HP patents, sold off to a troll, are used to sue Cisco and Facebook

Patents went from 3Com to HP to East Texas-based Plectrum LLC.

Enlarge / A wall of user photos form a Facebook logo at the company's data center in Lulea, Sweden. The switches used in Facebook's data centers are one of several products accused of infringing two patents that originated with 3Com but are now owned by a patent-licensing company. (credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Patents that only recently were in the hands of Hewlett Packard Enterprise were used last week to sue several companies that build switches and routers, including Cisco (PDF), Juniper Networks (PDF), and Facebook (PDF). A recently created shell company called Plectrum LLC filed the lawsuits in the Eastern District of Texas, a remote judicial district that continues to be a hotspot for patent cases.

The lawsuits are remarkable in part because Hewlett Packard is a company that only recently prided itself on not allowing its patents to be used for offensive purposes, even if they got sold. That attitude started changing about five years ago. Patent office records show that HP transferred the two patents in these lawsuits to Plectrum in September. On Thursday, Plectrum sued Cisco, Brocade, Fortinet, Huawei, Facebook, Extreme Networks, Arista Networks, and Juniper Networks.

The two patents used in the lawsuits originated at the 3Com Corporation, which was bought by HP in 2010, along with about 1,400 patents. US Patent No. 6,205,149 is entitled "Quality of service control mechanism and apparatus," while US Patent No. 5,978,951 describes the use of a "high speed cache management unit" which replaces some software-based systems with hardware in order to reduce latency time.

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We finally have a computer that can survive the surface of Venus

Sulphuric rain? Easy. Not burning up at 500°C or crushed by 90 atmospheres? Hard.

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Venus is one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system. Descending through the clouds of boiling sulphuric rain is actually the easy bit—it's the surface temperature of 470°C (878°F) and atmospheric pressure (about 90 times that of Earth, the same as swimming 900 metres under water) that get you.

The longest survival time for a human-made object on Venus was 127 minutes, back in 1981 when the Soviet spacecraft Venera 13 landed there. Not dying for two hours, and netting our first ever colour photos of the planet's surface, was considered a huge success; the probe had only been designed to live for 32 minutes before it was cooked, crushed, and dissolved by its environs. Three more spacecraft followed, all Soviet—Venera 14, Vega 1, Vega 2—but we haven't tried to land anything on Venus since 1985.

One of the core problems of exploring Venus is that normal digital computers don't really work there. Standard silicon chips can hang in to around 250°C, but eventually there's just so much energy in the system that the silicon stops being a semiconductor—electrons can freely jump the bandgap—and everything stops working. The Venera landers kept their electronics cool with cumbersome hermetically sealed chambers, and sometimes the innards were also pre-cooled to around -10°C before being dropped into the atmosphere by the parent orbiter.

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YouTubers fined for running illegal FIFA 17 gambling site

Allowed kids as young as 12 to gamble on games of FIFA 17.

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Two men who admitted to running an unlicensed betting website have been fined after pleading guilty to gambling offences.

During a hearing at Birmingham magistrates court, Craig Douglas, 33, of Ilford, Essex—a YouTube gamer who's alias is "NepentheZ"—and Dylan Rigby, 34, of Colchester, Essex—who founded FUT Galaxy—admitted to operating an unauthorised site that allowed video gamers to place bets using virtual currency.

The FutGalaxy.com site, which is not affiliated with EA Sports or the FIFA series, allowed users to buy virtual currency, called FUT coins, for use in the FIFA series of video games, specifically in the FIFA Ultimate Team mode, said the Gambling Commission—which brought the prosecution.

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Blocking The Pirate Bay is Allowed Under EU Law, AG Concludes

Internet providers in Europe can be ordered to block access to The Pirate Bay, even though the site itself doesn’t store any infringing material. This is the advice Advocate General Szpunar has sent to the EU Court of Justice in what may turn out to be a landmark case.

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

pirate bayIn 2014, The Court of The Hague handed down its decision in a long running case which had previously forced two Dutch ISPs, Ziggo and XS4ALL, to block The Pirate Bay.

The Court ruled against local anti-piracy outfit BREIN, concluding that the blockade was ineffective and restricted the ISPs’ entrepreneurial freedoms.

The Pirate Bay was unblocked by all local ISPs after the decision while BREIN took the matter to the Supreme Court, which in its turn referred the case to the EU Court of Justice, seeking further clarification.

After a careful review of the case, EU Advocate General (AG) Maciej Szpunar submitted his opinion to the top EU Court today, which brings bad new for users of the torrent site.

The first question that required a European review is whether The Pirate Bay is communicating illegal content to the public. A relevant issue since the torrent site doesn’t store any infringing content, only metadata.

The Advocate General concludes that in this case a website can still be seen as communicating works to the public if the operator is made aware that copyrighted works are being shared without permission, but fails to take action.

If a local court agrees on this, then they can order Internet providers to block the site in accordance with EU law, AG Szpunar concludes.

The second question comes into play if the EU Court of Justice counters the advice and rules that The Pirate Bay isn’t communicating infringing works to the public. Then the court must clarify whether ISPs can be ordered to block a site if the operator merely facilitates copyright infringements of third parties.

Again, the Advocate General believes that blocking measures are warranted under these circumstances. However, local courts must ensure that the blocks don’t unnecessarily prevent Internet users from accessing legal content.

The proportionality of such decisions needs to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In the case of The Pirate Bay, a block would be appropriate according to the AG, who notes that rightsholders have determined that 90% of the available files are infringing and that the operators expressly refuse to respond to takedown requests.

“In such circumstances, in my view, depriving internet users of access to information, by blocking the TPB site, would be proportionate to the significance and seriousness of the copyright infringements committed on that site,” AG Szpunar concludes.

“My assessment is based on both the proportion of illegal content and the behavior of the operators of that site,” he adds.

The Advocate General’s advice is not binding, but the European Court of Justice often uses such input as the basis of its rulings. The final verdict is expected to be released later this year.

A decision at the European level is important, as it may also affect court orders in other countries, such as the UK, Italy, and Belgium, where The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites are blocked as well.

After the EU Court reaches a conclusion, the Dutch Supreme Court will make its final decision.

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

Netflix, Spotify, Steam und Co.: Streaming-Abos bald auch im EU-Ausland nutzbar

Kunden kostenpflichtiger Streaming-Abos können diese bald auch im EU-Ausland nutzen. Bisher ist der Zugriff auf Musik, Filme und Spiele oft nur im Heimatland möglich. Bis es soweit ist, dauert es aber noch. (Streaming, Steam)

Kunden kostenpflichtiger Streaming-Abos können diese bald auch im EU-Ausland nutzen. Bisher ist der Zugriff auf Musik, Filme und Spiele oft nur im Heimatland möglich. Bis es soweit ist, dauert es aber noch. (Streaming, Steam)

Getrandom: Glibc 2.25 bekommt endlich besseren Zufall

Die Standard-C-Bibliothek des GNU-Projekts hat endlich Wrapper für die Linux-Systemaufrufe Getrandom und Getentropy – mehr als zwei Jahre nach deren Einführung. Neu sind außerdem Funktionen für Strings, Mathe-Operationen und ein starker Schutz vor Stack-Überläufen. (Open Source, Linux-Kernel)

Die Standard-C-Bibliothek des GNU-Projekts hat endlich Wrapper für die Linux-Systemaufrufe Getrandom und Getentropy - mehr als zwei Jahre nach deren Einführung. Neu sind außerdem Funktionen für Strings, Mathe-Operationen und ein starker Schutz vor Stack-Überläufen. (Open Source, Linux-Kernel)

The 2017 BMW M760i is a hell of a car, but is it an M?

We try out BMW’s new flagship V12 sedan.

As any fan of LJK Setright will no doubt remind you, the V12 is the king of engines, perfectly balanced no matter the V-angle. The LJK is also something of a dying breed; smaller-capacity turbocharged V8s are more than capable of giving top-of-the-line models sufficient power without the complexity, cost, and and weight of 12 cylinders. But dying isn't the same as being extinct, and BMW has decided to buck the trend with its new flagship, the $153,800 M760i.

We first saw the big BMW at last year's New York International Auto Show. But it wasn't until late last month that the automaker finally allowed the media—Ars included—behind the wheel.

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Intel C2000: Atom-Ausfall legt Netzwerkgeräte lahm

Ein euphemistisch als Qualitätsproblem bezeichneter Fehler bei Atom-Chips der C2000-Serie führt zu defekten Firewalls, NAS-Systemen, Embedded-Mainboards und Routern von weit über einem Dutzend Hersteller. Intel hat daher Rücklagen gebildet, um die Hersteller wie Cisco zu entschädigen. (Atom, Prozessor)

Ein euphemistisch als Qualitätsproblem bezeichneter Fehler bei Atom-Chips der C2000-Serie führt zu defekten Firewalls, NAS-Systemen, Embedded-Mainboards und Routern von weit über einem Dutzend Hersteller. Intel hat daher Rücklagen gebildet, um die Hersteller wie Cisco zu entschädigen. (Atom, Prozessor)

Google: Cloud Platform für weitere Microsoft-Produkte angepasst

Googles Cloud Platform erweitert das Angebot: Die Integration von Windows Server Core und SQL Server Enterprise ist für Kunden, die auf Microsoft-Infrastruktur setzen, interessant. Dabei soll auch die Nutzung eigener Lizenzen möglich sein. (Cloud Computing, Google)

Googles Cloud Platform erweitert das Angebot: Die Integration von Windows Server Core und SQL Server Enterprise ist für Kunden, die auf Microsoft-Infrastruktur setzen, interessant. Dabei soll auch die Nutzung eigener Lizenzen möglich sein. (Cloud Computing, Google)

Facebook, Youtube und Twitter: US-Visum möglicherweise nur gegen Passwort

In der neuen US-Regierung gibt es offenbar Überlegungen, dass Reisende mit Visum ihre Passwörter für Facebook und andere soziale Netzwerke herausgeben müssen. (Soziales Netz, Microblogging)

In der neuen US-Regierung gibt es offenbar Überlegungen, dass Reisende mit Visum ihre Passwörter für Facebook und andere soziale Netzwerke herausgeben müssen. (Soziales Netz, Microblogging)