Month: December 2020

Police “Seize” Pirate IPTV Platform, Prepare to Identify 50,000 Users

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza says it has carried out a “preventative seizure” of a pirate IPTV platform serving in excess of 50,000 users. The action follows an investigation by Sky and football league Serie A. According to reports, the authorities are now working to identify the platform’s subscribers.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. We have some good VPN deals here for the holidays.

IPTVWhile rightsholders and authorities all around the world are working to disrupt pirate IPTV platforms, in 2020 Italian law enforcement entities have been more involved than most.

Every few weeks agencies including the Guardia di Finanza have announced fresh action to try and reduce the use of piracy-enabled set-top devices, often referred to by the term ‘pezzotto’.

New Legal Action Against 50,000-User IPTV Platform

According to an announcement by the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Milan, an operation coordinated by the Public Prosecutor of Milan has resulted in the “preventative seizure” of an IPTV platform through which more than 50,000 users were accessing TV content without permission.

The name of the platform hasn’t been directly released by the authorities but a video claiming to show aspects of ‘Operation: The Net’ shows the URL Webnet.cam (currently down) apparently involved in IPTV.

Considering sports broadcasters are some of the entertainment companies hardest hit by the proliferation of piracy-enabled devices, it is no surprise that the action follows preliminary investigations carried out by Sky Italia and football league Serie A.

These entities filed complaints with the authorities, triggering an investigation by the Milan Economic-Financial Police Unit and the Computer Crimes Team of the local Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Large Pirate IPTV Operation Uncovered

“Subsequent investigations revealed the existence of an interconnected organization, operating in different regions of the national territory, dedicated to the sale and distribution of decoding devices suitable for allowing access to the IPTV encrypted service to enjoy television content, without payment of the applicable fees,” GdF’s statement reads.

GdF IPTV Seizure NoticeGdF IPTV Seized

According to the law enforcement entity, the investigation against the platform was made more complex due to the suspects’ use of VPNs to “anonymize communications”.

Nevertheless, three individuals have now been reported to the prosecutor’s office for breaches of Art. 171 of Italy’s Copyright Law, which for criminal infringements can mean fines and/or imprisonment.

Serie A Welcomes Action, Warns Subscribers

“We are extremely satisfied with the results we are achieving in synergy with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the field of combating audiovisual piracy. The work carried out has completed an operation of great importance,” says Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo.

According to Siervo, after identifying those at the top of the “criminal organization” with the assistance of anti-piracy company Digital Content Protection, attention is now being turned to the people who subscribed to the illegal service.

“It is a further step forward in our daily battle because thanks to the seizure of the database of these criminals, the final users are being identified who will, in turn, be reported and prosecuted with penalties ranging from 2,500 to 25,000 euros,” the Serie A chief warned.

Whether this threat will be carried out at scale will remain to be seen but Italy has already shown a willingness this year to go after pirate IPTV subscribers. In February, the Guardia di Finanza said it had reported 223 subscribers of pirate IPTV services to the judicial authorities.

This latest operation against the 50,000-subscriber platform follows on the heels of two others involving Italian authorities in recent months.

In September, the Guardia di Finanza said that 58 sites and 18 Telegram channels had been blocked for their involvement in pirate IPTV. Then last month, a massive law enforcement operation (“The Perfect Storm”) carried out across Europe reportedly shut down 5,500 servers used to stream pirated TV broadcasts, live sports, and movies to the public.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. We have some good VPN deals here for the holidays.

Der Traum vom automatisierten Transport

Der Lohn für einen Fahrer fällt auch dann an, wenn ein Fahrzeug nur einen Fahrgast befördert. Daher gibt es seit geraumer Zeit das Bestreben, Fahrzeuge möglichst autonom, also ohne Fahrer einsetzen zu können

Der Lohn für einen Fahrer fällt auch dann an, wenn ein Fahrzeug nur einen Fahrgast befördert. Daher gibt es seit geraumer Zeit das Bestreben, Fahrzeuge möglichst autonom, also ohne Fahrer einsetzen zu können

Lilbits: New software for very old phones, more native apps for Macs with M1 chips

Google and Qualcomm may have partnered on an initiative that will make it easier for Android phone makers to release software and security updates for up to four years, but it’s still up to individual companies to decide whether to follow throug…

Google and Qualcomm may have partnered on an initiative that will make it easier for Android phone makers to release software and security updates for up to four years, but it’s still up to individual companies to decide whether to follow through. Meanwhile, independent developers continue to support many phones long after they’ve been abandoned by […]

The post Lilbits: New software for very old phones, more native apps for Macs with M1 chips appeared first on Liliputing.

Apple is allegedly working on a passenger car, breakthrough battery tech

Reuters cites several anonymous sources in this update to Project Titan

An Apple logo has been photoshopped onto an empty road at night.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images)

Apple may start building and selling a car within the next four years. According to Reuters, the vehicle may (or may not) use self-driving technology developed by Apple, and it may (or may not) involve a "breakthrough" battery design that would be cheaper and provide longer range than current technology.

Reuters says that Apple is working on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, which is cheaper than battery cells that use nickel manganese cobalt chemistry. In July of this year, Tesla announced it would switch to this chemistry for Chinese-built Tesla Model 3s by the end of 2020.

Reuters also says that Apple's battery design "bulks up the individual cells in the battery and frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules that hold battery materials."

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Pornhub squarely targeted in bipartisan bill to regulate sex work online

The bill would cause more harms to sex workers than it would fix, critics argue.

Silhouette of person in front of laser-light projection.

Enlarge / Silhouette of person in front of laser-light projection. (credit: Getty | picturegarden)

In the wake of recent allegations against Pornhub and its parent company, Mindgeek, senators from both parties have introduced a new bill that would impose sweeping new regulations on online sites, platforms, and apps that host adult content. Though the bill is meant to prevent exploitation and trafficking, critics argue that the changes would create significant new risks and costs both sex workers and the fewer remaining sites that would then host them.

Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday introduced the Stop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act (PDF), which they described as "groundbreaking legislation that would require all online platforms that host pornography to put in place critical safeguards to protect Americans from sexual exploitation online."

The bill creates sweeping verification guidelines for any site that hosts adult material: any user who uploads material to such a site would have to verify their identity with the site, and every single video posted would have to come with a signed consent form from every individual who appears in the video. All pornography platforms would also be required to disable downloads of videos they host.

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Zero-click iMessage zeroday used to hack the iPhones of 36 journalists

Malicious messages installed spyware that recorded audio and pics and stole passwords.

Promotional image of iPhone.

Enlarge (credit: Apple)

Three dozen journalists had their iPhones hacked in July and August using what at the time was an iMessage zeroday exploit that didn’t require the victims to take any action to be infected, researchers said.

The exploit and the payload it installed were developed and sold by NSO Group, according to a report published Sunday by Citizen Lab, a group at the University of Toronto that researches and exposes hacks on dissidents and journalists. NSO is a maker of offensive hacking tools that has come under fire over the past few years for selling its products to groups and governments with poor human rights records. NSO has disputed some of the conclusions in the Citizen Lab report.

The attacks infected the targets’ phones with Pegasus, an NSO-made implant for both iOS and Android that has a full range of capabilities, including recording both ambient audio and phone conversations, taking pictures, and accessing passwords and stored credentials. The hacks exploited a critical vulnerability in the iMessage app that Apple researchers weren’t aware of at the time. Apple has since fixed the bug with the rollout of iOS 14.

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