Overnight Tech: Broadcom proposes mega-merger with Qualcomm | Internet hit by major outages | McConnell wants tech to help ‘retaliate’ against Russia | Apple’s tax haven secrets

BROADCOM PROPOSES QUALCOMM ACQUISITION: Chip manufacturer Broadcom is proposing a $130 billion deal to purchase Qualcomm in what would be one of the biggest tech mergers in history.

On Monday, Broadcom made an unsolicited offer to pay $70 per share to buy its rival. For every share, the company would pay $60 in cash and $10 in Broadcom stock.

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“This complementary transaction will position the combined company as a global communications leader with an impressive portfolio of technologies and products,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said in a statement.

“With greater scale and broader product diversification, the combined company will be positioned to deliver more advanced semiconductor solutions for our global customers and drive enhanced stockholder value.”

Qualcomm said in a statement that it had received the offer and its board of directors would be reviewing it.

The proposal comes days after Tan visited President Trump at the White House to announce that the Singapore-based company would be moving its operations to the U.S. Also at last week’s event were House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Gary Cohn, a top White House economic adviser.

“He’s a highly, highly respected man, a great, great executive,” Trump said of Tan during the event.

“The job he’s done is an incredible job. But what he’s doing is committing to massive amounts of American jobs.”

The White House did not respond when asked by The Hill if the two had discussed the Qualcomm proposal.

Read more here.

 

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COMCAST OUTAGES: Comcast’s internet service suffered massive outages on Monday across the U.S., including large metropolitan areas like New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, due to an outage at Level 3, an internet provider to other networks.

A Level 3 spokesperson told Wired that the outages were caused by a configuration error that caused internet routing problems to major service providers like Comcast as well as Spectrum, Verizon, Cox and RCN, whose services also went down to varying degrees on Monday.

A map from Level 3 depicts the outages, which had reportedly been occurring since Monday morning showing the scale of the error, depicting internet access problems from coast to coast.

Read more here.

 

MCCONNELL WANTS TECH TO HELP RETALIATE AGAINST RUSSIA: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he believes the tech companies that displayed Kremlin-linked ads during the 2016 election could help the United States “retaliate” against Russia.

“What we ought to do with regard to the Russians is retaliate, seriously retaliate against the Russians,” McConnell told MSNBC’s Hugh Hewitt on Saturday. “These tech firms could be helpful in giving us a way to do that.”

McConnell did not elaborate on what that retaliation might look like.

Top officials from Twitter, Facebook and Google testified last week before three different congressional committees investigating Russians’ use of their platforms to influence Americans during the 2016 presidential race.

Read more here.

 

POSSIBLE 21ST CENTURY FOX-DISNEY DEAL: 21st Century Fox has been engaged in internal discussions over the possibility of selling most of the company to Disney, CNBC reported on Monday.

The move is seen as an opportunity for 21st Century Fox to focus on its news and sports operations, while jettisoning its movie studios and television programming.

The two companies are not currently discussing a deal, according to CNBC.

Read more here.

 

TWITTER REACTIVATES AMERICAN ACCOUNT SUSPENDED IN RUSSIAN CRACKDOWN: Twitter inadvertently included an American in the accounts it suspended in response to fake Russian accounts set up to influence the election.

The company reactivated Robert Delaware’s account on Monday, following a Motherboard report flagging the deletion.

According to emails that Delaware reportedly provided to the website, Twitter took down Delaware’s account for being associated with spam. His Twitter handle, @RobbyDelaware, was one of 2,754 Twitter accounts suspended for being linked to Russian actors.

Read more here.

 

PARADISE PAPERS REVEAL APPLE TAX SECRETS: Apple shifted two of its subsidiaries from Ireland to the island of Jersey in an apparent effort to shield assets from European tax regulators, according to leaked documents from a Bermuda law firm that were reported by The New York Times.

According to the Times, the move came as Apple was taking heat for the lack of taxes it was paying on its Irish subsidiaries.

The European Union ordered Ireland in 2016 to collect $14.5 billion in back taxes from Apple, saying that the country granted it illegal tax breaks.

An Apple spokesman said the company hadn’t engaged in any wrongdoing.

Read more here.

 

FACEBOOK OFFERS MOBILE PAYMENTS IN UK: Facebook will allow people outside of the U.S. to send money using its messenger app for the first time.

Facebook Messenger head David Marcus said Monday that users in the United Kingdom would be able to use the feature as it rolls out in the coming weeks.

“In the U.S. most people use payments in Messenger to send less than $50 at a time,” Marcus said in a statement. “Our research shows the top reasons for sending money include celebrations, social, and festive occasions; it’s those everyday moments we’re trying to make a little easier.”

Read more here.

 

ON TAP:

The American Antitrust Institute holds its annual conference starting at 8:15 a.m.

The Senate Commerce subcommittee on technology will hold a hearing on the Internet of Things in rural areas at 10 a.m.

The Technology Policy Institute will host a panel on intellectual property at noon.

AT&T will host a panel on cybersecurity at 1 p.m.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Trump’s Twitter lockout raises safeguard concerns

The Ringer: Why the Far Right Wing Fears Soy

CNN: Uber pledges $5 million to sexual assault prevention

Reuters: Apple says no operations were moved from Ireland

The Guardian: MPs demand Twitter act over Russian interference in UK politics

The Hill Opinion: Digital age changes all the rules on intellectual property, by Mark Schultz