| | |
| Japan finance minister: Gathering facts on bitcoin, unsure whether crime involved Monday, Mar 03, 2014 05:14 PM PST  Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday that the government is still trying to figure out what has led to the collapse of the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox and is not sure whether crime is involved. "(We) don't know if it was a crime or just a bankruptcy." Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan on Friday, saying it may have lost nearly half a billion dollars worth of the virtual currency due to hacking into its faulty computer system. Full Story | Top |
| Cybercrime hits financial firms hardest: survey Monday, Mar 03, 2014 04:03 PM PST  Cybercrime is the second most common type of fraud reported by financial firms, more than double the level across other industries, as criminals turn increasingly to technology as their main weapon against banks, a survey showed. Some 39 percent of financial services companies that suffered from economic crime last year said they had been hit by cybercrime, compared to 17 percent in other industries, according to the survey by consultancy PwC. Banks in Europe and the United States are being told by regulators to toughen their defenses against cyber attacks, which have grown more frequent and severe as criminals and "hacktivists" become more sophisticated. Banks are often targeted for financial gain, but sometimes it is to disrupt business. Full Story | Top |
| Meetup.com fights off hackers, refuses to pay $300 ransom Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:55 PM PST By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Social networking website Meetup.com is fighting a sustained battle against cyber-criminals who are demanding $300 to call off an attack that has kept the site offline for much of the past four days. The site, which enables strangers to meet for shared-interest activities ranging from parents' groups to software development, was back online but still under attack late on Monday afternoon, Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman told Reuters. Heiferman said he was open to the possibility of some financial relief for members who pay between $12 and $17 a month to organize Meetup groups in their geographic and thematic areas of interest. Full Story | Top |
| S&P DJI to review planned changes to Google weightings Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:40 PM PST  Standard & Poor's Dow Jones Indices on Monday said it will review whether its planned changes to Google Inc's weightings in widely used market indexes could hurt investors, and took the unusual step of asking worried index fund managers to address the potential costs. Google had announced plans on February 3 to issue new Class C shares, and distribute one Class C share for each Class A or Class B share outstanding. S&P DJI then planned to include A and C shares in its S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes of large companies until June 20, after which it would include only C shares and increase the float. But portfolio managers who track those indexes, which is normally a tax-efficient strategy, complained to S&P DJI that this would force them to replace A shares with C shares, and by selling the A shares pass on capital gains to investors. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft makes pollster Penn head of strategy, exact role unclear Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:19 PM PST  By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Monday put pugnacious pollster and political adviser Mark Penn in charge of strategy but left company watchers uncertain what exactly his new role will entail. In the newly created job of chief strategy officer, Penn's "blend of data analysis and creativity" will be applied across new product areas and strategic investments, not just marketing, new Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella told employees in a memo. The shift for 60-year-old Penn, who made his name advising President Bill Clinton, theoretically gives him more power to sway Microsoft's direction. But it also means he relinquishes direct control of marketing, which will be taken over by Microsoft veteran Chris Capossela. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government, Sprint to fight in court over wiretap expenses Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:19 PM PST  Sprint Corp and the U.S. government said on Monday they will face off in court over how much money law enforcement agencies owe the wireless provider for help the company was required to give investigators who wanted to tap phone calls. The Obama administration filed a suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Monday, alleging that Sprint overcharged the government $21 million for expenses it incurred while complying with court-ordered wiretaps and other surveillance help. Sprint said it plans to defend the matter "vigorously." Telecommunications companies, including Sprint, are routinely asked to assist with investigations by helping facilitate phone surveillance such as wiretaps or so-called "pen registers," which record data about phone calls, though not their content. They are allowed to request reimbursements for related "reasonable expenses." In the case, San Francisco U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag alleged that Sprint "knowingly submitted false claims" to the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies from January 1, 2007 to July 31, 2010, inflating costs by about 58 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Government spying tools will worsen Internet security: experts Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:04 PM PST  By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic spying tools used by the U.S. government could end up in the hands of organized criminals and hackers, further eroding Internet security, warned industry leaders who called for new restrictions and oversight of government activity. "It is a big worry" that the methods will spread, said Andrew France, former deputy director of the UK's NSA equivalent, GCHQ, and now chief executive of security startup Darktrace. The government habit of purchasing information about undisclosed holes in software is also "really troublesome," said former White House cyber security advisor Howard Schmidt. "There's collateral damage." Both France and Schmidt spoke to Reuters at the annual RSA Conference, the world's largest cyber security gathering, in San Francisco last week. Full Story | Top |
| News Corp's education unit launches digital lessons Monday, Mar 03, 2014 11:46 AM PST News Corp's education division Amplify on Monday unveiled a digital curriculum aimed at middle school students in a move to kick-start growth in the unit after years of investment. The curriculum is for English Language Arts aimed at sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students, and features content from a library of e-books, dramatic readings by actors, story animations, and role-playing games about classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe. "If this succeeds, teachers will want to use this to orchestrate their lessons," said Joel Klein, the chief executive of Amplify and former New York City schools chancellor. Amplify is betting on the changes roiling U.S. school districts, which are spending billions of dollars on digital technology at the expense of textbooks. Full Story | Top |
| Icahn says demanding review of eBay records Monday, Mar 03, 2014 11:19 AM PST  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn is demanding a review of eBay Inc's records on its sale of Skype, reiterating his view that eBay board member Marc Andreessen had conflicts of interest, while eBay called Icahn's criticisms "false and misleading." In an open letter to shareholders on Monday, Icahn said "Mr. Andreessen's conflicts are clear and insurmountable." He also said his firm is "in the process of demanding an inspection of eBay's relevant books and records pursuant to our right as stockholders under Delaware law." Icahn, who has a 2.15 percent stake in eBay and has called for the e-commerce giant to spin off its fast-growing PayPal payments business, has publicly feuded with the company in recent weeks over eBay's 2009 sale of a majority stake in Skype to private investors. Icahn said that Andreessen, whose venture capital firm was one of the investors in the group to which eBay sold its majority stake in Skype for $1.9 billion, subsequently benefited from the group's sale of the online phone service in 2011 to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Full Story | Top |
| Daimler CEO says software services key for growth Monday, Mar 03, 2014 11:06 AM PST  Carmakers will need to ensure their vehicles can connect to mobile devices and the internet if they are to survive, Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche said on Monday. His comments came after Daimler's Mercedes-Benz said it would make cars compatible with new software developed by Apple, known as CarPlay. Daimler will also be offering compatibility to Android-based devices, the company added. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. top court denies FilmOn X role in Aereo case Monday, Mar 03, 2014 07:23 AM PST By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that online television service FilmOn X LLC cannot intervene in support of competitor Aereo Inc, which is being challenged by the four major U.S. broadcasters over its use of television broadcast signals. In a brief order the court said on Monday that it had rejected FilmOn X's request to participate in the one-hour oral argument and in the written briefing of the case. The broadcasters, Walt Disney Co's ABC network, CBS Corp, Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, sought high court review after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled for Aereo in April. FilmOn X has been involved in litigation similar to that faced by Aereo. Full Story | Top |
| Zynga plans March soft launch for 3 key titles in mobile revamp Monday, Mar 03, 2014 06:12 AM PST  By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc said on Monday it will kick off a soft launch of its "FarmVille 2: Country Escape" game and two other updated core titles before the end of March - critical first steps as it seeks to remake itself as a mobile gaming company. The games, which include "Zynga Poker" and "Words With Friends" will roll out on iOS and Android phones and tablets in select undisclosed markets before officially launching by the end of June. The steps are part of a major revamp led by new Chief Executive Don Mattrick that has also seen the company cut jobs and acquire mobile game developer NaturalMotion, the maker of "Clumsy Ninja", in January for $527 million. "Did the company miss a beat with the transition to mobile? Full Story | Top |
| Automakers tap smartphone technology in battle over city cars Monday, Mar 03, 2014 05:35 AM PST By Edward Taylor and Harro Ten Wolde FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Carmakers are tapping smartphone technology to spruce up low-cost city cars and try to get an edge in a market that has grown to account for almost 10 percent of new car sales in austerity-scarred Europe. The Opel Adam Rocks, the new Peugeot 108, the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo will be among the compact city cars on display at the Geneva motor show this month - all available with large multimedia screens that can display music libraries or navigation maps stored on a smartphone. "What used to be a feature seen in premium cars is now coming in to the low and medium end of the market," said Dinesh Paliwal, chief executive of Harman International a maker of so-called "infotainment" systems for the auto industry. Full Story | Top |
| Google,Samsung ask China to limit Microsoft-Nokia deal: Bloomberg Monday, Mar 03, 2014 04:08 AM PST  (Reuters) - Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have asked Chinese regulators to ensure that Microsoft Corp's bid to acquire Nokia Oyj's phone business did not lead to higher licensing fees on patents that remain with the Finnish company, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The companies joined Chinese mobile phone makers Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp in voicing concerns about Microsoft gaining more power in the smartphone market, the report said, citing two government officials familiar with the matter. Full Story | Top |
| India's Supreme Court to resume hearing of Nokia appeal on March 11 Monday, Mar 03, 2014 03:40 AM PST  India's Supreme Court will resume hearing on March 11 Nokia's appeal against a lower court ruling over transferring ownership of its local mobile phones plant which is the subject of a tax dispute to Microsoft, lawyers on the case said on Monday. Nokia, which is selling its mobile phones business to Microsoft in a 5.4 billion euro ($7.5 billion) deal, last month appealed to the Supreme Court saying the Delhi High Court had imposed "new conditions" over the transfer of the plant, after previously lifting a freeze on the assets. A swift hearing could put an end to speculation over whether Nokia can move ownership of local assets including the plant in Chennai in southern India to Microsoft. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment