NEWSWORTHY
Tech firms may have to filter user uploads under new EU rules
Europe is proposing to do away with key legal protections enjoyed by Google, Facebook and other internet giants, a shift that could lead web platforms to block certain posts by users. New European Union rules, backed by European lawmakers in a vote Wednesday, could force ...
Construction app offers fix for Japan's supertight labor market
One of Yosuke Kobayashi's biggest headaches has been finding enough workers to build hotels, restaurants and bath houses for his construction company. That was until the manager at construction company Luckland Co. found Sukedachi, a mobile app that connects contractors and tradespeople. Nowadays, he's hiring ...
Different disaster, same story: Osaka quake prompts online hate speech targeting foreigners
Monday's deadly quake in Osaka Prefecture has led to the resurgence of what has become a familiar — if disconcerting — post-disaster trend on the internet: a slew of hate speech-driven tweets warning of "crimes" committed by foreign residents. In the aftermath of the magnitude ...
Venture companies to form new hub for startups in Tokyo's Gotanda district
About 10 venture firms headquartered in Tokyo's Gotanda area will form a mutual support group called Gotanda Valley, aiming to turn the district into the capital's newest hub for entrepreneurs, sources close to the move say. The firms setting up Gotanda Valley include cloud-based accounting ...
Victims of sex trafficking could sue U.S. websites that connect customers to them, experts said, as a new law signals a drive by Washington to clamp down on soaring internet sex slavery. The legislation, passed in April, aims to make it easier to prosecute social ...
Costco Wholesale Japan Ltd. plans to launch an e-commerce service in 2019, officials said, with the company aiming to take advantage of the growing popularity of online shopping services here. Costco has yet to iron out all of the details of the new service, such ...
New Hampshire man who tricked young girls into sending nude photos given 25 years in prison
A New Hampshire man who posed online as a modeling agency representative to get sexually explicit photos of young girls was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in federal prison. Matthew Felton, of Somersworth, pleaded guilty in January to child pornography charges. He used social media ...
Frito the seahorse is on the mend in Florida, now aquarium's webcam star
A woman snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico rescued a tiny seahorse that was tangled and trapped in fishing line in a pile of garbage, and now the creature is a webcam star at a Florida aquarium. The inch-and-a-half (4 cm) seahorse was rescued by ...
Raccoon reaches roof after scaling 25-story St. Paul tower, enters cat food-baited trap
A raccoon that became an internet sensation by scaling a 25-story office tower in downtown St. Paul was safely trapped early Wednesday, and animal control officials were preparing to release it back into the wild. The caged raccoon looked a bit bedraggled but healthy after ...
Online educator iTutorGroup sees stronger demand for English education amid Japan's tourism boom
Although iTutorGroup has turned into one of the largest online marketplaces of learning in the world, earning itself a $1 billion valuation along the way, the company can trace its roots back to the pre-internet age, when English tutoring was restricted to face-to-face interaction. When ...
Amazon unveils the Fire TV Cube, a nearly hands-free streaming TV device
Alexa for couch potatoes is coming: Amazon's new streaming TV device will let users shout out when they want to turn on the TV, flip channels or search for sitcoms — all without pushing any buttons. The Fire TV Cube is not entirely hands-free yet, ...
Views from Tokyo: Do you read newspapers? How do you get your fix of daily news?
As the media continues to struggle to adapt to the digital age, young people open up about how they consume news.
