Edward Snowden Warns Us of the Dark Path Ahead

In written testimony to the European Union (EU), Edward Snowden explained in patient, well-written, detailed prose exactly why what the NSA is doing is so dangerous. Snowden reveals himself an articulate writer, and through that moves from mere whistleblower into an almost philosophical role. His testimony deserves your full read, so you should best stop right here and just go read it. For those who prefer some highlights, with commentary, please follow me deeper down the rabbit hole. Snowden says: The suspicionless surveillance programs of the NSA, GCHQ, and so…

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Facebook’s shot at WhatsApp data gets both companies an FTC complaint

The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Facebook’s $16 billion acquisition of WhatsApp based on privacy concerns, according to a document released Thursday. EPIC and CDD’s problems with the acquisition center around the fact that WhatsApp staked its reputation on—that it’s a company keeping a reasonable distance from its customers’ data. Now that it will fall under the aegis of Facebook, its users stand to lose those privacy guarantees, even though WhatsApp told its users nothing…

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Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Haunted by Past Web Merger Flops

Facebook Inc. (FB) investors who pushed the company’s shares to a record after it unveiled the $19 billion deal for WhatsApp Inc. would be well served to remember — every Internet takeover of more than $10 billion has flopped. Last week’s proposed purchase would be the biggest Web acquisition in more than a decade and only the fifth ever to top that threshold, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts it in the same category as AOL’s merger with Time Warner and Terra Network SA’s takeover of Lycos, which…

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How Facebook will have to radically transform itself in order to justify buying WhatsApp

There has been endless high-quality discussion about why Facebook was willing to pay more than what half of the S&P 500 companies are worth for WhatsApp. My biased distillation of the consensus is, basically, Facebook wanted to keep WhatsApp out of the clutches of Google, and the sale was in stock at a time when Facebook’s share price is at an all-time high, so Facebook didn’t have much to lose. Or you might choose to believe Facebook’s stated reason, which is that WhatsApp could go to a billion users and that, with the…

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Microsoft Targets Cheaper Phones for Global Internet Growth

Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), under new Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, will accelerate a push into mobile software, joining forces with hardware manufacturers and Qualcomm (QCOM) Inc. to develop cheaper phones for emerging markets. Microsoft said yesterday it’s working with Qualcomm on a low-cost phone design that developers and handset makers can use to build their own devices, and added partners including Lenovo Group Ltd. to make Windows smartphones. Nokia Oyj (NOK1V), whose mobile-phone business will become part of Microsoft, unveiled lower-priced handsets at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today.…

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Facebook to Pay $19 Billion for WhatsApp

Messaging Startup to Operate Independently, Retain Brand, Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of the WhatsApp mobile messaging service ranks as the largest-ever purchase of a company backed by venture capital. Facebook Inc. FB +1.13% agreed to buy messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, a blockbuster transaction that dwarfs the already sky-high prices that other startups have been able to recently command. The 55-employee company, which acts as a kind of replacement for text messaging, has seen its use more than double in the past nine months to…

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The ‘Internet Of Things’ Will Be Bigger Than The Smartphone, Tablet, And PC Markets Combined

The numbers being forecast for the Internet of Things (IoT) are truly mind-boggling. BI Intelligence finds that the number of everyday and enterprise devices that will soon be connected to the Internet — from parking meters to home thermostats — will be huge. BII   1.9 billion devices today, and 9 billion by 2018, according to BII estimates, roughly equal to the number of smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, wearable computers, and PCs combined. It will drive trillions in economic value as it permeates consumer and business life. In the consumer space, many products…

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Japan e-commerce giant to buy Viber for $900-M

TOKYO – Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc, controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, will buy call and messaging app provider Viber Media Inc for $900 million in a deal that would more than double the number of users in its digital empire. Rakuten offers services from financing to shopping to online video on its e-commerce platform, the largest in Japan. But in the face of a shrinking population and weak consumer spending at home, Mikitani is trying to re-invent Rakuten as a one-stop-site for a global audience. Privately held Viber, run…

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Comcast buys rival Time Warner Cable for $45bn

Comcast has confirmed a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable for about $45bn (£27bn), creating a company that could control three-quarters of the US cable industry. Comcast will pay about $159 per share for its rival in an all-stock deal. The deal comes after Time Warner Cable rejected a $60bn bid from Charter Communications last month, calling their offer “grossly inadequate”. However, any merger is likely to face tight scrutiny from US regulators. Time Warner Cable has been the subject of an eight-month takeover battle by smaller cable operator Charter…

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Why did Target take so long to report data security breach?

The Target data breach affecting 40 million of the retailer’s credit and debit cards stems back to Nov. 27, two days before Black Friday. So why are we just hearing about it now, three weeks later? Blame protocol.  Although it might seem like ages to affected consumers, in the scheme of data breaches, even three weeks is a pretty quick time frame to spot a breach and notify customers, said Will Pelgrin, president and chief executive of the Center for Internet Security. “No matter how quickly an entity notifies you,…

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