Month: February 2023

Two Call of Duty Cheaters Settle For Millions, Judge Issues Warning to Others

An Activision lawsuit alleging copyright infringement offenses against a group of alleged cheat makers and distributors continues to be eventful. The list of named defendants has grown recently, with the majority believed to reside outside the United States. For two of those defendants, an exit from the lawsuit seems imminent, due to settlement agreements worth a combined $3 million.

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

cod warzoneCheating in computer games has existed almost as long as gaming itself. The difference today is that single-player games have mostly given way to multiplayer experiences featuring human competition.

Poking around in 8-bit gaming code was something enjoyed in isolation. Deploying a commercial cheating product to ensure ‘victory’ in a multi-player environment is something else entirely.

Activision vs. Call of Duty Cheat-Makers

Activision is among several companies leveraging copyright law to send a message to cheat-makers. A lawsuit filed early January 2022 in the U.S. targets German companies EngineOwning UG and CMN Holdings S.A, plus a growing list of both named and yet-to-be-identified defendants.

EngineOwning UG and ten named defendants filed a 53-page motion to dismiss last month, characterizing the lawsuit as a battle between a $50 billion dollar company and mostly overseas defendants with limited resources to fight back. Two of those defendants, EngineOwning UG and Valentin Rick, are already being sued by Activision in a similar lawsuit in Germany.

In broad terms, appeals to dismiss the U.S. lawsuit center on Activision’s decision to sue foreign defendants, with limited ties to the United States, in a California court. Germany would be a more appropriate and ultimately more practical venue, the motion argues.

engineowning1

Germany has competent courts, meaning the defendants wouldn’t have to incur huge costs to defend the same actions thousands of miles away. And since Activision has offices in Germany, a local proceeding shouldn’t be a burden for the plaintiffs either, the defendants insist.

A decision in the German case is expected to arrive soon and according to the defendants, it will be resolved “one way or another.”

Two Defendants Decide to Settle

With the prospect of potentially prolonged legal action ahead, two of the named defendants in the United States action have reached agreements with Activision.

In two separate filings dated February 14, Activision and defendants Ignacio Gayduchenko and Manuel Santiago request entry of consent judgments to bring their respective matters to an end.

In broad terms, both defendants have agreed to permanently cease and desist from knowingly or intentionally performing any of the activities detailed in a comprehensive list. The image below contains a small sample.

acti-stipulation

The agreements are customized based on details specific to each individual, their alleged role and other circumstances, but the overall message is extremely clear: stay away from cheat-related behaviors connected in any way to Activision’s business or face the consequences.

Gayduchenko agrees that judgment shall be entered against him “in the amount of two million dollars ($2,000,000), to be due and payable solely pursuant to the terms set forth in the Parties’ Confidential Settlement Agreement and Release.” Manuel Santiago agreed to the same terms but just half of the money – $1,000,000.

“The Parties irrevocably and fully waive any and all rights to appeal this Judgment and Permanent Injunction, to have it vacated or set aside, to seek or obtain a new trial thereon or otherwise to attack in any way, directly or collaterally, its validity or enforceability,” both documents continue.

“Nothing contained in this Judgment and Permanent Injunction shall limit the right of the Parties to seek relief including, without limitation, damages for any and all infringements of any Intellectual Property rights or for violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA occurring after the date of this
Judgment and Permanent Injunction.”

Entry of these judgments and permanent injunctions require the judge’s signature, but for defendant Katerina Disdle, things are more straightforward. On February 10, Activision voluntarily dismissed her from the case. The reasons for that are unknown but since the dismissal is without prejudice, Activision has left the door open for further action, if that’s ever required.

Judge Warns Remaining Defendants

When regular people represent themselves in complex legal battles against rich opposition and then win, people make movies about them. The other cases where most lose? Not so much.

A self-representation order placed on file by District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald notes that one or more defendants in this matter intend to appear without an attorney. That’s completely within their rights but since proceeding pro se has significant risks, a few should be pointed out.

“Generally speaking, non-attorney litigants are less like to be victorious than those assisted by counsel. The opposing party may have a lawyer, and that lawyer’s duty is to achieve victory for his or her client. He or she will take every step legally permissible to that end,” the Judge warns.

“The Court is a neutral adjudicator of the law. The role of the judge is to resolve disputes arising between the parties in accordance with the law. As such, the judge cannot assist you, cannot answer your legal questions, and cannot take sides in the dispute, nor can any members of the judge’s staff.”

Simply stated, when you elect to proceed pro se, you are on your own and become personally responsible for litigating your action in accordance with the rules. You must become familiar with these rules. You will be held to the same standards as a lawyer as far as complying with the Court procedures and the rules and regulations of the court system

The next few pages in the order cover some of the basics (pdf) but since much more is required, additional defendants may be persuaded to settle.

The proposed joint stipulations and voluntary dismissal can be found here (1,2,3, pdf)

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

Luft oder Wasser: Wie viel Kühlung braucht mein Prozessor?

Mit der aktuellen CPU-Generation ist die Leistungsaufnahme erneut gestiegen. Wir schauen uns an, wann sich ein Umstieg auf einen leistungsfähigeren Kühler lohnt. Ein Ratgebertext von Martin Böckmann (Kühlung, Lüfter)

Mit der aktuellen CPU-Generation ist die Leistungsaufnahme erneut gestiegen. Wir schauen uns an, wann sich ein Umstieg auf einen leistungsfähigeren Kühler lohnt. Ein Ratgebertext von Martin Böckmann (Kühlung, Lüfter)

Meta develops an AI language bot that can use external software tools

With Toolformer, an LLM can improve its abilities by calling APIs to external programs.

An artist's impression of a robot hand using a desktop calculator.

Enlarge / An artist's impression of a robot hand using a desktop calculator. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

Language models like ChatGPT have revolutionized the field of natural language processing, but they still struggle with some basic tasks such as arithmetic and fact-checking. Last Thursday, researchers from Meta revealed Toolformer, an AI language model that can teach itself to use external tools such as search engines, calculators, and calendars without sacrificing its core language modeling abilities.

The key to Toolformer is that it can use APIs (application programming interfaces), which are a set of protocols that allow different applications to communicate with one another, often in a seamless and automated manner. During training, researchers gave Toolformer a small set of human-written examples demonstrating how each API is used and then allowed it to annotate a large language modeling dataset with potential API calls. It did this in a "self-supervised" way, meaning that it could learn without needing explicit human guidance.

The model learned to predict each text-based API call as if they were any other form of text. When in operation—generating text as the result of a human input—it can insert the calls when needed. Moreover, Toolformer can "decide" for itself which tool to use for the proper context and how to use it.

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Archaeologists found evidence of trepanation on medieval woman’s skull

Why she was subjected to such a risky invasive surgical procedure remains a mystery.

close up images of skull with arrows showing tool marks

Enlarge / This skull of a 50-year-old-ish medieval woman, circa 6th to 8th century, shows evidence of trepanation. (credit: I. Micarelli et al., 2023)

Scientists analyzed the skull of a medieval woman who once lived in central Italy and found evidence that she experienced at least two brain surgeries consistent with the practice of trepanation, according to a recent paper published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. It's one of the few archaeological pieces of evidence of trepanation being performed on early medieval women yet found, although why the woman in question was subjected to such a risky invasive surgical procedure remains speculative.

Archaeologists have found evidence of various examples of primitive surgery dating back several thousand years. For instance, last year, archaeologists excavated a 5,300-year-old skull of an elderly woman (about 65 years old) from a Spanish tomb. They determined that seven cut marks near the left ear canal were strong evidence of a primitive surgical procedure to treat a middle ear infection. The team also identified a flint blade that may have been used as a cauterizing tool. By the 17th century, this was a fairly common procedure to treat acute ear infections, and skulls showing evidence of a mastoidectomy have been found in Croatia (11th century), Italy (18th and 19th centuries), and Copenhagen (19th or early 20th century).

Cranial trepanation—the drilling of a hole in the head—is perhaps the oldest known example of skull surgery and one that is still practiced today, albeit rarely. It typically involves drilling or scraping a hole into the skull to expose the dura mater, the outermost of three layers of connective tissue, called meninges, that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Accidentally piercing that layer could result in infection or damage to the underlying blood vessels. The practice dates back 7,000 to 10,000 years, as evidenced by cave paintings and human remains. During the Middle Ages, trepanation was performed to treat such ailments as seizures and skull fractures.

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