Chinese regulator says to target e-commerce pricing behavior

A Chinese antitrust regulator said on Friday pricing tactics in the nation's e-commerce sector will be probed to ensure a “fair” market, likely putting new scrutiny on companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc. The comments come just two weeks after another government regulator, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), accused Alibaba of failing to clean up what it called illegal business deals on the e-commerce titan's platforms. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on its website that it would “organize and develop special inspections into the online retail sector's pricing behavior”

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China to go after fraud on online dating sites: Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Internet regulator will target fraud on dating websites and other online match-making sites, state news agency Xinhua reported. “Fraud on dating websites has become a public nuisance to millions of users, especially young people, who use such services,” Xinhua cited a statement from the Cyberspace Administration of China as saying, in a report released late on Thursday.

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Obama to encourage companies to share cyber threat data

By Joseph Menn and Roberta Rampton SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is set to sign an executive order on Friday aimed at encouraging companies to share more information about cybersecurity threats with the government and each other, a response to attacks like that on Sony Entertainment. The order sets the stage for new private-sector led “information sharing and analysis organizations” (ISAOs) – hubs where companies share cyber threat data with each other and with the Department of Homeland Security. It is one step in a long effort to make companies as well as privacy and consumer advocates more comfortable with proposed legislation that would offer participating companies liability protection, the White House said

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Commuter infected with measles is San Francisco LinkedIn employee

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Northern California commuter who health officials say may have exposed tens of thousands of people to measles while riding San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system while infectious is an employee of LinkedIn Corp, the social networking company said on Thursday.

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New games help King Digital revenue, profit beat estimates

(Reuters) – Mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment Plc's quarterly revenue and profit handily beat market estimates as newer games such as “Candy Crush Soda Saga” more than made up for declining popularity of older titles. King Digital, whose shares jumped 18 percent in extended trading on Thursday, also said it would buy Seattle-based game developer Z2Live Inc. Total gross bookings, an indicator of future revenue, increased 8 percent to $586 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec.

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Exclusive: Obama set to announce executive order on cybersecurity threat data

By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is expected to announce an executive order directing the government and companies to share more information about cybersecurity threats in response to attacks like that on Sony Entertainment. As in other policy areas where Obama has been unable to get legislation through the now Republican-controlled Congress, the White House is turning to more limited administrative actions to advance its agenda as much as it can. The announcement could be tonight or tomorrow, when the U.S.

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Online travel agency Expedia to buy rival Orbitz for $1.38 billion

Expedia Inc said it would buy Orbitz Worldwide for about $1.38 billion in cash, its third acquisition in four months, to take on larger rival Priceline Group Inc in a burgeoning online travel industry. Orbitz's shares shot up 20 percent to $11.63 in morning trading, short of Expedia's offer of $12 per share. Expedia's shares rose nearly 13 percent to $88.50.

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#WhereIsTheBomb warns Egyptians of violence-related traffic

By Shadi Bushra CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's long-suffering drivers, worn down by decades of jams and crashes, are turning to social media to stave off a new, even more pressing threat — the traffic chaos caused by roadside bombs. “We really wish we didn't need to incorporate such a feature,” the app's co-creator Gamal ElDin Sadek told Reuters. “Eventually we categorized it under one hashtag to be better organized in warning people.” Egypt has been battling an Islamist militant insurgency that has killed hundreds of police and soldiers since then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 after mass protests.

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Zoopla takes hit as rival shakes up UK online home search market

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – The owner of Britain’s Zoopla and Prime Location property websites said it had been deserted by thousands of estate agents since the launch of rival portal OnTheMarket, but insisted the new company would struggle to win over home buyers and sellers.

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