Online Gambling

The Virtual Skinny: Keep It Short…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

11.24.2015

Good to Know:  The holidays can be stressful. Turns out getting on social media may only make things worse.  

THE SKINNY

Adding Fuel to the Fire … 

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are throwing in a bill of their own to heat up the U.S. immigration reform debate. It’s called the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2015. Grassley and Durbin want American employers to focus on hiring U.S. citizens first and forget about outsourcing certain jobs. Houston, we have a problem.

Back it up … 

Quick background:  This isn’t exactly what tech and Internet companies had in mind for immigration reform.  These companies want the ability to bring in more foreign-born high-skilled workers like engineers to keep their businesses competitive. After all, there’s been talk about the U.S.’s shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) workers. So, tech and Internet companies often have to look elsewhere to bring in talent.

What Do You Want From Me?

These companies want to up the available number of H-1B visas, which are work visas for foreign, high-skilled professionals. The demand for these visas is currently so high that the U.S. government resorts to a lottery system for H-1B applicants. In other words, qualifications don’t matter, it all comes down to luck.  Groups like FWD.us, backed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are pushing for “common sense” immigration proposals that focus on high-skilled immigration and immigrant rights.

Taking the Good with the Bad … 

The bill wants to limit job outsourcing by targeting companies such as Indian outsourcing firms. But, it also has some redeeming points for the broader tech industry. For one, the legislation would make it easier for H-1B employees to switch employers without fear of losing their visa status. Win! The bill will likely go nowhere, but it’s putting immigration back on the map.  With an election year coming up in the U.S. and campaigns moving full steam ahead, expect more immigration chatter.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Is IT OR ISN’T IT?

Sports fantasy sites FanDuel and DraftKings will finally get their day in the New York Supreme Court tomorrow. On the agenda?  Whether FanDuel and DraftKings’ services qualify as gambling.  Since the alleged insider trading involving a DraftKings’ employee a couple of months back, the federal government and states have been on the companies’ backs.  Tomorrow’s hearing is key because whatever comes out of New York on this issue could influence how other states deal with FanDuel, DraftKings, and other fantasy sports sites.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Social media company Facebook is in the business of giving away free Internet access. The company’s Internet.org initiative offers basic Internet access to emerging markets via a program called Free Basics. India’s got next. 

Microsoft (MSFT) put out a report on the company’s diversity numbers.  Slight improvement in racial and ethnic diversity within the company but not so much for gender diversity. The percentage of women at MSFT dipped 7.6% in the past year.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted for the first time. His side hustle, Blue Origin, successfully landed a rocket ship. Definitely tweet-worthy if you ask us.

Apple’s mobile payment and digital wallet service Apple Pay will be in China by February 2016.  Chinese services like WePay and AliPay are already dominating the market. We’ll see if Apple Pay even stands a chance.

Lady Gaga’s ex manager Troy Carter helped her to stardom. Now, Carter wants in on tech talent. He’s launched an LA-based incubator called Smashd Labs.

The Virtual Skinny: Just One of Them Days…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

11.18.2015

Good to Know: “Where is the opportunity? The opportunity always lies where people worry.” – Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese Internet company Alibaba, during a sit down with U.S. President Obama on why his company will prop up startups trying to prevent climate change.  Also, just some solid advice for your next venture … 

THE SKINNY

When Will It End?

Last night, a bombing went down in the city of Yola in Nigeria.  It claimed about 31 lives and injured 72 others. No one knows who’s responsible just yet, but Islamist militant group Boko Haram is no stranger to the area.

Making Good on Your Promise …

Earlier this week, we told you that people had a lot to say about how the general media covered the Paris attacks in comparison to the Beirut bombings, which both happened last week. Facebook came under fire for ‘perceived Western bias’ because it launched its “Safety Check” after the Paris attacks but didn’t do the same for Beirut. Facebook promised to change its policy and said it would activate that feature for human disasters moving forward.  The social network delivered. It launched “Safety Check” for Yola residents to show that the company “cares about all people equally.”

Raising More Questions Than Answers … 

FB has come a long way from its debut ten years ago.  These days, it’s taken a massive role in how people interact and keep up with each other.  The company is on a mission to bring Internet access to everyone around the world. With ‘Safety Check,’ it raises questions of FB’s social responsibilities (e.g., Will the feature be applied uniformly across the world? Or, does it require a tailor-made approach for different regions?  And, how will FB define what ‘safe’ means? Lots of questions but no answers.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

Putting Plans Into Action …

There’s just a lot going on at Facebook.  When it’s not dealing with serious human crises, it’s trying to outfit the world with Internet access.  The social network announced that it’s entered a deal with telecom company Airtel Africa to bring basic Internet access aka ‘Free Access’ via its Internet.org initiative. Seventeen African countries will reap the benefits of this deal including countries like Burkina Faso,Chad, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up … 

Google tried to get into the social game with its Google Plus service to compete with the likes of Facebook.  It didn’t quite work out.  Rather than throwing in the towel, Google went back to the drawing board and did a complete redesign of the feature. It’s now geared towards a “mobile first” experience and focused on ‘Communities’ (where people with similar interests can virtually gather) and ‘Connections’ (a place for virtual scrapbooking).  It’s sort of a cross between Facebook and Pinterest. Interesting …

If You Can Make It There, You Can Make It Anywhere … 

Hell hath no fury like a NY Attorney General (AG) scorned … The AG is not letting up on fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings.  The AG’s office filed an injunction (order issued by a judge to prevent someone or an entity from starting or continuing to engage in certain activities) against both sites.  The 35-page report rips into the sites’ arguments on why they should not be considered online gambling sites.  FanDuel ( which has already stopped accepting contest entries from NY residents) and DratKings aren’t the only ones that should be worried. The jig is up for Yahoo. The Internet vet runs its own fantasy sports service and has done so long before FanDuel and DraftKings even existed. Yahoo isn’t officially part of the investigation just yet, but the AG is watching. The relevant parties head to court next week (November 25).

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Flu shot season is in under way, and ride-hailing app Uber is taking away your excuses. This Thursday, the company’s re-launching its UberHealth to bring those dreaded flu shots to your desired location.

On a side note: NY taxi drivers are still peeved at Uber and plan to sue New York City and its Taxi and Limousine Commission.  The basis of the suit? Violating their right to pick passengers up street-side.

Amazon’s Black Friday kicks off this Friday (November 20). See here for how to properly secure your Amazon.com account information. It’s called two-factor authentication. Don’t worry … It’s pretty straightforward.

Boards of tech companies are including more women (it’s up to 18.3% in 2014 compared to 13.7% in 2010). But, tech still falls behind other industries on gender diversity. If we talk about it enough, then things have to change, right?

Mobile payments Square is set to announce its long-anticipated IPO price today. The thing is, we already know that the price will be discounted from what people originally expected. Unicorns (aka private companies worth a billion dollars or more) are watching this closely. 

You can make a few extra bucks by selling some of your photos via apps like EyeEm and Snapwire. 

German company Jobspotting GmbH, competitor to professional network platform LinkedIn, is looking for funds to get into the U.S. market.

Ride hailing company and Uber rival, Lyft says it needs $500 million.

The Virtual Skinny: Deep Breaths

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

11.11.2015

Good to Know: Remember the floppy disk? Who knew those things along with a few other old school technologies are still around? 

THE SKINNY

An Ongoing Battle … 

Yesterday, New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman told fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings “not in my house.” *Finger wag* Schneiderman fired off cease and desist letters to each company telling them to stop doing business in the state … or else.

Why? 

If you’ll remember, we previously told you about the alleged insider trading scandal involving one of DraftKing’s employees. The issue comes down to whether these sites under federal law are illegal online gambling sites. FanDuel and DraftKings says that the law classifies them as a “game of skill and not chance” making their biz legit. Schneiderman disagrees and had some strong words for the sites. He says they are “evad[ing] the law and “fleec[ing] sports fans. ” He won’t let it go down like that on his watch. 

What’s Next? 

A few weeks back, Nevada banned the sites from operating within the state without official licenses.  Other states like Arizona, Montana, and Iowa flat out rejected the sites all together.  Now that NY is jumping on the bandwagon, this could compromise the sites’ business in a major way.  Both companies have five days to officially respond to Schneiderman’s letters.  In the meantime, they’ve made statements dismissing the NY AG’s actions as just a politician trying to drum up trouble where it doesn’t exist. Even if the companies get over this bump in the road, they’ve still got the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Making Good On Your Promise … 

After former venture capitalist Ellen Pao wrapped up her gender discrimination case against ex-employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, she vowed to keep talking about the issue and its existence within the tech industry. Pao penned a column for The Lenny Letter, a newsletter run by actress Lena Dunham and Dunham’s business partner Jenni Konner. Pao explains her side of the story and responds to all the haters. She claims that tech talked about gender bias and harassment but didn’t actually do anything to address the issue.  Pao plans to keep talking about gender discrimination and wants you to join her as well.

wHEN sOMETHINGS ARE JUST NOT WORTH IT … 

They say cheaters never win.  U.S. federal prosecutors just explained details of what it says is “the largest hacking case ever.” The case involves a multiyear effort where hackers stole information on 100 million customers from 12 companies and financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase to use and profit off of shady activities like stock manipulation, online gambling, and fraud. Prosecutors charged three men (two Israeli and one American) with 23 counts of fraud and other illegal activities. These hackers definitely did not keep things simple. They laundered money through 75 shell companies and used 30 false passports from 17 different countries to pull the job off for eight years.

All Signs Point To …. 

For what seems like forever, people have been talking about the high valuation trend for tech companies coming to an end.  Now, Fidelity is adding more fuel to the fire. The mutual fund company and investor in Snapchat just marked down its investment in the app company by 25 percent. No word on why though.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile wants its users to get their binge-watching on. The company is now offering “BingeOn,” which means it’ll let customers stream their preferred shows via Netflix, HBOGO, etc. without applying any data caps.

No more worrying about getting lost when you’re sans Internet connection. Google Maps’ new offline feature will be there to help you reach your destination.

Apple Music is now available for Android operating systems.  The service pretty much works the same way it does for iOS. Just one thing – playing music videos isn’t a thing on Droids yet.

Amazon Prime Now’s food delivery service from your local eatery or grocer is heading to Los Angeles then expanding to Portland.  Still waiting on when it plans to go country-wide in the U.S.

San Francisco based hotel booking app, HotelTonight, just let go off  20% of its staff. CEO Sam Shank (what a name!) said it was a hard decision but now the company’s lean and focused.

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba deemed November 11 as “Singles Day,” originally intended to celebrate all the single people out there.  Six years later, it’s now basically China’s version of Cyber Monday.  The company has brought in sales already exceeding last year’s $9.3 billion total.