Month: October 2016

Vor sieben Jahren hat die EU-Kommission ein Milliarde-Bußgeld gegen Intel verhängt. Der Streit darüber kann jetzt in eine weitere Runde gehen, weil der Gutachter des Europäischen Gerichtshofs ein neues Verfahren für nötig hält. (Intel, Internet)

Der Bundesnachrichtendienst erhält eine neue legale Basis. Trotz Kritik von Opposition, IT-Wirtschaft und Juristen darf der Geheimdienst künftig im großen Stil Internetkommunikation in Deutschland abgreifen. (BND, Datenschutz)

Praktisch alle großen Publisher und Engine-Hersteller wollen die Hybridkonsole Switch von Nintendo unterstützen. Sogar eine erste Ankündigung eines konkreten neuen Spiels von einem Drittentwickler gibt es - das bei Hardcorespielern allerdings auf wenig Interesse stoßen dürfte. (Nintendo Switch, Nintendo)

Eine alte Sicherheitslücke im Linux-Kernel lässt sich relativ leicht ausnutzen - und verschafft einfachen Nutzern Root-Rechte. Die Entdecker machen sich mit dem Branding der Sicherheitslücke auch über Logos und Sicherheitslücken-Fanshops lustig. (Linux-Kernel, Dateisystem)

In Berlin liefert Kaufland frische Lebensmittel an Kunden. Nun sollen Hamburg, später München und dann weitere Städte folgen. Die Pläne sind wohl auch eine Reaktion auf die aggressive Expansion von Amazon in dem umkämpften Markt. (Lieferdienst, Onlineshop)

While torrents continue to be one of the Internet’s major distribution methods for copyrighted content, it’s streaming that’s capturing the imagination of the pirating mainstream.

Easy to use via regular web browsers, modified Kodi installations, and fully-fledged IPTV services, streaming is now in the living rooms of millions of people. As such it is viewed as a threat to subscription and PPV TV providers worldwide, especially those offering live content such as sporting events.

Pirate services obtain content by capturing and restreaming feeds obtained from official sources, often from something as humble as a regular subscriber account. These streams can then be redistributed by thousands of other sites and services, many of which are easily found using a simple search.

Dedicated anti-piracy companies track down these streams and send takedown notices to the hosts carrying them. Sometimes this means that streams go down quickly but in other cases hosts can take a while to respond or may not comply at all. Networking company Cisco thinks it has found a solution to these problems.

The company’s claims center around its Streaming Piracy Prevention (SPP) platform, a system that aims to take down illicit streams in real-time. Perhaps most interestingly, Cisco says SPP functions without needing to send takedown notices to companies hosting illicit streams.

“Traditional takedown mechanisms such as sending legal notices (commonly referred to as ‘DMCA notices’) are ineffective where pirate services have put in place infrastructure capable of delivering video at tens and even hundreds of gigabits per second, as in essence there is nobody to send a notice to,” the company explains.

“Escalation to infrastructure providers works to an extent, but the process is often slow as the pirate services will likely provide the largest revenue source for many of the platform providers in question.”

To overcome these problems Cisco says it has partnered with Friend MTS (FMTS), a UK-based company specializing in content-protection.

Among its services, FMTS offers Distribution iD, which allows content providers to pinpoint which of their downstream distributors’ platforms are a current source of content leaks.

“Robust and unique watermarks are embedded into each distributor feed for identification. The code is invisible to the viewer but can be recovered by our specialist detector software,” FMTS explains.

“Once infringing content has been located, the service automatically extracts the watermark for accurate distributor identification.”

Friend MTS also offers Advanced Subscriber iDentification (ASiD), a system that is able to identify legitimate subscribers who are subsequently re-transmitting content online.

According to Cisco, FMTS feeds the SPP service with pirate video streams it finds online. These are tracked back to the source of the leak (such as a particular distributor or specific pay TV subscriber account) which can then be shut-down in real time.

“The process is fully automated, ensuring a timely response to incidents of piracy. Gone are the days of sending a legal notice and waiting to see if anyone will answer,” Cisco says.

“SPP acts without the need to involve or gain cooperation from any third parties, enabling an unmatched level of cross-device retransmission prevention and allowing service providers to take back control of their channels, to maximize their revenue.”

Friends MTS and Cisco believe the problem is significant. During the last month alone the company says it uncovered 12,000 HD channels on pirate services that were being sourced from Pay TV providers.

How much of dent the companies will be able to make in this market will remain to be seen but not having to rely on the efficiency of takedown requests certainly has the potential to shift the balance of power.

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

Waipu TV kann derzeit keine Aufnahme- und Pausefunktion für die Sender der ProSiebenSat.1-Gruppe anbieten. In Kürze sollen Bestandskunden eine Gutschrift erhalten. In den kommenden Wochen sollen Aufnahme und Pause in Waipu TV wieder für alle Sender zur Verfügung stehen. (WaipuTV, Streaming)

Tesla will seine Elektroautos Model X und Model S mit verbesserten Assistenzsystemen ausstatten, die später zum autonomen Auto führen sollen. Nutzer sollen mit ihren eigenen Autos in diesem Modus jedoch nicht für Uber und Lyft fahren dürfen. (Tesla Motors, Technologie)

Nintendo has provided the first official glimpses of their upcoming console. Previously known only as the Nintendo NX, the company now has an official name for the console: the Nintendo Switch.

The new name signifies more than Nintendo's wish for gamers to switch from the two dominant consoles on the market, Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PS4, to their shiny new toy, but also highlights how easily users can switch between the two main playing modes of the console.

Earlier rumors about the console have proven to be far more accurate than expected, right down to how the console will work in hybrid mode. There is a dock device for the tablet like portable device, which Nintendo are calling the main Switch Console. There are also two detachable controllers (normally attached to the console's main controller), called Joy-cons, that clips onto either side of the tablet to produce a device that's not too dissimilar to the Wii U's GamePad.

The two Joy-con controllers can also be used separately for quick on-the-go two player gaming without the need to but an extra Switch console, with the tablet device having a built-in kickstand that accommodate multiplayer on the go. A promo video released by Nintendo also shows 4 player action using two Switch consoles.

The trailer released by Nintendo also revealed other hints about various aspects of the console, including the fact that some kind of SD card like device will be used to store games, along side digital only versions. Several titles, some launch titles, were also shown in the trailer, including the heavily anticipated 'Zelda: Breath of the Wild', a new Mario platformer, NBA 2K17 and Skyrim.

No other major details were announced, other than the console's release date being March 2017, but if recent rumors prove to be as accurate as the rumors that predicted the hybrid portable nature of the console, then it will most likely go on sale for $299.99.

Nintendo played up the portable multiplayer potential of the console.

"In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose," said Nintendo. "The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles."

Wenn Spiele-Notebook oder Mini-PC bei neuen Games oder mit einem 4K-Display schlappmachen, hilft eine externe Grafikbox wie Alienwares Graphics Amplifier. Die macht, was sie soll und kostet wenig, ist aber proprietär und hat Macken. (Alienware, Grafikhardware)