Techmeme
February 7, 2020, 9:25 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: The Trump admin has bought access to a database tracking locations of millions of phones in the US and is using it for immigration and border control  —  Commercial database that maps movements of millions of cellphones is deployed by immigration and border authorities
Uber:
Uber reports Q4 revenue of $4.1B, up 37% YoY, gross bookings of $18.1B, up 28%, and net loss of $1.1B; gross bookings from Uber Eats were $4.37B, up 71% YoY  —  Revenue of $4.1 billion, growing 37% year-over-year or 39% on a constant currency basis  —  Rides Adjusted EBITDA of $742 million, with continued margin expansion
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: ViacomCBS is building a new ad-supported streaming service that will build on CBS All Access, and an ad-free version that includes Showtime  —  - ViacomCBS is preparing to throw its hat into the streaming wars after consummating a merger on Dec. 31.
Joe DeBlasio / Google Online Security Blog:
Google says starting with Chrome 82 in April, it will gradually start blocking “mixed content downloads”, which are non-HTTPS downloads started on secure pages  —  Today we're announcing that Chrome will gradually ensure that secure (HTTPS) pages only download secure files.
Mark Harris / TechCrunch:
Facebook and Google seek FCC permission to activate a portion of the PLCN undersea cable, excluding Hong Kong and China's section amid ongoing regulatory battle  —  Tech giants' high-speed internet link to Hong Kong has become politically toxic  —  Google and Facebook seem to have resigned themselves …
Bloomberg Law:
FCC announces proposals to pay satellite companies $9.7B to quickly free up C-band spectrum for 5G, and another $3.3B-$5.2B to pay for costs  —  Listen  —  Intelsat SA and other satellite providers would share as much as $14.9 billion under a proposal from federal regulators to compensate …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Strategy Analytics: Apple shipped 30.7M Watches globally in 2019, up 36% YoY, outselling entire Swiss watch industry, which shipped 21.1M units, down 13% YoY  —  The Apple Watch continues to dominate the market  —  The Apple Watch wasn't just the best-selling smartwatch last year …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
SEC commissioner proposes a three-year grace period from a startup's first token sale to achieving a level of decentralization sufficient to pass SEC evaluation  —  SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce wants to give legitimate crypto projects a shot at success without running afoul of U.S. securities laws.
Reuters:
US Attorney General William Barr says the US and its allies should consider investing in Nokia and Ericsson to counter Huawei  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Thursday stressed the threat posed by Huawei Technologies and said the United States and its allies …
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Nuro receives a two-year driverless exemption for its new delivery vehicle called R2 and says it is the first company to receive such an exemption from NHTSA  —  Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup that raised $940 million in financing from Softbank Vision Fund last year …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Elliott Management has quietly built up a $2.5B+ stake in SoftBank and is pushing for changes like stock buybacks and improved corporate governance  —  Activist fund pushes for stock buybacks and for the tech giant to improve corporate governance to boost share price
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Netflix says users can now turn off the autoplay preview feature on its homepage  —  Browsing the homepage isn't an annoying problem anymore  —  Netflix customers have complained for years about the frustrating and annoying autoplay feature that occurs on its homepage.
Wall Street Journal:
NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange abandons potential eBay takeover deal after a backlash from investors  —  Investors had pushed back against move to acquire e-commerce company  —  The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange abandoned its pursuit of eBay Inc. EBAY 2.36% …
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Appeals court declines to reconsider a ruling upholding the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules, rejecting requests from over a dozen states and tech groups  —  (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said late on Thursday it will not reconsider an October ruling that largely upheld the repeal …
More: WebProNews
Robert Stevens / Decrypt:
Blockchain data management startup Fluree says it has signed a contract with US Air Force to securely share data within the military and with US allies  —  The US Air Force has signed a contract with blockchain data management company Fluree to more securely track and share information within the military.

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