Google, Microsoft Lead Campaign to Limit Government Surveillance

Eight technology giants, including Google and Microsoft, have started a public campaign to limit government surveillance of users, The New York Times reports.
The companies — Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, and Yahoo — published an open letter in national newspapers and opened a website at reformgovernmentsurveillance.com (which, curiously, doesn't work at the time of this writing).
In the letter, the Reform Government Surveillance group is calling for the U.S. President and Congress to limit surveillance of people, as it "undermines" their freedoms.
"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide," the letter said.
“The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish.”
The initiative comes after a string of leaks this summer, detailing the NSA's extensive surveillance of users, including spying on data centers of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and other tech companies.

Grammy Awards 2014 nominations: Jay Z, rapper Macklemore, New Zealand singer Lorde, Taylor Swift lead the pack

For the three most coveted categories -- Record, Song and Album of the Year -- voters found no place for the most obvious candidates, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, although Timberlake did get seven nominations in lesser categories.

Jay Z leads the list of 2014 Grammy nominations with nine nods.

The man who famously rapped about “99 Problems” has nine reasons to cheer the Grammys — that’s how many nominations Jay Z received, the most of any artist for 2013.
Then again, none of those nods appears for work under his name in the most coveted categories — Record, Song and Album of the Year. (He slid into the Album of the Year bids with a guest appearance on a Kendrick Lamar disc).

NY's lead lawyer in case against Maurice Greenberg took free ride on his plane

Assistant Attorney General David Ellenhorn accepted a free ride from the Wall Street titan’s lawyer on Greenberg’s private plane in 2009, a source told the Daily News.The source said Ellenhorn did not report the gift or repay Greenberg, which could violate state ethics law.

NewYork State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who inherited the case against Wall Street tital Maurice Greenberg, said he is now seeking to ban the 88-year-old from working in the securities industry and serving as a director or officer of a public company.