“If you don’t fail, you haven’t tried hard enough.”
— Shervin Pishevar, Menlo Ventures Managing Partner (TechCrunch)

* HP (HPQ) has finally decided the fate of the WebOS operating system, and things are looking up. The company announced that it’s making WebOS “open source,” allowing developers and other hardware manufacturers to freely use its code. Also, those who lamented the abrupt demise of the Touchpad have something to look forward to. According to CEO Meg Whitman, the company will likely get into the tablet business again, though Whitman isn’t sure whether that will happen in 2012 or after. (Fortune and The Verge)

* A well-told, inside look at how AT&T (T) wound up in a losing battle with FCC regulators over its plans to acquire T-Mobile, a deal that would give AT&T and competitor Verizon (VZ) nearly 80% of the United States’s wireless market. (The Washington Post)

* Facebook confirmed last week the news reported by All Things D that the social network has reorganized itself around five product areas, including Privacy and Identity, Mobile and Platform, and Infrastructure. Meet the five executives who will directly oversee them. (All Things D)

* Netflix (NFLX) is backing an amendment  to 1988’s Video Privacy Protection Act that in theory would allow Facebook users to see which movies friends and family members are watching. (The New York Times)

* Speaking of Netflix, news of a Redbox-Verizon streaming service collaboration coming next spring could very well spell very bad news for Reed Hastings’s company. Here’s why. (Hint: Netflix has a cash problem. With several successful businesses, Verizon does not.) (VentureBeat)

* Contributing GigaOm writer Michael Robertson argues that current music streaming darling Spotify will never be profitable thanks to the “secret demands” of record labels. (GigaOm)

* Why Google’s recently-introduced social news app Currents, doesn’t hold a candle to Flipboard. (GigaOm)

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