Month: November 2015

Zur Aufgabe der NSA gehört neben Spionage auch, amerikanische Computersysteme zu schützen. Doch die NSA hält Sicherheitslücken geheim - und gefährde so die eigenen Bürger, warnen Kritiker. Der Geheimdienst versucht nun, mit einer Statistik den Vorwurf zu entkräften. Doch es bleiben Zweifel. (NSA, Verschlüsselung)

Die Stadt Los Angeles baut 100 LED-Straßenlaternen auf. Darin steckt LTE-Mobilfunktechnik von Ericsson, die direkt ans Glasfasernetz der Stadt angeschlossen ist. (Long Term Evolution, Philips)

Das Aufbauspiel Anno 2205 und das Strategiespiel Grand Ages Medieval sind die wohl aussichtsreichsten Kandidaten für den Deutschen Entwicklerpreis 2015, der von der Spielebranche verliehen wird. Beide Titel sind in mehreren Kategorien vertreten. (Deutscher Entwicklerpreis, Ubisoft)

There are plenty of 2-in-1 tablets that you can use as notebooks when you attach a keyboard dock. But most are designed for general consumers, with a few models sporting slightly tougher cases designed for business or education customers. And then there’s the Panasonic ToughBook 20. It’s a 10.1 inch Windows tablet with a detachable […]

Panasonic ToughBook 20 is a rugged 10 inch 2-in-1 is a post from: Liliputing

The EU Commission is currently working on proposals for the modernization of copyright with the aim of providing a framework more suited to the digital age.

The EU’s plan was set to go public exactly a month from today but just before the weekend IPKat said it had obtained a leaked copy of the draft communication from a ‘Brussels insider’.

“EU copyright rules need to be adapted so that all market players and citizens can seize the opportunities of this new environment. A more European framework is needed to overcome fragmentation and frictions within a functioning single market,” the leaked draft reads.

The document, which could be subject to change before its release next month, advises that the Commission will issue legislative proposals for content portability during the Spring of 2016.

“As a first step, the Commission is presenting together with this Communication a proposal for a regulation on the ‘portability’ of online content services, to ensure that users who have subscribed to or acquired content in their home country can access it when they are temporarily in another Member State,” the report reads.

But in addition to making life easier for citizens, the Commission also wants to make life more difficult for pirates. Noting that creative rights have little value if they cannot be enforced, the Commission calls for a “balanced civil enforcement system” to enable copyright holders to fight infringement more cheaply and across borders.

“A ‘follow-the-money’ approach, which sees the involvement of different types of intermediary service providers, seems to be a particularly promising method that the Commission and Member States have started to apply in certain areas,” the draft reads.

“It can deprive those engaging in commercial infringements of the revenue streams (for example from consumer payments and advertising) emanating from their illegal activities, and therefore act as a deterrent.”

On this front the Commission says it intends to take immediate action to set up a “self-regulatory mechanism” with a view to reaching agreement next spring. While voluntary, the EU says the mechanism can be backed up by force if necessary.

“Codes of conduct at EU level could be backed by legislation, as required to ensure their full effectiveness,” the draft notes.

By the fall of next year the Commission says it will have assessed its options in respect of an amended legal framework covering a number of enforcement issues. No additional details are provided but one of the key items in the draft concerns the rules for the identification of infringers.

The document also highlights a need to address “the (cross-border) application of provisional and precautionary measures and injunctions”. Clarification is needed, but this appears to be a reference to EU-wide site blocking.

Furthermore, the EU indicates it will examine the rules for copyright takedowns and the potential for illicit content to be taken down and remain down.

“The Commission is also carrying out a comprehensive assessment and a public consultation on online platforms, which also covers ‘notice and action’ mechanisms and the issue of action remaining effective over time (the ‘take down and stay down’ principle),” the draft reads.

Finally, Julia Reda MEP is raising alarms over the Commission’s intent to clarify the legal definition of ‘communication to the public’ and of ‘making available’.

“The Commission is considering putting the simple act of linking to content under copyright protection,” Reda writes.

“This idea flies in the face of both existing interpretation and spirit of the law as well as common sense. Each weblink would become a legal landmine and would allow press publishers to hold every single actor on the Internet liable.”

The full document can be downloaded here.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Mit der Geometrie-Unterstützung steht nun auch die letzte große Basisfunktion von Kwin unter Wayland bereit. Entwickler Martin Gräßlin ist deshalb zuversichtlich, dass die Version 5.5 von KDE Plasma in schon wenigen Wochen von Interessierten unter Wayland getestet werden könnte. (KDE, Linux)

Die Bundesregierung will mehr offene WLAN-Hotspots. Ein sinnvolles Vorhaben - aber die vorgesehenen Haftungsregeln sind vielleicht nicht mit EU-Recht vereinbar. (WLAN, Internet)

Apple’s biggest iPad yet launches this week. The 12.9 inch iPad Pro will be available for order from Apple.com starting November 11th, and it should be available in retail stores later in the week. Prices start at $799 for a WiFi-only model with 32GB of storage. Apple will also offer a model with 128GB of […]

Apple iPad Pro goes on sale Nov 11th for $799 and up is a post from: Liliputing

Zweihundert Jahre nach dem großen Atomkrieg krabbelt der Spieler in Boston an die postnukleare Erdoberfläche - und kann dann in Fallout 4 ein episches Abenteuer vom Feinsten erleben. Wie das auf den unterschiedlichen Plattformen aussieht, zeigt Golem.de im Grafikvideo. (Fallout 4, Spieletest)

As previously reported, huge Russian torrent site RuTracker has been having some serious legal issues with copyright holders, not least the music industry.

Labels including Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI want the tracker to stop infringing their copyrights. This, or face being blocked by Russian ISPs – for eternity.

After the filing of a lawsuit at the Moscow City Court last month, RuTracker was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand the site could delete around 320,000 torrents to comply with the labels’ wishes. On the other they could leave the content intact and face a ban.

Late last month the site polled its members and the response was clear. While 33% were prepared to delete the torrents, 67% said no way, voting in favor of accepting a blockade and then circumventing it.

At the time of writing 983,400 people have voted, all of them members for at least one month to avoid rigging. RuTracker’s operators believe this could be one of the biggest online votes in the entire history of the Russian Internet.

But RuTracker’s problems aren’t only with the music industry. Earlier, local publishing giant ‘Eksmo‘ also filed a legal complaint after content wasn’t quickly removed from the site.

So with defiance on the table the Court had a simple decision to make. Given that it agrees that RuTracker isn’t removing copyrighted content as it should, Russian law now allows for strict measures to be taken against the site. Earlier this morning that’s exactly what happened.

After repeatedly infringing Eksmo’s rights, the Moscow City Court handed down an order which instructs local ISPs to block RuTracker, forever. The site is currently still accessible in Russia and will remain so for at least the next 30 days, a period in which the site will have an opportunity to consider its options.

On the one hand RuTracker could appeal the decision, although considering the polling of its users on the music matter and the desire of the majority not to delete torrents, that seems unlikely. On the other it has a month to train its Russian users on how to access the site after a blockade, whether that’s through Tor, VPNs, proxies, or other similar tools.

Not only does the latter seem more likely, RuTracker has just made a historic move which will allow new users of the site, wherever they may be, to access it much more easily.

Previously, users needed an account to use the site, which wasn’t really a problem for those who can speak Russian. However, RuTracker has now removed the need to sign up, meaning that anyone with a browser and Google translate can easily find content in the site’s forums and download it by clicking on a link.

For now unregistered users can only download via magnet links but with users of most torrent sites already prepared with a compatible client, that’s unlikely to provide much of an obstacle.

Even more simply, RuTracker’s forums are all indexed by Google and since the titles of English language content appear in English, a “site:rutracker.org” search is an extremely easy option.

Add this to the fact that Google receives relatively few takedown requests for the domain, RuTracker could quickly gain more popularity outside Russia. That is not what the book publishers or major record companies had in mind when they pressed for a national and permanent blockade against this enduring torrent site.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.