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Newsmax claims it “has not reported as true certain claims” made by “various guests, attorneys and elected officials” on air about Smartmatic and Dominion — Conservative media outlet Newsmax issued a clarification on Monday about recent claims made by guests …
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@existentialfish, @atrupar, @svdate, Newsmax, CNN, The Wrap, Fast Company, @bubbaprog, @jimsciutto, @kurteichenwald, @atrupar, @brhodes, @oneunderscore__, @yashar, @sethabramson, @klasfeldreports, @justinbaragona, @aaronblake, @tbridis, @bakari_sellers, @davidcorndc, @kanew, @pamkeithfl, @alexanderchee, @a_picazo, @normative, @mollyjongfast, @benpopper, @johnjharwood, @rcalo, @joshtpm, @kevinmkruse, @hamiltonnolan, @dr_pete, @jimrutenberg, @jproskowglobal, @milesparks, @oliverdarcy, Daily Herald, @oliverdarcy, The Right Scoop, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and TVNewser
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Ben Smith / New York Times:
Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN
Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN
Discussion:
@benyt, @llinwood, @justinbaragona, @davidmackau, Law & Crime, @benyt, @bubbaprog, @bobcesca_go, @scottshanenyt, @file411, @garylegum, The Daily Beast, @tomgara, @mrkrudd, @benyt, @ursulaperano, @taniel, @digiphile, @ericowensdc, Overtime, Mediaite, @mollyjongfast, Newser, Axios, The Week, @timobrien, @dandrezner, @joannelipman, TVNewser, @thephilosotroll, @froomkin, @slpng_giants, @leablackmiami, @brianstelter, @mikewiseguy, @badfoxgraphics, @jfkeeler, @oneunderscore__, @ashkan, @danielchaitin7, @atompkins, Business Insider, @meiselasb, Washington Post, @ansonmount, @loweringthebar, @toddschnitt and @nschneideraz13

The COVID-19 relief bill includes a provision to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets — WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Congressional leaders said on Sunday that lawmakers agreed to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets …
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@vwpickard, @penamerica, New York Times, The Hill, @taraemcg and @amzam
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The COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes the Felony Streaming Bill, which makes illegal streaming for profit a felony, with up to 10 years jail time — Targeting illegal for-profit streaming providers, not individual users — The US Congress has passed a COVID-19 stimulus bill …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Business Insider, MUSIC x, @andrew_gilden and @joe_loguidice, more at Techmeme »
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The omnibus funding bill Congress passed contains the controversial CASE Act, introduces a small claims copyright system, and may increase copyright trolling — from the but-why? dept — As we warned about earlier this month, it appears that Congress has in fact put …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Thom Tillis …, The Verge, New York Post, @aoc, @chrismessina, @artramp, Engadget, @johnscarce, @nme, @lexialex, @zfdigivagrant, @sbjohnsrpi, @ovenotter, @mmasnick, @xirzon and @eriqgardner, more at Techmeme »
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Congress' COVID-19 relief deal includes the Save Our Stages Act to give ~$15B in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters shut due to the pandemic
Congress' COVID-19 relief deal includes the Save Our Stages Act to give ~$15B in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters shut due to the pandemic
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, @variety, The Wrap, @winston_fisher1, @matthaneysf, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite, New York Post and Business Insider

Draft lawsuit filed last week says Facebook and Google agreed to help each other in case of investigation of their pact to work together in online advertising — Draft lawsuit quotes Facebook's Sandberg saying Google pact was a ‘big deal strategically’ — WASHINGTON— Facebook Inc …
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@rmac18, Business Insider, National Review, @mattyglesias, @gavinsbaker, CNBC, @jeffhorwitz and @jesselehrich, more at Techmeme »

Group Nine Media has launched a SPAC and plans to go public, according to an SEC filing on Monday — Group Nine Media has formed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to an SEC filing on Monday. — The company, called Group Nine Acquisition Corp., was formed …
Discussion:
US Securities and Exchange Commission, @imkialikethecar, @joshsternberg, @alexweprin, @benmullin, @alexkotch and @benmullin

Sources: MGM Holdings has begun a formal sale process, looking for a price double its $5.5B valuation — Movie studio has tapped bankers to find a buyer, as media companies look to stock up on content — MGM Holdings Inc., the movie studio behind the “James Bond” franchise, is exploring a sale …

IAC says it plans to spin off its full stake in Vimeo, making it an independent, publicly trade company in Q2 2021 — - IAC is spinning off its full stake in Vimeo, the company announced Tuesday. — Following completion of the deal, which is expect to occur in the second quarter of 2021 …
Discussion:
Axios and Variety, more at Techmeme »

An international phishing scam is tricking writers, editors, and agents into sharing unpublished book manuscripts, but the endgame of the scam is unclear — A phishing scam with unclear motive or payoff is targeting authors, agents and editors big and small, baffling the publishing industry.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, @merrilymaralie, @gabehudson, Jezebel, @harikunzru, @pamelapaulnyt, @nytimesbooks and @juliussharpe

Analysis: of the 60 biggest brands that paused Facebook ads in 2020, only ~10 are still pausing ads and some of those have kept spending using other FB tools — This past summer, dozens of major brands pulled their ad dollars from Facebook in a protest of the company's handling of the hate speech and disinformation.
Discussion:
@hkanji and @swodinsky, more at Techmeme »
Reuters:
Journalist Rahmatullah Nekzad was shot in Afghanistan on Monday, the fourth to be killed in the country in the last two months — KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday, the fourth to be killed in the war-torn nation in last two months.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera

Cyberpunk 2077's developer hamstrung reviewers by forcing NDAs and sending copies just days before launch to prevent players from seeing the buggy mess — Video game companies are increasingly putting restrictions on what reviewers can show, widening the gap between expectations and reality.
Discussion:
NPR, New York Times, @nytimes, @mattsaincome, @olteddo, @cecianasta, @laurakbuzz, @william_partin, @genepark, @cecianasta, @gameovergreggy, @playcyberpunk, @gameovergreggy, @aedison, @nextgenplayer, ScreenRant, @mikeisaac, @pkafka, @albertburneko, Defector and The Verge, more at Techmeme »