Month: November 2016

Den Mikrocontroller eines Oszilloskops zu analysieren, hält Fallstricke bereit. Noch schwieriger wird es bei einem verbauten FPGA. Vor allem, wenn die Entwickler eine unerwartete Idee hatten. (Reverse Engineering, Technologie)

Eines der größeren Probleme von deutschen Spielentwicklern ist die vergleichsweise schlechte finanzielle Ausstattung. Der Branchenverband BIU hat nun ein Konzept vorgelegt, das den Studios besseren Zugang zu Fördermitteln bescheren soll - Golem.de stellt die wichtigsten Punkte vor. (BIU, Games)

Mit einem Gerät sprechen, um es aus dem Ruhezustand zu wecken, geht nicht mehr nur mit Smartphones, sondern auch mit einem Chromebook. Die Funktion ist ein weiteres Indiz für das Verschmelzen von ChromeOS und Android. (Chromebook, Google)

In 2015, German-based monitoring company Maverick Eye said that it had teamed up with Robert Croucher of London-based Hatton & Berkeley to target file-sharers with cash settlement demands.

Hatton and Berkeley’s letters to ISP subscribers contained threats that non-payers would end up losing a copyright infringement lawsuit. While that has still yet to happen, Robert Croucher has had legal trouble of his own.

Following a September trial, Croucher was jailed for five months after pleading guilty to attacking an Uber driver in London.

“Mr Croucher was immediately placed in custody and taken to Wormwood Scrubs where he was placed on the high risk ‘D Wing’, a section of the prison infamous for housing a mixture of extremely violent criminals and mental health cases,” a new Hatton & Berkeley (H&B) statement to TorrentFreak reads.

“His cell was a white room with bars open to the elements. And as he entered he was faced with walls smeared with the feces of the previous occupant, a single inch-thick stained mattress and a filthy toilet. The conditions were appalling.”

However, Croucher wasn’t in there for long. After 16 days in custody, he says he was granted a quick appeal. According to H&B, CCTV footage taken outside the club now apparently showed Croucher “walking away from an argument and being chased by the Uber driver, Mr Hussain.”

“In court, Mr Hussain had previously demanded compensation for his inability to work due to the severity of his injuries. Later, with no evidence to support such claim, his story along with that of the witnesses — two doormen of the nightclub Raffles — changed drastically to the claims of a sustained attack as above,” H&B claim.

Indeed, during a now-deleted Twitter exchange at the weekend with anti-troll activists, Robert Croucher described the Raffles workers as criminals.

In the statement obtained by TF, H&B claim that Croucher was “given medical attention for severe chest pain” after being attacked by the doormen.

“It later transpired that the two witnesses, the doormen of Raffles nightclub, had broken two of Mr Croucher’s ribs and sprained his wrist earlier in the evening,” the company said.

While neither doorman was arrested or charged, Croucher’s company says that his life was turned upside down by the events of that night, despite the court taking the decision at his appeal to release him 16 days into his sentence.

“Business partners and clients turned away from him due to concerns over his reputation. Meanwhile, years of his work on copyright protection and law enforcement financing was significantly undermined,” the company said.

TorrentFreak asked Hatton & Berkeley how its work was undermined. We were also intrigued to hear of Mr Croucher’s apparent financing of law enforcement. According to Croucher, he is now working “on a private funding initiative for the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.”

This unusual statement raises questions on a number of fronts. After being convicted of assault after a guilty plea, Croucher has a criminal record, even after a shortened sentence. Certainly, H&B’s statement gives no indication he was cleared of the assault. We asked them directly but received no response either.

We also shared the full H&B statement with the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and asked for details of their relationship with Mr Croucher. Are they really working with him on anti-piracy enforcement in the UK? At the time of writing, PIPCU have provided no response.

But while Croucher implies that he’s cozying up with the UK’s most elite anti-piracy unit, he has no kind words for a certain lawmaker. During a Lords Grand Committee hearing in June, Lord Lucas referred to Croucher’s anti-piracy activities in rather negative terms.

“The current scammers aren’t pursuing anyone [in court] they’re just after threats, and extortion, and shaking people down,” Lucas said.

Dramatically, Croucher says that Lucas’ comments are partly to blame for his treatment in court during the assault trial.

“Under parliamentary privilege, [Lord Lucas] is able to [make comments] without threat of civil recourse. In Mr Croucher’s opinion, it is these remarks that contributed to his treatment in court on the 22nd of September,” H&B state.

According to his company, Croucher’s enemies can’t only be found in Parliament. H&B says that for the past year, Croucher’s life “had been akin to a witch hunt”, launched against him by “bloggers, the BBC and Lord Lucas.”

Nevertheless, he seems undeterred and will continue his quest to end Internet piracy.

“I’d like to continue concentrating on building a better future for those in the creative industries I support. My goal is to see digital piracy stamped out worldwide, piece by piece,” he says.

This statement by Croucher raises more questions than it answers. When both the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and Croucher respond, we’ll be certain to update this article detailing the nature of their relationship.

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

Falsche Daten, falsche Höhenberechnung: Weil das Navigationssystem von Schiaparelli glaubte, der Lander sei bereits auf dem Boden, wurde der Fallschirm zu früh abgetrennt, und der Exomars-Lander schlug mit hoher Geschwindigkeit auf dem Mars auf. (Exomars, ESA)

Trotz nur noch marginalem Marktanteil von Windows 10 Mobile und der großen Nokia-Abschreibung gibt Microsoft-CEO Satya Nadella den Smartphone-Markt nicht auf: Microsoft werde weiterhin im Mobilmarkt aktiv sein. Ziel sei das "ultimative mobile Gerät". (Microsoft, Smartphone)

Eine Warnung vor staatlichen Hackerangriffen auf Google-Konten sorgt derzeit in den USA für Diskussionen. Vor allem Journalisten und Diplomaten erhielten die Warnung, auch in der Türkei gibt es Betroffene. (Security, Applikationen)

Dagegen sind Super Mario und GTA 5 nur Randgruppenerscheinungen: Eines der meistgespielten Computerspiele der Welt ist nun auch für iOS und Android erhältlich. Die werbefreie Version von Solitaire kostet allerdings rund zwei Euro im Monat. (Microsoft, Android)

Noch sind Augmented und Virtual Reality klar Nischenthemen. Die TV-Branche beginnt, mit 360-Grad-Videos zu experimentieren, teils sind aber die Lizenzprobleme größer als alle anderen, wie das Fraunhofer HHI bei RTL feststellen musste. (Fernsehen, Telekom)

Ernsthaftes Arbeitswerkzeug für Autoren oder ultimatives Hipster-Gadget? Wir haben uns eine Schreibmaschine mit E-Ink-Display und Cloud-Anschluss angeschaut und fragen uns, wer das Produkt kaufen will. (Cloud Computing, Verschlüsselung)