Voices

Carriers Band to Fight Cellphone Theft

The nation’s major wireless providers have agreed to a deal with the U.S. government to build a central database of stolen cellphones — part of a broad effort to tame an explosion of thefts nationwide.

Facebook Loses “The Godfather” Exclusive to Google’s Game Network

Is Facebook losing some of its game? Kabam has chosen to exclusively launch its new big social title on Google instead of Facebook.
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Voices

Software Finds Place in Posse

Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are increasingly relying on information from the Web and electronic records to help solve crimes and evaluate threats, producing a stream of new business for companies that can help them crunch the data.

Voices

Rajaratnam Gets 11 Years in Insider-Trading Case

Raj Rajaratnam, the face of the biggest trading scandal in a generation, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, one of the longest-ever terms handed down for an insider case.

Zynga Continues String of New Games With Mafia Wars Sequel

Another one of Zynga’s original game franchises on Facebook is getting a major facelift.
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News Byte

SEC Files Insider Trading Charges in Disney-Marvel Deal

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a California man with insider trading in the run-up to the 2009 Disney-Marvel deal. The SEC says Toby G. Scammell took advantage of his girlfriend, an “extern” working at Disney’s corporate strategy department, to learn about the company’s $4 billion acquisition of the comic book company, and used the information to make a $192,000 profit trading call options. The SEC hasn’t charged Scammell’s girlfriend, who it describes as “exploited.” Press release; complaint (PDF)

After Riots, U.K. Prime Minister Floats Social Media Crackdown

“When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.”
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Nokia’s Borked Q2 Charts Make Yahoo’s Borked Q2 Charts Look Fantastic!

If the charts for Nokia’s second quarter results had any more minuses, it would start to look like a crime scene for an unfortunate knifing victim on “Law and Order.” Doink-doink.
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16 Arrested in Nationwide Hacker Crackdown

The arrests include 14 for a December attack against PayPal, and two connected to a pair of incidents connected to the LulzSec gang. Five others are arrested in the U.K. and The Netherlands.
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Real Estate Site Trulia Acquires Movity

San Francisco real estate site Trulia said it has acquired Movity, a buzzy stealth start-up that surfaces and aggregates geodata for home buyers and renters, such as noise, crime and pricing, from a variety of sources. Trulia declined to provide financial details of the transaction, but said the move was to provide better information for its users. Movity was founded this year with $1.3 million in funding.

Video Condolences to the Hudson Family