Month: June 2017

Facebook und Twitter droht künftig bis zu 50 Millionen Euro Strafe, wenn sie Hasskriminalität nicht richtig bekämpfen. Zur Verteidigung des umstrittenen Gesetzes sagte Heiko Maas: "Das Internet darf kein rechtsfreier Raum sein". (Politik/Recht, Zensur)

Nintendo hat die erste Erweiterung für Breath of the Wild veröffentlicht. Sie bietet neue Herausforderungen, eine praktische Teleportfunktion und mehr. Spieler der Wii-U-Version müssen auffällig mehr Daten für das Add-on laden als Besitzer der Switch. (Zelda, Adventure)

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The huge increase in popularity of piracy-configured set-top boxes has been nothing short of amazing over the past 18 months.

According to numerous reports, their use has become somewhat of an epidemic in Europe, prompting concern from anti-piracy organizations across the continent.

One group at the forefront is Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN, who took a case against a seller of ‘pirate’ boxes all the way to the European Court of Justice – and won.

Handed down in April, the decision concluded that selling devices pre-configured for piracy (such as those loaded with Kodi and third-party addons) is illegal under EU law.

While news of the decision was never likely to reach all sellers of ‘pirate’ boxes, those under the impression that sales occupied some kind of gray area were quickly corrected. That resulted in some sellers exiting the market and others changing the way they operate, such as selling boxes blank and expecting users to configure them themselves.

Due to the locality of the original case, sellers in the Netherlands were always likely to feel the impact of the ECJ ruling most initially, particularly with BREIN breathing down their collective necks. That has just been effectively confirmed by the anti-piracy group, with the news that around 200 ‘pirate’ media player sellers have ceased trading since the decision.

“This is a mixture of individuals and companies,” BREIN chief Tim Kuik informs TorrentFreak.

Kuik says that the sales were taking place via dedicated websites, online stores such as Amazon and eBay, plus social platforms including Facebook.

In an indication of how much in demand the devices are, the BREIN chief says that most of the sellers sold nothing else but ‘pirate’ boxes, to sustain a business or bring in some extra cash for the entrepreneurial individual.

Kuik says that 150 out of the 200 entities were contacted directly by BREIN, who advised them to stop what they’re doing to avoid things getting out of hand.

“Typically we send an explanatory letter with a cease and desist undertaking. Everyone gets the opportunity to settle. Most take it,” Kuik says.

Of course, others choose not to comply with BREIN’s demands, so for them, things have the potential to get more expensive and complicated, given the right conditions.

“We have now entered a phase in which willful infringement is assumed and this means no more warnings. If no settlement is reached the case will go to court. We have a couple of court cases under preparation,” Kuik explains.

This could mean a contested court case, which following the ECJ ruling is likely to end badly for anyone selling boxes filled with pirate addons. That being said, settling with BREIN can be expensive too.

“Providers who settle with BREIN pay up to 10,000 euros. Those who continue can count on a multiple of that. There’s a raw deal for those who think they’ll just get a warning. That time is now over.”

For those who ignore BREIN’s overtures and threats of legal action, there’s also the possibility of a case going ahead without them even being there.

“Under certain circumstances, an ex parte court order may be applied for,” Kuik concludes.

While the legality of such devices now seems completely clear in the EU, the market is yet to settle. Given past innovations, it’s more than likely that new avenues will open up to re-test the law to a new breaking point – and beyond.

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

Das Galaxy S8+ gibt es ganz offiziell auch mit Dual-SIM-Technik in Deutschland - aber nur bei Samsung direkt. Das Duos-Modell kostet 100 Euro mehr als das Modell für nur eine SIM-Karte. Allerdings führt der Einsatz einer zweiten SIM-Karte zu einer Einschränkung. (Galaxy S8, Smartphone)

Zum zweiten Mal findet in Köln die Digility statt, eine Fachmesse für virtuelle und gemischte Realität. Wir haben vor der Konferenz mit Mel Slater von der Universität in Barcelona über ungewöhnliche VR-Anwendungen gesprochen. Ein Interview von Werner Pluta (VR, Smartphone)

Apple hat die erste öffentliche Betaversion von Mac OS High Sierra veröffentlicht, nachdem zuvor nur zahlende Entwickler sie testen durften. Die wichtigsten Neuerungen umfassen das Dateisystem APFS, Metal 2 sowie Veränderungen der Fotos-App und neue Safari-Funktionen. (Mac OS, Apple)

Dubais Polizei will künftig kleine unbemannte Fahrzeuge zur Überwachung einsetzen. Sie sollen Menschenmengen beobachten und mit biometrischen Funktionen nach gesuchten Personen fahnden. Zudem werden Kamerabilder an die Zentrale geliefert. (Polizei, Roboter)

Sowohl iOS als auch MacOS steigen vollständig auf 64-Bit-Apps um. Entwickler müssen nicht nur ihre neuen, sondern vor allem ihre alten Anwendungen ändern, wenn diese weiter unter Apples Betriebssystemen laufen und über die App Stores vertrieben werden sollen. (App, Mac OS X)

Read 23 remaining paragraphs | Comments