1. Amazon's Anti-Counterfeiting Initiative: Finally Taking a Stand Against the Fraudulent Cosmetics Epidemic
Amazon has launched its Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange initiative to crack down on organized crime on its platform by helping retail stores label and track marketplace counterfeits. No more knockoff yoga mats or fake designer socks flooding the market! The anti-counterfeiting initiative was piloted in 2021 with an undisclosed number of apparel, home goods, and cosmetics stores, where counterfeiting is most common. Amazon is also working with the US Customs and Border Protection on a data pilot that helps identify and target low-value e-commerce shipments that may be counterfeit goods or break other regulations. This may turn out as effective as a bandaid on a bullet wound, but despite the effort required, Amazon is determined to combat counterfeiting on its platform.
2. Microsoft Ditches Twitter After Being Asked to Pay for the Privilege of Being on the Platform
In response to Twitter's recent announcement that it will charge a minimum of $42,000 per month to users of its API, Microsoft has decided to drop Twitter from its advertising platform next week. As a result, users will no longer be able to access their Twitter account or manage tweets through Microsoft's free social media management service. In true form, Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, took to the platform to kick and scream then even threaten to take legal action against Microsoft.
3. Coinbase's Latest Money Gamble: Expanding to Bermuda
Coinbase, the second-largest crypto exchange in the world, has received its digital asset business license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority. According to a source close to the matter, the company will open an offshore derivatives exchange there "as soon as next week." This comes after Coinbase's expansion into Abu Dhabi, Canada, Brazil, and Singapore, and the company is more than halfway through its eight-week international expansion drive. The US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells Notice to the company, and its CEO has been an outspoken advocate for creating crypto regulation guidelines, but get this, he's been critical of US regulators for actually enforcing regulation. Translation: lay down some rules, but don't force me to follow them.
4. SpaceX's Starship Rocket Explodes in First Test Flight, Promising More Explosions to Come
Despite being the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX's Starship failed to make it beyond just four minutes of flight, exploding in a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" that sent it plummeting into the Gulf of Mexico. Olé! Although the cause of the failure remains unknown, SpaceX has stated on Twitter that their teams will review the data and work towards the next flight test. Elon Musk and the company intend to use the Starship's 16.7 million pounds of thrust to transport people and cargo to the moon and Mars. Sounds fun, we definitely won’t think about joining on the next one.
5. Meta Content Moderation Gig Exactly What You'd Expect
In Kenya, 43 moderators at Meta's Nairobi hub recently sued the company and its local partner, Sama, alleging unfair termination in retaliation for complaints about working conditions and unionizing efforts. The ruling by a Kenyan judge now allows Meta to be sued in the country because, apparently, firing people for trying to form a union isn't standard corporate practice. This development has significant implications for Meta's content moderation practices globally, given the company's reliance on thousands of moderators worldwide to review graphic content on its platform. We have to give Meta the benefit of the doubt; they were earnestly trying to create a positive work environment, one where moderators could enjoy the psychological trauma of reviewing videos of public executions and pornography in peace.