By Caroline Humer and Christina Farr NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Some WellPoint Inc customers got a surprise in their inbox this week: emails meant to remind them to get a specific preventative screening such as a colonoscopy or mammogram mistakenly included personal and health information in the subject line. WellPoint declined to say how many customers received the emails or the cause of the technology issue.
Read moreBy Marina Lopes WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc on Wednesday raised pressure on the U.S. telecommunications regulator's work on new “net neutrality” rules, saying it would stop investing in high-speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the Web rules were settled. The statement from AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson is the first move by an Internet service provider in response to President Barack Obama's unexpected call on the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to regulate these companies more like public utilities.
Read moreBy Christina Farr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Comcast Corp's merger with Time Warner Cable Inc is going “full steam ahead” despite uncertainty around new rules governing net neutrality, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts told reporters on Wednesday. The deal, which would create the largest U.S. cable Internet provider, is in its final phases and remains on track to close, he said at a Comcast press event in San Francisco
Read moreWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives Communications and Technology subcommittee said on Wednesday it would hold a hearing on the net neutrality issue on Dec. 10.
Read moreBy Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) – The music streaming portal Spotify made an impassioned defense of its business model on Monday, saying it fights music piracy and had paid out $2 billion to the industry and artists since its launch in 2008. The statement in a blog post by CEO Daniel Ek came a week after U.S. singer Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalog from the popular streaming site as she released her new album “1989”, which immediately soared to the top of the U.S.
Read moreBy Adam Jourdan HANGZHOU China (Reuters) – E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd reported more than $9 billion in sales on China's Singles' Day on Tuesday, illustrating the buying power of the Chinese consumer and the importance of the event in the retail calendar.
Read moreBy Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – SurveyMonkey, an internet company that enables people to poll friends, colleagues and customers, is bringing its professional polling service to Britain, marking its first foray for the product in Europe. Launched a couple of years ago in the United States, SurveyMonkey Audience has a 4.5 million strong panel ready to answer questions. It is used by companies to get feedback on new products or on ads
Read moreBy Natasha Baker TORONTO (Reuters) – Consumers concerned about over-sharing on public social networks are turning to private messaging apps to share texts, photos and videos with a limited group of people. Downloads of private social messaging apps increased 200 percent in 2013 over 2012, making them the fastest-growing category of apps, according to San Francisco-based mobile analytics firm Flurry. The apps provide more private connections and allow users to express themselves without worrying about how they are perceived by their entire networks.
Read moreBy Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) – Chinese hackers are attacking activists, journalists and human rights groups using many of the same techniques they apply to steal state secrets and spy on corporations, a Canadian technology research group said on Tuesday.
Read moreBEIJING (Reuters) – China is part of “intensive” talks on a global trade pact regarding information technology products, the World Trade Organization's chief said on Saturday, but it is unclear if a deal will be made at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders underway in Beijing. The United States and other countries have been hopeful that China would sign on to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which requires signatories to eliminate duties on some IT products, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that ends on Tuesday.
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