The trial against Martin Shkreli is slated to begin next week.
Enlarge/ Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing, smirked his way through a Congressional hearing. (credit: CSPAN)
A pharmaceutical company once owned by Martin Shkreli will pay up to $40 million in a settlement that will also finally end his infamous price-gouging scheme involving the antiparasitic drug Daraprim.
The Federal Trade Commission and its state co-plaintiffs—New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—filed a settlement order this week that will require Vyera Pharmaceuticals (formerly Turing) and its parent company Phoenixus to make Daraprim available to any generic competitor for the cost of making the drug. The companies are also barred from engaging in any scheme resembling the one surrounding Daraprim for 10 years.
The FTC and states alleged that, in 2015, Shkreli and former Vyera CEO Kevin Mulleady abruptly jacked up the price of Daraprim by more than 4,000 percent—raising the list price from $17.50 to $750 per tablet—after they bought the rights to the drug and created a "web of anticompetitive restrictions to box out the competition."
Pirelli tells us about next year’s racing rubber—and why that rubber is in F1.
Enlarge/ On the left, a 2021-spec 13-inch Formula One tire. To its right, a 2022-spec 18-inch F1 tire. (credit: Steven Tee / LAT Images)
Formula One goes to Abu Dhabi this weekend. When the checkered flag waves and the fireworks fly on Sunday night, a thrilling season will end with either Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen emerging as this year's champion.
But the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix doesn't just mean the end of an exciting year of racing—it also marks the end of an era as the sport prepares for a radical change to its tires. For decades, F1 cars have run on 13-inch wheels, wrapped in tires with high-profile sidewalls. But as part of 2022's radical technical shakeup, the sport is now joining much of the rest of the racing world as it adopts 18-inch wheels and new, low-profile racing rubber.
There was a lot of freedom in wheel size and choice for F1's first few decades, which might shock those accustomed to the current sport's rigid and prescriptive rulebook. The move to standard 13-inch wheels happened in the 1980s at a time when 13-inch wheels were still often fitted to road cars—albeit smaller, cheaper ones.
Oppo may be the next company to introduce a foldable phone, and it looks… kind of familiar. Meanwhile, folks who installed the new Android 12 update on the OnePlus 9 may be experiencing issues and there’s a fix… it’s just not an attractive one. And the RISC-V Summit has drawn to a close, but this […]
Oppo may be the next company to introduce a foldable phone, and it looks… kind of familiar. Meanwhile, folks who installed the new Android 12 update on the OnePlus 9 may be experiencing issues and there’s a fix… it’s just not an attractive one.
Oppo Find N will be a foldable phone in the mold of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, with a cover display when folded and a larger interior screen when unfolded. More details coming Dec 15.
Three years after launching, the Epic Games Store now has a shopping cart. In other words, instead of buying one game at a time, you can add multiple titles to your cart and pay for them all at once during checkout.
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for — a way to buy multiple items on the Epic Games Store… at the same time
We know, we know. But hey! It’s finally here! And with the holidays just around the corner? Trust us, you’re gonna want a cart.
OnePlus released an Android 12 update for the OnePlus 9 this week. It’s also the first major release of OxygenOS since it was merged with the Chinese ColorOS. That’s caused all sorts of bugs. But there’s a (problematic) solution: factory reset your phone.
SiFive Essential 6-series chips are mid-range RISC-V processors, including the U64 single-core Linux-compatible application processor as well as a quad-core U64-MC variant.
A 2nd-gen XiangShan RISC-V processor is coming in 2022. Code-named Nanhu, it’s expected to be a 14nm chip with up to two out-of-order CPU cores at speeds up to 2 GHz.
Microsoft releases Performance Tools for Linux and Android, an open source set of tools for trace processing system calls, CPU sampling and scheduling, and more. It’s based on open source .NET Core.
PocketVM app will bring virtual machine support to smartphones running Ubuntu Touch. It’s a Qemu front-end for opening ISO images with support for setting RAM, CPU, and hard drive configurations.
Unfortunately, even though it will run on real hardware, the initial Android 12L beta's support list won't actually allow many people to try its new features. It's available for the Pixel 3a, 4a, 5a, 4, and 5, but "you won't see the large screen features on smaller screens." And the only tablet it will run on is the Lenovo Tab P12 Pro, a relatively expensive and hard-to-find device. You could, however, also roll the dice with the Generic System Image (GSI) for other recent Android tablets. As with the dev build, Google suggests that the best place to try the large-screen features of Android 12L is in the Android emulator.
Android 12L and apps optimized for it should take better advantage of devices with large screens, whether they're tablets, foldable phones, or laptops. Google has implemented a new interface for split-screen multitasking and has published guidelines for developing multicolumn apps that make better use of large screens, rather than the huge amounts of unused whitespace you currently get when you run a phone-sized app on a tablet-sized screen.
Strike Fund to support work stoppage raises over $100,000 in 12 hours.
Enlarge/ Striking employees demand the reinstatement of Raven Software QA contractors who were let go last month in a photo posted Wednesday. (credit: A Better ABK)
A group of Activision Blizzard workers calling itself A Better ABK Workers Alliance announced its members are taking part in an open-ended strike "until demands are met and worker representation is finally given a place within the company."
"We encourage our peers in the Game Industry to stand with us in creating lasting change," the worker group tweeted Thursday morning.
A Better ABK has helped organize two previous employee walkouts to protest widespread reports of harassment and gender discrimination at the company (which have led to multiplelawsuits and executive departures). But those walkouts were time-limited efforts to send a message that employees were unhappy with the company's management direction in general and the leadership of CEO Bobby Kotick in particular.
Director Guy Ritchie looks to be channeling that winning Gentlemen energy in new film.
Director Guy Ritchie is back with the action comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, starring Jason Statham.
Jason Statham is back doing what he does best—cracking heads while cracking wise as a badass globetrotting super spy—in a new trailer for director Guy Ritchie's latest comedy action film, Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre.
Ritchie made his name with early breakout hits Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), both showcasing his distinctively bold, quick-cutting style to best advantage. Those were also breakthrough films for Statham, who has since become one of the world's most bankable action stars. Alas, Ritchie hit a slump starting with 2002's Swept Away, starring then-wife Madonna, which bombed both critically and at the box office. (It has an aggregate 5 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and won five Golden Raspberry awards.)
Fortunately, the director found his box office mojo again with 2009's Sherlock Holmes and the 2011 sequel, A Game of Shadows, as well as Disney's live-action Aladdin (2019), which grossed over $1 billion globally despite mixed reviews. And that classic Ritchie magic was back in full force by 2020's The Gentlemen, which was released right before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a global lockdown. It nonetheless managed to gross a respectable $115 million worldwide against its $22 million budget.
The Chuwi FreeBook is a 3 pound convertible notebook with a 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel touchscreen display featuring a 3:2 aspect ratio, support for pen input, and a 360-degree hinge that allows you to flip the screen back and hold the computer like a tablet. With a 6-watt Intel Celeron N5100 Jasper Lake […]
The Chuwi FreeBook is a 3 pound convertible notebook with a 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel touchscreen display featuring a 3:2 aspect ratio, support for pen input, and a 360-degree hinge that allows you to flip the screen back and hold the computer like a tablet.
With a 6-watt Intel Celeron N5100 Jasper Lake processor under the hood, the Chuwi FreeBook isn’t exactly a speed demon. But it’s a portable convertible laptop with a fanless design for silent operation. First announced earlier this month, the Chuwi FreeBook is now available for pre-order for $550.
That price covers the cost of the laptop itself, but you can also pay an extra $30 to get a Chuwi HiPen H7 stylus.
Chuwi says pre-sales end on December 31, after which the price will go up by $50. The FreeBook should begin shipping to customers in early January, 2022.
At the heart of the computer is Intel’s Celeron N5100 processor, which is a 6-watt processor with 4 cores, 4 threads, a 1.1 GHz base clock speed and support for burst frequencies up to 2.8 GHz. The chip also features Intel UHD graphics with
The computer also has 8GB of dual channel LPDDR4 memory and a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD with support for read and write speeds up to 1318MB/s and 762 MB/s, respectively.
Other features include quad speakers, an aluminum alloy chassis, a 38 Wh battery, and Windows 11 software. The FreeBook supports WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.
The laptop has three USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headset jack, and the company says each USB-C port is “full-featured,” which means you should be able to plug the 12V/2A power adapter into any port to charge the notebook and use any port to connect an external display or other peripherals.
The Chuwi FreeBook measures 301.4 x 267.4 x 17.2mm (11.9″ x 10.5″ x 0.7″) and weighs 1360 grams (about 3 pounds).
This article was originally published December 9, 2021 and last updated December 22, 2021.
The Intel NUC 11 Performance, also known by the code name Panther Canyon, is a small form-factor desktop computer with support for up to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake processor. First announced in January, the computer was never widely available: initially having only launched in the Asia Pacific region, although a limited number of […]
The Intel NUC 11 Performance, also known by the code name Panther Canyon, is a small form-factor desktop computer with support for up to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake processor.
First announced in January, the computer was never widely available: initially having only launched in the Asia Pacific region, although a limited number of units were eventually sold globally. Now Intel is discontinuing some of its Panther Canyon NUC altogether, just months after it launched.
The company has updated the product listings for its Panther Canyon lineup to note that two models have been discontinued: the NUC11PAKi3 and NUC1PAKi7 with 40-watt Intel Core i3-1115G4 and Core i7-1165G7 processors, respectively.
Intel tends to offer NUC computers in two sizes: tall models with room for an optional 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD and short models with just an M.2 slot for solid state storage. These are two of the short models.
That means the only remaining “short” Panther Canyon NUC is the NUC11PAKi5 with a Core i7-1135G7 processor, with a case that measures 4.6″ x 4.4″ x 1.5″. All the other models that are still available (if you can find one) are tall versions that measure about half an inch thicker.
It’s unclear how long Intel will continue to offer the tall models, but I wouldn’t bank on them sticking around for long. The company said supply chain constraints led to the limited launch earlier this year, and the global supply chain backup hasn’t really eased over the course of the year, so it’s unlikely to get easier for Intel to ramp up production of this model.
Instead, it’s more likely that the company will shift its focus to next-gen gear. CES 2022 is just around the corner, and the company has a habit of using the show to unveil next-gen NUC hardware. So it’s likely that we’ll be hearing about NUC systems with 12th-gen Intel Core processors based on Alder Lake architecture soon.
If you don’t want to wait until next year to pick up an NUC though, there are still a few options with 11th-gen chips, including:
Pennsylvania hospitals are running at 110%, while Maine and New York call National Guard.
Enlarge/ A nurse in the ICU looks into a COVID patient's room filled with flowers and balloons at CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (credit: Getty | The Washington Post)
The wave of COVID-19 driven by the hypertransmissible delta variant continues to grow throughout the US, with hospitals in Northeastern and Midwestern states now being crushed by a deluge of patients.
One of Pennsylvania's largest health systems, Geisinger, announced Wednesday that it was overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated patients and running at 110 percent. Geisinger CEO Jaewon Ryu told the Associated Press that he only expects the situation to worsen in the coming weeks as case counts and test positivity numbers continue to rise in the state.
Meanwhile, New York and Maine have deployed members of the National Guard to their health systems overburdened by COVID-19 cases, which are largely in people who are not fully vaccinated.
Manga fans are responding with anger and disbelief after Toei Animation filed 150+ copyright takedowns against Totally Not Mark, decimating his YouTube channel and putting the popular reviewer’s livelihood in jeopardy. As cries of ‘fair use’ echo around the internet, it’s worth highlighting how YouTubers sit on a knife-edge when it comes to Content ID.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
The 634K-subscriber YouTube channel ‘Totally Not Mark’ is in peril this morning after what can be described as a copyright takedown blitz by Japan-based animation company Toei.
Famous for the Dragon Ball and One Piece series, among others, Toei Animation’s products are regularly reviewed in quite remarkable depth and detail by manga fanatic Mark Fitzpatrick, whose channel has in excess of 124 million views. Whether that can continue is up for debate.
“My name is Mark Fitzpatrick and my career is in jeopardy,” a video posted to YouTube begins. “Over the last 24 hours I’ve sat back in disbelief, shock and sorrow as my life’s work has been unfairly ripped away from me.”
Earlier this week Mark received an email saying that 15 of his videos had been copyright claimed by Toei. An hour later the number had grown to 28. By the time he published his latest video, the number of videos taken down by Toei had exceeded 150, a library that represents almost three years’ work.
Quite the surprise considering Mark’s claim that Toei previously approached him to do promotional work for the company.
Cries of ‘Fair Use’
In thousands of social media posts, comments and numerous articles posted since Mark’s announcement, a common theme persists. The reviews taken down by Toei are just that – commentary and criticism – a key factor when determining whether copyrighted content can be legally used under the US doctrine of fair use, without obtaining permission from rightsholders.
Mark feels this should protect his uploads from takedowns.
“I take my job very seriously. Because of this I ensure that both myself and my employees adhere strictly to the fair dealings and fair use policies as outlined by YouTube and within my own country and other countries,” he says.
“I am shocked and appalled that I, someone that tirelessly dedicates himself to a fair use practice has to accept and bend the knee as my life’s work gets obliterated before me by a massive company that clearly has no regard or respect for the rules outlined by YouTube themselves.”
We have no intention of conducting a detailed fair use analysis of Mark’s work and in most cases it’s something that YouTube doesn’t get deeply involved in either. However, the mention of an obviously commercial company relying on others’ copyrighted content to exist is not an element that helps to support a determination of fair use. It doesn’t guarantee failure either but does make success less likely when it comes to a court rendering a decision.
Any decision of that nature would be made under US copyright law but there have been some questions raised in the last few hours of whether Japanese law might need to be considered too, since there is famously no fair use in Japan.
As it happens, however, another ‘law’ is more immediately pertinent in this case – that of YouTube’s Content ID.
Content ID and the Law of YouTube
Processing what happened to Mark this week requires a basic understanding of the Content ID system, the mechanism through which four million claims are ‘settled’ each day on YouTube.
According to data released this week, rightsholders choose to monetize 90% of all Content ID claims, meaning that in exchange for not hitting a channel with a formal copyright complaint, they take the revenue from the targeted videos instead. In Mark’s case, Toei chose to have his videos removed entirely, despite having the ability to region-block if they wanted to. Even considering the lack of fair use in Japan, they could’ve left the content up elsewhere.
Mark believes that Toei didn’t consider the US doctrine of fair use at all, something that entities with access to Content ID should do as per their agreements with the platform. However, since an official copyright complaint hasn’t been filed under the DMCA, at this point copyright law hums along in the background while something much more immediate takes over – the Content ID dispute system.
“If you upload a video containing copyrighted content without the copyright owner’s permission, you could end up with a Content ID claim. The claim will keep you from monetizing the video, even if you only use a few seconds, such as short uses of popular songs,” YouTube explains.
“Automated systems like Content ID can’t decide fair use because it’s a subjective, case-by-case decision that only courts can make. While we can’t decide on fair use or mediate copyright disputes, fair use can still exist on YouTube. If you believe that your video falls under fair use, you can defend your position through the Content ID dispute process.”
The Dispute Process
Firstly, YouTube expressly advises uploaders not to upload any copyrighted content unless it’s absolutely essential to their videos, if they wish to avoid Content ID claims. While the amount of copyrighted content used under fair use can be a defense factor in a legal action, Content ID appears not to differentiate.
Importantly, YouTube’s Content ID and dispute process initially take place under the ‘laws of YouTube’ or, more accurately, contractual agreements, rather than copyright law.
So, in an initial response to the Content ID claims, Mark is not filing DMCA counternotices. Instead, he is having to manually dispute each of the 150+ hits in notices to YouTube and then Toei will get 30 days to respond to each. At this point Toei may release the claims, meaning that the videos and monetization will be restored. That would be the best possible outcome, beyond not claiming the videos in the first place of course.
However, they could reinstate the claims, which means that Mark will have to file an appeal for each yet again and wait another 30 days for a response. Worse still, if Toei chooses not to reinstate the claims, the company could take down the videos via DMCA copyright takedown requests, meaning that Mark could get copyright strikes against his account which could prove terminal under YouTube’s repeat infringer policy.
The Risks of Disputing Content ID Matches
The clear risk is that by disputing a Content ID match, YouTube users like Mark risk their channels receiving a copyright strike and in his case, risking the deletion of his entire account given the number of claims. And, by defaulting to the DMCA, the entire dispute process risks escalation to a courtroom, in this case to fight a fair use lawsuit which he may (or most likely may not) be able to afford.
In advance of that, however, rightsholders like Toei are given the opportunity to grant YouTube users a way out via a ‘scheduled copyright takedown request‘. This means that during the appeal process, a copyright holder can file a pending DMCA takedown notice that can be retracted if the YouTube user withdraws their appeal within seven days.
“By canceling, you’ll prevent the takedown and you won’t get a copyright strike. The Content ID claim will remain active on your video,” YouTube notes.
In Mark’s case, this means that Mark’s videos will stay down. It matters not whether his use was ‘fair’ or whether Toei’s claims under Content ID were valid. The whole process will have been settled in parallel but outside the DMCA process, meaning that any potential defenses are moot.
He will get to keep his channel though but with the majority of content removed it’s arguable what use that channel is good for. And, importantly, there is also the worry that Toei will run out of patience at any point in the process and issue DMCA complaints anyway, effectively ending Mark’s run on YouTube.
“The other day I woke up to 150 claimed videos. Today I woke up to see so many creators large and small standing in solidarity alongside me. I don’t know what will happen with this. But know that this solidarity on its own sends a strong message.”
This raises a serious question: when an obvious promoter of premium content gets treated in the way Mark has, regardless of whether there is a fair use defense or not, is that good or bad for a company like Toei and the sales it appears to be determined to protect?
Content recognition mechanisms often exist to punish pirates yet when they are used in a manner that leaves both promoters and paying fans in despair, surely it’s time to have a meaningful and open conversation about the end goals.
It’s certainly not too late in this case and something particularly positive could be the outcome. The alternative is to have YouTubers shy away from Toei content in its entirety or produce bland reviews that nobody wants to watch.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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