June 2019 – Page 2 – news.buyenne.com

In book form, Stranger Things’ Jim Hopper becomes a fun Law & Order hero

Review: Darkness on the Edge of Town isn’t a Springsteen song—it’s good summer reading.

Behold, Stranger than fiction. [credit: Nathan Mattise ]

Back in the summer of 2016, Netflix wasn't Netflix, TV Industry Conquerer™ just yet. Long before Russian Doll, The Crown, or choose-your-own adventure bonanzas, Netflix made a bunch of "eh" originals following their initial Orange Is The New Black/House of Cards splash. But then, the company's "green light all the things" strategy struck unexpected gold with an '80s adventure homage set in fictitious, rural Indiana. Suddenly, pulsing vintage synths could be heard everywhere.

A few years can really make all the difference. Entering 2019, maybe only Game of Thrones' final season had more hype within the TV landscape than Stranger Things' two-years-in-the-making third season (and we all know how things went in Westeros). And new-school Netflix has leveraged this anticipation in a very old school way: tie-in novels. A hallmark of beloved franchises from Star Wars to Star Trek, a handful of "Official Stranger Things novel" offerings have arrived this spring and summer to satiate rabid fans ahead of a July 4 S3 premiere. But none immediately sent us to the "pre-order" button faster than author Adam Christopher's Darkness on the Edge of Town, an old-fashioned crime novel featuring Chief Jim Hopper's pre-show adventures.

Is this another kids v. D&D villain story?

Released at the start of June, Darkness on the Edge of Town takes place back in 1977 within a pre-Giuliani gritty, grimy, and gang-y New York (a setting that may be familiar to any fans of HBO's The Deuce as the most recent of many fictional examples). The country dealt with Vietnam fallout, the city dealt with crime headlined by the Son of Sam killer, and fictional cops like Hopper dealt with internal monologues about war changing people, the nature of good and evil, or how doing one's job may be the only shot at cleaning up the city.

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Taser maker says it won’t use facial recognition in bodycams

Report: Tech was too unreliable, could exacerbate existing inequities in policing.

A body camera from Taser is seen during a press conference at City Hall September 24, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Axon, creator of the Taser, did something unusual for a technology company last year. The Arizona corporation convened an ethics board of external experts to offer guidance on potential downsides of its technology.

Thursday, that group published a report recommending that the company not deploy facial recognition technology on its body cameras, widely used by US police departments. The report said the technology was too unreliable and could exacerbate existing inequities in policing, for example by penalizing black or LBGTQ communities.

Axon’s CEO and founder Rick Smith agrees. “This recommendation is quite reasonable,” he says in an interview. “Without this ethics board we may have moved forward before we really understood what could go wrong with this technology.”

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In-the-wild Mac malware kept busy in June—here’s a rundown

Newly disclosed OSX/CrescentCore is 1 of 6 Mac threats to come to light this month.

June was a busy month for Mac malware with the active circulation of at least six threats, several of which were able to bypass security protections Apple has built into modern versions of its macOS.

The latest discovery was published Friday by Mac antivirus provider Intego, which disclosed malware dubbed OSX/CrescentCore that's available through Google search results and other mainstream channels. It masquerades as an updater or installer for Adobe’s Flash media player, but it's in fact just a persistent means for its operators to install malicious Safari extensions, rogue disk cleaners, and potentially other unwanted software.

“The team at Intego has observed OSX/CrescentCore in the wild being distributed via numerous sites,” Intego’s Joshua Long wrote of two separate versions of the malware his company has found. “Mac users should beware that they may encounter it, even via seemingly innocuous sources such as Google search results.”

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Satelliteninternet: SpaceX hat nur Kontakt zu 57 von 60 Starlink-Satelliten

Ende Mai hat SpaceX die ersten 60 Satelliten für seine Satelliteninternet-Konstellation Starlink ins All geschossen. Den meisten Satelliten geht es gut, 45 sind in ihrem endgültigen Orbit. Allerdings hat das Raumfahrtunternehmen drei Ausfälle zu verzei…

Workstation: Apple verlegt Mac-Pro-Fertigung nach China

Apples neuer Desktop-Computer wird nicht mehr in den USA gebaut. Laut Insidern will der Konzern den Mac Pro in der Nähe von Shanghai montieren lassen. Dadurch will Apple unter anderem Lieferkosten sparen. (Mac Pro, Apple)

Bilibili Uses DMCA to Obtain Identities of Source Code Leakers From Github

China-based video-sharing site Bilibili has taken to the US courts in an effort to identify individuals who leaked its source code, usernames and passwords online. NASDAQ-listed Bilibili, which has more than 90 million monthly users, is using the DMCA to force Github to hand over the identities of several people who published the data on the platform.

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

Little known in the West, Bilibili is a China-based video-sharing platform with a focus on anime, comics and games.

Users are able to upload videos to the NASDAQ-listed platform for others to add their own commentary and subtitles. According to data released by Bilibili in February, the service enjoys in excess of 92 million monthly users. Shortly after, however, the site suffered a setback.

A report in April indicated that someone had uploaded a large trove of data to Github, reportedly culled from Bilibili, including source code, user names and passwords. The company played down the leak, stating that the data was from an old version of the site and “defensive steps” had been taken to ensure user security wasn’t compromised.

However, Bilibili also promised to investigate the source of the leak and there are now clear signs that it is doing so in the United States, using copyright law.

Documents obtained by TorrentFreak show a China-based law firm writing to Github on April 23, 2019, a letter which appears to indicate the problem may be more serious than it first appeared.

“On April 22, 2019 (GMT-8), a Github user (user ID: “openbilibili”) published a post with the subject of “openbilibili/go-common” in the Github website, which contained the comprehensive and detailed information of Bilibili’s source code and other trade secrets/confidential information,” the letter reads.

At least one other Github user posted the same information shortly after, which resulted in additional users forking that data. Bilibili’s law firm said these infringing acts meant that the individuals responsible for them could be held accountable under both civil and criminal law.

The letter indicates that Github had already taken measures to disable access to some of the infringing content. However, Bilibili’s legal team wanted the platform to go further, by handing over “any and all personal information” it holds on the individuals in question, including IP and email addresses, telephone numbers, browsing history, plus upload and download records.

What happened next isn’t clear but it seems likely that Github refused to comply with Bilibili’s demands in the absence of a legal document compelling it to cooperate. That probably being the case, this week Bilibili requested a DMCA subpoena at a San Francisco federal court to unmask the Github users.

It is not yet clear whether Github has already handed over the personal details of the alleged infringers but Bilibili is talking tough. Earlier documentation suggests that the company was preparing a report so that police in Shangai could “stop, investigate and punish the suspected crime immediately.”

Given that the company has used the DMCA to obtain Github users’ identities, it will be interesting to see if it actually pursues a copyright claim in the US or whether the DMCA subpoena route is simply an easy way to get things started in other areas of law.

The documents referenced above can be found here 1,2,3,4 (pdf)

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Donald Trump: US-Chiphersteller dürfen Huawei wieder beliefern

Fortschritt im Handelskrieg zwischen den USA und China: US-Präsident Donald Trump hat in einem Gespräch mit Chinas Staatschef Xi Jinping zugesagt, dass Huawei wieder Chips und andere Technik aus den USA beziehen kann. (Huawei, Smartphone)

Florida LAN: Someone clicks link, again, giving Key Biscayne ransomware

“Triple threat” commodity malware attack seizes computers of yet another Florida town.

Key Biscayne, Florida, is the third Florida local government to get hit by ransomware within a month.

A third Florida local government has reported that it has been struck by ransomware. Key Biscayne joins Lake City as a victim of Ryuk, a form of ransomware first spotted in August of 2018. Ryuk was the final piece of what has been labeled the "Triple Threat' attack, the other two threats being Emotet and Trickbot malware.

While the attack on Riviera Beach, Florida revealed last week was similar—all three cases start with a city employee clicking on an attachment in email and unleashing malware—it's not certain if that attack was also based on Ryuk.

Ryuk is targeted ransomware, originally linked to the North Korean "Lazarus" threat group, but now it appears to have been adopted by non-state criminal ransomware operators as well. It comes with a tailored ransom note that directs victims to contact the attacker via email. It has been known to lay dormant for up to a year before executing.

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New Hobbs and Shaw trailer stars a McLaren 720S and Hobbs’ mom

Can you really fit Jason Statham, the Rock, and Vanessa Kirby into a 720S?

When it comes to action movies, I have a few rules of thumb—one of them concerns the Rock (Dwayne Johnson, not the movie). If he's in a film, odds are high it'll be good even if the starting material is Baywatch or Jumanji. I've got a similar rule about Jason Statham, who in recent years has embraced a similar willingness to engage in a bit of tongue-in-cheek (though 2015's Spy is worth watching solely to see him chew every bit of scenery in sight). Obviously, all this means the summer movie I'm looking forward to above all others is Hobbs and Shaw, the latest installment from the Fast and Furious universe starring both Johnson and Statham. That anticipation has only increased with the release of a third and final trailer on Friday.

Much of the footage in this new trailer has been seen before, but it feels quite different in tone compared to the longer one that dropped in April. The new clip comes across as more light-hearted, and at one point I could swear Statham is channeling his Rick Ford character from the aforementioned Spy. There's a little more of Hobbs' mother (played by Lori Pelenise Tuisano), too, who reacts with glee to her son's plan to stop Brixton, Idris Elba's evil villain.

Supercars don't come much better than the McLaren 720S. [credit: YouTube/Universal Pictures ]

We also get to see a little more of the McLaren 720S chase through the streets of London. As with previous movies in the franchise, the key to enjoying it is to mentally wall off the well, actually region of your brain. For example: modern-day supercars don't get much better the 720S, but I've driven that car. It has exactly two seats, and they place driver and passenger closer together than probably any other car you can buy. I only bring this up because Johnson is, well, massive. And Statham is not exactly waif-like. So I'm trying not to think too hard about how the two of them and Vanessa Kirby, who plays Shaw's sister Hattie, all manage to fit inside as the trio are pursued by some futuristic motorcycles.

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‘Pirate’ IPTV Service Simply-TV Responds to DISH Lawsuit

Simply-TV, a recently-defunct ‘pirate’ IPTV service, is being sued in the United States by broadcaster provider DISH Network. In a recent response to the complaint, the alleged operators of the service – which bears a close resemblance to the also defunct SETTV – accept some but not all of the allegations filed against them.

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In 2018, DISH Network and encryption partner NagraStar sued several individuals, companies and trusts collectively doing business as SETTV.

As part of its $20 per month IPTV package, SETTV offered numerous TV channels that had been obtained from DISH’s satellite service. These were subsequently retransmitted without authorization on the SETTV streaming service.

Last November, DISH’s lawsuit came to an end, with SETTV’s operators ordered by a Florida court to pay a settlement of $90 million in statutory damages. However, the fight against similar – if not identical services – was not over.

In March 2019, DISH and NagraStar filed another lawsuit in Florida, this time targeting several individuals and companies collectively doing business as Simply-TV, a $20 per month service which several users have described as having many similarities to SETTV.

“Defendants created a pirate streaming television service they have branded ‘Simply-TV’. Defendants sell Device Codes and Android TV Boxes designed to enable access to the Simply-TV pirate streaming service, which includes numerous television channels that were received without authorization from DISH’s satellite service and were subsequently retransmitted without authorization on the Simply-TV pirate streaming service,” the complaint reads.

DISH goes on to suggest that the business model cascades down, with Simply-TV’s operators working together with people who receive the company’s channels without permission and Simply-TV re-selling service to others. A so-called “Master Reseller Program” allowed resellers to resell the service, complete with their own branding and pricing structure.

DISH’s claims against those allegedly behind Simply-TV are made under the Federal Communications Act, specifically 47 U.S.C. § 605(a) and 47 U.S.C. § 605(e)(4) which relate to illegal reception/retransmission and selling devices which facilitate access to DISH’s satellite programming.

While Simply-TV disappeared earlier this year, DISH requested a permanent injunction against the service and the supply of infringing devices. In addition to considerable damages, DISH also asked permission to take possession of and destroy all “devices, subscriptions, applications, and device codes, as well as all streaming devices, technologies, tools, software, products, components, or parts thereof” related to the service.

On March 20, 2019, the court issued a temporary restraining order but following a no-show by the defendants at an April 4, 2019 hearing, the court converted that order to a comprehensive preliminary injunction which not only covered Simply-TV, but all those in “active concert or participation with them” including affiliates and resellers.

At the end of May the alleged operators of Simply-TV, named as Peter Liberatore and Brandon Wells, filed a response to the DISH complaint. The pair, who are representing themselves, admitted that subscriptions to Simply-TV were sold through various websites.

They also admitted that some of the content provided by Simply-TV originated from DISH and acknowledged that the service had not obtained “explicit authorization” from the broadcast provider.

It was further admitted that Droid Technology LLC, a company allegedly founded by “some or all” of the defendants according to DISH, provided tools for consuming Simply-TV on various devices. It was also accepted that Droid used the previously-mentioned affiliate programs to attract business to Simply-TV.

How the case will progress from here is open to interpretation but if the SETTV judgment is any barometer, things could start to get pretty expensive.

The complaint can be viewed here, preliminary injunction here, response here (pdf)

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