Author: iMaster

Author: iMaster

Facebook’s Antitrust Fight in US Could Mean More Consumer Choice Worldwide
12/16/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. government’s suit against Facebook for illegally stifling competition and limiting consumer choice will be watched worldwide, particularly by the social network’s more than two billion users. Tina Trinh reports.  Produced by: Tina Trinh     …

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Britain to Introduce New Laws Over ‘Harmful’ Social Media Content 
12/15/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Lawmakers in Britain have proposed legislation that would fine social media companies if they do not quickly take action to remove illegal content like child pornography or terrorist materials.  U.S. based Facebook and Twitter and China-owned TikTok could be fined up to 10% of turnover, according to Reuters. CNBC reported that Ofcom, a British media

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Apple Adding Privacy Fact Labels to App Store Items
12/15/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Apple on Monday began adding labels that reveal what user data is gathered by games, chat or other software offered in the App Store for its popular mobile devices.  The iPhone maker announced plans for such privacy labels when it first unveiled the new version of its iOS mobile operating system, which it released in

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Google Suffers Widespread Outage of Gmail, YouTube and More
12/14/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

After nearly an hour of widespread global outages of Google services, most users were again able to access their Gmail, Google Drive and YouTube accounts Monday morning.   “Update — We’re back up and running! You should be able to access YouTube again and enjoy videos as normal,” YouTube tweeted once service was restored.  

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Can China Become Self-reliant in Semiconductors?
12/12/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. added China’s biggest computer chipmaker SMIC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies last week, a move that will further widen the gap between China’s chip technology and the rest of the world. Despite its status as the world’s factory, China has never figured out how to make advanced chips. In recent

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EU Vaccine Agency Victim of Cyberattack
12/12/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The head of the European Union’s medical agency confirmed Friday it had been the subject of a cyberattack for the past two weeks but said it will not impact its ongoing evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines. The cyberattack was originally announced Wednesday, with the agency providing few details. During an online meeting with the European Parliament,

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EU Vaccine Agency Victim of Cyber-attack
12/11/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The head of the European Union’s medical agency confirmed Friday it had been the subject of a cyberattack for the past two weeks but said it will not impact its ongoing evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines. The cyberattack was originally announced Wednesday, with the agency providing few details. During an online meeting with the European Parliament,

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At-Home Kits Aim to Close COVID-19 Testing Gap
12/11/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Getting a COVID test can mean long lines and delayed results. Matt Dibble looks into recent breakthroughs that may have more of us performing a test at home. Camera: Matt Dibble       Producer: Matt Dibble …

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At-Home Test Kits: New Tools to Close the COVID-19 Testing Gap
12/11/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Getting a COVID test can mean long lines and delayed results. Matt Dibble looks into recent breakthroughs that may have more of us performing a test at home. Camera: Matt Dibble       Producer: Matt Dibble …

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SpaceX Starship Makes Highest Test Flight, Crashes on Landing
12/10/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

SpaceX launched its shiny, bullet-shaped, straight-out-of-science fiction Starship several miles into the air from a remote corner of Texas on Wednesday, but the 6 1/2-minute test flight ended in an explosive fireball at touchdown. It was the highest and most elaborate flight yet for the rocket ship that Elon Musk says could carry people to

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Facebook Faces US Lawsuits That Could Force Sale of Instagram, WhatsApp
12/09/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and nearly every U.S. state sued Facebook Inc. Wednesday, saying it broke antitrust law and should potentially be broken up. With the filing of the twin lawsuits, Facebook becomes the second big tech company to face a major legal challenge this fall. The FTC said in a statement that it

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YouTube Will Remove New Videos That Falsely Claim Fraud Changed US Election Outcome
12/09/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

YouTube said on Wednesday it would start removing content that falsely allege widespread fraud changed the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, in a change to its more hands-off stance on videos making similar claims. The update, which applies to content uploaded from Wednesday, comes a day after “safe harbor,” a deadline set by U.S.

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Cybersecurity Firm FireEye Says Was Hacked by Nation State
12/09/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Prominent U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said Tuesday that foreign government hackers with “world-class capabilities” broke into its network and stole offensive tools it uses to probe the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations. The hackers “primarily sought information related to certain government customers,” FireEye

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Smartphone Glass Strength: The Quest To Make Glass Shatterproof
12/08/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. glassmaker Corning has become the dominant provider of glass covers for smartphones worldwide. Deana Mitchell has the story. …

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Australia Introducing Bill to Make Facebook and Google Pay Media Groups for Content
12/08/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Legislation to make Facebook and Google pay media organizations for news content will be introduced in the Australian parliament on Wednesday, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday.   Frydenberg said the measure would be reviewed by a parliamentary committee after its introduction and before legislators vote on it next year.   If the measure becomes law,

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Despite Promise, Few in US Adopting COVID-19 Exposure Apps
12/07/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Six months ago, Apple and Google introduced a new smartphone tool designed to notify people who might have been exposed to the coronavirus, without disclosing any personal information. But for the most part, Americans haven’t been all that interested. Fewer than half of U.S. states and territories — 18 in total — have made such

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US Not Extending TikTok Divestiture Deadline; Talks to Continue
12/06/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Trump administration has chosen not to extend again an order requiring ByteDance, a Chinese company, to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets, but talks will continue over the video-sharing app’s fate, two sources briefed on the matter said. A Treasury Department representative said late Friday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)

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Federal Lawsuit Alleges Facebook Discriminates Against US Workers 
12/04/2020 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Thursday saying social media giant Facebook was discriminating against U.S. workers and hiring cheaper foreign workers instead. Many of the temporary workers the DOJ accused Facebook of giving hiring preferences to were foreign workers with H-1B visas. H1-B visas allow U.S. companies to hire foreign workers

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Facebook to Start Removing Bogus Claims About COVID Vaccines
12/03/2020 iLines,iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Facebook will begin removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines from its social media platform, the company said Thursday, as part of an ongoing campaign to combat the spread of misinformation about them. “This is another way that we are applying our policy to remove misinformation about the virus that could lead to imminent physical harm,”

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Twitter Prohibits Dehumanizing Posts Targeting Race, Ethnicity
12/03/2020 iLines,iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Twitter has enacted stricter content rules, adding to its list of prohibited conduct any language that “dehumanizes people on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.” The social media company announced the update to its policy on Wednesday. Twitter said it would remove any offending posts that users report and would also work to

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European Space Agency Signs Deal to Remove Debris from Orbit
12/02/2020 iLines,iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a $102 million contract with a Swiss start-up company to purchase a unique service: the first-ever removal of an item of space debris from orbit.   The company, ClearSpace SA, will capture part of a used rocket using what is described as a “tentacle,” and then dragging it

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Singapore OKs Lab-grown Chicken
12/02/2020 iLines,iNews,iTechnology iMaster

It might look like chicken. It might taste like chicken. But it doesn’t come from a chicken, it comes from a lab. For chicken lovers in Singapore, this lab-grown chicken will soon be available in nugget form as the country has given the OK for San Francisco-based startup Eat Just to sell the meat. It is

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