Twitter Eyes Sports Deals; Facebook Ups Messenger’s Security; Amazon Deals With Counterfeits

Twitter is reportedly talking with the NBA and others, Facebook is testing end-to-end Messenger encryption, and Amazon sellers are complaining about Chinese counterfeits.
By Eric Jhonsa ,

Here's a look at Saturday's top tech stories.

Twitter is reportedly talking with the NBA, MLS and Turner about live sports streaming

Two days after Twitter (TWTR) - Get Reporthosted a Wimbledon-related live stream in partnership with ESPN -- the stream featured commentary and highlights, but not Wimbledon matches themselves -- Re/code reported the microblogging leader is talking with the NBA, the MLS, and Time Warner's (TWX) Turner unit about "acquiring digital streaming rights for content related to live sports and events." Turner owns TNT and TBS, and has broadcast deals for NBA, MLB, and NCAA basketball tournament games.

Twitter is already set to stream 10 Thursday night NFL games this fall in tandem with NBC and CBS, and reportedly obtained their rights for less than $10 million. The company is doubtlessly hoping it can reach similar sweetheart deals for high-profile content from other sports leagues. But while the leagues might be happy to give Twitter such deals when they have the power to, owing to the social media buzz bound to be created by Twitter-hosted streams, TV network owners will often be more comfortable restricting Twitter's streaming rights to peripheral content such as Wednesday's Wimbledon stream.

Facebook tests an end-to-end encryption option for Messenger

Three months after Facebook's (FB) - Get Report WhatsApp unit implemented end-to-end encryption for messages and other content shared through its apps, Facebook has begun trialing a Messenger feature called "secret conversations" that provides a similar level of security. Since conversations featuring end-to-end encryption can only be read on one device, and many Messenger users rely on the service across multiple devices, Facebook is making secret conversations fully optional.

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Facebook's move might be motivated in part by the growing popularity of rival messaging app Telegram, which has topped 100 million monthly active users (still well below Messenger's 900 million-plus and WhatsApp's billion-plus) thanks in large part to its support for end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, and other security features. Law enforcement agencies probably won't be thrilled by it, particularly given Telegram's encryption features have made it popular with ISIS.

Amazon has a growing Chinese counterfeit problem

An investigative piece from CNBC highlights a growing number of complaints from Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report marketplace sellers about the increasing availability of low-cost Chinese knockoffs on Amazon's site. The problem has been made worse by Amazon's aggressive efforts to court Chinese merchants with low-cost shipping services. The company recently slashed the fees it charges merchants for shipping small items that can fit in enveloped, a move seen in part as an attempt to win over Chinese merchants currently relying on eBay (EBAY) - Get Reportand Alibaba (BABA) - Get Report to sell to U.S. buyers.

Amazon faces a tricky balancing act. If it fails to crack down, it risks alienating many of the merchants that have fueled the massive growth of its marketplace business and related logistics services, and could also run afoul of regulators. At the same time, the company doesn't want to cripple its business with Chinese merchants, which more than doubled last year. Third-party sellers -- American, Chinese or otherwise -- accounted for 48% of Amazon's first-quarter paid seller units.

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