Month: November 2016

Microsoft’s Continuum for phone software lets you connect a phone like the HP Elite x3 or Microsoft Lumia 950 to a keyboard, mouse and display and use the phone like a laptop or desktop. But there are some major limitations: you can only run Universal Windows Platform apps, which rules out the vast majority of Windows software. And currently you can only view one app at a time.

But it looks like Dell was working on a phone that would have solved those problems, because it was a handheld device that basically had the guts of a cheap laptop… including an Intel processor that could handle legacy Windows software.

Continue reading Dell’s cancelled Windows phone with Intel chip revealed (leaks) at Liliputing.

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If you are a geek with empty work space (definitely a rare case), you can try to add this cool looking Hypnocube animated LED cube to spice up your working mood. The LED cube is very barebone, you can see all the wires and bare LED. It’s definitely not a good decoration for daylight. However, […]

Kann die US-Wahl gehackt werden? Eine Sicherheitsfirma hat eine Sicherheitslücke in Wahlcomputern demonstriert - die ohnehin als notorisch unsicher und problematisch gelten. Die USA wollen im Falle einer Manipulation zurückhacken. (US-Wahlkampf 2016, Wahlcomputer)

Unregulierte Drohnenflüge können ein Problem für Industriespionage, Privatsphäre und die physische Sicherheit von Personen sein. Die Deutsche Telekom möchte offenbar Lösungen anbieten, um ungewollte Drohnenflüge zu verhindern. (Drohne, Telekom)

While millions of users visit pirate sites directly to get their content fix, others prefer to use the services of search engines.

As a result, companies like Google and Bing are considered major drivers of traffic to torrent and streaming sites, a point not lost on the world’s entertainment industry groups.

In an effort to stem the flow, both get hit with millions of DMCA-style notices every week. The engines comply by removing millions of links.

Over in Russia the situation is more complex and content groups want a change in the law to tip the balance in their favor. They’re demanding that search engines remove links to pirate sites from their results entirely, or face being held liable for third-party infringement.

The proposals from the Association of Film and Television Producers (APKIT) have already been sent to the Ministry of Culture, which is currently drafting a new anti-piracy law. They foresee companies like Google, Yandex and Microsoft being forced to deal with infringement, or else.

“The members of our association believe that search engines are the main problem of piracy,” APKIT’s Sergey Semenov told Izvestia.

“Search engines – this is the best place to stop the infringement. We want direct instructions in the law that search engines themselves become responsible for infringement, if they do not remove the links after they became aware of copyright infringement.”

According to anti-piracy chief Maxim Ryabyko of AZAPO, there is a difference of opinion among lawyers when it comes to search engine liability and whether they need to remove links. It all comes down to whether they can be defined as information brokers, information intermediaries, or something else.

APKIT’s Semenov says that since there is no clarity on what defines an information broker, it is necessary to write into law where search engines stand and from there determine liability. Yandex, on the other hand, believes that clarity already exists.

“Regulation of the activities of search engines in the form offered by the rightsholders – including holding them liable for copyright infringement – is inappropriate and legally incorrect, as existing legislation and judicial practice have a clear understanding of the impossibility of holding search engines liable for violating intellectual property rights,” a Yandex spokesperson said.

“The courts take the position that the search engines are not information intermediaries due to the nature of their work. This position is confirmed by numerous judicial practice.”

Back in August, Eksmo, a publisher responsible for around 30% of all Russian books, filed a complaint with Yandex which demanded it removed links to infringing content indexed by leading Russian torrent site, RuTracker.

Yandex was given 48 hours to “cease publishing any information necessary to access the forbidden resource rutracker.org.” Yandex refused to comply and the case went to court, with rightsholders demanding that the search engine should be blocked by ISPs. The Moscow Court rejected the application.

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

Immer wieder wurde der Betrieb von Krankenhäusern im Jahr 2016 durch Ransomware gestört. Eine Spezialklinik in Großbritannien hatte Glück im Unglück - und konnte mit einer Backup-Strategie größeren Schaden abwenden. (Ransomware, Virus)

"Hallo, ich bin gleich ... " - Störungen beim Telefonieren im Zug sind Alltag. Bahnchef Rüdiger Grube verspricht Abhilfe bis 2018. Außerdem bekräftigt er die durchgehende WLAN-Versorgung in der zweiten Klasse. (Deutsche Bahn, WLAN)

From the end of an era (or error) to finally doing something sensible, read the news roundup for the week ending November 6, 2016

Continue reading ...

Copyright is a double-edged sword. Those who sharpen one side often get cut by the other, with all the painful consequences that come with it.

That’s exactly what’s happening to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) this week.

Representing major software companies, the BSA uses Facebook ads to encourage people to report businesses that use unlicensed software. If one of these reports results in a successful court case, the pirate snitch can look forward to a cash reward.

While BSA’s original “No Piracy” page is no longer active, they do support a new campaign which is operating under the “Australia Cybercrime Watch” name. This group only appears to exist on Facebook and is running paid ads to convince people to snitch on software pirates.

Below is an ad that ran during Halloween, promising people thousands of dollars in rewards in return for their cooperation.

What’s just as creepy…?

There’s plenty to say about these kind of tactics, and by taking a glance through the Facebook comments it’s clear that many people are not fans, to say the least.

However, it’s not just the advertising ethics that’s raising eyebrows. If we visit the linked BSA page where people can report unlicensed software, we can’t help but notice that it violates the license of some of the jQuery code.

Looking at the source of the page we see that it includes custom builds of both jQuery and jQuery mobile. The files in question both use jQuery in their name and despite the modifications, they show plenty of similarities with the original code.

BSA (left) – Original (right)

In theory, this shouldn’t be a problem. Millions of websites all around the world use jQuery, which is free software as long as you adhere to the license. Ironically, BSA appears to be using it ‘unlicensed.’

jQuery doesn’t mind people copying, modifying or even selling their code on the condition that that the original license is included. This requirement is spelled out in every copy of the code, something all developers should know.

“The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software,” it clearly reads.

jQuery license

However, we have combed through both modified jQuery files on BSA’s servers but none of them includes or references the license. Admittingly, this type of “offense” is very common, but for an anti-piracy outfit it’s quite painful to say the least.

The license was probably omitted by mistake, as the original site also includes properly licensed files. However, BSA usually doesn’t show any mercy to the organizations that “forget” to license their Windows copies.

This isn’t the first time that one of the BSA’s anti-piracy campaigns has exposed its own wrongdoings. Previously, the group ‘stole’ a photograph for an advertisement, which they have quietly since removed.

Perhaps someone should report the BSA to the BSA for their infringing actions? Apparently you can get an award up to $20,000!

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