Author: Michael Liedtke
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FCC chairman sets out to scrap open internet access rules
MENLO PARK, Calif. — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission set out Tuesday to scrap rules around open internet access, a move that would allow giant cable and telecom companies to throttle broadband speeds and favor their own services if they wish. Ajit Pai followed through on a pledge to try to repeal “net neutrality”…
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Netflix sinking deeper into debt to fuel subscriber growth
SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix is sinking deeper into debt in its relentless pursuit of more viewers, leaving the company little margin for error as it tries to build the world’s biggest video subscription service. The big burden that Netflix is shouldering hasn’t been a major concern on Wall Street so far, as CEO Reed Hastings’…
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Watching Netflix’ ‘Stranger Things’ likely to cost you more
SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix is raising the price for its most popular U.S. video streaming plan by 10 percent — a move aimed at bringing in more money to outbid HBO, Amazon and other rivals for addictive shows such as “Stranger Things.” The change announced Thursday affects most of Netflix’s 53 million U.S. subscribers. WHAT…
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Equifax breach exposes 143 million people to identity theft
SAN FRANCISCO — Credit monitoring company Equifax has been hit by a high-tech heist that exposed the Social Security numbers and other sensitive information about 143 million Americans. Now the unwitting victims have to worry about the threat of having their identities stolen. The Atlanta-based company, one of three major U.S. credit bureaus, said Thursday…
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Apple unveils ‘HomePod’ speaker, first new product in years
SAN JOSE, California — Apple nodded to several up-and-coming technology trends, unveiling a new “smart” home speaker and device features touching on virtual reality, online privacy and a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning. The speaker unveiled Monday is similar to devices from rivals, some of which have been on the market for years.…
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Hacker releases stolen copies of Netflix series
SAN FRANCISCO — A hacker claims to have followed through on a threat to release several episodes from the upcoming season of Netflix’s hit series “Orange Is The New Black.” The hacker, who goes by the name The Dark Overlord, announced the move on Twitter early Saturday. The post included a link to an illegal…
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Playboy magazine reverses position, brings back naked women
SAN FRANCISCO — Naked women are back in Playboy magazine, ending a year-old ban on the nudity that made the magazine famous. Playboy celebrated the reversal on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #NakedIsNormal. The about-face came Monday with the release of Playboy’s March-April issue. The 63-year-old magazine had banished naked women from its print…
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New prescription: Doctor offices that look like Apple stores
SAN FRANCISCO — After a relative suffered a heart attack a few years ago, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Adrian Aoun got an unsettling look at a health-care system that he diagnosed as an inefficient and outdated mess. Now he believes he has a remedy. It’s called Forward, a health-management service that charges a $149 per month…
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Yahoo suffers world’s biggest hack affecting 1 billion users
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo has discovered a 3-year-old security breach that enabled a hacker to compromise more than 1 billion user accounts, breaking the company’s own humiliating record for the biggest security breach in history. The digital heist disclosed Wednesday occurred in August 2013, more than a year before a separate hack that Yahoo announced…
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Yahoo says hackers stole info from 500 million user accounts
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo said hackers stole personal information from 500 million of its user accounts, a massive security breakdown it attributed to a “state sponsored actor.” The breach disclosed Thursday, the latest setback for the beleaguered internet company, dates back to late 2014. That’s when high-tech thieves hacked into Yahoo’s data centers, the company…