Author: Tech Support

Tech giants don't fit neatly into existing models for antitrust action, since they regularly add new businesses to keep up with tech and provide free services (Alex Kantrowitz/BuzzFeed News)

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News: Tech giants don’t fit neatly into existing models for antitrust action, since they regularly add new businesses to keep up with tech and provide free services  —  As federal regulators and Congress zero in on Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, they’re about to encounter one of the most difficult rulemaking

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Maker Media Ceases Operations

Over the years we’ve had the dubious honor of bidding farewell to numerous companies that held a special place in the hearts of hackers and makers. We’ve borne witness to the demise of Radio Shack, TechShop, and PrintrBot, and even shed a tear or two when Toys “R” Us shut their doors. But as much

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Google bought 270 companies since 2001, Facebook bought 92 since 2007, some direct or nascent competitors; only one Google acquisition was challenged by the US (New York Times)

New York Times: Google bought 270 companies since 2001, Facebook bought 92 since 2007, some direct or nascent competitors; only one Google acquisition was challenged by the US  —  “Big tech” companies like Google and Facebook are, in reality, the products of hundreds of mergers. Google bought 270 companies since 2001, Facebook bought 92 since

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How a rule, allowing US companies to apply for exemptions from the Huawei ban, was created when the Obama administration was contemplating sanctions against ZTE (Reed Albergotti/Washington Post)

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post: How a rule, allowing US companies to apply for exemptions from the Huawei ban, was created when the Obama administration was contemplating sanctions against ZTE  —  Will hurt research and development and profits, they argue  —  U.S. technology companies have told the Commerce Department … How a rule, allowing US

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Some European mobile traffic was rerouted through China Telecom due to a BGP leak at a Swiss colocation company which was accused of a similar mistake in 2018 (Catalin Cimpanu/ZDNet)

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: Some European mobile traffic was rerouted through China Telecom due to a BGP leak at a Swiss colocation company which was accused of a similar mistake in 2018  —  It was China Telecom, again.  The same ISP accused last year of “hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries.” Some European

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Huawei ban threatens U.S. national security, tech companies warn Trump administration

U.S. technology companies have told the Commerce Department that the Trump administration’s ban on selling to the Chinese tech giant Huawei could significantly harm their bottom lines and might damage their ability to develop new technological innovations, including those needed by the U.S. military. Huawei ban threatens U.S. national security, tech companies warn Trump administration

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Lyft is suing San Francisco, alleging exclusivity contract violations for bike-share programs; the city says exclusivity does not apply to dockless bike-share (Megan Rose Dickey/TechCrunch)

Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch: Lyft is suing San Francisco, alleging exclusivity contract violations for bike-share programs; the city says exclusivity does not apply to dockless bike-share  —  Lyft is suing the city of San Francisco, claiming that the city is violating its ten-year contract with Lyft that would give … Lyft is suing San

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YouTube’s new policies are catching educators, journalists, and activists in the crossfire

YouTube’s new policies designed to more aggressively tackle supremacist content have also led to some creators claiming their videos have been improperly removed or hidden in the process. They argue that YouTube is not distinguishing between actual hate content and videos that document hate groups for educational or journalistic purposes. YouTube announced on Wednesday that

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The growing chaos at YouTube

There was so much news this week that we had to add another Vergecast episode to cover it all. Besides Apple’s WWDC, the most important story in The Verge’s coverage has been the various crises YouTube is facing over its moderation policies — problems with hate speech and harassment, pedophiles on the platform, and white

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