Month: June 2021

HBO Max now offers a (partially) ad-supported service tier

If you’re willing to watch some ads, you can knock $5/mo off your service cost.

The entrance to a drive-in theater has been manipulated to include promotional posters for current HBO offerings.

Enlarge / If you want Warner Bros. same-day movie premieres, you'll need to stick to the original $15/mo plan—the new ad-supported plan won't offer them. (credit: Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images)

Wednesday morning, HBO Max rolled out a new, partially ad-supported service plan. Consumers can now choose between the original ad-free plan at $15 per month or the new, ad-supported plan at $10 per month—the breakdown is similar to Hulu (no ads) versus Hulu (with ads), at $12/mo and $6/mo, respectively.

HBO Max customers (new or existing) can also prepay for additional savings. Paying upfront gets you a year of service for the cost of 10 months at the monthly rate—$150/yr for ad-free or $100/yr for ad-supported.

The new ad-supported tier offers the same content as the ad-free tier, with the exception of Warner Brothers same-day premiere films. The ad-supported plans also do not offer resolution higher than 1080p or the ability to download content for offline viewing.

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After months of drama, Minecraft speedrunner Dream admits he used mods

Dream says he “didn’t have any intention of cheating” in controversial speedruns.

The bartering Piglin that were at the heart of Dream's <em>Minecraft</em> cheating drama.

Enlarge / The bartering Piglin that were at the heart of Dream's Minecraft cheating drama.

For months now, popular Minecraft streamer Dream has insisted there was nothing fishy about six "Any% Random Seed" speedruns he streamed last October, despite evidence to the contrary presented by the moderators of clearinghouse Speedrun.com. Over the weekend, though, Dream said in a message posted to Pastebin that he had "actually been using a disallowed modification during ~6 of my live streams on Twitch" while maintaining that he "didn't have any intention of cheating."

The admission seems to finally put to rest months of drama and dueling accusations between Dream and the mods, settling an argument that relied on complex mathematics to prove that Dream's runs were vanishingly unlikely to be the result of random chance alone.

The math

To understand the accusations at play here, first you have to understand just how much of a role luck plays in a top-level Any% speedrun of Minecraft and how ridiculously lucky Dream was in the streamed runs in question.

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Daily Deals (6-02-2021)

Amazon has announced that its annual Prime Day sale will take place on June 21 and 22 this year, with discounts on 2 million products across many different categories. But some deals are already live for folks with an Amazon Prime membership. Subscrib…

Amazon has announced that its annual Prime Day sale will take place on June 21 and 22 this year, with discounts on 2 million products across many different categories. But some deals are already live for folks with an Amazon Prime membership. Subscribers can score a free copy of Battlefield 4, save money on a […]

The post Daily Deals (6-02-2021) appeared first on Liliputing.

Mangamura Operator Handed Three-Year Prison Sentence, $650K in Fines

The former operator of Mangamura, a now-defunct site blamed for causing billions of dollars in losses to the Japanese manga industry, has been sentenced in Japan. Romi Hoshino, 29, was sentenced by the Fukuoka District Court to three years in prison and fines in excess of US$650,000.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Romi HoshinoAfter being founded in 2016, pirate site Mangamura was said to have caused huge damage to the local manga industry.

According to Japan-based anti-piracy group CODA, in just two years Mangamura caused around $2.91 billion in losses but in April 2018 the show came to an abrupt end.

Just days after the government in Japan announced emergency websites blocking measures against several sites, including Mangamura, the download platform shut itself down. At the time the move appeared to be voluntary but serious developments were taking place behind the scenes.

It transpired that a criminal investigation was underway into the Mangamura’s activities, which eventually led to the arrest of the site’s operator, Romi Hoshino, in Manilla.

Hoshino was later deported to Japan where he was arrested by the authorities in advance of a criminal trial. Close to two years later, Hoshino has now discovered his fate.

Three Years in Prison, Heavy Fine

On Wednesday at the Fukuoka District Court, Hoshino is reported to have appeared all in black and sporting a ‘buzz cut’. Nikkei notes that he maintained the same expression throughout as Judge Hiroshi Kamihara handed down a guilty verdict.

According to the Court, the 29-year-old breached copyright law and concealed the criminal proceeds from Mangamura by depositing them into a foreign bank account.

Judge Kamihara sentenced Hoshino to three years in prison and fined him 10 million yen (US$91,146). The Judge also levied an additional fine of 62 million yen (US$565,105), an amount equal to the advertising revenue earned from Mangamura between December 2016 and November 2017 and banked overseas.

Justifying the sentence, the Judge noted that the punishment handed down was appropriate given the scale of the offending and the implications of allowing piracy to run away unhindered.

“There is a risk of destroying the profit structure of copyrighted works from the ground up and hindering the development of culture. It is highly illegal,” he said.

Publisher Shueisha Welcomes The Sentence

After the decision was handed down, a spokesperson for publisher Shueisha welcomed the sentence and expressed hope that it would deter others.

“If a work created with heart and soul is released for free, it will damage the soil where interesting works are born. The prison sentence is appropriate. We expect it will have a deterrent effect,” the company said.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Eusanat/Schott: Konkurrent lehnt Starlink-Förderung in Deutschland ab

Die Förderung für Starlink und andere Satelliteninternet-Anbieter sei vom Bundesverkehrsministerium falsch aufgelegt worden. Statt 200.000 Haushalten komme dies nur bis zu 3.000 Haushalten zugute, sagt Eusanat. (Starlink, Satelliteninternet)

Die Förderung für Starlink und andere Satelliteninternet-Anbieter sei vom Bundesverkehrsministerium falsch aufgelegt worden. Statt 200.000 Haushalten komme dies nur bis zu 3.000 Haushalten zugute, sagt Eusanat. (Starlink, Satelliteninternet)

Asus Fanless Chromebox with Intel Comet Lake now available for $399 and up

The Asus Fanless Chromebox is a small computer that measures about 8.1″ x 5.8″ x 1.3″ and, as the name suggests, it’s a fanless computer that runs Google’s Chrome operating system. First announced in January, the FanlessT…

The Asus Fanless Chromebox is a small computer that measures about 8.1″ x 5.8″ x 1.3″ and, as the name suggests, it’s a fanless computer that runs Google’s Chrome operating system. First announced in January, the FanlessTech noticed that the Asus Fanless Chromebox is now available for purchase for around $399 and up. While that […]

The post Asus Fanless Chromebox with Intel Comet Lake now available for $399 and up appeared first on Liliputing.

Asus Fanless Chromebox with Intel Comet Lake now available for $399 and up

The Asus Fanless Chromebox is a small computer that measures about 8.1″ x 5.8″ x 1.3″ and, as the name suggests, it’s a fanless computer that runs Google’s Chrome operating system. First announced in January, the FanlessT…

The Asus Fanless Chromebox is a small computer that measures about 8.1″ x 5.8″ x 1.3″ and, as the name suggests, it’s a fanless computer that runs Google’s Chrome operating system. First announced in January, the FanlessTech noticed that the Asus Fanless Chromebox is now available for purchase for around $399 and up. While that […]

The post Asus Fanless Chromebox with Intel Comet Lake now available for $399 and up appeared first on Liliputing.

Amazon Prime Day 2021 runs June 21-22, and a few deals are already live

The two-day sale event is back to its midsummer timeframe, on the heels of an announced MGM acquisition.

Amazon Prime Day 2021 runs June 21-22, and a few deals are already live

Enlarge (credit: Amazon)

Amazon Prime Day, the mega-retailer’s two-day shopping event featuring discounts on everything from clothes to 4K TVs, laptops, blenders, air fryers, and Instant Pots, is set for June 21st and 22nd. The event serves up deals for members of Amazon’s Prime service and typically takes place mid-summer. It was postponed until October last year due to the ongoing pandemic.

Meant to drive sales and Prime membership sign-ups, Prime Day puts a major tentpole event on the calendar during the typically slower time of year for online retail. It’s not uncommon to find deals from competitors during this time as well. This year, customers not subscribed to Prime may have a bit more incentive to sign up, as the recently announced acquisition of MGM should bolster Amazon Prime’s media library.

Every Prime Day comes with some level of controversy surrounding the retail giant, be it worker strikes held across the world on various Prime Days or Amazon's questionable and illegal treatment of workers, aggressive union-busting tactics, and downright antagonistic behavior. CEO Jeff Bezos, Forbes 2021's richest person in the world, has also faced sharp criticism from activists and politicians.

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