Facebook to let nine news companies publish news to mobile feeds

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc tied up with nine news publishers to launch “Instant Articles” that will let them publish articles directly to the social network's mobile news feeds. Instant Articles will let stories load more than 10 times faster than standard mobile web articles and will include content from publishers such as the New York Times, BuzzFeed and National Geographic, Facebook said in a blog post on its website

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Facebook revenue growth slows, costs weigh on profit

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc posted its slowest growth in quarterly revenue in two years and higher spending on research and development ate into profits. Facebook has warned of heavy investments in 2015 as it steps up efforts to expand a collection of products that include messaging service WhatsApp, photo-sharing service Instagram and virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift

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House passes cyber-threat information bill

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would make it easier for private companies to share information about cyber security threats with each other and the government without fear of lawsuits

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India’s top court upholds free speech on the Internet

By Suchitra Mohanty NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's top court struck down a law on Tuesday that gave authorities powers to jail people for offensive online posts, a verdict hailed as a victory for free speech in the world's largest growth market for the Internet. Section 66A of the country's Information and Technology (IT) Act was challenged in the Supreme Court by law students, bloggers, writers and rights groups following arrests across the country for statements posted on social media sites

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Swiss competition body approves Swisscom online directory merger

Switzerland's competition commission WEKO said on Tuesday it had approved the purchase of online directory search.ch by Swisscom, as the telecoms group tries to compete with the likes of Google in digital advertising. In a deal reached last year, Swisscom is to combine directory operator local.ch, which provides information on phone numbers, with Swiss media company Tamedia's search and information service search.ch in a joint subsidiary. Together the local online directories will reach 3.6 million internet users per month in Switzerland, and the merger will be completed by mid-2015, the companies said in a joint statement

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Online video site Vessel bets fans will pay for early access

Online video platform Vessel launched its paid subscription service on Tuesday, offering programming at least three days before other websites in a bid to reshape an industry dominated by free content on Google Inc’s YouTube. Vessel, which costs viewers $3 a month, was founded by former Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar and Chief Technology Officer Richard Tom. “There are a lot of consumers who would love to see something early.” More than 130 creators will provide early access to content on Vessel

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Online platform ‘Open Humans’ launches to share DNA, other data

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – People eager to share personal information beyond what’s on their Facebook profile have another outlet: an online platform launching on Tuesday will let them give scientists information about their genomes, gut bacteria and other biological data. The “Open Humans Network” aims to make more health-related data available for scientists to mine for discoveries and also help volunteers make that data more accessible to more researchers. Open Humans is launching when scientists are increasingly concerned that valuable genetic and other data are being kept under wraps.

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FCC sued by broadband companies over net neutrality rules

By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. broadband providers on Monday filed lawsuits against the Federal Communications Commission's recently approved net neutrality rules, launching what is a expected to be a series of legal challenges. Broadband industry trade group USTelecom filed a lawsuit against the FCC in the U.S.

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