Techmeme
December 22, 2020, 1:50 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Draft lawsuit filed by ten US states last week says Facebook and Google agreed to “cooperate and assist one another” against possible antitrust action  —  Draft lawsuit quotes Facebook's Sandberg saying Google pact was a ‘big deal strategically’
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Ripple CEO says the SEC will file a suit over the alleged sale of unlicensed securities and calls it a parting shot by the Trump administration  —  Ripple, one of the most important companies in the cryptocurrency industry, said Monday evening that the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Three VPNs popular with criminals and active for over a decade have had their servers and web domains seized by law enforcement from US, Germany, France, others  —  The three VPN services provided safe haven for cybercriminals to carry out ransomware attacks, web skimming operations, spearphishing, and account takeovers.
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The US government's proposal for crypto exchanges to collect identity data from users with self-hosted crypto wallets will expand the US' financial surveillance  —  One of the most important aspects of cryptocurrencies from a civil liberties perspective is that they can provide privacy protections for their users.
Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo:
Analysis: of the 60 biggest brands that paused Facebook ads in 2020, only ~10 continue to do so, and some of those have kept spending using other Facebook tools  —  This past summer, dozens of major brands pulled their ad dollars from Facebook in a protest of the company's handling of the hate speech and disinformation.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Alex Gallagher / NME:
The COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes the Felony Streaming Bill, which makes illegal streaming for profit a felony, with up to 10 years jail time  —  Targeting illegal for-profit streaming providers, not individual users  —  The US Congress has passed a COVID-19 stimulus bill …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Group of 19 security firms and tech companies including Microsoft and McAfee form Ransomware Task Force to develop a standard framework to deal with ransomware  —  The newly-founded Ransomware Task Force will work to put together a standard framework for dealing with ransomware attacks.
Raphael Satter / Reuters:
Microsoft, Alphabet, Cisco, LinkedIn, GitHub, VMware, and the Internet Association file an amicus brief in support of WhatsApp in the WhatsApp v. NSO Group case  —  (Reuters) - Tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet , Cisco, and VMware on Monday joined Facebook's legal battle against hacking company NSO …
Reuters:
Sources: Apple is planning to manufacture a car by 2024 which may include self-driving tech, internally developed lidar sensors, and “breakthrough” battery tech  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce …
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Investigation details Amazon's campaigns over the years to steamroll rivals and partners, including those on its marketplace, sometimes with Bezos' involvement  —  CEO Jeff Bezos still runs the e-commerce giant with the drive of a startup trying to survive, and that strand of its corporate DNA is becoming a liability
New York Times:
Vikas SN / The Economic Times:
India-based VerSe Innovation, the company behind news app Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, raises $100M+ at $1B+ valuation from Google, Microsoft, and others  —  Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation has raised more than $100 million funding from tech giants Google and Microsoft …
Simon Parkin / New Yorker:
Q&A with Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto on what excites him about his work, his strengths and weaknesses as a boss, not abusing power, ambitions, and more  —  The legendary designer on rejecting violence in games, trying to be a good boss, and building Nintendo's Disneyland.

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
Are you ready for the era of agentic AI?  —  Tech leaders are always talking about what's next, and right now, agentic AI is dominating the discourse.  Equip yourself with the info you need in this recorded webinar.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
5 reasons why digital signatures are a must-have for small and medium enterprises  —  Every morning, Hazel stops by her favorite corner cafe, where the barista already knows her order—a double espresso, no sugar.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
The Google Antitrust Snowball
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Hard Fork:
Meta on Trial + Is A.I. a 'Normal' Technology? + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
How Trump's tariffs actually work on the ground
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Great Chat:
Imposter syndrome is due for a rebrand
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Spotlight On:
*RSA Preview* 1Password's Jeff Shiner on balancing B2B and B2C customers in a rapidly evolving tech landscape
A podcast from Accel about how companies are built, from the people doing the building.
Subscribe to Spotlight On.
Invest Like the Best:
Neil Mehta - Finding Future S&P 500 Companies
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:50 PM ET, December 22, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
BBC:
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Nandita Bose / Reuters: