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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 …
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Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, TechCrunch, New York Times, Variety, MUSIC x, @quinnypig, @andrew_gilden and @joe_loguidice, more at Techmeme »
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The COVID-19 relief bill includes a provision to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets
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@vwpickard, @penamerica, @defensebaron, @kwoodsome, @taraemcg, @amzam and The Hill
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
The omnibus funding bill Congress passed contains the controversial CASE Act, introduces a small claims copyright system, and may increase copyright trolling
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
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Techdirt, New York Times, @variety, @winston_fisher1, @matthaneysf, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite and New York Post

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 …

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 …
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Axios, The Wrap, The Verge, Variety, @sarafischer, @stevekovach and @jbursz, more at Techmeme »

MIT names Dava Newman director of its Media Lab, following the resignation of Joi Ito in 2019 over funding the organization received from Jeffrey Epstein — Visionary astronautics researcher, explorer, and expert on human adaptation to space will lead the Institute's world-renowned research center.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @medialab, @ariel_ekblaw and CIVICS.com Substack

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 …

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, @bubbaprog, @jimsciutto, The Wrap, Fast Company, @oneunderscore__, @yashar, @kurteichenwald, @klasfeldreports, @justinbaragona, @aaronblake, @a_picazo, @atrupar, @mollyjongfast, @kanew, @sethabramson, @normative, @brhodes, @davidcorndc, @bakari_sellers, @pamkeithfl, @tbridis, @alexanderchee, @benpopper, @johnjharwood, @rcalo, @joshtpm, @kevinmkruse, @hamiltonnolan, @dr_pete, @jimrutenberg, @jproskowglobal, @milesparks, @oliverdarcy, @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
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@benyt, Vanity Fair, @llinwood, @justinbaragona, @davidmackau, Moderns Comms, @benyt, Law & Crime, @bubbaprog, @scottshanenyt, @bobcesca_go, @file411, @garylegum, @tomgara, @mrkrudd, @benyt, @ursulaperano, @taniel, The Daily Beast, @digiphile, @ericowensdc, @mollyjongfast, Overtime, Mediaite, @timobrien, Newser, Axios, @dandrezner, @joannelipman, The Week, @thephilosotroll, @froomkin, @slpng_giants, @leablackmiami, @brianstelter, @mikewiseguy, @badfoxgraphics, @jfkeeler, @oneunderscore__, @ashkan, @danielchaitin7, TVNewser, @atompkins, Business Insider and @meiselasb

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.

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 »

As sports betting booms in the US, gambling operators have turned to sports media companies to attract customers, including big ad deals and hiring reporters — Readers of the Chicago Tribune have come to know sportswriter Teddy Greenstein over the past two-plus decades for his coverage …
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@tomfarrey, @teddygreenstein, @spj_tweets, @tkgore and @benjstrauss

Blaze Media, the result of the merger between Glenn Beck's The Blaze and CRTV, has 450K subscribers to BlazeTV, paying an average of $102/year — The conservative media company that owns BlazeTV has quietly been building a massive subscriber base, a direct threat to any digital TV effort …
Discussion:
@thedomino and @sarafischer

Gannett negotiates a buyout from management by PE firm Fortress for a one-time fee of $30.38M, having already paid it ~$19M in fees in first nine months of 2020 — Gannett, the owner of USA TODAY and more than 260 other daily publications, has negotiated an early exit from a fee-based arrangement …
Discussion:
@usatoday, @iamnickreynolds, @jenwsheehan, @lukeranker, @ctguild, @iandon, @apantazi, @apantazi and @apantazi

Ebony Media, which declared bankruptcy recently, plans to sell its business for ~$14M to an investment group led by former NBA player Ulysses Bridgeman — The $14 million offer from Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman was sole serious bid for publisher of Black magazines
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Chicago Tribune