China beschuldigt die NSA gezielter Attacken auf kritische Infrastruktur. Seit 2022 soll die NSA das nationale Zeitdienstzentrum ausgespäht haben. (NSA, Server)
Reports that No-IP’s dynamic DNS service had stopped functioning date back more than a week. After blocking the service, Spanish ISPs displayed ‘Error 451’andat least one sent requests to 127.0.0.1. For local internet users, artificial internet disruptions like these are now part of everyday life. They arrive unannounced and disappear a few hours later, usually coinciding with football broadcasts sandwiched in the middle. Those who know who’s responsible for blocking ddns.net only mention a court order. It doesn’t help.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In a legal dispute now at the U.S. Supreme Court, the world’s leading record labels and Cox Communications disagree on many things, including how to respond to online piracy.
The labels’ preferred solution is to sever subscribers’ access to the internet. Cox believes that denying internet access is excessive. The case is much more complex than that as the venue suggests, but one aspect seems clearer when viewed in its own light.
When a person gets caught pirating music online, should everyone in their household be denied access to banking, health care, education, and everything else people need to simply exist? Is collective punishment the right way to satisfy a commercial dispute, between a record company and an ISP, over alleged activity of which the family likely had zero knowledge, and were never in a position to control or prevent?
The proposition above sounds fundamentally unfair, because punishing innocent people is always unfair. Billions of people understand and respect the principle of individual responsibility and violations are quite rightly viewed with contempt.
Yet, some will argue that life is full of unfairness. Inconvenience for a few people is inevitable when solving important copyright disputes involving a lot more money than most people have ever seen.
In Spain, an important copyright dispute and accompanying site-blocking order certainly don’t authorize collective punishment on an unprecedented level. Yet, for several hours, several times each week, local ISPs now block hundreds of Cloudflare IP addresses to prevent access to unidentified pirate streaming services run by unidentified people.
There’s no discrimination; ISP’s deploy blocking measures that affect their own customers, denying access to websites using Cloudflare’s services and any others that also happen to be blocked.
There appears to be no warning and little transparency. ISPs never inform customers of incoming blocking, and it’s not uncommon for questions about suspected blocking to be brushed aside or simply ignored. Fingers invariably point to an unspecified court order, obtained by an unspecified entity, on unspecified grounds. As a solution to their current access problems, the information is totally useless to any customer.
For well over a week, users in Spain have been reporting problems with ddns.net, a dynamic DNS service offered for free by NOIP.com. DDNS.net and similar services offer a solution to an issue affecting anyone with an IP address that periodically changes.
When not at home, for example, gaining access to CCTV cameras might suddenly prove impossible when an ISP allocates a new IP address. Using a service like DDNS.net allows users to associate their IP address with a DDNS.NET subdomain (examplemyaddress@ddns.net) with future IP address updates handled automatically.
Not only are services like these useful, some routers have them built in, so people may be using and benefiting from them without even knowing.
Some users recognized the problem immediately, and with records showing almost 350,000 URLs associated with the ddns.net domain, there’s plenty of scope for disruption.
The above post on X is a fairly typical report with some useful additional detail. It mentions an ISP called Digi, which, instead of returning the correct IP address associated with the user’s DDNS.net subdomain, points it to the 127.0.0.1 loopback address that refers to the user’s current device.
A follow-up post by the same user a day later reveals that blocking actually began on October 8, and despite requesting information from Digi, no explanation had been forthcoming. Another user affected by the issue eventually received a response earlier this week.
While a court order was confirmed as the root issue, refusal to elaborate any further isn’t just common; it’s the standard across all ISPs in Spain. To our knowledge, blocking orders to date haven’t carried any non-disclosure conditions, so in most cases, there’s no legal reason underpinning the lack of transparency.
Confirmation that Digi continues to block at the time of writing is available via the unofficial third-party blocking transparency portal hayahora.futbol.
Current information shows that Digi continues to block the service, but details reported elsewhere show that this wasn’t a lone action.
Local reports state that Movistar displayed Error 451 (Unavailable for Legal Reasons), MásOrange displayed the message “Content blocked at the request of the Competent Authority, communicated to this Operator,” while Vodafone said it could do nothing about the outage: “For reasons beyond Vodafone’s control, this website is unavailable.”
The lack of transparency is pervasive, and the indifference to the problems experienced by subscribers all over Spain is evident every week. People with zero connection to any of the parties involved in blocking disputes continually pay the price, wasting hours finding workarounds to bypass deliberate network blockages that, for no good reason, are shrouded in secrecy.
A user who could no longer access his server using Wireguard reported the problems to his ISP, Digi, on October 13. He was informed that, having looked into it, no issues could be found. That led to an entire thread of potential solutions, including replacing the ISP’s DNS with another service and replacing DDNS.net with a similar service operated by DuckDuckGo.
Tests suggest that the blocking efforts target the DDNS.net domain, but how far the damage goes in respect of subdomains is difficult to determine by users of non-blocking ISPs.
Digi operates at least two public DNS servers, but remote tests yielded no useful information. Fortunately, domain blocking doesn’t appear to be accompanied by IP address blocking, at least in this case. DDNS.net has thousands of subdomains, but if its IP address had been targeted too, the exponential scale of the fallout could’ve been extraordinary.
The situation in Spain has no parallel in Europe. Blocking is expanding elsewhere, including in the UK, most recently to protect a company behind several well-known weight loss drugs. However, avoidable collateral damage on this scale has never happened.
That it takes place in a member state of the increasingly heavily regulated European Union remains completely unfathomable.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
MINISFORUM has made a name for itself by selling mini PCs that combine the processing power of a good laptop with more ports and expansion options than you’d typically get from a notebook computer. But in recent years some of the company’s …
MINISFORUM has made a name for itself by selling mini PCs that combine the processing power of a good laptop with more ports and expansion options than you’d typically get from a notebook computer. But in recent years some of the company’s most powerful mini PCs have been getting bigger and bigger, to the point […]
The post MINISFORUM MS-02 Ultra is a compact workstation with Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and 3 PCIe slots appeared first on Liliputing.
Atari and Intellivision have a few things in common. They were two of the first big players in the home video game console space. And neither brand is what it once was anymore. So while it’s intriguing to see that Atari is launching a new retro c…
Atari and Intellivision have a few things in common. They were two of the first big players in the home video game console space. And neither brand is what it once was anymore. So while it’s intriguing to see that Atari is launching a new retro console called the Intellivision Sprint, this is really a […]
The post Lilbits: Atari and Intellivision made a retro console (kind of), Google’s Privacy Sandbox is gone for good, and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Select with Vega OS is a lot more locked down appeared first on Liliputing.
As expected, REDMAGIC has introduced the first smartphone with a liquid cooling system designed to help squeeze a little extra performance out of the phone’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Like other recent REDMAGIC devices, the REDMAGIC 11 …
As expected, REDMAGIC has introduced the first smartphone with a liquid cooling system designed to help squeeze a little extra performance out of the phone’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Like other recent REDMAGIC devices, the REDMAGIC 11 Pro+ also has a fan for active cooling, liquid metal, and a vapor chamber. But it’s the […]
The post REDMAGIC 11 Pro+ gaming phone features liquid cooling, 80 watt wireless charging, and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 appeared first on Liliputing.
Rightsholders can breathe a sigh of relief after a California federal court concluded that Cloudflare can be compelled to comply with DMCA subpoenas. The anonymous operator of now-defunct manga piracy site Mangajikan argued that Cloudflare is a ‘mere conduit’ provider that doesn’t have to comply with DMCA subpoenas. However, in a key decision in favor of publisher Shueisha, the court ruled that because Cloudflare caches content, it must identify the operator.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
To combat online piracy, copyright holders frequently use DMCA subpoenas to compel service providers to unmask alleged infringers.
Because these requests don’t require a judge’s approval and are typically signed off by a court clerk, they offer a swift and powerful tool to identify pirates.
In recent years, Internet infrastructure company Cloudflare has been targeted with DMCA subpoenas dozens of times. While the personal information it discloses may not always be accurate, it has been instrumental in several enforcement actions.
In some instances, the mere threat of potential legal trouble may already be sufficient. This was the case a few months ago when the massively popular manga piracy site Mangajikan.com shut its doors days after publisher Shueisha obtained a DMCA subpoena directed at Cloudflare.
While Shueisha must have been pleased with the quick result, the publisher still didn’t know who was running the site. Shortly after Shueisha obtained the DMCA subpoena, the anonymous operator of mangajikan.com and related domain alammanga.com, submitted a motion to quash at a California federal court.
The ‘John Doe’ operator’s motion to quash cited several reasons why disclosure of their personal data should be denied. This includes the Cox precedent confirmed by the Court of Appeals in August, which held that DMCA subpoenas don’t apply to Section 512(a) service providers, i.e mere conduits that simply pass on bytes.
“Cloudflare is not a proper DMCA target in this instance because here, it only provides DNS and CDN services to the Domains and cannot remove or disable access to content,” Doe’s attorney explained.
“[F]ederal courts have repeatedly held that DMCA subpoenas cannot compel disclosure from service providers acting solely as conduits or CDNs, as they do not host or control the allegedly infringing content.”
The non-hosting argument appears to align with Cloudflare’s own policy. The company does not disable access to allegedly infringing URLs that use its CDN service because it doesn’t host the content permanently. Instead, Cloudflare forwards DMCA notices to the affected subscribers.
In its response, Shueisha pointed out that since Cloudflare temporarily stores the contested materials in its cache and then serves the content to the site’s visitors, Cloudflare qualifies as a Section 512(c) service.
The manga publisher backed up its claim by simply submitting a screenshot from Cloudflare’s own website describing how its cache “stores copies of frequently accessed content.”
“Cloudflare does, in fact, store content on its servers in the form of cached data which allows for faster loading of sites. Courts, particularly in this district, routinely issue DMCA subpoenas to Cloudflare that Cloudflare does not move to quash,” Shueisha argued.
Shueisha further argued that the pirate site’s operator failed to cite a single case in which Cloudflare was seen as an “improper recipient” of a DMCA subpoena in this context.
In addition to the disagreement over the correct application of a DMCA subpoena, the operator argued that a U.S. court is not the right venue. In a declaration, they explained that Mangajikan.com allegedly blocked U.S. visitors, had a non-commercial nature, and has already been shut down.
The underlying DMCA notice is also invalid, they argued, because it didn’t properly identify the infringing content and failed to take fair use into account.
Finally, the John Doe operator asked the court for a protective order to shield his identity, noting that he feared retaliation since Shueisha had released personal details of adversaries in the past.
These additional arguments were contested by Shueisha. Crucially, the publisher said that since their declaration was submitted anonymously, the operator can’t be held to the standard of “penalty of perjury” so should be ignored.
Other defenses, such as fair use claims, do not need to be considered for a motion to quash, the publisher added.
After reviewing the filings from both sides, the court ultimately sided with the manga publisher.
Firstly, Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Shueisha sufficiently identified a copyrighted work. In addition, its takedown notice included the required statement of good faith belief that Mangajikan’s use was unauthorized.
Finally, the court found that Cloudflare is not a mere conduit service provider under Section 512(a), as it stores cached content. Siding with Shueisha’s argument that Cloudflare functioned as a Section 512(c) service provider, the Court confirmed that a DMCA subpoena can be used.
“The parties offer limited evidence to demonstrate what functions Cloudflare performed for Doe’s websites. Still, Shueisha has made a prima facie showing that Cloudflare stores content on its servers in the form of cached data to support faster loading of sites.”
“Because there is no evidence to the contrary, the Court accepts Shueisha’s prima facie showing and concludes that Cloudflare functioned as a Section 512(c) service provider,” Judge Gonzalez Rogers added.
Interestingly, the order didn’t mention Section 512(b), which specifically references caching. That likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome, however, as DMCA subpoenas also apply to these services.
Cloudflare likely sees itself as a caching service in relation to its CDN services, as it typically does not remove cached content, unlike content that it hosts permanently. Therefore, the court’s ruling here should be seen as limited to this particular case.
For Mangajikan’s operator, the ruling effectively means that their battle for anonymity is over. However, the court did order the parties to create a protective order, which will limit how Shueisha can use Doe’s identity, particularly in public.
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A copy of U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ order is available here (pdf)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
What if point-and-click games weren’t about the puzzles?
Even in my youth, I always loved the idea of point-and-click adventure games more than I did the reality. I appreciated how they transported me to other worlds, each with its own rules, histories, and interesting characters. However, like many people, I often ran up against the harsh reality of solving bizarre and obtuse puzzles in a time before Internet walkthroughs.
I almost never actually finished point-and-click adventure games for that reason—but there is one major exception: I completed Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest several times.
One of the last Sierra adventure games to still use a text parser, The Colonel’s Bequest follows a young woman named Laura Bow as she visits a mansion in the Southern US belonging to her college friend’s grandfather, Colonel Henri Dijon. While she’s there, a dispute breaks out over the colonel’s will, and it becomes clear a murderer is on the loose.
But Trump is pressuring the other four.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration made nine elite universities an offer they couldn’t refuse: bring in more conservatives while shutting down “institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” give up control of admissions and hiring decisions, agree to “biological” definitions of sex and gender, don’t raise tuition for five years, clamp down on student protests, and stay institutionally “neutral” on current events. Do this and you won’t be cut off from “federal benefits,” which could include research funding, student loans, federal contracts, and even student and faculty immigration visas. Instead, you may gain “substantial and meaningful federal grants.”
But the universities are refusing. With the initial deadline of October 20 approaching, four of the nine universities—the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, University of Southern California, and MIT—that received the federal “compact” have announced that they will not sign it. [Update: A fifth school, the University of Virginia, has now declined the deal.]
In addition, the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,600 colleges and universities, today issued a statement calling for the compact to be completely withdrawn.
For bacterial vaginosis, partners are part of the problem—and the solution.
For some cases of bacterial vaginosis, treatment should include a package deal, doctors now say.
The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) updated its clinical guidance Friday to fit with recent data indicating that treatment for recurring bacterial vaginosis (BV) in women is significantly more effective if their male partners are also treated at the same time—with both an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic cream directly onto the potentially offending member.
“Partner therapy offers us another avenue for hopefully preventing recurrence and helping people feel better faster,” Christopher Zahn, chief of clinical practice and health equity and quality at ACOG, said in a statement.
Amazon’s Ring partners with company whose tech has reportedly been used by ICE.
Law enforcement agencies will soon have easier access to footage captured by Amazon’s Ring smart cameras. In a partnership announced this week, Amazon will allow approximately 5,000 local law enforcement agencies to request access to Ring camera footage via surveillance platforms from Flock Safety. Ring’s cooperation with law enforcement and the reported use of Flock technologies by federal agencies, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has resurfaced privacy concerns that have followed the devices for years.
According to Flock’s announcement, its Ring partnership allows local law enforcement members to use Flock software “to send a direct post in the Ring Neighbors app with details about the investigation and request voluntary assistance.” Requests must include “specific location and timeframe of the incident, a unique investigation code, and details about what is being investigated,” and users can look at the requests anonymously, Flock said.
“Any footage a Ring customer chooses to submit will be securely packaged by Flock and shared directly with the requesting local public safety agency through the FlockOS or Flock Nova platform,” the announcement reads.
China beschuldigt die NSA gezielter Attacken auf kritische Infrastruktur. Seit 2022 soll die NSA das nationale Zeitdienstzentrum ausgespäht haben. (