REGULATORS SAY YES: “Federal regulators are allowing Charter Communications to move ahead with its $78.7 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable, a massive deal that would create the second-largest cable and Internet provider in the country,” our colleague Brian Fung reports. “Washington plans to put several conditions on the merger that will last for seven years and aim to enhance competition in online video and broadband service. For instance, the combined company would be prevented from fashioning agreements with companies such as Netflix and other streaming services that force them to pay a fee to reach consumers’ devices. The merged firm also would be prohibited from imposing data caps on home Internet service which could discourage watching videos online.” Read more here.
ONWARD AND UPWARD: Google, Ford, Uber and two other companies are forming a coalition to accelerate the release of self-driving cars on the U.S. market. “The coalition said David Strickland, the former top official of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the top U.S. auto safety agency that is writing new guidance on self-driving cars, will be the coalition’s counsel and spokesman,” Reuters reports. Read more here.
HACKERS STRIKE AGAIN: “The personal data of 1.1 million users deemed attractive enough for controversial dating site BeautifulPeople.com were leaked, according to news reports and an expert who runs the security-analysis site HaveIBeenPwned.com on Monday,” our colleague Karen Turner reports. “The breach included some 15 million private messages sent between members of the website, as well as details such as encrypted passwords, email addresses, mobile-phone numbers and personal information such as height, weight, job, favorite movie and TV show.” Read more here.
