Month: December 2018

Metal Band Bans Photographer After Copyright Clash

Metal band Arch Enemy has banned photographer J. Salmeron from shooting any future gigs. The band’s management was not amused when he alerted a clothing sponsor about the unauthorized use of his work. Apparently, the band sees ‘exposure’ as sufficient compensation. But what about people who pirate their latest album?

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

When piracy hits the mainstream news, it’s often in relation to books, games, music, TV-shows and movies.

These industries grab headlines because of the major players that are involved, but they are not the only ones dealing with piracy.

In the age of social media, photographers are arguably the most pirated creators of all. Many people don’t even consider ‘copyright’ when sharing an image they find online.

That can be quite frustrating for people whose livelihoods depend on selling photos, especially when commercial outlets use their work for free. This issue was highlighted again this week by photographer J. Salmeron.

This summer he took a great shot of Alissa White-Gluz of the metal band Arch Enemy at the Fortarock festival. The photographer posted it on Instagram where it was well received. Even by the singer herself, who re-posted it on her account.

Technically, nobody is allowed to repost photos without permission but Salmeron generally doesn’t object to fans sharing his work. When it’s used for commercial purposes, however, it becomes a problem.

So, when the photographer, who also happens to be a lawyer, noticed that “Thunderball Clothing” used the photo to promote their goods – which the singer was wearing – he decided to take action.

Thunderball Clothing’s instagram post

In an email to the company, Salmeron pointed out that he would generally request a licensing fee of at least €500. However, in this case, he would be happy if the company donated €100 to the Dutch Cancer Foundation.

At this point, the issue could have been resolved without any fuss, but things quickly got out of hand. Thunderball Clothing wasn’t planning to pay and reached out to the band, accusing the photographer of making threats.

The band and the singer sided with the clothing company and sponsor, arguing that a payment is not required.

Apparently, the band’s management is under the impression that the band, fans, and sponsors can use the work of photographers free of charge. In return, they get exposure.

“I would like to ask why you are sending discontent emails to people sharing the photo of Alissa? Alissa’s sponsors and fan clubs are authorized to share photos of her. Thunderball Clothing is a sponsor of Alissa and Arch Enemy,” they replied.

“Generally speaking, photographers appreciate having their work shown as much as possible and we are thankful for the great photos concert photographers provide,” the band’s management added.

The account, which obviously only tells one side of the story, can be read in full at Metalblast and Petapixel.

After some messages back and forth, the photo was eventually removed, but the band also made it very clear that Salmeron is no longer welcome at any future gigs.

“By the way, we are sure you don’t mind that you are not welcome anymore to take pictures of Arch Enemy performances in the future, at festivals or solo performances,” the reply read.

“I have copied in the label reps and booking agent who will inform promoters – no band wants to have photographers on site who later send such threatening correspondence to monetize on their images.”

The irony of the situation is that the band itself is no stranger to copyright. It obviously doesn’t want people to grab their latest album illegally, even though that means more exposure.

The copyright clash itself also generated plenty of exposure for the band, but not the type they’re looking for. A tweet about the upcoming album triggered a wave of sarcastic responses.

While this example is rather extreme, photographers all around the world face similar issues. In this case, Salmeron attempted to resolve it directly, but many of his colleagues are going to court.

This year alone, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by photographers over the unauthorized use of their work by various news outlets or other commercial outfits. The majority of these end in confidential settlements.

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

Zotac ZBOX CI600 nano fanless mini-PCs now available

The Zotac ZBOX CI660 nano I reviewed last month is a pretty great all-around computer for folks looking for a small, quiet desktop PC. It’s a fanless computer that measures about 8″ x 5.1″ x 2.7″ and which has plenty of ports an…

The Zotac ZBOX CI660 nano I reviewed last month is a pretty great all-around computer for folks looking for a small, quiet desktop PC. It’s a fanless computer that measures about 8″ x 5.1″ x 2.7″ and which has plenty of ports and enough horsepower for most common tasks — in fact it runs faster […]

The post Zotac ZBOX CI600 nano fanless mini-PCs now available appeared first on Liliputing.

Rockstar Games: Red Dead Redemption 2 schafft die Million in Deutschland

Der Wilde Westen lockt die Deutschen in die Welt von Red Dead Redemption 2: Hierzulande hat das Actionspiel mehr als eine Million Käufer gefunden. Neben dem Programm von Rockstar Games war 2018 nach aktuellem Informationsstand sonst nur noch Fifa 19 äh…

Der Wilde Westen lockt die Deutschen in die Welt von Red Dead Redemption 2: Hierzulande hat das Actionspiel mehr als eine Million Käufer gefunden. Neben dem Programm von Rockstar Games war 2018 nach aktuellem Informationsstand sonst nur noch Fifa 19 ähnlich erfolgreich. (Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Redemption)

Betriebssysteme: Linux 4.20 beschleunigt Dateizugriffe, verhindert Ausfälle

In Linux 4.20 gibt es weitere Patches für Spectre v2, einen verbesserten Block-Layer und ein Framework, das Ausfälle früh erkennen soll. Zudem wurde ein Ersatz für die veraltete Dateistruktur Radix-Tree nach langer Entwicklungszeit aufgenommen. (Linux-…

In Linux 4.20 gibt es weitere Patches für Spectre v2, einen verbesserten Block-Layer und ein Framework, das Ausfälle früh erkennen soll. Zudem wurde ein Ersatz für die veraltete Dateistruktur Radix-Tree nach langer Entwicklungszeit aufgenommen. (Linux-Kernel, API)

The skulls of ancient pearl divers come with abnormal ear canal bone growths

A study found signs of “surfer’s ear” in skulls at pre-Columbian sites in Panama.

This temporal bone from a male skull unearthed at the site of a pre-Columbian village near the Gulf of Panama has bony bumps characteristic of surfer's ear.

Enlarge / This temporal bone from a male skull unearthed at the site of a pre-Columbian village near the Gulf of Panama has bony bumps characteristic of surfer's ear. (credit: Smith-Guzman and Cooke)

Surfers, divers, and others who spend time in cold water sometimes suffer from a condition called "surfer’s ear," in which a small bony bump forms in the temporal bone, blocking part of the ear canal. Archaeologists recently found the same bony growths in the skulls of people who lived in pre-Columbian Panama up to 2,400 years ago. They suspect the skulls are the remains of expert pearl divers who spent their lives freediving for valuable items on the ocean floor.

Beneath the surface

The skulls were part of a large collection examined by archaeologists Nicole Smith-Guzman and Richard Cooke of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. They found the telltale bumps on the temporal bones of eight skulls with intact ear canals—seven men and one woman. Among the skulls that still had intact ear canals on both sides, 12.2 percent of the men and 3.3 percent of the women had surfer’s ear on at least one side. Most had mild or moderate cases, but one man had enough growth to block more than two-thirds of his ear canal, which may have been enough to cause noticeable hearing loss.

The relatively low frequency of the growths suggests a select group of mostly men who, for some reason, regularly ended up with cold water in their ear canals.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The skulls of ancient pearl divers come with abnormal ear canal bone growths

A study found signs of “surfer’s ear” in skulls at pre-Columbian sites in Panama.

This temporal bone from a male skull unearthed at the site of a pre-Columbian village near the Gulf of Panama has bony bumps characteristic of surfer's ear.

Enlarge / This temporal bone from a male skull unearthed at the site of a pre-Columbian village near the Gulf of Panama has bony bumps characteristic of surfer's ear. (credit: Smith-Guzman and Cooke)

Surfers, divers, and others who spend time in cold water sometimes suffer from a condition called "surfer’s ear," in which a small bony bump forms in the temporal bone, blocking part of the ear canal. Archaeologists recently found the same bony growths in the skulls of people who lived in pre-Columbian Panama up to 2,400 years ago. They suspect the skulls are the remains of expert pearl divers who spent their lives freediving for valuable items on the ocean floor.

Beneath the surface

The skulls were part of a large collection examined by archaeologists Nicole Smith-Guzman and Richard Cooke of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. They found the telltale bumps on the temporal bones of eight skulls with intact ear canals—seven men and one woman. Among the skulls that still had intact ear canals on both sides, 12.2 percent of the men and 3.3 percent of the women had surfer’s ear on at least one side. Most had mild or moderate cases, but one man had enough growth to block more than two-thirds of his ear canal, which may have been enough to cause noticeable hearing loss.

The relatively low frequency of the growths suggests a select group of mostly men who, for some reason, regularly ended up with cold water in their ear canals.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Pilot project demos credit cards with shifting CVV codes to stop fraud

Trial will last 90 days to test effectiveness and timing of CVV change.

Idemia

US-based PNC Bank is in the middle of a pilot project that aims to test out credit cards with constantly changing card verification values (or CVVs) to reduce online credit card fraud. The dynamic CVV is displayed on the back of such a card in e-ink, and changes according to an algorithm supplied by Visa.

Credit card fraud has long been a problem in the US. To stop thieves from re-using credit card numbers in brick-and-mortar stores, the US has been moving to chip-based credit and debit cards, which create a unique code for each transaction (although this transition to chip cards has been less successful than was hoped). But online credit card fraud is another beast. Once a fraudster has stolen a credit card number, they often can use the static number to make online purchases without being thwarted by chip complications.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Pilot project demos credit cards with shifting CVV codes to stop fraud

Trial will last 90 days to test effectiveness and timing of CVV change.

Idemia

US-based PNC Bank is in the middle of a pilot project that aims to test out credit cards with constantly changing card verification values (or CVVs) to reduce online credit card fraud. The dynamic CVV is displayed on the back of such a card in e-ink, and changes according to an algorithm supplied by Visa.

Credit card fraud has long been a problem in the US. To stop thieves from re-using credit card numbers in brick-and-mortar stores, the US has been moving to chip-based credit and debit cards, which create a unique code for each transaction (although this transition to chip cards has been less successful than was hoped). But online credit card fraud is another beast. Once a fraudster has stolen a credit card number, they often can use the static number to make online purchases without being thwarted by chip complications.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Instant Messaging: ICQ blockiert alle alternativen Messenger-Clients

Wer das Messenger-Netzwerk ICQ weiterhin nutzen will, muss die aktuelle ICQ-Software nutzen. Weder mit alten ICQ-Versionen noch mit alternativen Clients kann der Dienst noch verwendet werden. (ICQ, Instant Messenger)

Wer das Messenger-Netzwerk ICQ weiterhin nutzen will, muss die aktuelle ICQ-Software nutzen. Weder mit alten ICQ-Versionen noch mit alternativen Clients kann der Dienst noch verwendet werden. (ICQ, Instant Messenger)