Month: August 2017

Für lokale Unternehmen: Google will seine Cloud jetzt in zwei Stufen anbieten. Premium-Nutzer haben Zugriff auf das globale Google-Netz, während Standard-Kunden auf regionale Knoten beschränkt sind. Dafür zahlen sie weniger pro Gigabyte. (Google, Cloud Computing)

Audi will die Dächer seiner Elektroautos künftig mit Solarzellen auslegen. Mit dem Solarstrom wird die Reichweite allerdings zunächst nur indirekt verlängert. (Elektroauto, Technologie)

Nikon hat seine neue Spitzen-DSLR D850 mit Kleinbildsensor vorgestellt, die Fotos mit einer Auflösung von 45,7 Megapixeln ermöglicht. Zudem wurde der Autofokus aus der Nikon D5 übernommen und eine hohe Serienbildfrequenz erreicht. (Nikon, DSLR)

Hila and Ethan Klein are the duo behind h3h3productions, a YouTube channel dedicated to the comedy found in Internet culture.

With more than 4.6 million subscribers the channel is doing extremely well, but last year faced a fight for its very existence. In May 2016, the pair announced they were being sued by YouTuber Matt Hosseinzadeh, who also produces comedy content and publishes it on his MattHossZone channel.

The problem lay in a video produced by H3h3productions (published on a sister channel in February 2016) in which they poked fun at Hosseinzadeh, using clips of their rival’s videos for material. The Kleins said this was fair use but Hosseinzadeh viewed it as copyright infringement.

According to the Kleins, Hosseinzadeh initially approached them with settlement offers of a few thousand dollars and also gave them the opportunity to publicly apologize and promote his content. The Kleins refused to back down so at this point, Hosseinzadeh sued for copyright infringement and defamation.

Fighting a lawsuit is extremely expensive but the Kleins received overwhelming support online, particularly via a GoFundMe campaign that pulled in over $170,000.

With the legal battle well underway, both sides asked the court for a summary judgment in their favor in advance of a full trial. In a decision handed down yesterday by District Judge Katherine B. Forrest, the Kleins prevailed. In a 21-page ruling, the Judge wastes no time in getting straight to the point.

Describing the Klein’s video and the critique contained within as “quintessential criticism and comment” equivalent to the kind one might find in a film studies class, Judge Forrest goes on to examine the cornerstones of fair use, including the purpose of the work, the amount of copyrighted content used, and the effect of the use of the content on its potential market.

“Any review of the Klein video leaves no doubt that it constitutes critical commentary of the Hoss video; there is also no doubt that the Klein video is decidedly not a market substitute for the Hoss video,” Judge Forrest writes, noting that the former effectively transformed the latter into “fodder for caustic, moment-by-moment commentary and mockery.”

“For these and the other reasons set forth below, defendants’ use of clips from the Hoss video constitutes fair use as a matter of law,” the Judge concludes.

On the defamation front, Hosseinzadeh fared no better, with the Judge noting that truth is an absolute defense to a defamation claim.

“Further, it is clear that defendants’ comments regarding the lawsuit are either non-actionable opinions or substantially true as a matter of law. For these and the other reasons set forth below, plaintiff’s defamation claim fails. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is therefore GRANTED, and plaintiff’s motion is DENIED.”

The news was quickly welcomed by Ethan Klein.

We won the lawsuit. Video coming soon. Huge victory for fair use on YouTube.

— Ethan Klein (@h3h3productions) August 23, 2017

What happens next is largely up to Hosseinzadeh. He still has the opportunity to appeal the case but whether he will take that opportunity given the clarity of the ruling and the additional costs involved will remain to be seen.

In the meantime, the decision (via Techcrunch) provides food for thought and guidance for other YouTubers making reaction videos.

The ruling doesn’t give YouTubers blanket clearance to continue with impunity but does clarify how much content can be used, provided adequate commentary and criticism is present. They’re valuable guidelines in a notoriously difficult area of copyright law.

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

Wer kennt es nicht: Eine Erweiterung hat mal wieder alle Einstellungen im Browser geändert. Das will Google in Chrome künftig unterbinden und warnt vor geheimen Proxys und neuen Startseiten. (Chrome, Google)

Heute schon einen Amazon-Gutschein bekommen? Oder eine Paypal-Zahlungsaufforderung? Oder eine Paketbenachrichtigung der Post? Die kann echt sein, ist es aber meistens nicht. Gegen Phishing helfen komplexe, nicht einfach erratbare E-Mail-Adressen. Wir geben ein paar bewährte Tipps. Von Andreas Sebayang (Phishing, Spam)

Der Luna-Stick von Astropad soll eine Funkverbindung zwischen Macbook und iPad erstellen und das Tablet zum Zweitdisplay des Rechners machen. Über Kickstarter wird die Produktion der Hardware finanziert, die bereits getestet wurde. (iPad, Display)

Der Centriq 2400 ist die erste Server-CPU mit 10-nm-Fertigung und basiert auf von Qualcomm entwickelten Falkor-Kernen mit ARM-Technik. Die haben allerdings wenig mit den Snapdragons zu tun, sondern nutzen ein paar andere Tricks. (Qualcomm, Prozessor)

Eine offene Fantasywelt, hinreißend animierte Figuren und eine vielversprechende Handlung: Ni No Kuni 2 könnte das perfekte Japan-Rollenspiel für alle werden, die Japan-Rollenspiele nicht mögen. (Ni No Kuni, Rollenspiel)

Im Rahmen des Projekts Central European Green Corridors (CEGC) sind 115 Schnellladesäulen für Elektroautos in Deutschland, Österreich und Slowenien, der Slowakei und Kroatien gebaut worden. So sollen Fahrer von E-Autos ohne Reichweitenangst an ihren Urlaubsort gelangen. (Elektroauto, Technologie)