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Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories:

🏴☠️ Streaming services and studios sue Aussie telcos over piracy issues

🛍 Twitter launches livestream shopping 

💉 Ex-Theranos CEO testifies in high-profile fraud case

Oh and get this...

Woodside Petroleum and BHP have finally agreed to their $40 billion merger. This will make the merged company the 14th largest company on the ASX by market cap.

7 studios are suing Aussie telcos over piracy issues and where's Johnny Depp?!

Background: Piracy has always been a pest for film studios and artists. It's when people download and distribute copyrighted content without permission...and it's highly illegal.

What happened: Despite streaming companies making movies so accessible, piracy is still massive. 

What else: Now, a group of seven studios (think: Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount) are suing Aussie telcos (think: Telstra, Optus, TPG) for enabling Aussies to pirate their creations. They want the broadband providers to block access to 34 different piracy sites.

So what's the key learning?

💡With so many streaming platforms available, the cost to keep up with the latest shows and films is rapidly rising. Subscribing to the big three (aka Netflix, Disney+ and Stan) will cost you around $40 a month. 

💡 An increasing number of viewers are turning (or returning) to not-so-legit platforms. In fact, research shows 21% of Aussies aged 18+ continue to pirate movies and TV shows. 

💡This is becoming an increasingly big problem for streaming services who want to ensure all movie-aficionados are paying for their creations.

Hide your purses...Twitter is launching a livestream shopping event

Background: Twitter are the social media platform known for hot takes on politics and juicy celeb threads...but they're about to venture into a very different world: shopping.

What happened: It ain't regular shopping though, we're talkin' a livestream shopping event with Walmart, the big US department store...and it's being hosted by none other than Jason DeRulo. Sorry, we mean "Jaaaaaaason DeRuuulooooo".

What else: The livestream will be hosted by DeRulo...and when customers wanna make a purchase, they can head to the retailer's site within the Twitter app. If all goes to plan, Twitter will ramp up its shoppable content.

So what's the key learning?

💡Shoppable content is any type of content that allows users to make a purchase from what they're looking at. 

💡And as advertisers look for more ways to get instant sales in a digital age, shoppable videos have become all the rage. In fact, more than 40% of marketers use shoppable video ads. And live-stream generated sales are worth around US$120 billion. 

💡Shoppable videos live right in the middle of the entertainment, e-commerce and social media venn diagram...and because all three of these categories are booming, everyone's getting around it. 

The ex-Theranos CEO is testifying in her own defence in the juiciest fraud caseever

Background: Elizabeth Holmes is the former CEO of a company called Theranos, which she founded in 2003 when she was just 19. This crew claimed they created blood tests which only required a small amount of blood.

What happened: Silicon Valley lapped up the new 'tech' and its inspiring founder. At its peak, the company was valued at US$10 billion. But it turned out to be all FAKE. NEWS.

What else: None of the tech was legit, and investors lost billions...and the company was later dissolved. Now, Holmes is testifying in her own defence, giving us a fascinating insight into the 'fake it till you make it' attitude of Silicon Valley-ites.

So what's the key learning?

💡It's one thing to be ambitious...but it's another to risk the lives of people in the pursuit of raising billions. 

💡The big question for Silicon Valley is: where does a company's vision stop...and the lies start? Holmes is arguing that though things didn't work, it was because she made a few (read: many) mistakes. But the prosecution reckon Holmes and her co-defendant agreed on a scheme to defraud.

💡Whatever the outcome, this sends a strong message that Silicon Valley's ethos needs to change.