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In a massive blow to Disney's on-going anti-piracy efforts, the much anticipated Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been ripped and uploaded online, nearly two weeks before the retail release date of the disc set.

More than 250,000 people have already downloaded the ripped version (available in a 1.43 GB BRRip, as well as a full 11 GB 1080p version) in the first 12 hours alone, and this number is expected to reach multi-millions in the weeks to come.

With scene release groups now required to supply a photo of the original physical source, the released photos shows the release group, REPLiCA, managed to obtain a retail version of the disc set (physical copies will already be in warehouses, awaiting the end of the release embargo period).

This is the second major piracy blow for the hit Star Wars movie, with camcorded versions of the film being uploaded online only a week after it officially hit theaters in mid December. But unlike that version, there are no issues with the quality of this latest Blu-ray, which, according to comments made in relation to the upload, features 10 out of 10 audio and video quality.

With that said, it is unlikely that this leak will have a huge impact on Blu-ray sales (which is still expected to break all records), with many fans likely to both (illegally) download and to buy when the Blu-ray hits shelves on April 5th, for a movie that most fans regard as the best Star Wars film since the original trilogy.

Update: Apple today posted a new version of the update, build 13E237, to fix the activation problem for all affected devices. It's currently available to download over-the-air or via iTunes.

Original story: Apple has temporarily pulled the iOS 9.3 update for older iDevices following some issues with device activation. On a support page for the update, the company said that affected products could get stuck during the activation phase of the update if users didn't happen to remember their Apple ID passwords.

Devices affected include the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, and 5S; and the iPad 2, third- and fourth-generation Retina iPads, and the iPad Air. Apple's page doesn't mention the iPad Mini or iPod Touch lines, but according to this Twitter account that tracks iOS updates, the iPad Mini and Mini 2, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch are also affected.

Apple has temporarily pulled the iOS 9.3 update for older iDevices following some issues with device activation. On a support page for the update, the company said that affected products could get stuck during the activation phase of the update if users didn't happen to remember their Apple ID passwords.

Devices affected include the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, and 5S; and the iPad 2, third- and fourth-generation Retina iPads, and the iPad Air. Apple's page doesn't mention the iPad Mini or iPod Touch lines, but according to this Twitter account that tracks iOS updates, the iPad Mini, Mini 2, and Mini 3 and the fifth-generation iPod Touch are also affected.

While Apple works on a fix, the company says that you should try to reset your password or disable the Activation Lock feature at iCloud.com or connect the affected device to a computer running iTunes. Apple said in a statement to iMore that it would be posting a fixed version of the update "in the next few days," and we'll update this post when it does.

It all started with a request from the developers of a messaging application to an open-source developer to change the name of a library. It ended with JavaScript developers around the world crying out in frustration as hundreds of projects suddenly stopped working—their code failing because of broken dependencies on modules that a developer removed from the repository over a policy dispute.

At the center of it all is npm, Inc., the Oakland startup behind the largest registry and repository of JavaScript tools and modules. Isaac Schlueter, npm's creator, said that the way the whole thing shook out was a testament to how well open source works—the missing link was replaced by another developer quickly. But many developers are less than elated by the fact that code they've become dependent on can be pulled out from under them without any notice.

The disruption caused by the wholesale unpublishing of code modules by their author Azer Koçulu was repaired in two hours, Schlueter told Ars, as other developers filled in the holes in the repository. The incident is, however, prompting Schlueter and the team at nmp Inc. to take a look at how to prevent one developer from causing so much collateral damage.

VentureBeat has the scoop on another YouTube service: YouTube Connect. Connect would be a livestreaming service which would take on "spur-of-the-moment" live video services like Facebook Live and Twitter's Periscope.

The report says the service would include apps on Android and iOS with "much of the same functionality" as Periscope and Facebook Live. Streaming would be immediate and paired with chat and "tagging" features. There is supposedly even a "news feed" that would list videos from friends and your YouTube subscriptions. Live broadcasts would be saved for later on-demand viewing and would show up on the content creator's YouTube channel.

The new service would be yet another expansion of the YouTube brand and app lineup. Including Connect, YouTube's video empire would be spread across a whopping seven apps: the regular YouTube app, YouTube Gaming, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, YouTube Creator Studio, and YouTube Capture. There is also the umbrella subscription service YouTube Red.

While ongoing scandals and indictments rocked the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) during the 2014 World Cup Tournament in Brazil, there’s one thing the group was likely not guilty of—introducing Zika to the Americas.

The first case of the mosquito-transmitted virus in the Americas was documented in May of 2015 in Brazil. And some researchers had speculated that the large, international crowds of athletes and sports fans that flocked to the game may have unwittingly delivered the virus.

But a new genetic study, published Thursday in Science, suggests that the virus arrived in Brazil between May and December of 2013, well before the tournament. Around that time, the authors noted, Brazil saw a boost in travelers from areas that where then experiencing Zika outbreaks, including French Polynesia and New Caledonia. But, that travel surge was not likely linked to a specific events—sporting or otherwise—the authors emphasized.

Hyundai unveiled a gorgeous new concept car at the New York International Auto Show this week, the Genesis “New York" Concept. It not only hints at future design direction; it will also result in a real car within the next 18 months, according to Hyundai insiders.

Sized in between typical D-segment and E-segment cars (3-series and 5-series BMW sedans, for example), the New York is decidedly not a moonshot that dares to redefine design. Rather, its proportions and form factor follow the well-understood "three-box" convention (a hood, a cabin, and a trunk). But, as with anything worthwhile, the devil’s in the details and we think Hyundai’s beaten the devil.

Hyundai is spinning off its Genesis cars into a new brand—think Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura, or Toyota/Lexus. The Genesis brand currently has but one car production car, the G90, and is aiming for BMW’s M division with its own N division. Judging by the New York Concept, the competition should be on alert.

Researchers have discovered highly stealthy malware that can infect computers not connected to the Internet and leaves no evidence on the computers it compromises.

USB Thief gets its name because it spreads on USB thumb and hard drives and steals huge volumes of data once it has taken hold. Unlike previously discovered USB-born malware, it uses a series of novel techniques to bind itself to its host drive to ensure it can't easily be copied and analyzed. It uses a multi-staged encryption scheme that derives its key from the device ID of the USB drive. A chain of loader files also contains a list of file names that are unique to every instance of the malware. Some of the file names are based on the precise file content and the time the file was created. As a result, the malware won't execute if the files are moved to a drive other than the one chosen by the original developers.

"In addition to the interesting concept of self-protecting multi-stage malware, the (relatively simple) data-stealing payload is very powerful, especially since it does not leave any evidence on the affected computer," Tomáš Gardoň, a malware analyst with antivirus provider Eset, wrote in a blog post published Wednesday. "After the USB is removed, nobody can find out that data was stolen. Also, it would not be difficult to redesign the malware to change from a data-stealing payload to any other malicious payload."

A man in Croydon, England, was arrested for "incitement to racial hatred"—a crime under UK law—after tweeting about accosting a Muslim woman in the street. He demanded an explanation from her for the Brussels attacks, and her response didn't satisfy him. So he took to Twitter to rant about it.

According to The Guardian:

He is understood to be Matthew Doyle, a partner at a south London-based talent and PR agency, who tweeted earlier in the day: “I confronted a Muslim women [sic] yesterday in croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said “Nothing to do with me” a mealy mouthed reply.”

Doyle is not the first Brit to be arrested for this kind of crime on social media. After people reacted negatively to his first tweet, Doyle continued his tirade by tweeting, "Who cares if I insulted some towelhead ?? Really." Before he was arrested, he tweeted, "Thanks all you tweeters for proving I can still do PR."