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posted by martyb on Sunday August 02 2020, @02:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the timing dept.

[20200803_012617 UTC UTC Update 2:]

tl;dr version: Trump threatened to ban TikTok. Then Microsoft said it was in talks to buy TikTok. Then Microsoft said the talks were in doubt after Trump's threats. Now, Microsoft is "continuing discussions."

Microsoft to continue discussions on TikTok purchase after talking to Donald Trump:

After reports US President Donald Trump is considering an order to force Beijing-based tech company ByteDance to divest ownership of popular social-video app TikTok, Microsoft has announced it will be "continuing discussion" on a potential purchase of TikTok after a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the President.

"Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President's concerns," said Microsoft, in a statement. "It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.

[20200802_144217 UTC Update 1; added:]

Microsoft pauses talks on TikTok US deal - reports:

A possible sale of Chinese-owned TikTok's US operations to Microsoft is reportedly on hold after Donald Trump vowed to ban the video-sharing app.

A sale was thought close to agreement, but was put in doubt after the US president's warning on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal said Microsoft had now paused talks despite TikTok owner ByteDance making last ditch efforts to win White House support.

It comes amid criticism of Mr Trump's threat as an attack on free speech.

[...] Late on Friday, Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: "As far as TikTok is concerned we're banning them from the United States."

[Original story follows.--martyb]

TikTok: Trump says he will ban Chinese video app in the US

President Donald Trump has announced he is banning the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok in the US.

He told reporters he could sign an executive order as early as Saturday.

US security officials have expressed concern that the app, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, could be used to collect the personal data of Americans.

[...] Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to buy the app from ByteDance, but Mr Trump appeared to cast doubt that such a deal would be allowed to go through. If the deal went ahead reports say it would involve ByteDance shedding TikTok's US operations.

A TikTok-Microsoft Deal Might Solve Everything (archive)

On Friday, Bloomberg News reported Trump plans to order ByteDance Ltd. to divest its ownership of TikTok. Then later in the afternoon, several media outlets reported Microsoft Corp. is in talks to purchase TikTok's U.S. operations.

[...] There seem to be two active bidders for the app. One is Microsoft. As for the other, Reuters reported earlier this week that some of Bytedance's U.S investors have proposed a bid for a majority stake of TikTok, valuing the company's non-China operations at $50 billion. The offer would be about 50 times TikTok's forecast sales of $1 billion this year, Reuters reported.

Previously: Bytedance: The World's Most Valuable Startup
Lawmakers Ask US Intelligence to Assess If TikTok is a Security Threat
TikTok and 53 Other iOS Apps Still Snoop Your Sensitive Clipboard Data
India Bans TikTok, WeChat, and Other Chinese-Owned Apps


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by tyler on Monday August 03 2020, @02:05PM (1 child)

    by tyler (6335) on Monday August 03 2020, @02:05PM (#1030729) Homepage

    The ten commandments were in the old testament. There is nothing in the 10 commandments about loving your neighbor. The only thing close is the last one that tells you not to envy your neighbor's stuff. There is actually more than one version of the ten commandments. In the book you cite, Jesus cursed a fruitless fig tree, which was out of season, because he was hangry. That book also has dialogue between Jesus and the devil. The book was allegedly written by a person who was not there to witness the dialogue. In Luke, Jesus told people to hate their family (Luke 14:26). I guess you are supposed to love your neighbor more than your family, but you can't envy them. According to the more commonly known set of 10 commandments, you are supposed to honor your parents. It must be hard to honor someone you are supposed to hate. I find the bible confusing.

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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday August 03 2020, @05:16PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday August 03 2020, @05:16PM (#1030797)

    The 10 Commandments are specifically a section that Christians decided were the most important out of the 600+ commandments in the Torah. As for the "love thy neighbor" rhetoric, while there are certainly hints about that since you're not supposed to murder or rob or cuckold your neighbor, Jesus could also have picked that up from the Talmud, most famously Rabbi Hillel's summary of the Torah as "Love your neighbor, the rest is commentary."

    As for that passage in Luke, I do have to wonder about the last part of that verse, where he says that Christians are supposed to hate their own life. I mean, that seems like the ultimate expression of conservative Christian thought which so often boils down to "My life sucks, so yours should too!"

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.