Techmeme
November 17, 2021, 7:40 PM

Top News

Ian Sherr / CNET:
Apple announces Self Service Repair, a program starting next year that will publish repair manuals, let customers buy parts and tools, and more  —  The tech giant says it will publish repair manuals and allow everyday customers to buy the same parts and tools certified technicians and repair shops use.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it is shutting down its standalone mobile messaging app Threads by December 31  —  Instagram's standalone messaging app Threads is shutting down.  The app will no longer be supported by the end of December 2021, the company confirmed to TechCrunch after reports began circulating …
Sam Dean / Los Angeles Times:
LA's iconic Staples Center to be renamed as Crypto.com Arena, sources say in a deal worth $700M+ for 20 years  —  Staples Center is getting a new name for Christmas: Crypto.com Arena.  —  The downtown Los Angeles venue — home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks …
Shannon Liao / Washington Post:
Over 100 Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout on Tuesday, the second in four months, demanding CEO Bobby Kotick step down, after a WSJ report  —  This story has been updated from a previous version.  —  IRVINE, Calif. — Employees at beleaguered video game company Activision Blizzard walked …
Shannon Liao / Washington Post:
Wall Street Journal:
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
The US DOJ will sell $56M worth of cryptocurrency it seized as part of the BitConnect fraud case; victims can apply to be reimbursed  —  - The U.S. Justice Department will sell off $56 million worth of cryptocurrency it seized as part of a massive Ponzi scheme case against a man who promoted the crypto lending program BitConnect.
Bloomberg:
Amazon tells UK customers it won't accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK from January 19, 2022, citing high transaction fees  —  - Customers told the change will come into effect in Jan. 2022  — Amazon cites high fees charged by Visa as reason for change
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google releases a Pixel 6 and 6 Pro update slightly improving the fingerprint scanner, which some have called slow to unlock and unreliable  —  The 15MB update brings unspecified adjustments to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro  —  Google quietly rolled out a Pixel 6 update that addresses …
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over copyright infringement for selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts; Miramax says it owns screenplay rights  —  Miramax filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Quentin Tarantino of copyright infringement by selling NFTs based on the screenplay for “Pulp Fiction.”
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Netlify, which offers a cloud service for automating web development projects, raises a $105M Series D at a $2B valuation, bringing its total funding to $200M+  —  Sign up here.  —  Netlify, a platform as a service that builds, deploys, and hosts websites and apps, today announced …
Axios:
Analysis: the top five most-followed accounts on TikTok do not rank in the top 50 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram  —  The creator economy has produced thousands of social media entrepreneurs who have built mega-audiences in the millions — larger than many media companies.
Reuters:
Profile of Vignesh Sundaresan, aka MetaKovan, who bought the $69M Beeple NFT, as customers and investors in his companies say they have lost millions of dollars  —  Vignesh Sundaresan, aka MetaKovan, has amassed a digital art collection worth tens of millions of dollars.  His path to riches was sometimes rocky.
Brandy Betz / CoinDesk:
Anoma Foundation, which offers a blockchain for exchanging cryptocurrencies at the best market rate, raises $26M led by Polychain Capital at a $260M valuation  —  Polychain Capital led the round, which valued Anoma at $260 million.  —  The Anoma Foundation, a blockchain technology company …
More: Decrypt
Nina Bambysheva / Forbes:
Nym Technologies, which provides network-level privacy through its blockchain-based “mixnet”, raises a $13M Series A led by a16z at a $270M valuation  —  I cover cryptocurrencies and other applications of blockchain  —  Working to make the internet more private …
More: The Block

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