Month: October 2017

Die R+V-Versicherung und Fraport testen auf dem Gelände Flughafen Frankfurt einen kleinen autonomen Elektrobus, der nicht etwa auf einem abgesperrten Gelände, sondern auf einer belebten Straße fährt. Dabei handelt es sich allerdings nicht um eine öffentliche Straße. (Autonomes Fahren, Technologie)

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Microsoft’s Zune music player never caught on the way Apple’s iPod devices did. But the company actually made some pretty compelling portable media players, and it turns out some folks are still using them. Motherboard’s Jordan Pearson spoke with some Zune diehards earlier this year and discovered that some are hanging onto tech that others […]

What old tech are you hanging on to? is a post from: Liliputing

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Eine der störendsten Einschränkungen der aktuellen Hololens ist das horizontale Sichtfeld von etwa 35 Grad. Ein Patent zeigt, dass Microsoft eine Lösung gefunden hat, es zu verdoppeln. (Hololens, Microsoft)

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Bisher verkaufte Nvidia das Shield TV für 230 Euro, mittlerweile gibt es auch eine günstigere Variante. Der fehlt der Gaming-Controller, die Fernbedienung liegt weiter bei. Der Fokus verschiebt sich daher auf Streaming, der neue Google Assistent hilft dabei. (Shield_TV, USB 3.0)

The technology behind Bitcoins could be used to drive the next generation of transactional video streaming, to ensure viewers pay directly to content holders and get content at a better price than ever before.

As reported by Bitcoinist.com, a new project called White Rabbit aims to reduce overhead and simplify how users purchase content and, specifically, how content creators get paid.

Their breakthrough idea involves using Blockchain technology, the P2P based technology that drives Bitcoins. To put it very simply, Blockchain is essentially a distributed, peer-to-peer database that ensures all transactions are easily verifiable, and completely transparent. This forgoes the need for centralised servers to keep user account, payment data, and thus makes fraud and hacking less likely. It's this central, or rather, decentralised idea that the team behind White Rabbit wishes to apply to the arena of buying movies and TV shows (or buying any content, really) online.

So instead of having gatekeepers like Apple controlling not only the distribution of content, but also payment from users and royalties to content holders, White Rabbit allows users to pay content holders directly without any middlemen. Distribution will be handled by any number of open streaming providers, who remain largely content agnostic (and whose only purpose is to serve content, not to negotiate pricing or handle financial transactions).

This, the people behind White Rabbit says, will allow for more transparency, cut down the number of intermediaries needed to handle the transaction, and allow content creators to get paid instantly. For the end user, this will mean lower costs and greater flexibility in choosing how they purchase and watch their content. For the content creators, it may mean more revenue and more control over how their content is being sold.

A group of film producers, distributors, blockchain experts, and software developers have teamed up to work on the project, with a contribution campaign to start in November.

[via Bitcoinist]

After being raided by police and Trading Standards in 2015, Middlesbrough-based shopkeeper Brian ‘Tomo’ Thompson found himself in the spotlight.

Accused of selling “fully-loaded” Kodi boxes (those with ‘pirate’ addons installed), Thompson continued to protest his innocence.

“All I want to know is whether I am doing anything illegal. I know it’s a gray area but I want it in black and white,” he said last September.

Unlike other cases, where copyright holders took direct action, Thompson was prosecuted by his local council. At the time, he seemed prepared to martyr himself to test the limits of the law.

“This may have to go to the crown court and then it may go all the way to the European court, but I want to make a point with this and I want to make it easier for people to know what is legal and what isn’t,” he said. “I expect it go against me but at least I will know where I stand.”

In an opinion piece not long after this statement, we agreed with Thompson’s sentiment, noting that barring a miracle, the Middlesbrough man would indeed lose his case, probably in short order. But Thompson’s case turned out to be less than straightforward.

Thompson wasn’t charged with straightforward “making available” under the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Acts. If he had, there would’ve been no question that he’d been breaking law. This is due to a European Court of Justice decision in the BREIN v Filmspeler case earlier this year which determined that selling fully loaded boxes in the EU is illegal.

Instead, for reasons best known to the prosecution, ‘Tomo’ stood accused of two offenses under section 296ZB of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, which deals with devices and services designed to “circumvent technological measures”. It’s a different aspect of copyright law previously applied to cases where encryption has been broken on official products.

“A person commits an offense if he — in the course of a business — sells or lets for hire, any device, product or component which is primarily designed, produced, or adapted for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of effective technological measures,” the law reads.

‘Tomo’ in his store

In January this year, Thompson entered his official ‘not guilty’ plea, setting up a potentially fascinating full trial in which we would’ve heard how ‘circumvention of technological measures’ could possibly relate to streaming illicit content from entirely unprotected far-flung sources.

Last month, however, Thompson suddenly had a change of heart, entering guilty pleas against one count of selling and one count of advertising devices for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of effective technological measures.

That plea stomped on what could’ve been a really interesting trial, particularly since the Federation Against Copyright Theft’s own lawyer predicted it could be difficult and complex.

As a result, Thompson appeared at Teeside Crown Court on Friday for sentencing. Prosecutor Cameron Crowe said Thompson advertised and sold the ‘pirate’ devices for commercial gain, fully aware that they would be used to access infringing content and premium subscription services.

Crowe said that Thompson made around £40,000 from the devices while potentially costing Sky around £200,000 in lost subscription fees. When Thompson was raided in June 2015, a diary revealed he’d sold 159 devices in the previous four months, sales which generated £17,000 in revenue.

After his arrest, Thompson changed premises and continued to offer the devices for sale on social media.

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Armstrong told the 55-year-old businessman that he’d receive an 18-month prison term, suspended for two years.

“If anyone was under any illusion as to whether such devices as these, fully loaded Kodi boxes, were illegal or not, they can no longer be in any such doubt,” Judge Armstrong told the court, as reported by Gazette Live.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that in all the circumstances an immediate custodial sentence is not called for. But as a warning to others in future, they may not be so lucky.”

Also sentenced Friday was another local seller, Julian Allen, who sold devices to Thompson, among others. He was arrested following raids on his Geeky Kit businesses in 2015 and pleaded guilty this July to using or acquiring criminal property.

But despite making more than £135,000 from selling ‘pirate’ boxes, he too avoided jail, receiving a 21-month prison sentence suspended for two years instead.

While Thompson’s and Allen’s sentences are likely to be portrayed by copyright holders as a landmark moment, the earlier ruling from the European Court of Justice means that selling these kinds of devices for infringing purposes has always been illegal.

Perhaps the big surprise, given the dramatic lead up to both cases, is the relative leniency of their sentences. All that being said, however, a line has been drawn in the sand and other sellers should be aware.

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

Ein Problem beim WPA2-Standard lässt viele ausflippen, wir bewahren Ruhe. Wir begeistern uns stattdessen für einen winzigen Laptop, kämpfende Roboter und ein episches Star-Wars-Abenteuer. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)