Month: June 2018

So many Android-based TV boxes have come out of China in the past few years that I’ve pretty much stopped paying attention. But Notebook Italia spotted one of the most unusual models I’ve seen to date at CES Asia recently. It’s called the WAHE Home, and at first glance it looks like a PC-in-a-keyboard device. […]

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Enlarge / The US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Mike Kline)

State governments may require online retailers to collect sales taxes even in states where the retailers have no physical presence, the US Supreme Court ruled in a decision issued today.

The 5-4 ruling could clear the way for more states to require collection of sales taxes on products ordered online from out-of-state retailers.

The case, South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., Et Al., involved a South Dakota state law "requiring out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax 'as if the seller had a physical presence in the State,'" the decision noted. Online retailers argued that the law was unconstitutional, and the State Supreme Court agreed, but the US Supreme Court overturned the state court ruling. South Dakota expects to collect another $48 million to $58 million in taxes a year because of this ruling.

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LG’s latest stylus-equipped phone is here… and by here, I mean the new LG Stylo 4 is available exclusively in the US from wireless carrier Metro PCs. The carrier is selling the phone for $179, which is a promotional price. The suggested retail price is $239. There’s no word on if or when the Stylo […]

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As one of the leading CDN and DDoS protection services, Cloudflare is used by millions of websites across the globe. This includes many pirate sites.

In recent years many copyright holders have complained about Cloudflare’s involvement with these platforms, and in 2016 adult entertainment publisher ALS Scan took it a step further by dragging the company to court.

ALS accused Cloudflare of various types of copyright infringement, noting that several of its customers used the company’s servers to distribute pirated content to the public.

During the legal battle that followed, the CDN provider managed to have several counts dismissed. However, the accusation of contributory copyright infringement remained.

Earlier this year California District Court Judge George Wu ruled that Cloudflare can substantially assist copyright infringements by hosting cached copies of files. Whether Cloudflare did this and could be held liable was something to be decided at trial.

However, according to a recent filing, there will be no trial. This week both parties filed a joint stipulation asking the court to dismiss all claims against Cloudflare.

“ALS Scan, Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc. hereby stipulate to dismissal without prejudice of the claims and action against Cloudflare, Inc., with each side bearing its own attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses,” they write.

ALS Scan and Cloudflare have signed a settlement agreement behind closed doors. The terms of the deal have not been made public, but each party will attorney’s fees, costs, and other expenses.

While the court retains jurisdiction over the matter in case any settlement disputes arise, the lawsuit is essentially over.

Whether Cloudflare agreed to pay a settlement fee is unknown, but the agreement takes away a lot of uncertainty for the CDN provider.

If they had gone to trial, where the controversial “Daily Stormer” issue could be used as evidence, the company’s fate would be in the hands of a jury. A negative decision there could have severely impacted its future.

TorrentFreak requested a comment from a Cloudflare spokesperson and ALS Scan’s attorneys on the matter, but neither has responded at the time of publication.

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A copy of Cloudflare and ALS Scan’s stipulation of dismissal can be found here (pdf).

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

Enlarge / Net neutrality supporter protests the FCC's repeal outside a federal building in Los Angeles, California, on November 28, 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Ronen Tivony | NurPhoto)

A California net neutrality bill that could have been the strictest such law in the country was dramatically scaled back yesterday after state lawmakers caved to demands from AT&T and cable lobbyists.

While the California Senate approved the bill with all of its core parts intact last month, a State Assembly committee's Democratic leadership yesterday removed key provisions.

"What happened today was outrageous," Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill author, said. "These hostile amendments eviscerate the bill and leave us with a net neutrality bill in name only."

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Video game collectible maker Fangamer is now seeking Kickstarter funding for the Flip Grip, a new Nintendo Switch holster that lets you more easily and portably play select games in their vertical "TATE mode" orientation.

The Flip Grip was first publicly mulled last April by Retronauts podcast co-host and classic gaming expert Jeremy Parish, who's working with engineer Mike Choi on the device. Parish then teased the grip in March as a way to hold the Switch and two Joy-Con controllers comfortably in your hands with the screen oriented vertically.

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Amazon’s new Fire TV Cube may be available today for $120… but if you don’t want hands-free voice controls for your TV, you can score pretty good choices on cheaper media streamers today. Amazon is selling refurbished Fire TV devices for as little as $30, and you can pick up a refurbished 1080p Roku stick for $35 […]

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Enlarge / Tesla's new Model 3 car on display is seen on Friday, January 26, 2018, at the Tesla store in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images)

Martin Tripp, the recently fired Tesla employee who the company sued under accusations of "hacking" company systems, told Ars on Thursday morning that he is actually a whistleblower who is trying to reveal internal waste and safety flaws in Tesla batteries.

He also denied to Ars on Thursday that he had made a comment to a friend to "shoot the place up," which prompted a visit by the Storey County Sheriff. The local authorities ultimately determined that there was "no credible threat."

"Absolutely not!" he told Ars. "The ONLY thing I have said to any ‘friends’ is I sent a link to the CNBC article to five of them and asked if they really thought I was a hacker."

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Enlarge / Robots are everywhere. (credit: NBC Universal)

Today we present the second installment of my wide-ranging interview with the world-renowned roboticist and AI pioneer, Rodney Brooks. Part one ran yesterday—so if you missed it, click right here.

Today’s installment starts with the new robotic era that dawned when Brooks' latest company—Rethink Robotics—launched its Baxter robot. Baxter and its successor, Sawyer, shifted the industry in both obvious and subtle ways, which we discuss. We then consider the ancient legacy equipment and standards that still plague so much factory automation. Next, we dive into society’s urgent need for robots to assist with elder care in the coming years. This capability is currently remote, though many are starting work on it.

Click here for a transcript and click here for an MP3 direct download.

One of the most entertaining and provocative sections of the interview follows, when we get into self-driving cars. Brooks finds most of the industry’s launch forecasts and timelines to be absurdly aggressive. This is unwelcome news for those of us who want fully autonomous cars yesterday! But this realm sits at the very intersection of robotics and AI—two fields that Brooks has occupied for decades—and his arguments are powerful (and often quite funny).

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It was obviously just a matter of time before Amazon merged its Fire TV and Echo line of products to launch a voice-controlled media streamer. So the only really surprising thing about Amazon’s unveiling of the Fire TV Cube earlier this month is that it took the company as long as it did to launch […]

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