Techmeme
January 1, 2021, 10:05 AM

Top News

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:
Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers were able to view some of its source code by hacking into an employee account but were unable to modify code or access emails  —  The hackers gained more access than the company previously revealed, though the attackers were unable to modify code or access emails.
Daniel Victor / New York Times:
Obituary of FarmVille, which is closing on Thursday but lives on in its growth-hacking techniques that are being imitated by everything from Instagram to QAnon  —  The game, a phenomenon a decade ago, is shutting down on Thursday.  But its legacy — for better and for worse — carries beyond gaming.
T.C. Sottek / The Verge:
Adobe ends support for Flash today and will start blocking Flash content from January 12; major browsers will block Flash content from Jan. 1  —  It's the end of the line  —  Adobe scheduled its famous Flash software to end on December 31st, 2020, and today is the day.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Ticketmaster agrees to pay a $10M fine after admitting to hiring an ex-CrowdSurge staffer and using his credentials to access the rival ticket seller's systems  —  It used stolen login credentials at a company summit  —  Ticketmaster has agreed to pay $10 million for breaking into a competitors' network.
Siva Vaidhyanathan / New Republic:
Criticism of Facebook must move beyond content moderation issues; the effort to invent and invest in public cultural institutions should be our focus instead  —  Every day, a Twitter account run by Kevin Roose, a technology reporter for The New York Times, posts a list of the top 10 sources …
Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Report: 10 ex-members of Apple's supplier responsibility team say it avoids or delays removing suppliers guilty of labor violations when doing so hurts business  —  A new report today claims that Apple is reluctant to ban suppliers found guilty of labor violations, and can take years to do so, even in the most serious of cases.
Pei Li / Reuters:
Report: Apple removed 46K+ apps, including 39K games, from its China App Store on Thursday, as it set a year-end deadline for game publishers to get a license  —  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store Thursday, the biggest removal ever in a single day …
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
Source: Amazon's acquisition of Wondery values the podcasting company, which began in 2016, at roughly $300M  —  The deal, valued at $300 million, is the latest in a string of acquisitions as streaming platforms expand beyond music and video.  —  Amazon is acquiring Wondery …
Amazon:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
A new Golang-based worm has been actively dropping XMRig cryptocurrency malware on Windows and Linux servers since early December, mining Monero  —  A newly discovered and self-spreading Golang-based malware has been actively dropping XMRig cryptocurrency miners on Windows and Linux servers since early December.
Wired:
Gebru's firing reveals tech's ability to co-opt and minimize criticism of its AI systems, highlighting the need for tech unions, research protection, regulation  —  The situation has made clear that the field needs to change.  Here's where to start, according to a current and a former Googler.

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