Month: February 2016

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Mattel re-invented the View-Master for the virtual reality age in 2015 by introducing a Google Cardboard-like headset that could hold a smartphone and turn it into a display for VR experiences. Now there’s a new model on the way, and, among other things, it’s designed to work better with phones featuring a range of screen […]

2nd View-Master VR will support more phones, more features is a post from: Liliputing

Seit fast drei Jahren testet der Verfassungsschutz die NSA-Spionagesoftware XKeyscore. Ohne Ergebnis. Dabei wollte er das mächtige Überwachungsinstrument einst unbedingt. (Politik/Recht, Datenschutz)

When an Argentinian news site tipped us off about a new streaming platform last month, first impressions were good.

Wefre (now defunct) was beautifully presented and managed to provide the user with a Spotify-like streaming service for free.

Admittedly lots of other sites try to do similar things but with all the artwork, albums, playlist features and embedded videos in one place, Wefre seemed pretty unique. However, following a tip from a reader it soon became evident that nothing could be further from the truth.

Instant music site

Although our tipster didn’t name it, TF was informed that Wefre was the product of a new script so we set about tracking it down. We eventually found it for sale on the CodeCanyon marketplace where it made its debut in November.

Called YouTubify (YouTube/Spotify combined), the script allows almost anyone to set up a free Spotify-like service with a minimum of fuss.

YouTubify – YouTube/Spotify Mashup Script

“Youtubify allows you to create your own music streaming website in minutes with no coding knowledge,” the sales pitch reads.

“It has an impressive feature set that rivals and even surpasses other biggest streaming services on the market.”

According to figures presented on CodeCanyon, YouTubify has been sold 310 times on that platform alone, which raises the possibility of there being hundreds of YouTubify ‘clone’ sites on the Internet today, Wefre being just one of them.

Indeed, further investigation revealed dozens of similar sites, all with their own style of presentation and color schemes and little addons here and there. But the fact remains that every single one was borne from exactly the same script costing just $38.00.

Aside from the fact that the script makes streaming site ownership so easy (potential legal issues aside, of course), for casual users there’s also the opportunity to look behind the scenes.

CodeCanyon provides a live demo of the platform in action and those logging in with the username: ‘admin@admin.com’ and the password: ‘admin’ can check out what it’s like to operate one of these sites from the inside.

While the admin panel could do with some tidying up, it looks very straightforward to use and even provides the user with an opportunity to monetize their site by injecting ads. However, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is the ‘coding’ equivalent of painting by numbers and is unlikely to bring any long-term reward for the experienced site operator.

But if instant music site ownership isn’t your thing, there other options too. The author of YouTubify also has some other products up his sleeve, a few of which are clearly aimed at the file-sharing market.

There’s BeDrive – a script while allows users to create their own file-sharing and cloud storage site “in minutes with no coding knowledge.”

Also available is MTDb, a similar script which in conjunction with another plug-in allows the creation of a “fully functional” movies and TV show streaming site. We haven’t tested it but that sounds like a pretty big claim. (demo here).

These products do appear interesting at first view but whether they will encourage innovation will remain to be seen. It has to be noted though that most private trackers started off life as a pre-made script but were then developed by their owners into something unique and in many cases extremely powerful.

This doesn’t feel like that kind of scenario to be honest, but stranger things have happened.

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

Mitte März 2016 kommen ein neues iPhone und ein neues iPad auf den Markt. Beide Produkte sollten laut einem Bericht nur wenige Tage nach der Präsentation verfügbar sein. Das wäre eine grundlegende Änderung von Apples bisheriger Strategie. (iPhone, Smartphone)

Apple tauscht bestimmte USB-Typ-C-Ladekabel aus, weil diese Probleme machen können. Ein Konstruktionsfehler im Kabel sorgt dafür, dass der Akku in einem Macbook nicht oder nur gelegentlich geladen wird. (Apple, Mobil)

Ein Fehler in der Datumsfunktion von iOS macht ein iPhone unbrauchbar: Wenn das Datum manuell auf den 1. Januar 1970 gestellt wird, bleibt das iPhone bei einem Neustart in einer Bootschleife hängen. Dann lässt es sich nur mit viel Aufwand wiederbeleben. (iPhone, Smartphone)

From a new way to pirate to a new way to prevent piracy, read the news roundup for the week ending 15 February 2016

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AACS, the decryption licensing outfit founded by a group of movie studios and technology partners including Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel, has targeted several DRM-circumvention tools in recent years.

The company sued the makers of popular DVD ripping software DVDFab in the U.S and also went after the Antigua-based company SlySoft, known for its AnyDVD software.

The latter case was first referred to the criminal enforcement authorities in 2007, and after seven years of proceedings it resulted in a clear win for the licensing company.

An Antiguan court found Slysoft owner Giancarla Bettini guilty of six charges under the 2003 Copyright Act and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000 per offense. Failure to pay would result in a six months in jail for each offense.

However, despite this positive outcome not much changed. SlySoft’s owner immediately filed an appeal which effectively put the convictions on hold. After two years the appeal has yet to begin and AnyDVD remains widely available.

In what appears to be a last-ditch effort, AACS is now asking the United States Trade Representative to take on the matter. The licensing company is asking the Government to place Antigua on its copyright Priority Watch List.

“Circumvention through programs such as SlySoft’s AnyDVD HD is a source for widespread, large-scale and commercial copyright infringement by users located in the United States, as well as Antigua & Barbuda, and many other countries,” AACS writes (pdf).

“Such circumvention also harms the legitimate consumer electronics and information technology companies that build compliant content playback devices that ‘play by the rules’.”

In the letter AACS describes its efforts to address the matter through the Antiguan legal system, but notes that the earlier conviction failed to resolve the problem.

“SlySoft has continued to operate on essentially the same basis as before the conviction, with no interruption of its ‘business’ and no relief for AACS LA and the content companies whose movies are the subject of SlySoft’s circumvention activities,” the group writes.

According to AACS the DVD ripping software has been downloaded by “tens of thousands of individuals” over the past two years, while categorizing the harm it’s done as “extremely high.”

Placing Antigua on the Priority Watch List is a logical next step, according to AACS, which will put pressure on the Caribbean island and permit the parties involved to carefully investigate the matter.

“AACS LA respectfully requests that the USTR place Antigua on its Priority Watch List, which will permit AACS LA and the USTR’s Office to evaluate Antigua’s activities in the coming months, including its prosecution of SlySoft and its founder.”

It’s not common for a single court case to escalate into an “international incident” so it’s not clear whether the U.S. Government will take on the recommendation.

That said, this is not the first trade dispute between Antigua and the United States.

In 2005 the WTO ruled that the US refusal to let Antiguan gambling companies access their market violated free-trade, as domestic companies were allowed to operate freely. In 2007 the WTO went a step further and granted Antigua the right to suspend U.S. copyrights up to $21 million annually.

In response Antigua opted to start their own pirate site, with permission from the World Trade Organization. This pirate site never saw the light of day and both countries are reportedly still working on a resolution.

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

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