Top News:
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
The US Senate passes the TikTok divestment bill by a margin of 79-18; the legislation now heads to President Biden, who has committed to sign the bill into law — A bill that would force China-based company Bytedance to sell TikTok — or else face a US ban of the platform …
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Casey Newton / Platformer:
Legal scholars discuss how the TikTok divestment bill could survive a First Amendment challenge and why the US will likely rely on a national security argument — The First Amendment is a major obstacle, scholars say — but it isn't insurmountable — On Tuesday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly …
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Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
Biden signing the TikTok divestment bill starts a 270-day countdown for a sale or a US prohibition; sources say ByteDance sees divestiture as a last resort — - China's ByteDance faces deadline to sell app under US measure — Company braces for legal fight against divest-or-ban efforts
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AppleInsider, Peter Elstrom on LinkedIn, The Indian Express, Gizmodo, Variety, TechCrunch, The Hill, Digiday, HuffPost, New York Post, Forbes, Daily Press, Music Ally and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
The FTC bans noncompete clauses that restrict job switching, potentially complicating hiring in Hollywood as firms try to protect trade secrets and other info — The FTC on Tuesday voted to prohibit noncompete provisions in contracts, which could usher in a sea change to worker mobility …
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Federal Trade Commission, Washington Post, The Hill, WRIC-TV, @carnage4life, @cjjsaez, @gergelyorosz, @bryanranderson, @quinnypig, @bongcapital, @nick_bunker, @ftc, @reporterashley, @ftc, Fast Company, New York Times, Deadline, ABC7, @MisuseCase@twit.social, Wired, Fortune, Sportico, @tacertain@infosec.exchange, @karabaic@mastodon.social, The Information, @geerlingguy@mastodon.social, Gizmodo, Variety, @LLS@wandering.shop, HuffPost, @stevestreza@indieweb.social, Radio & Television …, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, HousingWire, New York Daily News, The Verge, Ad Age, CBS News and STAT, more at Techmeme »
Rolling Stone:
Ex-AMI CEO David Pecker testifies about agreeing to be Trump's “eyes and ears” and how the National Enquirer used Michael Cohen's prompts to bash Trump rivals — David Pecker testified about his efforts to help Trump win the White House, including by publishing bogus stories about rivals like Ted Cruz
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Seb Joseph / Digiday:
For the third time, Google delays the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome, pushing back its plans to early 2025, after the UK CMA expressed concerns — Google is delaying the end of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser — again. In other unsurprising developments, water remains wet.
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The Privacy Sandbox, Wall Street Journal, The Drum, AdExchanger, The Information, Kimeko McCoy on LinkedIn, Achim Schlosser on LinkedIn, Adweek, Alysa Hutnik on LinkedIn, Rudi Shumpert on LinkedIn, Jochen Schlosser on LinkedIn, Ad Age, Mumbrella, Andrew Gilbert on LinkedIn, Anthony Katsur on LinkedIn and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Chris Morris / Fortune:
Taylor Swift's new album smashed streaming records; Spotify says it had 300M+ streams on launch day and became 2024's most-streamed album within just 12 hours — Never bet against Swifties. — Taylor Swift's loyal fan base not only sent the singer's latest album, The Tortured Poets Department …
Discussion:
Spotify, City A.M., SIDE-LINE, CNN and Music Business Worldwide
Amy Graff / SFGATE:
KQED, a Bay Area NPR and PBS affiliate, is initiating buyouts, and may have layoffs or a hiring freeze; in 2023, revenue hit $90.4M and expenses $100.9M — KQED is initiating staff buyouts, an effort to reduce costs in the face of a budget deficit, SFGATE has learned.
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Current and CalMatters
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Ofcom warns UK broadcasters on the importance of impartiality ahead of the general election, but stops short of outright banning using politicians as presenters — UK media regulator finds need to strengthen rules for TV channels featuring politicians as presenters
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify Q1: revenue up 20% YoY to €3.6B, MAUs up 19% to 615M, vs. 617.9M est., subscribers up 14% to 239M, and a €168M operating income; SPOT closed up 11.41% — - Subscribers to paid Spotify tiers jumped 14% to 239 million — Swedish audio-streaming company posted record operating profit
Discussion:
Fortune, Spotify, @mukund, @xpangler, Billboard, @lucas_shaw, @eldsjal, @thetranscript_, @spotifynews, Digital Music News, CNBC, Billboard, Fast Company, The Wrap, Music Business Worldwide, Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Agence France-Presse, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Music Ally and Reuters
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
NYT's David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro discuss The Interview, a new franchise launching on April 27 that will appear in the Magazine and in podcast form — A new franchise that will appear in the Magazine and in podcast form, ‘The Interview’ will see hosts David Marchese and Lulu speak with newsmaking guests.
Discussion:
New York Times, The New York Times Company and Priya Mathew on LinkedIn
James Warrington / Telegraph:
News Group Newspapers sues ITV and ITN over using a video released by The Sun of the Princess of Wales visiting a farm shop; ITV plans to “strongly resist” — Broadcaster says it will ‘strongly resist’ the copyright infringement claim — Rupert Murdoch is suing ITV and ITN …
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