Month: December 2023

Durch einen Bug werden installierte Drucker in Windows einfach in HP-Drucker umbenannt. Microsoft arbeitet nun offiziell an einer Lösung. (Windows 11, Drucker)

Anlässlich des Jubiläums von Doom hat einer seiner Entwickler mit Sigil 2 ein komplett neues Kapitel für den Retro-Shooter veröffentlicht. (Doom, Server)

Italy’s Piracy Shield anti-piracy system reportedly launched last week, albeit in limited fashion.

Whether the platform had any impact on pirate IPTV providers offering the big game last Friday is unclear but plans supporting a full-on assault are pressing ahead.

Technical and Operational Requirements

A new document released by AGCOM describes Piracy Shield as a “single technology platform with automated operation” and elsewhere as a piece of “machine-to-machine platform management software.”

The document goes into some detail on its operational and technical requirements including its stated purpose: Automated handling of reports from rightsholders for the purpose of ensuring timely and effective protection of rights and, specifically, intervention within thirty minutes of the report in accordance with the manner and procedure regulated therein.

Various pieces of information reported last week by local news outlet DDAY.it are confirmed with extra detail. In addition to a roundtable meeting on September 7, 2023, attended by the National Cybersecurity Agency, the Guardia di Finanza, the Postal Police, and representatives of the Ministry of Enterprise, discussions were initiated with search engine providers and, more generally, “information society service providers involved in any capacity in website accessibility of illegal services other than ISPs.”

IPv4 Scarcity and Other Technical Issues

ISP-side user manuals for Piracy Shield were emailed on October 11 and on November 13, AGCOM’s position on various technical issues raised by anti-piracy groups, rightsholders including Serie A and DAZN, and ISPs, were finally clarified.

One item mentioned in more detail concerns IPv4 IP addresses. They are often reported as running out and it appears AGCOM intends to block as many as it needs to.

With reference to two specific issues, pertaining to the alleged and gradual depletion, following the implementation of the blocks, of IPv4 addresses, which constitute a scarce resource, and to the requested refreshments for the costs incurred for the implementations necessary for the operation of the platform, it was clarified that the law does not give the Authority powers in this regard, but that it reserves the right to make a report to the Government in the face of the evidence provided.

Another issue appears to refer to service provider concerns over the volume of domains and/or IP addresses they could be expected to block during the transitional phase leading up to the “full deployment of the platform’s functionalities.”

“In this sense, the indications regarding the maximum number of IPs and FQDNs [fully qualified domains] to be blocked in the thirty minutes and the distinction between theoretical SLA [service-level agreement] and actual SLA aimed at taking into account, at this stage, the limitations represented by some ISPs in terms of the maximum number of tickets to be handled in the thirty minutes should be understood,” the document adds.

All Entities Involved in Accessibility of Pirate Services Must Block

When lawmakers gave Italy’s new blocking regime the green light during the summer, the text made it clear that blocking instructions would not be limited to regular ISPs. The relevant section (Paragraph 5 Art. 2) for reference below;

The document issued by AGCOM acts as a clear reminder of the above and specifically highlights that VPN and DNS providers are no exception.

“[A]ll parties in any capacity involved in the accessibility of illegally disseminated content – and therefore also, by way of example and not limitation – VPN and open DNS service providers, will have to execute the blocks requested by the Authority [AGCOM] including through accreditation to the Piracy Shield platform or otherwise implementing measures that prevent the user from reaching that content,” the notice reads.

Whether the DNS provider requirement will be affected by Cloudflare’s recent win over Sony in Germany is unclear. The decision was grounded in EU law and Cloudflare has already signaled that it will push back against any future blocking demands.

How VPN providers will respond is currently unknown. Demands to block access to certain platforms have been handled differently depending on circumstances and geography.

Some providers previously agreed to limited blocking in the United States as part of settlements in civil actions. When asked to block services in Russia, others simply pulled out. Whether that would prevent their IP addresses from being blocked in Italy seems unlikely.

Search Engines Included Too, Google Appears to Be Playing Ball

The relevant section of the new law is in some ways even more broad when it comes to search engines such as Google. Whether they are directly involved in accessibility or not, they’re still required to take action.

AGCOM suggests that Google understands its obligations and is also prepared to take things further. The company says it will deindex offending platforms from search and also remove their ability to advertise.

“Since this is a dynamic blocking, the search engine therefore undertakes to perform de-indexing of all websites/telematic addresses that are the subject of subsequent reports that can also be communicated by rights holders accredited to the platform,” AGCOM writes.

“Google has shared a procedural mode for the communication of the blocking list, and the Company has also committed to the timely removal of all advertisements that do not comply with the company’s policies, having particular regard to those that invest the promotion of pirate sites referring to protected sporting events.”

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

Die Toyota Financial Services war im November Ziel eines Cyberangriffs geworden. Erste betroffene Kunden haben inzwischen Post erhalten. (Datenleck, Cyberwar)

Apps und Websites, die künstliche Intelligenz einsetzen, um Frauen auf Fotos ungefragt digital auszuziehen, werden immer mehr genutzt. (Deepfake, KI)

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This summer Lenovo began selling a dual-screen laptop called the Yoga Book 9i. In some ways it’s a cheaper alternative to devices with a single large foldable display like the ThinkPad X1 Fold. But with a $2000 starting price, the Yoga Book 9i is still pretty expensive. Enter the SZBOX DS135D. It’s basically a Yoga […]

The post Dual-screen laptop with Intel N100 and 16GB RAM sells for $699 and up appeared first on Liliputing.

A few years ago, Epic Games filed copyright infringement lawsuits against several Fortnite players who allegedly used cheats to gain an unfair advantage.

The legal campaign sent a clear signal to the gaming public that people who try to scam the system can get caught.

Today, these lawsuits have disappeared from the radar and it’s unknown whether the intended goal was achieved. What we do know, however, is that Epic Games is currently dealing with a new ‘scammer’ problem; one that has a copyright angle as well.

Epic Piracy Scam

Over the past several weeks, the developer community at the Epic Games website was overwhelmed with piracy-related scams. The spammers use the forum’s profiles to link to what appear to be pirated movies.

There are thousands of these profiles, promoting the latest blockbusters and music. The example below leverages the movie Napoleon but there are many more besides. Most promote recent titles that are in high demand.

People who click on the links are often disappointed though. They typically point to a page where people can supposedly stream content instantly but after a generic intro, there is a mandatory requirement to sign-up for a “free account” and supply credit card details for ‘validation’ purposes.

Needless to say, sharing credit card details with dodgy sites isn’t a good idea. Aside from the obvious copyright issues, these services rarely offer what they promise. After all, many of the pirated films they advertise are not yet available in high-quality formats.

Need Music? Download This .ZIP File…

The scams aren’t limited to movies either. There are also dodgy profiles that promote music, such as this one which claims to offer access to Jay-Z’s The Black Album.

Following the link brings us to a page that looks somewhat promising. However, the .zip file that people are encouraged to download likely leads to all sorts of trouble.

The goal of these SEO hack strategies is to have these links show up high in search results. A site like Epic Games has a good reputation in search engines, and as a result, the articles promoting these scams are more visible in search results than the average pirate site.

This appears to be an effective strategy, especially since Google began pushing down results from known pirate platforms.

Old Trick, New Target

This practice is not new either. Many other reputable sites, including Facebook, Google Maps, Change.org, Steam, Universities, and even the European Union, have been abused similarly in the past.

Before publishing we alerted Epic Games to the issue and the company is currently investigating the matter and it will respond where needed.

“We are investigating this issue and will take action on accounts that violate the rules of the Epic Developer Community, as well those outlined in our Terms of Service which include requirements for User Contributions,” the company informs us.

These types of scams aren’t a major problem for copyright holders, as they will mostly result in disappointed and frustrated pirates. However, prospective pirates who fall for them may run into malware or get charged for something they didn’t want.

For Epic Games, this scam practice could lead to unexpected problems in the future. Google received several DMCA takedown notices for epicgames.com URLs over the past several weeks which, in theory, makes it a candidate for a downranking penalty.

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

Paris plant, die Parkgebühren für schwere Autos zu erhöhen. Verbrennerfahrzeuge über 1,6 Tonnen und E-Autos über 2 Tonnen sollen künftig 18 Euro pro Stunde zahlen. (Parken, Auto)

Tesla setzt in seiner Gigafactory Berlin zwei autonome Drohnen namens Pathfinder und Opportunity ein, um die Lagerverwaltung zu optimieren. (Gigafactory Berlin, Elektroauto)