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Enlarge / The Apple Watch Series 2 and some of its bands. (credit: Valentina Palladino)

Every spring, Apple releases a last round of major updates to the current versions of its operating systems before starting work on the new versions it reveals at WWDC in the summer. Last week, Apple put out the first betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4. Today, the company is releasing the first beta of watchOS 3.2 for developers (unlike iOS and macOS, Apple typically doesn't issue public betas for watchOS).

The update introduces two new features, one familiar and one new. The familiar one is SiriKit, the same API that Apple introduced in iOS 10 (and is expanding ever-so-slightly in iOS 10.3). It lets specific kinds of third-party apps tie into Siri, letting you issue commands by voice. Since Siri is the primary input method in watchOS and messaging apps and workout apps are among SiriKit's supported apps, the API seems like a good fit.

The second feature is called "Theater Mode," and as the name implies it's meant to be used while you're out at the movies. Turn it on, and Theater Mode mutes the sound on your watch and keeps the screen from lighting up when you raise your wrist. The watch will continue to buzz as you receive notifications, but you've got to tap the screen or press the Digital Crown to actually use the screen.

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Sony has finally figured out what the rest of us already knew—people just aren’t buying physical media like they used to.

In a Monday statement to investors, the company attributed the “downward revision… to a lowering of previous expectations regarding the home entertainment business, mainly driven by an acceleration of market decline.”

As such, the Japanese corporate giant is taking a $977 million (112.1 billion yen) writedown in its movie business. That's driven in large part by the fact that most of us are watching a lot of movies and TV shows via streaming services these days.

This was the process the Center for Copyright Information employed to detect infringement and to notify customers of participating ISPs. (credit: Center for Copyright Information)

Four years ago, some of the nation's leading ISPs worked in conjunction with the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the White House to roll out what they called the Copyright Alert System. It was deemed an "educational" approach to cut down on online copyright infringement, and it was responsible for sending millions of notices to consumers saying that they were discovered pilfering content online.

That system—which many originally feared would result in people having their Internet cut off—is now officially dead. The CAS, as it was known, didn't have much teeth, and it didn't really result in people losing their Internet access, either. Today, it's no secret that online copyright infringement runs rampant.

The program primarily tried to combat infringement as follows: Internet subscribers could get two notices for "educational" purposes that their accounts had been used to commit infringement. Upon a third and fourth notice, the subscriber was required to respond and acknowledge it. On the fifth and sixth notices, consumers might have their Internet speeds throttled. The plan left it up to the rights holders if they wanted to sue copyright offenders.

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Networked digital video recorders have been harnessed for all sorts of ill intent over the past few months, including use in a botnet that disrupted large swaths of the Internet. But a different sort of malware hit the DVRs used by the District of Columbia’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system just one week before Inauguration Day. The Washington Post reports that 70 percent of the DVR systems used by the surveillance network were infected with ransomware, rendering them inoperable for four days and crippling the city’s ability to monitor public spaces.

The CCTV system, operated by the District’s Metropolitan Police Department and supported by the DC Office of the Technology Officer (OCTO), began to be affected on January 12. Police noticed they could not access video from four DVRs. Washington DC Chief Technology Officer Archana Vemulapalli told the Post that two forms of malware were found on the four systems, and a system-wide sweep discovered additional DVR clusters that were infected.

The infections were limited to the local networks that the DVRs ran on, and this ransomware did not extend to the District’s internal networks. While the investigation is ongoing, the malware likely was able to take over the systems because each site was connected to the public Internet for remote access. Vemulapalli told the paper no ransom was paid and the system was restored to full functionality before Inauguration Day.

Tennessee, which imposes controversial restrictions on local broadband networks, may change its laws to let electric cooperatives offer Internet service. But even with the proposed expansion, Tennessee would still prevent cities and towns from offering retail broadband services outside their borders.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, last week announced legislation that would let private, non-profit electric cooperatives provide broadband. The state has 23 electric co-ops that provide energy to 2.5 million residents, about 37 percent of the Tennessee population.

"Electric cooperatives, currently restricted from providing retail broadband services, are uniquely situated to assist in bridging the broadband accessibility gap with experience serving areas with lower population densities and providing universal service throughout their territories," a bill summary says. The bill would still "prevent electric cooperatives from using electric system assets to subsidize broadband services."