WarCraft III Reforged: Not the flavor of chaos we were hoping for

We tried—seriously—to keep our cool while cataloging this $30 re-release’s woes.

You can practically hear the opening film's orc screaming, "You should seriously reconsider spending $30, you human sacks of filth!"

Enlarge / You can practically hear the opening film's orc screaming, "You should seriously reconsider spending $30, you human sacks of filth!" (credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

The more I look at this week's launch of WarCraft III: Reforged, the more I shake my head. I've grown up playing Blizzard games for a majority of my life, and while I can think of Blizzard game launches with technical issues or critical shoulder-shrugs, I can't recall a retail launch for a product that, quite simply, wasn't finished. WC3:R changes that.

What's more, the uneven and problematic changes to this "reforged" 2002 game come with a bold, new step for Blizzard: the official sunsetting of a classic game's client. The original code base, which has remained roughly 1.3GB in size after an expansion pack launch and years of patches, has been pushed aside. Anyone who already owned an official WC3 license is prompted by Blizzard's default game launcher to download the new 26+ GB version to play online, whether or not they pay an additional $30 for its GBs of "reforged" content.

Worse, between a new Terms of Service requirement and a number of features removed from the previous version, it looks like the game's online ecosystem—the very thing that kept the game afloat for decades and earned a glowing retrospective from us only days ago—may be gone for good. Pardon my English, but, what in the freaking world is going on, Blizzard?

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Gericht: Keine anonymen Prepaid-SIMs in Deutschland

Die Datenerhebung beim Kauf von Prepaid-SIM-Karten verstößt nicht gegen die europäische Grundrechtecharta. Das hat der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte entschieden. Der Kläger rät zum Kauf dänischer oder schwedischer SIM-Karten. (Anonymität, …

Die Datenerhebung beim Kauf von Prepaid-SIM-Karten verstößt nicht gegen die europäische Grundrechtecharta. Das hat der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte entschieden. Der Kläger rät zum Kauf dänischer oder schwedischer SIM-Karten. (Anonymität, Datenschutz)

Google: Chatbot Meena ist fast so überzeugend wie ein echter Mensch

Google arbeitet derzeit an einem neuen Chatbot, der bisherige Programme übertreffen soll. Erste Tests bestätigen zumindest: Meena ist schon fast so überzeugend wie echte Personen. Kein Wunder, denn die Software wurde auf Basis von 341 GByte reinem Text…

Google arbeitet derzeit an einem neuen Chatbot, der bisherige Programme übertreffen soll. Erste Tests bestätigen zumindest: Meena ist schon fast so überzeugend wie echte Personen. Kein Wunder, denn die Software wurde auf Basis von 341 GByte reinem Text trainiert. (Google, KI)

Tetra-Digitalfunknetz: Kritik an Seehofers Forderung nach 450-MHz-Frequenzen

Die Sicherheitsbehörden haben zehn Jahre gebraucht, um ihr Tetra-Digitalfunknetz aufzubauen, das Spitzenwerte von 28,8 KBit/s liefert. Nun soll die Energiewirtschaft die 450-MHz-Frequenzen herausgeben, fordert Innenminister Seehofer. (BMI, Handy)

Die Sicherheitsbehörden haben zehn Jahre gebraucht, um ihr Tetra-Digitalfunknetz aufzubauen, das Spitzenwerte von 28,8 KBit/s liefert. Nun soll die Energiewirtschaft die 450-MHz-Frequenzen herausgeben, fordert Innenminister Seehofer. (BMI, Handy)

Rocket Report: Starlink flies, OneWeb has next mega-constellation launch

“This marks the start of a regular launch campaign during 2020.”

Cartoon rocket superimposed over real rocket launch.

Enlarge / The mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket takes to the skies. (credit: Aurich Lawson/United Launch Alliance)

Welcome to Edition 2.30 of the Rocket Report! We've reached the end of January, and the business of launch has really started to heat up for 2020. Plenty of news this week from the deepening of the low Earth orbit satellite Internet race to quirky stories involving tech journalists and rocket companies. All that, and more, in this week's report.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

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YouTube Copyright Strike Took Down Livestream Before it Even Started

YouTube allows copyright holders to remove videos they deem to be copyright-infringing. However, it turns out that these takedown powers go even further. As it turns out, rightsholders can also remove content before it even exists. That’s what happened to a reporter who had his perfectly legal livestream taken down by Warner Bros. before it even started.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

To protect copyright holders, YouTube uses advanced tools that flag and disable videos which are used without permission.

In addition to this Content-ID system, copyright holders can also submit manual takedown notices to remove infringing content.

Both routes have led to abuse in the past, resulting in takedowns of perfectly legitimate videos. This is particularly worrying for channel owners, as these allegations can potentially lead to multiple copyright strikes after which YouTube removes the entire account.

Over the years we have covered takedown mishaps in great detail. However, this week we learned something new. As it turns out, copyright holders also have the ability to remove content that doesn’t exist yet. A preemptive copyright strike, so to speak.

This unusual takedown strategy was revealed by Matt Binder, a reporter at Mashable who hosts a podcast named DOOMED, which is also live-streamed through YouTube.

Earlier this month, Binder scheduled a show discussing CNN’s Democratic candidates’ debate with progressive activist Jordan Uhl. The show was recorded after the broadcast and in preparation Binder scheduled the podcast’s livestream on YouTube, with “post-Democratic debate” in the title.

Many creators use this scheduling feature to announce their upcoming live streams. What’s new, however, is that Binder’s scheduled stream was removed before it even started. In other words, the content was deemed to be infringing before it existed.

Binder documented the unusual episode on Mashable where he also reveals that the takedown notice was issued on behalf of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which owns CNN.

“The notice informed me that I had received a copyright strike for my scheduled stream,” Binder writes, noting that YouTube immediately restricted his ability to stream content live.

“That one copyright strike was enough to disable livestreaming on my channel for the strike’s three-month duration. If I were to accumulate three strikes, YouTube would just shut down my channel completely, removing all of my content,” Binder adds.

Apparently, Warner Bros. and CNN were monitoring streams that could potentially infringe on their right to broadcast the Democratic candidate’s debate. Based on the title alone, they mistakenly concluded that Binder’s stream was going to be illegal, which it clearly wasn’t.

To correct the mistake Binder protested the takedown notice, hoping that it would be swiftly reversed. However, his first request was denied because it was unclear if he had a valid reason to file a counter-notification.

As a reporter, Binder followed up the story and reached out directly to YouTube, informing the company that he planned to write about the issue. That worked, as the mistake was soon corrected and the copyright strike disappeared as well.

One has to wonder, however, if the average Joe would be able to achieve the same result. In any case, it seems off that copyright holders can claim copyright infringement on content that has yet to be created.

We previously reported that Google search allows rightsholders to remove infringing URLs that are not yet indexed by the search engine. Binder’s case is similar but goes a step further as the allegedly infringing content didn’t exist when the stream was taken down.

YouTube constantly has to balance the interests of its users and those of copyright holders. It’s likely that the option to preemptively strike live streams is used to make it easier to take down scheduled broadcasts of sports games or other time-sensitive major broadcasts.

While this preemptive takedown option may be useful, Binder’s example shows that these powers can also lead to overblocking, which can seriously hurt legitimate content creators.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Influencer: Neue Regeln und Werkzeuge bei Facebook Gaming

Die Influencer auf Facebook Gaming können mit neuen Moderationswerkzeugen wirkungsvoller gegen Trolle sowie gegen Mobbing und Beleidigungen vorgehen. Das soziale Netzwerk hat dabei mit der Fair Play Alliance zusammengearbeitet. (Facebook, Soziales Netz)

Die Influencer auf Facebook Gaming können mit neuen Moderationswerkzeugen wirkungsvoller gegen Trolle sowie gegen Mobbing und Beleidigungen vorgehen. Das soziale Netzwerk hat dabei mit der Fair Play Alliance zusammengearbeitet. (Facebook, Soziales Netz)

5G: Monopolkommission gegen Ausschluss von Huawei

Der Chef der Monopolkommission kritisiert mangelnden Wettbewerb bei der 5G-Mobilfunkausrüstung. Doch als Siemens im Jahr 2013 aus dem Bereich ausstieg, gab es keinen Aufschrei. Ähnlich war es in den USA. (5G, Telekom)

Der Chef der Monopolkommission kritisiert mangelnden Wettbewerb bei der 5G-Mobilfunkausrüstung. Doch als Siemens im Jahr 2013 aus dem Bereich ausstieg, gab es keinen Aufschrei. Ähnlich war es in den USA. (5G, Telekom)

Landwirtschaft: Ohne Daten geht nichts mehr auf dem Acker

5G ist derzeit noch nicht an jeder Milchkanne verfügbar. Das ist schlecht für die Landwirte. Denn in ihrer Branche ist die Digitalisierung schon weit fortgeschritten, sie sind auf Internet auf dem Feld angewiesen. Ein Bericht von Werner Pluta (Technolo…

5G ist derzeit noch nicht an jeder Milchkanne verfügbar. Das ist schlecht für die Landwirte. Denn in ihrer Branche ist die Digitalisierung schon weit fortgeschritten, sie sind auf Internet auf dem Feld angewiesen. Ein Bericht von Werner Pluta (Technologie, Roboter)

Twitter: Elon Musk veröffentlicht neuen Dance-Song

Der Tesla-Chef Elon Musk hat seinen Twitter-Account in E “D” M umbenannt und auch einen neuen Song komponiert. Interessenten können sich das Lied auf Soundcloud anhören. Es ist nicht sein erstes Musikstück. (Elon Musk, Twitter)

Der Tesla-Chef Elon Musk hat seinen Twitter-Account in E "D" M umbenannt und auch einen neuen Song komponiert. Interessenten können sich das Lied auf Soundcloud anhören. Es ist nicht sein erstes Musikstück. (Elon Musk, Twitter)