Month: July 2016

Dieses Jahr könnten erste Nexus-Smartwatches von Google erscheinen. Die beiden Smartwatches werden wohl mit Android Wear 2.0 laufen und sollen ein rundes Ziffernblatt haben. (Smartwatch, Google)

Aus Simyo-Kunden werden Blau-Kunden. Telefónica wird in Kürze keine aktuellen Simyo-Tarife mehr anbieten. Alle Simyo-Bestandskunden werden zu Blau-Kunden. Die Konditionen der Simyo-Tarife bleiben bestehen. (Simyo, Telefónica)

Es gibt wenige Menschen, die so eine genaue Vorstellung vom Mobilfunkstandard 5G haben wie Michael Lemke, der bereits bei 3G und 4G dabei war. Er weiß, dass alles letztlich nur mit Glasfaser möglich ist. (Glasfaser, Wimax)

The Federation Against Copyright Theft is perhaps the most well-known anti-piracy group in the UK and it regularly makes headlines for its work tackling both on-and-offline infringement.

In addition to monitoring unauthorized content that has already been uploaded to the Internet, part of FACT’s work in recent years has been to disrupt the activities of would-be pirates before online distribution is undertaken.

That has often meant acting on intelligence gathered from watermarks embedded in previously pirated (‘cammed’) content, which enables outfits like FACT to predict where future cinema recordings might take place.

In addition, FACT works with cinema operators to ensure that staff are trained to spot suspicious activity that could indicate that an unauthorized recording or ‘camming’ is underway. FACT sees these frontline workers as a valuable asset.

In recognition of their efforts, each year FACT holds a special ceremony during which it presents awards to cinema workers whose actions have prevented potential movie piracy. This year’s event, which was co-hosted with the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA), was held yesterday in London.

FACT reports that a total of 17 cinema staff received awards as part of the ‘Fight Film Theft’ program. Each received a cash prize of up to £500 and a certificate for helping to prevent piracy on a range of movies including Deadpool, The Jungle Book, and Angry Birds.

The 17 cinema employees were involved in 17 ‘camming’ incidents that took place in a broad range of locations, including London, Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and Glasgow.

All of the incidents were reported to the police. FACT has provided no additional detail on how many of the police attendances resulted in arrests or prosecutions. Nevertheless, the anti-piracy outfit is pleased with the results.

“Illegal recording is still the source of more than 90% of all pirated films and so our Fight Film Theft program with the FDA, is essential to protecting new releases and preventing criminal activity,” says FACT Director General Kieron Sharp.

While FACT has been front and center of movie anti-piracy enforcement in the UK for many years, it faces an uncertain future. In May, the major Hollywood studios announced that after thirty years working with FACT they would soon withdraw its funding.

That leaves FACT with a 50% budget shortfall for 2017. No announcement has yet been made on how that deficit will be corrected.

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

Samsung hat nach zwei Jahren wieder einen Rekordgewinn erwirtschaftet. Als Grund dafür werden gute Verkaufszahlen für die Galaxy-S7-Smartphones vermutet. (Samsung, Mobil)

Volkswagen und LG Electronics planen eine Connected-Car-Plattform. Damit soll die Heimsteuerung aus dem Auto heraus möglich sein. Die Unternehmen unterzeichneten in Wolfsburg jedoch zunächst nur eine Absichtserklärung. (VW, Smartphone)

Werden autonom fahrende Autos irgendwann Realität, müssen sie auch auf Radfahrer reagieren, die sich im urbanen Verkehr vergleichsweise schnell und agil bewegen. Eine Handzeichenerkennung soll Googles autonomen Autos helfen, entsprechende Intentionen früh genug zu erkennen. (Autonomes Fahren, Google)

Kameras statt Rückspiegel werden Autofahrern künftig zeigen, was um sie herum passiert. In Japan hat der Gesetzgeber die Freigabe für Außenspiegelersatz für Autos erteilt. Weltweit könnte 2018 das Ende der Spiegel gekommen sein. (Auto, Technologie)

Research conducted by the UK's official copyright body, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), has found that online piracy has dropped to a record low, and it's all down to the availability of new legal services such as Netflix and Spotify.

The IPO, responsible for tackling the piracy problem in the UK, found that piracy has dropped 18 percent in the last year alone, and that 44 percent of users are now relying solely on legal means to get their online content.

The research data shows that of the users surveyed who listen to music, 80% now use only legal means to source their content, up from 74% a year ago. The report made specific mentions of Spotify, which the report says secured a 3% rise in new UK users in the last year.

As a result, the number of respondents that uses peer-to-peer filesharing to source the content has dropped, from 12% to 10%.

The rise of streaming has also contributed to the decline of downloading - 52% of users now use streaming services, compared to 39% who download.

Responding to the report, the UK's Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, welcomed the progress being made towards eliminating piracy.

"I am extremely pleased to see that there has been a decline in infringement and that consumers appear to be turning towards legitimate streaming en masse," said Neville-Rolfe.

Eddy Leviten, Director General of the Alliance for Intellectual Property, also welcomed the development.

"It is encouraging to see that more UK consumers are choosing legitimate content sources, thereby supporting creators and creative businesses," said Leviten.

The report also notes that spending on film and music has increased, while spending on TV shows and video games has dropped in the last year.

[Via The Telegraph]

[Source: Intellectual Property Office]

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