrities: Zoom calls.  The company launched a video call option over the weekend …
Matthew Boyle / Bloomberg:
Walmart partners with Shopify to expand its third-party marketplace, with plans to add 1,200 Shopify sellers this year  —  - Move is retailer's latest attempt to grow online sales, profit  — Walmart will bring 1,200 Shopify sellers to its site this year

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Earlier Picks

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Wall Street Journal:
David McCabe / New York Times:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
TechCrunch: