Former Kleiner partner seeks $16 million in discrimination lawsuit

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ellen Pao, a former partner at prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is seeking $16 million for discrimination and retaliation in a lawsuit against the firm, a Kleiner attorney said in court. Kleiner has denied the accusations of discrimination and retaliation, along with accusations that it did not take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination. At a hearing in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday, Kleiner attorney Lynne Hermle publicly disclosed the amount of damages sought for the first time.

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Alibaba meets with China regulator, controversial report retracted

(Reuters) – The head of China's commerce regulator met with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd chairman Jack Ma on Friday to discuss combating fake products, the official Xinhua news agency reported, with the two adopting a conciliatory tone after a row over illegal business on the Internet company's platforms. The meeting took place the same day the regulator, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), backtracked on an earlier report that had excoriated the Chinese online commerce company for not doing enough to suppress counterfeiting on its websites.

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Factbox: Canada security bill’s main provisions

The Canadian government introduced legislation on Friday to counter terrorism in response to attacks in Canada, France and Australia by Islamist militants since last October. The following are the main provisions: CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE – CSIS would have powers to disrupt threats to the security of Canada at home and abroad, not just collect intelligence. PROMOTION OF TERRORISM – It would make it a crime to call for attacks on Canada in general.

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Canada security bill provides new powers to combat terror

By Andrea Hopkins RICHMOND HILL, Ontario (Reuters) – New anti-terror legislation in Canada would make it a crime to call for attacks on the country and give a much larger role to the government's main spy agency. The bill introduced by the Conservative government on Friday would give the spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the ability to disrupt attacks by interfering with travel plans or communications, for example. The bill, whose passage is assured because the Conservatives have a majority in Parliament, would also make it easier for police to make preventive arrests.

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Dating site Topface says paid hacker to not sell stolen data

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – Topface, one of the world’s largest dating websites, said it has paid a hacker an undisclosed sum to stop trying to sell about 20 million email addresses stolen from the Russian company. Topface Chief Executive Dmitry Filatov said the company located the hacker, who had published ads to sell the data but had not actually sold them. “We have paid him an award for finding a vulnerability and agreed on further cooperation in the field of data security,” Filatov said in an email on Friday, declining to disclose the size of the reward.

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BMW fixes security flaw in its in-car software

German luxury carmaker BMW has fixed a security flaw that could have allowed hackers to unlock the doors of up to 2.2 million Rolls-Royce, Mini and BMW vehicles, it said on Friday. BMW said officials at German motorist association ADAC had identified the problem, which affected cars equipped with the company's ConnectedDrive software using on-board SIM cards — the chips used to identify authorized users of mobile devices. BMW drivers can use the software and SIM cards to activate door locking mechanisms, as well as a range of other services including real-time traffic information, online entertainment and air conditioning.

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Google to change privacy policy after investigation by UK data watchdog

Search engine Google has agreed to better inform users about how it handles their personal information after an investigation by Britain's data protection regulator found its privacy policy was too vague. The Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement that it required Google to sign a “formal undertaking” that it would make the changes by June 30 and take further steps in the next two years. The ICO investigation stems from a privacy policy implemented by Google in March 2012 that consolidated some 70 existing privacy policies into one and pooled data collected on individual users across its services, including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+.

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China’s new tech rules play to local firms’ strengths

By Gerry Shih, Michael Martina and Joseph Menn BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Draft Chinese government regulation would force technology vendors to meet stringent security tests before they can sell to China’s banks, an acceleration of efforts to curb the country’s reliance on foreign technology that has drawn a sharp response from U.S.

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Tencent inks exclusive online partnership for NBA games in China

By Gerry Shih BEIJING (Reuters) – The National Basketball Association and Tencent Holdings Ltd said Friday the Shenzhen-based Internet giant will be the only company in China to stream the league’s online content. The exclusive, five-year deal will allow Tencent to offer for the first time in China the NBA’s League Pass package, which allows subscribers to watch a full season’s worth of games live and on-demand.

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