Fresh from a contentious G7 global economic summit in Quebec, where U.S. President Donald Trump refused to sign a joint statement with the United States’ oldest and closest allies, Trump flew off to Singapore for what could be an historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The on-again, off-again meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 9 am at the Capella Resort on Sentosa Island. Trump says he doesn’t need to prepare for the summit, and that he’ll know within a minute of the meeting if it will work. ”Just my touch, my feel. That’s what I do.” [Noah Weiland / The New York Times]
The landmark Obama-era net neutrality rules officially end today, as new FCC regulations handing providers broad new power over how consumers can access the internet will take effect. The new rules will give internet service providers more control over the type of content that consumers can access; Comcast, Verizon and AT&T have all pledged to not block or discriminate against legal content after the net neutrality rules expire. In an interview, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said that the FTC — the agency now in charge of policing whether telecoms abuse their power — is “going to be a powerful tool for weeding out any anticompetitive conduct.” [David Shepardson / Reuters]
Tomorrow, a federal judge is expected to issue his opinion on the government’s effort to block AT&T’s $85.4 billion merger with Time Warner. The outcome on the influential antitrust case could transform the path of several other blockbuster deals: Disney’s offer to buy 21st Century Fox, CVS’s bid for Aetna and T-Mobile’s proposed merger with Sprint. [Cecilia Kang, Brooks Barnes and Michael J. de la Merced / The New York Times]
Here’s what to expect at this week’s E3, the gaming industry’s annual convention. Microsoft revealed yesterday that it is building a “console-quality” streaming game service for any device, including Xbox, which will see a new Halo and multiple Gears of War iterations. Here’s how to follow every keynote from Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Nintendo, Bethesda and basically every other big name in gaming. [Andrew Webster / The Verge]
Spotify is starting to compete with the major music labels by signing direct deals with music acts. The streaming giant has started licensing some songs directly from artists and managers, paying advances of “several hundred thousand dollars” for a collection of tracks. Flexing its muscle as one of the world’s dominant music distributors, Spotify has been signaling this platform approach for months. [Peter Kafka / Recode]
Set aside time for two must-read media features in New York Magazine this week. Start with a deep dive into Netflix’s strategy and tactics as it pour billions into original content. The company has extraordinary insight into the viewing habits of 125 million customers, but insists its show-picking strategies are “70 percent gut and 30 percent data.” Then decide whether time has run out on Vice Media, which used Shane Smiths’ charismatic bluster — and a trick out of Enron’s playbook — to convince marketers it had a direct line to youthful audiences.
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.