news.buyenne.com

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

The attorneys who moved the song Happy Birthday into the public domain will receive $4.62 million in fees, according to a judge's fee order (PDF) published Tuesday. The amount, which equals one-third of a $14 million settlement fund, was granted over objections by the defendant, Warner/Chappell.

After various billing deductions, US District Judge George King found that a "lodestar" payment of about $3.85 million was appropriate. King then added a multiplier.

"Given the unusually positive results achieved by the settlement, the highly complex nature of the action, the risk class counsel faced by taking this case on a contingency-fee basis, and the impressive skill and effort of counsel, we conclude that a 1.2 multiplier is warranted," wrote King.

Gawker.com, facing a $140 million jury verdict for publishing a sex tape of Terry Bollea (better known as pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan), is shuttering operations next week, according to a post on the site.

"Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets," the website said. "Staffers will soon be assigned to other editorial roles, either at one of the other six sites or elsewhere within Univision. Near-term plans for Gawker.com’s coverage, as well as the site’s archives, have not yet been finalized."

Univision acquired Gawker Media for $135 million on Tuesday. Gawker Media's other holdings include Gizmodo, Deadspin, Jezebel, Lifehacker, Kotaku, and Jalopnik. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two months ago and went up for sale following the jury's verdict.

Enlarge (credit: Esther Vargas)

Twitter said Thursday it has shut down 235,000 accounts linked to violent extremism in the last six months alone. That brings the total number of terminated Twitter accounts associated with terrorism to 360,000 since mid-2015.

San Francisco-based Twitter, which had come under fire for allegedly not doing enough to crack down on extremist speech on its site, said it condemns acts of terrorism and that it is "committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform."

The announcement on Twitter's blog comes as lawmakers mull legislation demanding that Internet companies report suspected terrorist activities to the government. It also comes days after Twitter fended off a lawsuit (PDF) accusing the company of providing material support to terrorists and of being a "tool for spreading extremist propaganda." Twitter's successful defense was, among other things, that the Communications Decency Act shields the company from being legally liable for content posted on its site.

Enlarge (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

There may come a day when your Apple Watch doesn't need to be tethered to your iPhone to work, but that day won't be soon. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple's plans to put cellular modems in the next version of the Apple Watch have been put on hold because of concerns about battery life. While Apple is still reportedly "studying lower-power cellular data chips" for inclusion in future generations, the next watch will still rely on your iPhone for its data connection.

That said, the report indicates that Apple does plan to ship GPS functionality in the new Apple Watch. This will be of particular interest to people who use the watch for outdoor exercise like running and biking. Today's Apple Watch relies on your iPhone for GPS, and, when untethered from your phone, it can only provide you with rough estimates about distance and pace.

The next Apple Watch is expected at some point in the fall, possibly at the traditional September iPhone event that is rumored to be happening on September 7. WatchOS 3, a major revamp of the wearable operating system, will also be released this fall as an update for existing Apple Watch owners.