Business

CBS News reports: Vonage will pay $100 million to settle claims it trapped customers in unwanted accounts by forcing people to call to cancel, keeping them on hold for hours and charging hundreds of dollars to end service, government regulators said Thursday. The New Jersey-based company, which provides internet-based phone services, made it easy for customers to sign up for …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Food company General Mills, Oreo maker Mondelez International, Pfizer, Volkswagen, and Audi are among a growing list of brands that have temporarily paused their Twitter advertising in the wake of the takeover of the company by Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter. Some advertisers are concerned that Mr. Musk could scale back …

CNN reports: Two Black radio hosts in Arizona could be a potential roadblock if Kanye West ever decided to sell his “White Lives Matter” T-shirts in the United States. Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, hosts of the weekly racial justice radio show Civic Cipher, became the legal owners of the phrase’s trademark for its use on clothing late last month. …

AM New York reports: A Texas startup is hoping to zoom into New York’s aerial tourism business by letting customers fly personal, ultralight helicopter-like craft over city airspace — with no pilot’s license and less than an hour of training. Austin-based LIFT Aircraft has partnered with Charm Aviation, a local heli-tour company, on a proposal to bring personal electric vertical …

Axios reports: Musk’s first days as Twitter CEO have such a familiar feel because the world’s richest man is leading his new company from the same playbook Trump used as he tried to change the U.S. government’s direction after his 2017 inauguration: Rely on an inner circle chosen for loyalty more than expertise; seize and hold the public’s attention by …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk plans to eliminate about 3,700 jobs at Twitter Inc., or half of the social media company’s workforce, in a bid to drive down costs following his $44 billion acquisition, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Twitter’s new owner aims to inform affected staffers Friday, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing non-public plans. …

USA Today reports: This year marks the 25th anniversary of Starbucks holiday cups, introduced in 1997. The company will unveil four new cups to kick off the holiday season. “We have always talked about the cups as little gifts, and we hope they feel like a festive present to our customers and store partners,” said Starbucks creative director Gary Jacobson …

Motherboard reports: Nudity is back on Tumblr—but only the not-horny kind. In a company announcement on Tuesday, Tumblr staff wrote: “We now welcome a broader range of expression, creativity, and art on Tumblr, including content depicting the human form (yes, that includes the naked human form).” Notably, explicit content, such as sex acts or “content with an overt focus on …

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk vowed early Wednesday that Twitter would not allow any banned accounts back on the site for weeks, meaning that Donald Trump and others will not return to the platform ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 8. Musk, who completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter last week, said he is building a content …

Business Insider reports: In response to Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, 40 justice organizations and media watchdog groups on Tuesday sent a letter to top advertisers on the social platform, urging them to push Musk to embrace content moderation or boycott Twitter entirely. “We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to notify Musk and publicly commit that you will cease …

Reuters reports: CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, and Walmart Inc have tentatively agreed to pay about $13.8 billion to resolve thousands of U.S. state and local government lawsuits accusing the chains of mishandling opioid painkillers, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The proposed settlement calls for CVS to pay $5 billion over 10 years, Walgreens to …

CNN Business reports: After facing criticism for his plan to charge Twitter users $19.99 a month to get or keep a verified account, Elon Musk has a counteroffer. Musk on Tuesday said he planned to charge $8 a month for Twitter’s subscription service, called “Twitter Blue,” with the promise to let anyone pay to receive a coveted blue check mark …

ProPublica reports: In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, more than 100 major companies pledged to suspend political giving to the members of Congress who voted to invalidate Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Since then, many have resumed funding this group of lawmakers, often with little to no explanation. ProPublica wanted to gauge corporate America’s …

Coin Telegraph reports: The month of October has broken all records for crypto exploits and the amount of digital loot pilfered — living up to its new moniker of “Hacktober” — according to the latest figures. On Oct. 31, blockchain security firm PeckShield tweeted some scary statistics for the month, reporting a total of $2.98 billion in stolen digital assets …

Yahoo News reports: Bestselling writer King tweeted on Monday he would be “gone like Enron” if Twitter made him pay $20 to keep his blue checkmark. He added, “Fuck that, they should pay me.” In response to King’s tweet, Musk said: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.” The billionaire made a suggestion to …

Axios reports: The Council on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) should take action to ban TikTok, Brendan Carr, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, told Axios in an interview. It’s the strongest language Carr has used to date to urge action on TikTok. With more than 200 million downloads in the U.S. alone, the popular app …

Bloomberg News reports: Twitter Inc., the social network being overhauled by new owner Elon Musk, has frozen some employee access to internal tools used for content moderation and other policy enforcement, curbing the staff’s ability to clamp down on misinformation ahead of a major US election. Most people who work in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization are currently unable to …

Axios reports: Elon Musk has instructed Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot that could be ready by year end, multiple sources tell Axios. Twitter shuttered the looping-video app in 2016 after acquiring it four years earlier, leaving loyal Vine fans dismayed. Twitter reportedly tried to sell Vine shortly after. Twitter engineers already have been assigned to look at …

The Independent reports: Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter’s board and made himself the “sole director” of the company. All previous members of the board have been removed from that role, leaving only Mr Musk as a director, according to a new filing. The action was taken on Thursday as part of Mr Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the company, according …

Axios reports: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Monday called for a congressional investigation into the national security implications of a company partially owned by Saudi Arabia maintaining its stake in Twitter following Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the platform. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, founder and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, said the company would continue its ownership of …