On Tuesday, news broke that Wixen Music Publishing is suing Spotify for $1.6 billion for failing to obtain proper royalty licensing. The complaint centers around "mechanical" royalties, an on-going debate in music streaming.
Why it matters: Spotify (and others in the digital streaming industry) has long been criticized for not paying record labels and artists their fair share of the profits. But licensing rules may be due for some updating as online streaming continues to grow in popularity over physical records and musical downloads. Spotify is also in the midst of preparing to go public, as Axios reported.
The entire tech industry is scrambling to create software patches that close a massive security hole due to a decade-long flaw in how nearly all modern chips are designed.
The vulnerabilities, first reported to affect Intel chips, also affect to varying degrees processors made by rival AMD as well as the ARM processors used in cell phones and other devices.
Why it matters: This is the broadest security vulnerability to date, affecting nearly all computers, servers and other devices, including smartphones. For now, most fixes involve updates to the operating systems and cloud services developed by Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others.
Dig Deeper: A good explainer on the vulnerabilities and who is affected is offered here.
A soon-to-be-disclosed and massive chip flaw affects more than just Intel chips, according to both sources familiar with the issue and Intel itself.
The issue, which has to do with how modern chips speculatively execute code, leaves a wide range of processors vulnerable to attack. For now the solution appears to be rewriting devices' operating systems, meaning lots of work for Microsoft, Google, Apple and others. (Update: More info on the vulnerabilities can be found here.)
Why it matters: An already big problem is actually even bigger than previously thought. Already believed to impact nearly all computers, servers and cloud operating systems, it could impact cell phones and other devices as well. However, Intel says that contrary to early reports, the performance impact shouldn't be major for most users.
Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing said that it has acquired 99 in Brazil, confirming recent reports. Didi invested in 99 last year, and the companies share SoftBank as an investor.
Why it matters: Didi is now back to competing with Uber, this time in Brazil. The two ended their expensive rivalry in 2016 after Uber sold its Chinese operations to Didi, in exchange for an ownership stake.
It's clear that a soon-to-be-disclosed bug in Intel chips is going to be a big deal, but it's tough to say just how big until Intel shares more details publicly and the other key players — Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon share the steps they are taking to secure machines in the wake of the flaw.
What we know: There is a major bug out there that leaves lots of different types of computers running Intel chips vulnerable to an attack. That includes PCs, but also appears to include cloud services that run on Intel chips, such as those from Amazon. Reports suggest that, for now, Windows, Linux and MacOS (as well as impacted cloud operating systems) are being rewritten to close the security hole created by the flaw.
Nokia's former map unit, now owned by a consortium of European automakers, is launching a new effort to aggregate sensor data from millions of cars to help create a real-time map of road conditions.
Why it matters: Understanding not just the map of the road, but what is happening on those roads, is key for autonomous vehicles. It also could help HERE stand out from Google and others in the mapping space.
Twitter faced renewed criticism Tuesday after President Trump took to the service to taunt North Korea's Kim Jong-un over the size of his, um, nuclear button. Among other things, this tweet sparked a debate on the social media platform's policy and why this (and other Trump tweets) should be deemed allowable under Twitter's revised rules regarding inciting violence.
Technology analyst Gene Munster has predicted that Amazon will acquire Target Corp this year — a move that would further shake-up the evolving retail industry, Bloomberg reports.
"Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons, shared demographic and manageable but comprehensive store count," Bloomberg cited Munster saying. "Getting the timing on this is difficult, but seeing the value of the combination is easy."
Apple has acquired BuddyBuild a small Canadian company that helps developers build and test mobile apps.
BuddyBuild, not surprisingly, will be winding down its Android-related work to focus solely on helping with iPhone app development. The team, which includes roughly 40 engineers, will remain based in Vancouver.
Why it matters: Making life as easy and lucrative for developers as possible is key for both Apple and Google, both of which have acquired various startups in the area.
Facebook and Universal Music struck a multi-year licensing deal just before the holiday to let users across all Facebook media properties use recorded music and publishing catalogs for video across Facebook.Just days before, YouTube and Universal Music Group announced a "global, multi-year agreement," and Bloomberg reported that the tech giant also struck a deal with Sony Music giving YouTube music licenses from three of the biggest record labels: Universal, Sony and Warner. Why it matters: The negotiations are a sign of improving relations between the music industry and tech giants. Labels have argued for years that YouTube in particular did not offer strict copyright protections or pay music creators fairly.For YouTube, the deals should give the tech giant more access to content to sell subscriptions. The company announced last month that it will launch its own subscription music program.For Facebook, Universal is the first major music company to license its recorded music and publishing catalogs for video and other social experiences. Until now, users couldn't upload videos with non-licensed music in them, making it harder for users to post their content and providing less exposure for artists whose songs are commonly used in user-generated videos.
Lawmakers are coming back later this month. So are the big battles over tech policy.
The most urgent: The Section 702 surveillance law — used by the intelligence community to justify warrantless surveillance of electronic communications of foreign nationals located abroad — expires in mid-January, thanks to a short-term extension Congress passed before leaving for the holidays.
Twitter temporarily suspended the account of Beatrix von Storch, a far-right member of Germany's parliament, shortly after she sent an anti-Muslim tweet on New Year's Eve, per CNN. Twitter said the message, in which von Storch accused police of appeasing "barbaric, gang-raping Muslim hordes of men," violated its rules on hate speech.
Why it matters: A new German law, which was enacted in October but went into full effect Monday, requires that social media companies like Twitter and Facebook remove hate speech and fake news from their platforms within 24 hours of being flagged or face fines up to €50 million. Twitter's suspension of von Starch signals that the law is being taken seriously.
It's not often that Big Tech calls for more government action. But two top Microsoft executives — Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer, and Carol Ann Browne, director of executive communications — write in a tech trends forecast out today.
"2018 will be a year when democratic governments can either work together to safeguard electoral processes or face a future where democracy is more fragile."
"[T]his needs to include work to protect campaigns from hacking, address social media issues, ensure the integrity of voting results, and protect vital census processes."
"While technology companies have a high responsibility to help, there is no substitute for the effective and unified voices of democratic governments themselves."
