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Some smartphone makers have been including wireless charging capabilities in their handsets for a few years, allowing you to drop your phone on a charging pad to refuel the battery without connecting any wires. But Apple has been on the sidelines… so far. Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on adding wireless charging to smartphones… […]
Future iPhones might support wireless charging using new tech is a post from: Liliputing
Some smartphone makers have been including wireless charging capabilities in their handsets for a few years, allowing you to drop your phone on a charging pad to refuel the battery without connecting any wires. But Apple has been on the sidelines… so far. Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on adding wireless charging to smartphones… […]
Future iPhones might support wireless charging using new tech is a post from: Liliputing
Schlechte Zahlen, weniger Mitarbeiter: ST Microelectronics trennt sich von seiner Set-Top-Box-Sparte und somit von 1.400 Angestellten, Hunderte weitere Mitarbeiter werden in andere Bereiche wechseln. (STMicroelectronics, Set-Top-Box)
Schlechte Zahlen, weniger Mitarbeiter: ST Microelectronics trennt sich von seiner Set-Top-Box-Sparte und somit von 1.400 Angestellten, Hunderte weitere Mitarbeiter werden in andere Bereiche wechseln. (STMicroelectronics, Set-Top-Box) 
A news site has just been blocked by Portugal’s ISPs on copyright infringement grounds. Ultimate Music is operated by journalist Josep Vinaixa who publishes music industry news and sometimes embeds pop videos from YouTube. However, local anti-piracy outfit MAPiNET insists the site needs to buy a special license in order to do so.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Blocking websites is in vogue for copyright holders all around Europe. They normally need to go to court to have allegedly-infringing sites blocked at the ISP level but in Portugal no such formality is required.
In recent months local Internet providers have already blocked hundreds of websites for allegedly linking to copyright infringing content. The action is the result of a voluntary arrangement between the Ministry of Culture, the Association of Telecommunication Operators, and copyright holders including anti-piracy group MAPiNET.
The lack of judicial oversight has been a concern for activists ever since the introduction of the agreement. Now it appears their fears were not unfounded.
Ultimate Music is a site operated by journalist and blogger Josep Vinaixa. He reports on entertainment industry news, such as track and album releases, and also embeds YouTube videos. In the image below one can see a typical piece which announces the launch of an album by Sigma and embeds an official Sigma video from YouTube.
Vinaixa works with international record labels who send him information about releases and even request that he embeds their videos in his site. However, local anti-piracy group MAPiNET believes that embedding YouTube videos is illegal unless Vinaixa’s website is licensed.
In an email from MAPiNET dated Dec 18 and shared with TorrentFreak, the anti-piracy outfit warns Vinaixa that he needs to “change his conduct” or face the consequences. (broken English email quoted verbatim)
“On the past 30 of July we have celebrated a MoU with the Portuguese association of ISPs APRITEL, Portuguese Cultural inspection entity IGAC, and others,” the email states.
“On this MoU websites that have more than 500 copyright protected works or if 2/3 of his content is copyrighted material presented there with no authorization from the legal rights owner are eligible to be blocked by DNS in Portugal.
“If this website do not change its conduct within the next 24 hours we will make all the diligences to proceed with the DNS blocking request.”
Less than an hour later a bemused Vinaixa responded, asking MAPiNET what could possibly be wrong with writing about artists and embedding their official videos in his news articles.
“I really want to fix this because I don’t want any problem. I’m just promoting the new music releases,” he explained.
After receiving no response, Vinaixa’s site was blocked by ISPs in Portugal on Christmas Day. The message now seen by visitors is shown below.
Credit: Revolucaodosbytes.pt
(Translated: The site you want to access is blocked in the wake of compliance of a Entitdade Regulatory notification)
On December 29, Vinaixa wrote to MAPiNET again.
“You blocked my site in Portugal and you didn’t answer my message. I want to fix this and make my site available in Portugal again. Can you please tell me what I have to do?” he begged.
On January 5, 2016, Vinaixa received a reply but it was not what he’d been hoping for.
“According to the information we have gathered from the Portuguese Music Licensing Company (PassMusica) and all music related Collective Management Entities, you have not submitted any licensing request for your site to operate in the Portuguese Territory,” MAPiNET explained.
“Having said that, we recommend you, as a first step, to obtain the correct licensing for your site to work properly and according to the Portuguese Legislation, and therefore we urge you to address the above mentioned entities.”
So, after being blocked by MAPiNET, Vinaixa turned to PassMusica for help.
“My website is a music site about new releases and future artists from all parts of the world. All the music / videos are from official channels like Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud or Vevo,” Vinaixa told the licensing outfit.
“I do not understand what I could do wrong, for you to block my access throughout your country. I simply want to return to be operational in Portugal and fix something if there is something to fix. Thank you so much.”
Again, the response was disappointing.
“Further to your email, we can confirm that we have not received any licensing request from you in order to operate in Portugal. Furthermore, we also have information that you have not requested authorization [from] the Record Company to make the music videos and tracks available through your website, as all the platforms you’ve mentioned have requested,” PassMusica told Vinaixa.
“We appreciate that the music and all the videos are from official channels, but those channels have negotiated directly with the record companies in order to be able to make such usage of music, as we are sure you have not. Also, those channels, in their disclaimers do not authorize such utilization.”
But according to Vinaixa, that is nonsense.
“Excuse me but that’s not true,” he told PassMusica earlier this month.
“All the labels from UK, Australia, USA and Spain send me the information about the releases from their artists and they want me to put all of the videos and audios (official link) on the site.”
Vinaixa told the licensing outfit he’s been working with the labels for three years and no one has ever complained. In fact, all he gets is thanks for his cooperation in promoting the labels’ artists.
“I don’t understand why Portugal blocked me when all the other countries are working with me, the labels and the artists’ advertising agencies. I just want to work properly as I have been doing around the world for 3 years. So you do not tell me I have no license, because I work closely with almost all the record labels.”
So for now Vinaixa and his site is in limbo while being treated like the dozens of hardcore pirate sites on MAPiNET’s register. They are no longer responding to his questions and Portuguese users are still unable to view his site.
According to a 2014 decision by the EU’s Court of Justice, if content is already freely available after being legally published and isn’t already subject to restrictions such as a subscription or pay wall, embedding is not a breach of EU law.
TorrentFreak contacted MAPiNET on two occasions to hear its reasons for blocking Ultimate Music but the anti-piracy group did respond to requests for comment.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Authors appear to have reused data, pretended it was from different experiments.
(credit: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)
An ongoing investigation at the University of Naples in Italy is looking into allegations that some studies of genetically modified crops included data that was manipulated to make it appear that the consumption of GMOs is harmful to mammals. Frederico Infascelli, the researcher who led these studies, claims that the allegations are false, but evidence has surfaced of widespread image manipulation in his work.
Genetically modified crops, more commonly known as genetically modified organisms or GMOs, have been engineered to make plants heartier in challenging environmental conditions, more resistant to pests or disease, or for a better nutritional profile. Studies have found that GMOs can be effective in reducing the use of pesticides, increasing overall crop yield, and in increasing farmer’s profits. Some of the more common GMO crops include rapeseed, corn, cotton, papaya, soybeans, and beets.
In general, most scientists, Including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, concur that GMOs do not present an increased risk to human health relative to non-modified foods, though the growth and consumption of GMOs has been riddled with controversy. Partially in response to public concerns, some countries require foods using GMOs to be labeled as such.
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In Kalifornien könnten fahrerlose Autos verboten werden. Google warnt nun davor, die Kontrolle durch menschliche Fahrer zu überschätzen. (Netzneutralität, Internet) 
In Kalifornien könnten fahrerlose Autos verboten werden. Google warnt nun davor, die Kontrolle durch menschliche Fahrer zu überschätzen. (Netzneutralität, Internet) 
55 million units combined, minus Sony’s 36 million, leaves 19 million for Microsoft.
Lifetime Xbox One sales have reached 19 million units—at least if EA's CFO is to believed. During a financial call last night, Blake Jorgensen said the combined install base of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 had hit an estimated 55 million units, a mere two years into the life of the current generation.
While Microsoft has long stopped reporting on the absolute number of Xboxes sold, Sony continues to push out its own figures. Most recently, Sony revealed it has sold an impressive 35.9 million PS4s, which—when deducted from EA's 55 million figure—leaves around 19 million units for the Xbox One.
"I think our business seems to be operating pretty consistent as it has been over the last couple of years," said Jorgensen. "The console purchases are up through the end of calendar year '15. Our estimate is 55 million units out there which has exceeded virtually everyone's forecast for the year and now almost 50 percent higher than previous console cycle so, all of that is very, very positive."
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Plenty of PC makers have launched smartwatches in the past year or two, but HP has been taking a slightly different approach than most. Rather than design everything in house, the company has been working with fashion designed to launch new wearables that combine fashion with smartwatch features. The MB Chronowing is a collaboration between HP […]
HP and Isaac Mizrahi designed a $250 watch with (some) smarts is a post from: Liliputing
Plenty of PC makers have launched smartwatches in the past year or two, but HP has been taking a slightly different approach than most. Rather than design everything in house, the company has been working with fashion designed to launch new wearables that combine fashion with smartwatch features. The MB Chronowing is a collaboration between HP […]
HP and Isaac Mizrahi designed a $250 watch with (some) smarts is a post from: Liliputing
Huge headache for customers hammering away at their tax returns.
(credit: Still from HSBC TV ad)
HSBC has been battling an apparent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on its online banking system for the past few hours.
Many customers have been struggling to access HSBC online—via the bank's app or website—all morning.
HSBC blamed the outage on a DDoS attack, and attempted to spin the whole thing as a success story to mainstream news outlets. By way of example, witness this headline over at ITV News.
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Die berühmt-berüchtigten Katzenbilder auf Facebook stehen womöglich vor der Ablösung: Ab sofort können iOS-Nutzer mit der Kamera ihres iPhones auch Livevideo übertragen. Das klingt spannend – eröffnet aber auch neue Möglichkeiten des Missbrauchs. (Facebook, Soziales Netz) 
Die berühmt-berüchtigten Katzenbilder auf Facebook stehen womöglich vor der Ablösung: Ab sofort können iOS-Nutzer mit der Kamera ihres iPhones auch Livevideo übertragen. Das klingt spannend - eröffnet aber auch neue Möglichkeiten des Missbrauchs. (Facebook, Soziales Netz) 
Wer das Jolla Tablet bezahlt hat, aber es nicht geliefert bekommt, erhält sein Geld zurück. Vor allem die ersten Unterstützer erhalten ihr Geld aber nur in Raten zurück. (
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