Microsoft’s new CEO grabs the public perception bull by the horns and refocuses on mobile-first. Oh, also cloud-first. But also Xbox and Office. We dig beneath the buzz and suss out what we think is truly Satya Nadella big challenge ahead.

Plus Google is giving away terabytes, Bitcoin goes to Washington, and more!

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Show Notes:

Satya Nadella: Microsoft will focus on mobile and cloud, renew focus on productivity, won’t sell Xbox

Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world.
We will reinvent productivity to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more.

Finally, every team across Microsoft must find ways to simplify and move faster, more efficiently. We will increase the fluidity of information and ideas by taking actions to flatten the organization and develop leaner business processes.

Microsoft drops case that severed DNS hosting for millions of No-IP nodes | Ars Technica

Microsoft has formally settled legal differences with No-IP, the dynamic domain name host that was kneecapped by a botnet takedown that recently knocked out service to millions of legitimate hostnames.

Microsoft surrendered the 23 No-IP domains last week. A bare-bones statement e-mailed to journalists Wednesday morning said the agreement settled a controversial lawsuit Microsoft filed in late June that allowed the software maker to confiscate 23 No-IP domain names before the service provider had an opportunity to oppose the maneuver in court. The malware families targeted in the latest takedown infected more than 7.4 million machines in the past year alone, Microsoft said.

Microsoft’s technique relies on stealth to disconnect virtually all of a campaign’s malicious servers at once before the operators have a chance to respond.

Preserving the confidentiality of the planned takedown may have played a role in No-IP claims that Microsoft officials never contacted it ahead of time about the abuse of its service. Microsoft’s takedown technique has evolved over the years. Company officials would do well to update it again to reflect the lessons learned from this episode.

With Google Offer, Cloud Storage Gets Closer to Free

Google Cloud Platform offered two terabytes of free storage for a year, through one of its partners, a startup called Panzura.

By comparison, Amazon offers a service for infrequently accessed data at one cent per gigabyte per month, which would equate to $120 a year for one terabyte of storage. Microsoft’s Azure service offers business the first terabyte of data storage for as little as 2.4 cents a gigabyte per month.

“This is a way for customers to try something new, especially if they have had some kind of aversion to using the cloud in the past,” said Chris Rimer, global head of partners at Google’s Cloud Platform business.

He said Google wants to encourage businesses to move more of their computing to the cloud. “We want to make sure potential customers are not worried about cost as a barrier to entry,” Rimer said.

“There are free offers out there for gigabytes of storage, but terabytes is where it starts to get interesting for companies,” said Rimer.

• Google Cast Screen Mirroring Feature Comes To Chromecast

Google has released a feature for Chromecast announced at Google I/O this year — Android device screen mirroring. The update today brings the much-desired feature to all Chromecast-capable devices and makes Google Cast much more similar to Apple‘s competing AirPlay offering for iOS devices.

Singapore passes law to block illegal sites

Announced back in April, the new amendment to Singapore’s Copyright Act will provide content owners with the ability make Internet service providers in the country block illegal web sites such as the infamous Pirate Bay.

Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah said the new law will give copyright owners “greater ability to protect their rights in the online space.”

“The prevalence of online piracy in Singapore turns customers away from legitimate content and adversely affects Singapore’s creative sector,” Rajah said.

The new law is reportedly set to come into force at the end of August, and copyright owners can apply to the court in Singapore without having to establish the liability of the network service provider.

Judge denies Silk Road’s demands to dismiss criminal prosecution

In a scathing opinion and order on Wednesday, the federal judge presiding over the Silk Road case denied the defense’s motion to dismiss all four criminal counts, rejecting every argument made. Absent a plea deal, the case will now go to trial scheduled for November in a New York federal courtroom.

In her 51-page ruling, Judge Katherine Forrest did not buy any of the defense’s arguments. Among them, Dratel claimed that the money laundering charges must fail because Silk Road’s currency of choice was Bitcoin, which he said is not money.

Bitcoin Foundation Hires Firm to Lobby Congress on Cryptocurrencies

The Bitcoin Foundation has stepped up its US lobbying efforts by hiring Washington, DC-based firm Thorsen French Advocacy.

The announcement from the Foundation represents perhaps the most high-profile bitcoin lobbying effort to date.

The lobbying efforts will seek to find a balance between privacy concerns and law enforcement as it relates to bitcoin; clarify the US government’s stance on digital currency taxation; and develop more inclusive, but effective, consumer protection rules.

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