The Casio WSD-F10 is the first smartwatch from the veteran watch-maker. But the brand name isn’t the only thing that makes it different from most other smartwatches on the market. Casio’s Android Wear-powered smartwatch also features a rugged design and water resistant up to 50 meters. Those features come at a cost: the Casio WSD-F10 is […]
Casio’s rugged Android Wear watch launches for $500 is a post from: Liliputing
The Casio WSD-F10 is the first smartwatch from the veteran watch-maker. But the brand name isn’t the only thing that makes it different from most other smartwatches on the market. Casio’s Android Wear-powered smartwatch also features a rugged design and water resistant up to 50 meters. Those features come at a cost: the Casio WSD-F10 is […]
Casio’s rugged Android Wear watch launches for $500 is a post from: Liliputing
Rate caps halted by judicial stay for the second time this month.
Alcatraz prison. (credit: Krystian Olszanski)
Prison phone companies have convinced a court to halt new rate caps on inmate calling for the second time this month.
The first stay was issued March 7 and prevented the FCC from implementing new rate caps of 11¢ to 22¢ per minute on both interstate and intrastate calls from prisons. But the stay—which remains in place while the prison phone companies' lawsuit against the FCC is still pending—did not disturb an earlier "interim" cap of 21¢ to 25¢ per minute that applied only to interstate calls, those that cross state lines. The order also didn't specifically object to the FCC changing its definition of "inmate calling service" to include both interstate and intrastate calls.
Seizing on this ambiguity, the FCC decided that it could impose the interim caps on both interstate and intrastate calls. But prison phone companies Securus Technologies, Global Tel*Link (GTL), and Telmate all asked the federal appeals court to stop the caps from being applied to intrastate calls. Securus Technologies CEO Richard Smith argued that confusion about the rate caps could cause "chaos and confusion" in prisons, threatening security.
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In a new court filing Google strikes back at the MPAA, who want to keep their lead counsel from testifying at a deposition. According to Google, the Hollywood group can’t invoke its First Amendment privilege to keep its lobbying efforts secret in order to avoid scrutiny or embarrassment.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
In 2014 leaked documents from the Sony hack revealed that the MPAA helped Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood to revive SOPA-like censorship efforts in the United States.
In a retaliatory move Google sued the Attorney General, hoping to find out more about the secret plan. The company also demanded internal communication from the MPAA and its lawfirm Jenner & Block, as well as several movie studios.
More recently Google requested a deposition of MPAA lead counsel Steve Fabrizio, who could possibly provide additional details on the case. These type of interrogations are part of the discovery process, but the MPAA argued that this would violate its First Amendment rights.
According to the MPAA, its involvement with the Attorney General is protected by the First Amendment privilege, which protects associational activity.
However, in a response submitted to a federal court in Mississippi this week, Google strongly disagrees.
“The MPAA’s attempt to invoke the First Amendment privilege to hide its efforts to suborn a public official to attack Google is wholly disingenuous and misunderstands the nature of the privilege itself,” Google writes.
Google points out that there’s is no chilling effect on speech in this case, as the MPAA’s lobbying efforts and anti-piracy focus are already widely known. In addition, they point out that the First Amendment privilege is limited and not applicable in this case.
Instead, the search giant informs the court that the Hollywood group is merely trying to keep its lobbying efforts out of the public eye in order to avoid scrutiny or embarrassment.
“It is simply not enough for the MPAA to claim that its associational rights would be ‘chilled’ because the MPAA would prefer that its covert lobbying efforts remain secret so that it can avoid scrutiny or embarrassment,” Google writes.
“It must actually show consequences which objectively suggest an impact on, or ‘chilling’ of, the members’ associational rights,” they add.
Another crucial point raised by Google is that the First Amendment privilege doesn’t protect lobbying, something the MPAA’s anti-piracy efforts would certainly fall under.
Turning the tables, the search engine argues that it’s the MPAA who are helping the Attorney General to breach Google’s First Amendment rights.
“There is something deeply troubling in the MPAA claiming the First Amendment privilege to shield its role in lobbying Attorney General Hood to threaten Google’s First Amendment rights.
“The MPAA should not be permitted to spend years lobbying a public official to suppress the speech of a business rival and then turn around and hide behind the very rights it was trying to squelch,” Google adds.
Google therefore asks the court to deny the MPAA’s motion to quash and order Mr. Fabrizio to appear at a deposition so he can be heard.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
OnePlus made a name for itself in 2014 by launching a smartphone with top-tier specs and a mid-range price. The 2015 OnePlus 2 hasn’t been as well received as the OnePlus One, but the company followed it up with the launch of a smaller, cheaper OnePlus X phone that people do seem to like… if […]
OnePlus 3 smartphone specs leaked? is a post from: Liliputing
OnePlus made a name for itself in 2014 by launching a smartphone with top-tier specs and a mid-range price. The 2015 OnePlus 2 hasn’t been as well received as the OnePlus One, but the company followed it up with the launch of a smaller, cheaper OnePlus X phone that people do seem to like… if […]
OnePlus 3 smartphone specs leaked? is a post from: Liliputing
This time around, Redmond doesn’t appear to want to buy Yahoo itself.
Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo. (credit: Google+)
In 2008, Microsoft bid almost $45 billion in an attempt to buy Yahoo. That deal fell through, but with Yahoo putting itself on the chopping block and planning to divest its core Internet business, the software giant is once again expressing an interest. This time, the plan is not to buy the whole company but instead to offer financing to the private equity firms that are currently considering bids, according to Kara Swisher at Recode.
Yahoo's market cap is about $32.5 billion, but a hefty portion of this number is made up of investments in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Without these investments, the core Yahoo business is valued at between $6 billion and $8 billion. According to Swisher's sources, the Yahoo board wants $10 billion, an amount it seems unlikely to get.
Activist Yahoo shareholder Starboard Value has criticized the sale process, calling it "too slow" and "fraught with conflicts of interest," and it is trying to have the board replaced. Putative buyers have been critical of the board, with Swisher writing that those she has spoken to have called the process a farce. An unrealistically high valuation is sure to fuel this incredulity.
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The retractable hardtop Miata debuts at the New York International Auto Show.
As inevitable as night following day, the latest generation Miata takes a page from its parents with the new Miata RF ("Retractable Fastback"), employing a folding roof aimed at those who dare to be a bit different.
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Most Chromebooks are basically cheap laptops that run Google’s Chrome OS software rather than Windows or OS X. But not all Chromebooks are cheap. Dell’s Chromebook 13 family includes models with up to 8GB of RAM, up to an Intel Core i5 processor, and prices ranging from $379 to $799. And Google’s latest Chromebook Pixel is a […]
Next-gen Chromebook Pixel with 16GB RAM on the way? is a post from: Liliputing
Most Chromebooks are basically cheap laptops that run Google’s Chrome OS software rather than Windows or OS X. But not all Chromebooks are cheap. Dell’s Chromebook 13 family includes models with up to 8GB of RAM, up to an Intel Core i5 processor, and prices ranging from $379 to $799. And Google’s latest Chromebook Pixel is a […]
Next-gen Chromebook Pixel with 16GB RAM on the way? is a post from: Liliputing
Not one but two supersedans with 600hp, and there’s also a hybrid version too.
NEW YORK—There are a number of new supersedans on display at BMW's stand at the New York International Auto Show this year. For the performance-oriented driver, there are two to choose from, both with mighty 600hp (447kW) engines. One has been tweaked by BMW's M Division; the other is from Alpina, a factory-linked tuning house that has been making fast-but-subtle versions of BMWs for 50 years now. And if your tastes are more "save the planet" than "how fast can I lap the Nürburgring," then good news—there's also a hybrid available.
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Rental store is defunct. Format is obsolete. Movie is bad.
A Concord, North Carolina man has been arrested on suspicion of failing to return a video rented 14 years ago. James Meyers is accused of failing to return a rented tape to a video store that no longer exists, according to local media and his own account on YouTube.
Meyers said he was pulled over Wednesday, allegedly for having a taillight out. A Concord police officer ran a background check, and that's when an outstanding warrant surfaced. The arrest warrant was for Meyers being well over a decade late in returning Freddy Got Fingered, a comedy starring comedian Tom Green.
"He goes, 'Sir, I don’t know how to tell you this, but there’s a warrant for your arrest from 2002. Apparently, you rented a movie Freddy Got Fingered and you never returned it... And we’re here to take you to jail,'" Meyers said of the incident with a Concord police officer.
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Bisher kommt das freie WiFi in Berlin wegen Bürokratie nicht voran. Erst Monate später als angekündigt könnte es losgehen. "Jeder einzelne der 650 Standorte erfordert Vorgespräche vor Ort", betonte der Chef der Betreiberfirma. (