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RT @Techmeme: Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon Flight, a board optimized for drones based on Snapdragon 801

Burned in the wild fires

What is not in dispute is that if ad-blocking becomes ubiquitous (and there’s nearly every reason to think that it will be!) it will be devastating for publications who derive much or all of their revenue from advertising—which comprises most of the professional publications on the internet.

The company was found guilty of “abusing its dominant market position,” but not of “unfair competition practices,” the regulator told The Wall Street Journal.

In an opinion (PDF) published this morning, the three-judge panel found that Universal Music Group's view of fair use is flawed. The record label must face a trial over whether it wrongfully sent a copyright takedown notice over a 2007 YouTube video of a toddler dancing to a Prince song. That toddler's mother, Stephanie Lenz, acquired pro bono counsel from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF in turn sued Universal in 2007, saying that its takedown practices violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The go-ahead came after the company spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car, including meetings with two groups of government officials in California. Leaders of the project, code-named Titan , have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the people familiar with the matter said.

Google is resistant to the notion that it bought Oyster. But sources said it will end up paying investors, who put a reported $17 million into the company, for the right to hire some of its staff. In other words, this is an acqhire.

Over 13,000 people were granted refunds through the regular system over the last few days, leading to some interesting AppFigures reports. But that could never cover all buyers of the app. Today, Apple made the decision for me, in a way that I didn’t even think was possible, and I’m actually happy — or at least, as happy as someone can be who just made a lot of money on a roller coaster of surprise, guilt, and stress, then lost it all suddenly in a giant, unexpected reset that actually resolves things pretty well.

The rejection of the appeal means that Google now must comply with the order and remove the tens of thousands of delistings from its google.com and other non-European domains for named searches.

The South Korean electronics giant is planning to launch a program for leasing its Galaxy phones in the U.S. market, similar to the one Apple announced just weeks ago, according to an industry executive with knowledge of Samsung’s plans. Samsung may be launching this leasing program in the next several months, although that timeline may accelerate, the executive said.

A 66-year-old Japanese tourist has died, and his travel companion has been injured, after falling down stairs while attempting to take a selfie at the Taj Mahal. The man's death raises the selfie toll this year — to 12. To put that in perspective, in 2015 there have so far been eight deaths caused by shark attacks.

Let's look at the numbers. Through August of this year, there've been eight confirmed shark-related deaths. In those same eight months, the number of selfie-related deaths reached at least ten. And those are just the ones easily tracked. According to Reuters, the Russian Interior Ministry reacted to "dozens" of selfie deaths and injuries early this year with a series of (slightly bizarre — see below) warnings. Deaths from bridge falls, hand grenade explosions, shots to the head, bison gorings — it's been enough that the European Union, in June, actually proposed the criminalization of certain types of selfies: namely, those containing landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Rome's Trevi Fountain.

Apple - Press Info - Apple Announces Record iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus Sales