Mediagazer: India lifts block on Vimeo, Dailymotion, Weebly, and Github Gist, 28 sites remain banned (Violet Blue/ZDNet)

8:30 AM ET, January 2, 2015

Top News:

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:

North Korea/Sony Story Shows How Eagerly U.S. Media Still Regurgitate Government Claims — The identity of the Sony hackers is still unknown. President Obama, in a December 19 press conference, announced: “We can confirm that North Korea engaged in this attack.”

Discussion: The Week, @josephmenn, @billmon1, @ggreenwald, @jayrosen_nyu, @wardhayeswilson, @tomricks1, @rungomez, @jayrosen_nyu, @garethporter, New York Post and Gawker

Jana Winter / The Intercept:
FBI bulletin says hackers who attacked Sony have threatened an unnamed news organization

New York Times:
Interviews with Sony employees show that the company was slow to realize the gravity and impact of hacking

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Verge, BGR, Mashable, Gawker, Digital Spy and Engadget

Tal Kopan / Politico:
FBI says report that Sony hack was perpetrated by a disgruntled Sony employee and piracy group hackers is “inaccurate”, based on “narrow view”

Discussion: Engadget, Re/code, Techdirt, Hit & Run, New York Times, Mashable and The PJ Tatler

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy apply for deportation from Egypt to Australia and Canada — Two of Al-Jazeera Three apply for deportation from Egypt — Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy formally ask chief prosecutor to send them to Australia and Canada after case sent for retrial

Discussion: The Desk

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Egypt court orders retrial for Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues, denies bail — Egypt court orders retrial for Peter Greste and Al-Jazeera colleagues — Al-Jazeera Three, Greste Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, are to be retried and bail has been denied

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Sources: Yahoo execs have considered buying CNN or Scripps Networks and its 7 cable channels — Marissa Mayer Has Surprising Interest In Buying A Cable Channel, Yahoo Sources Say — Here is a perhaps crazy idea that sources tell us Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and her top executives have considered …

Discussion: SiliconANGLE, @jackshafer, Variety, @michaelroston, @jbenton, @rafat and The Information

Violet Blue / ZDNet:

India lifts block on Vimeo, Dailymotion, Weebly, and Github Gist, 28 sites remain banned — India lifts block on Vimeo; Pastebin, Internet Archive, others still banned — Summary:The Indian government's internet block on 32 websites, affecting nearly 300 million citizens …

Discussion: The Next Web, International Business Times, CNNMoney.com, Android Police, TechOne3, Tech2 and Tech in Asia

Anupam Saxena / Times of India:
India orders ISPs to block Dailymotion, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and 30 other websites

Discussion: @buzzindelhi, @pranesh_prakash, Quartz, @declanm, Quartz, PandoDaily, Scroll.in, Digit, India - The Huffington Post, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Next Web, BuzzFeed, TechWorm, Business Insider, TechCrunch and Techdirt

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

17 Hopes and Dreams for The Times in the New Year — 1. Presidential campaign coverage that does not seem based on the idea that the presidency is dynastic, and must be handed down to a Clinton or a Bush. — 2. More skepticism from the get-go. For example, when government officials say …

Discussion: @vikasbajaj, @raju, @caraswill, @edmundlee, @michalskilaura, @rebeccagberg, @kvox, @sulliview and @jayrosen_nyu

James Vincent / The Verge:

New tax rules for digital goods take effect in Europe, affecting apps, ebooks, music downloads, more — Apps, ebooks, and album downloads are about to get more expensive in Europe — New legislation is making internet companies fork out more tax, and consumers will likely pay the price

Discussion: The Next Web, Telegraph, Billboard, Daily Mail, The Bandcamp Blog, New York Times, @planbmag and @clikchic

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

After 43 years on TV, Bill Moyers will officially retire on Friday, for the third time — Bill Moyers signs off — for the final time, he swears — This time, Bill Moyers really means it. After 43 years as public television's most visible intellectual and its most unabashed liberal, he's done.

Discussion: @harveyjkaye, @nickkristof, @lateandsoon and Common Dreams

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Bloomberg Business readies for Davos with Jan. 20 debut — January 20 is shaping up to be a big day for Bloomberg L.P. — That's the date that's been chosen to unveil the company's much-anticipated flagship media portal, Bloomberg Business, according to sources with knowledge of the plans …

Discussion: @joepompeo, @joepompeo and The Huffington Post

Center for the Study of the Public Domain:

As copyright expires on some works in Canada and Europe, US law prohibits any works from entering the public domain until 2019 — What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2015? — Current US law extends copyright for 70 years after the date of the author's death, and corporate …

Discussion: Hyperallergic, Vox, @xor, @dangillmor and Scientific American …

Jonathan Band / Disruptive Competition Project:

MLK estate refused to license speeches, forcing filmmakers to paraphrase in Selma docudrama — Paraphrasing Selma — Among the most powerful moments of Selma, the new film about the march Martin Luther King, Jr. led in 1965 in support of voting rights for African Americans, are the speeches …

Discussion: New York Times, Gigaom and @joemullin

Anna Clark / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Philly.com's new director of digital audience development, Diana Lind, who came from local nonprofit magazine Next City — Diana Lind discusses what she's learned at Next City and what she hopes to bring to Philly.com — DETROIT, MI — How do you engage readers with local reporting?