Top News:
BBC:
Sources: BBC websites hit by DDoS attack — ‘Technical issue’ hits BBC websites — “Technical issues” made the BBC's websites intermittently unavailable on Thursday morning. — The problems began about 0700 GMT and meant visitors to the site saw a message informing them about an “internal error”.
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Samuel Gibbs / Guardian:
BBC online services back up after widespread outages took its website and iPlayer offline for several hours — BBC suffers widespread outages taking website and iPlayer offline — UK public broadcaster apologises as its internet services are taken down by ‘technical issue’ affecting its website …
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Crowdfunded ‘Star Trek’ Movie Draws Lawsuit from Paramount, CBS — ‘Axanar’ aims to be a professional-quality prequel and has raised more than $1 million. — For decades, Paramount and CBS have tolerated and even encouraged fans of the Star Trek franchise to use their imagination at will …
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Rob Price / Business Insider:
Twitter is reversing its ban on political watchdog Politwoops — Four months after being banned by Twitter, Politwoops is coming back. — If you're not familiar with it, Politwoops is a kind of social media watchdog. It automatically monitors the Twitter feeds of politicians and highlights whenever they delete a tweet.
Sean O'Kane / The Verge:
Facebook tests multiple, topic-based feeds on its mobile app in place of one main News Feed, also tests wider rollout of Marketplace feature with its own tab — Facebook is testing multiple news feeds on mobile — Facebook is testing multiple, topic-based feeds on its mobile app in place of one main News Feed.
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Brian Rohan / Associated Press:
Egypt shuts down Facebook's Free Basics internet service on telco provider Etisalat, reasons unclear — Free Internet service for over 3 million Egyptians shut down — BEIRUT (AP) — Social media site Facebook says a program that had been giving free basic Internet services to over three million Egyptians has been shut down.
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New York Times:
Egyptian authorities shut down art gallery and raided an independent publishing house, raising concerns about continued free speech issues
Egyptian authorities shut down art gallery and raided an independent publishing house, raising concerns about continued free speech issues
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Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, NPR, South Carolina SC, KTEP, @lizsly, @kenroth, StepFeed, i24news, StepFeed, Egypt Independent, Egyptian Streets, artnet News and ARTnews
Walter Pincus / Washington Post:
In farewell, veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus says rush to be first is leaving facts behind, newsmakers have become better at influencing media — A farewell to The Washington Post — For more than 40 years I have been lucky enough to be part of The Washington Post.
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@sogrady, @thekarami, @mikeykaynyc, @ourand_sbj, @rezhasan, @wsjsolomon, @jenhoward, @moisesnaim, @aodespair, @athertonkd, @mlcalderone, @derekwillis, @jayrosen_nyu, @alexweprin and @hadas_gold
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Spotify sued over mechanical rights that cover songwriters' royalties for reproduction of a musical work — David Lowery Sues Spotify for Copyright Infringement — Spotify has been sued for copyright infringement in a case that accuses it of failing to properly license songwriting rights in the United States.
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Alex Sherman / Bloomberg Business:
Sources: Nexstar to finalize new offer for Media General, at about $2.2B, or $17.50 per share, as soon as Thursday — Nexstar Said to Finalize Media General Proposal Soon as Thursday — Offer would trigger at least 4-day window for Meredith counter — Nexstar tapping three banks for $4.5 billion in debt financing
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FishbowlNY and @sherman4949
Jeremy Barr / Ad Age:
Q&A with Huffington Post founding editor Roy Sekoff, whose last day is December 31, on experimentation and innovation, cultivating readers, and taking a break — Q&A: The Huffington Post's Founding Editor Gets Ready to Move On — Roy Sekoff Last's Day, After 11 Years, is Dec. 31
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter cracks down on harassment by rearranging paragraphs in its terms of service — In the wake of former CEO Dick Costolo admitting the company “suck[s] at dealing with abuse,” Twitter has devoted many blog posts to explaining how seriously it takes the issue.
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Fast Company, The Twitter Blog, @4thanon, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Gizmodo, @twitterau, Wired.co.uk, DW.COM, CNET, The Independent, VatorNews, IOL, CBS News, Daily Mail, Reuters, USA Today, The Next Web, @marklittlenews, Digital Spy, Marketing Land and Gigaom
Associated Press:
Poland's lawmakers approve new law on state media control — WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's parliament on Wednesday approved new legislation that gives the government control of state radio and television stations in a move that has raised EU concern. — Following a heated debate …