Month: February 2017

Der Browser Vivaldi erhält mit der Version 1.7 eine eingebaute Screenshot-Funktion. Das Anlegen von Bildschirmfotos soll damit bequemer als über die Funktionen des Betriebssystem möglich sein. Passende Tastenkürzel sind gleich mit dabei. (Vivaldi, Browser)

Um Mädchen fürs Programmieren zu interessieren, hat ein Unternehmen auf der Nürnberger Spielwarenmesse 2017 einen naheliegenden und doch unüblichen Ansatz gezeigt: die Siggy-Programmiersets. (Digitale Bildung, Games)

Apple hat Amazons langjährigen Chef der Fire-TV-Abteilung übernommen. Er ist künftig für das Apple TV verantwortlich. Es wird erwartet, dass Apple seiner Streaming-Box künftig mehr Aufmerksamkeit schenkt. (Apple TV, Apple)

^{If you enjoy this episode, consider becoming a patron and getting involved with the show. Check out Steal This Show’s Patreon campaign: support us and get all kinds of fantastic benefits!}

This episode features journalist and writer Yasha Levine discussing some of the topics covered in his forthcoming book, Surveillance Valley.

Yasha argues that the biggest threat to our privacy comes not directly from the government, but via the ubiquitous corporate platforms we all use every day – including Google, Facebook, eBay and others – and the ‘data brokers’ that buy and sell the most intimate information about our lives.

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Steal This Show aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary, and analysis.

The guests for our news discussions will vary, and we’ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the great innovators and minds.

Host: Jamie King

Guest: Yasha Levine

Produced by Jamie King
Edited & Mixed by Riley Byrne
Original Music by David Triana
Web Production by Siraje Amarniss

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

Der per Easter Egg freischaltbare Modus Ludicrous Mode+ für das Tesla Model S erlaubt einen Spurt von 0 auf 60 Meilen pro Stunde in 2,276 Sekunden. Das ist schneller als Tesla versprochen hat und macht das Elektroauto zum spurtstärksten Auto auf dem Markt. (Tesla Model S, GreenIT)

Sony hat einen CMOS-Sensor entwickelt, der rund 1.000 Bilder pro Sekunde bei voller HD-Auflösung machen kann. Er ist für Smartphones gedacht und verfügt über einen DRAM-Layer zwischen Pixeln und Schaltkreisen, um große Datenmengen zwischenzuspeichern. (Cmos, Smartphone)

Microsoft hat wie angekündigt den Photosynth-Dienst beendet und die Website gelöscht, auf der Anwender ihre begehbaren Panoramen abgespeichert hatten. Nicht heruntergeladene Bilderwelten sind verloren. (Bildbearbeitung, Microsoft)

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The results and analysis for DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray sales for the week ending January 28th 2017 are in. Inferno led the charts as Blu-ray sales make a slight recovery from the lows of recent weeks.

Read the rest of the stats and analysis to find out how DVD, Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray did.

Starting three years ago, TV-show and movie distributors in Finland began sending out thousands of settlement letters to alleged pirates, demanding payments of between 600 and 3,000 euros.

The letters in question are sent by the law firm Hedman Partners on behalf of known “copyright trolls,” and threaten legal action if accused pirates refuse to cooperate.

These are not hollow threats either, as rightsholders have taken several people to court already. A case last year resulted in victory when a man was ordered to pay more than 32,000 euros in damages to Crystalis Entertainment and Scanbox Entertainment.

However, in very a similar case the pendulum swung the other way this week.

Earlier, Crystalis and Scanbox filed a lawsuit against a person who they accused of downloading three episodes of the pirate TV-series “Black Sails” and the movie A Walk Among the Tombstones via BitTorrent.

The rightsholders employed the German tracking company Excipio, who linked the defendant’s IP-address to several BitTorrent swarms, concluding that the account holder must have been the infringer.

However, after a careful review of the evidence provided by both parties, the Finnish Market Court decided otherwise.

According to the Court, the rightsholders failed to provide sufficient evidence to link the downloads to the subscriber in question.

The defendant rightfully pointed out that the Wi-Fi network was unsecured so anyone could have downloaded the files. In fact, tests revealed the network could be accessed by anyone within 300 meters of the router.

In addition, a forensic analysis of the defendant’s computer and network hard drives revealed no trace of the infringing files or even a BitTorrent client.

Taking these and other issues into account, the Market Court ordered Crystalis and Scanbox to pay the defendant’s legal fees, which total €28,135.60. The case is not completely over yet, as there is still an option to take it to the Supreme Court. But for now, it offers a glimmer of hope for many other accused pirates.

For the rightsholders, this is the second setback in a few weeks. Last month the Finnish Government announced an investigation into the recent wave of cash settlement requests for alleged piracy offenses. According to the authorities, copyright legislation is not designed for the public to be “milked.”

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