Month: December 2017

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Veraltet und zu unflexibel: Google unterstützt das Augmented-Reality-System Project Tango nicht mehr. Der Nachfolger ARCore soll in Kürze verfügbar sein. (Google, Apple)

Sci-Hub is often referred to as the “Pirate Bay of Science,” and this description has become more and more apt in recent weeks.

Initially, the comparison was made to illustrate that Sci-Hub is used by researchers to download articles for free, much like the rest of the world uses The Pirate Bay to get free stuff.

There are more parallels though. Increasingly, Sci-Hub has trouble keeping its domain names. Following two injunctions in the US, academic publishers now have court orders to compel domain registrars and registries to suspend Sci-Hub’s addresses.

Although there is no such court order for The Pirate Bay, the notorious torrent site also has a long history of domain suspensions.

Both sites appear to tackle the problem in a similar manner. They simply ignore all enforcement efforts and bypass them with new domains and other circumvention tools. They have several backup domains in place as well as unsuspendable .onion addresses, which are accessible on the Tor network.

Since late November, a lot of Sci-Hub users have switched to Sci-Hub.bz when other domains were suspended. And, when the .bz domain was targeted a few days ago, they moved to different alternatives. It’s a continuous game of Whack-a-Mole that is hard to stop.

Suspended…

There’s another striking similarity between TPB and Sci-Hub. Unlike other pirate sites, their founders are both vocal. In the case of Sci-Hub this is Alexandra Elbakyan, a researcher born and graduated in Kazakhstan.

She recently responded to people who had trouble accessing the site. “The site is working properly, but the capitalists have started blocking Sci-Hub domains, so the site may not be accessible at the regular addresses,” she wrote on VK.

Instead of complaining, Elbakyan encouraged people to do some research of their own, as there are still plenty of alternative domains up and running. And indeed, at the time of writing Sci-hub.la, Sci-hub.tv, Sci-hub.tw, Sci-hub.hk, and others can be accessed without any hassle.

While Sci-Hub’s classification as the “Pirate Bay of Science” is certainly warranted, there are also differences. The Pirate Bay was raided several times and the founders were criminally prosecuted. That’s not the case for Sci-Hub.

But who knows what will happen next…

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons

Sci-Hub is often referred to as the “Pirate Bay of Science,” and this description has become more and more apt in recent weeks.

Initially, the comparison was made to illustrate that Sci-Hub is used by researchers to download articles for free, much like the rest of the world uses The Pirate Bay to get free stuff.

There are more parallels though. Increasingly, Sci-Hub has trouble keeping its domain names. Following two injunctions in the US, academic publishers now have court orders to compel domain registrars and registries to suspend Sci-Hub’s addresses.

Although there is no such court order for The Pirate Bay, the notorious torrent site also has a long history of domain suspensions.

Both sites appear to tackle the problem in a similar manner. They simply ignore all enforcement efforts and bypass them with new domains and other circumvention tools. They have several backup domains in place as well as unsuspendable .onion addresses, which are accessible on the Tor network.

Since late November, a lot of Sci-Hub users have switched to Sci-Hub.bz when other domains were suspended. And, when the .bz domain was targeted a few days ago, they moved to different alternatives. It’s a continuous game of Whack-a-Mole that is hard to stop.

Suspended…

There’s another striking similarity between TPB and Sci-Hub. Unlike other pirate sites, their founders are both vocal. In the case of Sci-Hub this is Alexandra Elbakyan, a researcher born and graduated in Kazakhstan.

She recently responded to people who had trouble accessing the site. “The site is working properly, but the capitalists have started blocking Sci-Hub domains, so the site may not be accessible at the regular addresses,” she wrote on VK.

Instead of complaining, Elbakyan encouraged people to do some research of their own, as there are still plenty of alternative domains up and running. And indeed, at the time of writing Sci-hub.la, Sci-hub.tv, Sci-hub.tw, Sci-hub.hk, and others can be accessed without any hassle.

While Sci-Hub’s classification as the “Pirate Bay of Science” is certainly warranted, there are also differences. The Pirate Bay was raided several times and the founders were criminally prosecuted. That’s not the case for Sci-Hub.

But who knows what will happen next…

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons

Harte Bandagen: Ein ehemaliger Mitarbeiter von Uber hat im Prozess von Waymo gegen den Fahrdienst von fragwürdigen Geschäftspraktiken berichtet. Danach sammelte Uber unter anderem mit illegalen Mitteln wie Abhören oder Spionage Informationen über Konkurrenten. (Waymo, Google)

Die USA wollen mal wieder zum Mond, die BVG speichert mal wieder Bewegungsdaten und ein 19 Jahre alter Angriff funktioniert immer wieder. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Vorratsdatenspeicherung)

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Over the past year, dozens of independent photographers have taken mainstream media outlets to court, accusing the companies of using their work without permission.

While the photographers only have a tiny fraction of the legal budgets of their wealthy adversaries, they have managed to score several settlements.

This is no surprise, as the evidence in these cases is often undisputed. However, New York photographer Jon Tannen learned that going up against a media mogul is not without risk. When he sued CBS Broadcasting a few weeks ago, the company ‘retaliated’ in a highly unusual way.

Instead of resolving the matter behind closed doors, CBS came out guns blazing. The company filed a lawsuit against the photographer accusing him of posting a copyright-infringing screenshot of a TV show on social media – the 59-year-old show Gunsmoke.

While posting a half-century old screenshot of an episode is quite different from using a recent photograph in a commercial publication, CBS branded Tannen a hypocrite in the complaint.

Follow up filings revealed how things spiraled out of control. Both parties were not able to agree on a settlement. According to CBS, Tannen demanded more than 100 times the value of a license, which they refused to pay.

Instead, they filed a lawsuit of their own. It was a clear retaliatory move and without informing the photographer in advance, attorney Richard Liebowitz wrote to the court.

“[I]n the midst of settlement negotiations on this case, Ballard Spahr LLP, the same law firm which serves as defense counsel here, filed a patently frivolous copyright infringement case on behalf of CBS against Tannen in obvious retaliation for this lawsuit,” he writes.

“Patently frivolous”

While lawsuits over TV show screenshots are highly unusual, this one apparently revitalized the settlement negotiations.

Both parties recently informed the court that they are finalizing an agreement in the initial lawsuit, which will end the case. As a result, CBS also dismissed its case against the photographer this week. As is usual, details of the settlement are not disclosed.

Meanwhile, another photographer filed a lawsuit against CBS this week, again represented by attorney Richard Liebowitz, who’s not hesitant in targeting the company again.

In this case the photographer, New York-based Lawrence Schwartzwald, accuses CBS Interactive of using a photo he took of actress Barbara Streisand and actor Jeff Bridges on CBSNews.com without obtaining permission.

With a screenshot of the photo of the site on file, the evidence looks quite compelling. However, let’s see if CBS can dig up some dirt on the photographer’s social media accounts this time round.

—

A copy of Schwartzwald’s complaint is available here (pdf).

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons

Before Apple start shipping a $1000 smartphone with a 3D, depth-sensing camera system on the front, there was Google’s Project Tango technology… which put 3D, depth-sensing camera technology on the back of a phone or tablet. Only two commercial smartphones ever shipped with Project Tango, the Asus Zenfone AR and Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. And […]

Google is pulling the plug on Project Tango in March, 2018 is a post from: Liliputing

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