Daily Archives: December 13, 2023

MEPs exclude audiovisual sector in geo-blocking regulation reassessment – Sabine Verheyen shows who’s pocket she is in.

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In 2018, the European Parliament voted to ban geo-blocking, meaning blocking access to a network based on someone’s location. Geo-blocking systems block or authorise access to content based on where the user is located.

On Wednesday, following a 2020 evaluation by the Commission on the regulation, MEPs advocated for reassessing geo-blocking, taking into account increased demand for online shopping in recent years.

Polish MEP Beata Mazurek from the Conservative group, who was the rapporteur for the file, said ahead of the vote in her speech that “the geo-blocking regulation will remove unjustified barriers for consumers and companies working within the single market”.

“We need to do something when it comes to online payments and stop discrimination on what your nationality happens to be or where you happen to live. When internet purchases are being made, barriers need to be removed. We need to have a complete right to access a better selection of goods and services through Europe,” she said.

While the original text of the regulation banned geo-blocking, due to discrimination, for example, as Mazurek pointed out, a new amendment goes against this, saying this would result in revenue loss and higher prices for consumers.

The new legislation approved by European Parliament requires websites to sell their goods throughout the EU regardless of the country the buyer resides in. It could apply to online cultural content like music streaming and ebooks within two years. EURACTIV.fr report

Audiovisual content

According to Mazurek, fighting price discrimination entails making deliveries easier across borders and making movies, series, and sporting events accessible in one’s native language.

“The Commission should carefully assess the options for updating the current rules and provide the support the audio-visual sector’s needs,” she added.

However, in a last-minute amendment adopted during the plenary vote, MEP Sabine Verheyen, an influential member of the Parliament’s culture committee, completely flipped the wording that applies to the audiovisual sector, such as the streaming of platforms’ films.

According to Verheyen’s amendment, removing geo-blocking in this area “would result in a significant loss of revenue, putting investment in new content at risk, while eroding contractual freedom and reducing cultural diversity in content production, distribution, promotion and exhibition”.

It also emphasises that the inclusion would result “in fewer distribution channels”, and so, ultimately, consumers would have to pay more.

Mazurek said before the vote that while the report deals with audiovisual material, they “would like to see this done in a step-by-step way, bearing in mind the particular circumstances pertaining to the creative sector”.

“We want to look at the position of the interested parties without threatening the way cultural projects are financed. That might be regarded as a revolutionary approach, but we need to look at technological progress and the consumer needs which have changed over the last few years,” the MEP explained.

Yet, Wednesday’s vote on this specific amendment means the opposite as it did in the original regulation, with lawmakers now being against ending geo-blocking for audiovisual material.

Grégoire Polad, Director General of the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT), stressed that the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers “have now made it abundantly clear that there is no political support for any present or future inclusion of the audiovisual sector in the scope of the Geo-blocking regulation.”

The European Parliament adopted a report on Tuesday (9 May), on the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), including criticism of the belated transposition from certain EU countries.

However, the European Consumer Organisation threw its weight against the carve-out for the audiovisual and creative sectors in the regulation, calling on policymakers to make audiovisual content available across borders.

A Commission spokesperson told Euractiv that they are aware of the “ongoing debate” and “will carefully analyse its content, including proposals related to the audiovisual content”, once it is adopted.

“The Commission engaged in a dialogue with the audiovisual sector aimed at identifying industry-led solutions to improve the availability and cross-border access to audiovisual content across the EU,” the spokesperson explained.

This stakeholder dialogue ended in December 2022, and the Commission will consider its conclusions in the upcoming stocktaking exercise on the Geo-blocking Regulation.

Source: MEPs exclude audiovisual sector in geo-blocking regulation reassessment – EURACTIV.com

Strangely enough this is the one sector that is wholly digital and where geoblocking makes the least sense, as digital goods are moved globally for exactly the same cost, whereas physical goods need different logistics chains, where the last step to the consumer is only a tiny part of that chain. The logistical steps before they get sent from the website mean that geography actually can have a measurable effect on cost.

The movie / TV / digital rights bozo’s definitely have a big lobby on this one, and shows the corruption – or outright stupidity – in the EP. Yes, Sabine Verheyen, you must be one or the other.

European Commission agrees to new rules that will protect gig workers rights – hopefully in ~2 years they will get the rights they need

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Gig workers in the EU will soon get new benefits and protections, making it easier for them to receive employment status. Right now, over 500 digital labor platforms are actively operating in the EU, employing roughly 28 million platform workers. The new rules follow agreements made between the European Parliament and the EU Member States, after policies were first proposed by the European Commission in 2021.

The new rules highlight employment status as a key issue for gig workers, meaning an employed individual can reap the labor and social rights associated with an official worker title. This can include things like a legal minimum wage, the option to engage in collective bargaining, health protections at work, options for paid leave and sick days. Through a recognition of a worker status from the EU, gig workers can also qualify for unemployment benefits.

Given that most gig workers are employed by digital apps, like Uber or Deliveroo, the new directive will require “human oversight of the automated systems” to make sure labor rights and proper working conditions are guaranteed. The workers also have the right to contest any automated decisions by digital employers — such as a termination.

The new rulings will also require employers to inform and consult workers’ when there are “algorithmic decisions” that affect them. Employers will be required to report where their gig workers are fulfilling labor-related tasks to ensure the traceability of employees, especially when there are cross-border situations to consider in the EU.

Before the new gig worker protections can formally roll out, there needs to be a final approval of the agreement by the European Parliament and the Council. The stakeholders will have two years to implement the new protections into law. Similar protections for gig workers in the UK were introduced in 2021. Meanwhile, in the US, select cities have rolled out minimum wage rulings and benefits — despite Uber and Lyft’s pushback against such requirements.

Source: European Commission agrees to new rules that will protect gig workers rights

The EU works good stuff but at a snails pace.

JWST Delivers A Fantastic New Image Of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

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Before a massive star explodes as a supernova, it convulses and sends its outer layers into space, signalling the explosive energy about to follow. When the star does explode, it sends a shockwave out into its own ejected outer layer, lighting it up as different chemical elements shine with different energies and colours. Intermingled with this is any pre-existing matter near the supernova. The result is a massive expanding shell with filaments and knots of ionized gas, populated by even smaller bubbles.

“With NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star absolutely shattered when it exploded, leaving filaments akin to tiny shards of glass behind.”

Danny Milisavljevic, Purdue University

Cassiopeia A exploded about 10,000 years ago, and the light may have reached Earth around 1667. But there’s much uncertainty, and it’s possible that English astronomer John Flamsteed observed it in 1680. It’s also a possibility that it was first observed in 1630. That’s for historians to determine.

But whenever the exact date is, the light has reached us and continues to reach us, making Cassiopeia A an object of astronomical fascination. It’s one of the most-studied SNRs, and astronomers have observed it in multiple wavelengths with different telescopes.

The SNR is about 10 light-years across and is expanding between 4,000 and 6,000 km/second. Some outlying knots are moving much more quickly, with velocities from 5,500?14,500 km/s. The expanding shell is also extremely hot, at about 30 million degrees Kelvin (30 million C/54 million F.)

The JWST's NIRCam high-resolution image of Cass. A reveals intricate detail that remains hidden from other telescopes. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)
The JWST’s NIRCam high-resolution image of Cass. A reveals intricate detail that remains hidden from other telescopes. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)

But none of our prior images are nearly as breathtaking as these JWST images. These images are far more than just pretty pictures. The cursive swirls and knotted clumps of gas reveal some of nature’s detailed interactions between light and matter.

The JWST sees in infrared, so its images need to be translated for our eyes. The wavelengths the telescope can see are translated into different visible colours. Clumps of bright orange and light pink are most noticeable in these images, and they signify the presence of sulphur, oxygen, argon, and neon. These elements came from the star itself, and gas and dust from the region around the star are intermingled with it.

The image below highlights some parts of the Cassiopeia A SNR.

1 shows tiny knots of gas, comprised of sulphur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the star itself. 2 shows what's known as the Green Monster, a loop of green light in Cas A's inner cavity, which is visible in the MIRI image of the SNR. Circular holes are outlined in white and purple and represent ionized gas. This is likely where debris from the explosions punched holes in the surrounding gas and ionized it. 3 shows a light echo, where light from the ancient explosion has warmed up dust which shines as it cools down. 4 shows an especially large and intricate light echo known as Baby Cas A. Baby Cas A is actually about 170 light-years beyond Cas A. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)
1 shows tiny knots of gas comprised of sulphur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the star itself. 2 shows what’s known as the Green Monster, a loop of green light in Cas A’s inner cavity, which is visible in the MIRI image of the SNR. Circular holes are outlined in white and purple and represent ionized gas. This is likely where debris from the explosions punched holes in the surrounding gas and ionized it. 3 shows a light echo, where light from the ancient explosion has warmed up dust which shines as it cools down. 4 shows an especially large and intricate light echo known as Baby Cas A. Baby Cas A is actually about 170 light-years beyond Cas A. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)

The JWST’s MIRI image shows different details. The outskirts of the main shell aren’t orange and pink. Instead, it looks more like smoke lit up by campfire flames.

Seeing the NIRCam image (L) and the MIRI image (R) tells us about the SNR and the JWST. First of all, the NIRCam image is sharper because of its higher resolution. The NIRCam image also appears less colourful, but that's because of the wavelengths of light being emitted that are more visible in Mid-Infrared. In the MIRI image, the outer ring is lit up more brightly than in the NIRCam image, while the MIRI image also shows the 'Green Monster,' the green inner ring that is invisible in the NIRCam image. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)
Seeing the NIRCam image (L) and the MIRI image (R) tells us about the SNR and the JWST. First of all, the NIRCam image is sharper because of its higher resolution. The NIRCam image also appears less colourful, but that’s because of the wavelengths of light being emitted that are more visible in Mid-Infrared. In the MIRI image, the outer ring is lit up more brightly than in the NIRCam image, while the MIRI image also shows the ‘Green Monster,’ the green inner ring that is invisible in the NIRCam image. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)

The Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have all studied Cas A. In fact, Spitzer’s first light image back in 1999 was of Cas A.

This X-ray image of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant is the official first light image of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The bright object near the center may be the long-sought neutron star or black hole that remained after the explosion that produced Cas A. Image Credit: By NASA/CXC/SAO - http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0237/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33394808
This X-ray image of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant is the official first light image of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The bright object near the center may be the long-sought neutron star or black hole that remained after the explosion that produced Cas A. Image Credit: By NASA/CXC/SAO – http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0237/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33394808

The Hubble has imaged Cas A too. This image is from 2006 and is a composite of 18 separate images. While interesting and stunning at the time, the JWST’s image surpasses it in both visual and scientific detail.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image provides a detailed look at the tattered remains of Cassiopeia A (Cas A). It is the youngest known remnant from a supernova explosion in the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgement: Robert A. Fesen (Dartmouth College, USA) and James Long (ESA/Hubble)
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image provides a detailed look at the tattered remains of Cassiopeia A (Cas A). It is the youngest known remnant from a supernova explosion in the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgement: Robert A. Fesen (Dartmouth College, USA) and James Long (ESA/Hubble)

The JWST’s incredible images are giving us a more detailed look at Cas A than ever. Danny Milisavljevic leads the Time Domain Astronomy research team at Purdue University and has studied SNRs extensively, including Cas A. He emphasizes how important the JWST is in his work.

“With NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star absolutely shattered when it exploded, leaving filaments akin to tiny shards of glass behind,” said Milisavljevic. “It’s really unbelievable after all these years studying Cas A to now resolve those details, which are providing us with transformational insight into how this star exploded.”

Source: JWST Delivers A Fantastic New Image Of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A – Universe Today

Newly created ultra-hard material rivals diamond

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Scientists have solved a decades-long puzzle and unveiled a near unbreakable substance that could rival diamond as the hardest material on Earth. The research is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Researchers found that when carbon and nitrogen precursors were subjected to and pressure, the resulting materials—known as carbon nitrides—were tougher than cubic boron nitride, the second hardest material after diamond.

The breakthrough opens doors for to be used for industrial purposes including protective coatings for cars and spaceships, high-endurance cutting tools, solar panels and photodetectors, experts say.

[…]

The team subjected various forms of carbon nitrogen precursors to pressures of between 70 and 135 gigapascals—around 1 million times our —while heating it to temperatures of more than 1,500°C.

To identify the atomic arrangement of the compounds under these conditions, the samples were illuminated by an intense X-ray beam at three —the European Synchrotron Research Facility in France, the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Germany and the Advanced Photon Source based in the United States.

Researchers discovered that three carbon nitride compounds were found to have the necessary building blocks for super-hardness.

Remarkably, all three compounds retained their diamond-like qualities when they returned to ambient pressure and temperature conditions.

Further calculations and experiments suggest the new materials contain additional properties including photoluminescence and high energy density, where a large amount of energy can be stored in a small amount of mass.

[…]

More information: Dominique Laniel et al, Synthesis of Ultra‐Incompressible and Recoverable Carbon Nitrides Featuring CN4 Tetrahedra, Advanced Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202308030

Source: Newly created ultra-hard material rivals diamond

Nuclear fission seen for 1st time in space

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Scientists have discovered the first indication of nuclear fission occurring amongst the stars. The discovery supports the idea that when neutron stars smash together, they create “superheavy” elements — heavier than the heaviest elements of the periodic table

[…]

“People have thought fission was happening in the cosmos, but to date, no one has been able to prove it,” Matthew Mumpower, research co-author and a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said in a statement.

The team of researchers led by North Carolina State University scientist Ian Roederer searched data concerning a wide range of elements in stars to discover the first evidence that nuclear fission could therefore be acting when neutron stars merge. These findings could help solve the mystery of where the universe‘s heavy elements come from.

[…]

The picture of so-called nucleosynthesis for heavier elements like gold and uranium, however, has been somewhat more mysterious. Scientists suspect these valuable and rare heavy elements are created when two incredibly dense dead stars  —  neutron stars  —  collide and merge, creating an environment violent enough to forge elements that can’t be created even in the most turbulent hearts of stars.

The evidence of nuclear fission discovered by Mumpower and the team comes in the form of a correlation between “light precision metals,” like silver, and “rare earth nuclei,” like europium, showing in some stars. When one of these groups of elements goes up, the corresponding elements in the other group also increases, the scientists saw.

The team’s research also indicates that elements with atomic masses  —  counts of protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus  —  greater than 260 may exist around neutron star smashes, even if this existence is brief. This is much heavier than many of the elements at the “heavy end” of the periodic table.

“The only plausible way this can arise among different stars is if there is a consistent process operating during the formation of the heavy elements,” Mumpower said. “This is incredibly profound and is the first evidence of fission operating in the cosmos, confirming a theory we proposed several years ago.”

[…]

Neutron stars are created when massive stars reach the end of their fuel supplies necessary for intrinsic nuclear fusion processes, which means the energy that has been supporting them against the inward push of their own gravity ceases. As the outer layers of these dying stars are blown away, the stellar cores with masses between one and two times that of the sun collapse into a width of around 12 miles (20 kilometers).

This core collapse happens so rapidly that electrons and protons are forced together, creating a sea of neutrons so dense a mere tablespoon of this neutron star “stuff” would weigh more than 1 billion tons if it were brought to Earth.

When these extreme stars exist in a binary pairing, they spiral around one another. And as they spiral around one another,  they lose angular momentum because they emit intangible ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. This causes neutron stars to eventually collide, merge and, unsurprisingly given their extreme and exotic nature, create a very violent environment.

This ultimate neutron star merger releases a wealth of free neutrons, which are particles normally bound up with protons in atomic nuclei. This can allow other atomic nuclei in these environments to quickly grab these free neutrons  —  a process called rapid neutron capture or the “r-process.” This allows the atomic nuclei to grow heavier, creating superheavy elements that are unstable. These superheavy elements can then undergo fission to split down into lighter, stable elements like gold.

In 2020, Mumpower predicted how the “fission fragments” of r-process-created nuclei would be distributed. Following this, Mumpower’s collaborator and TRIUMF scientist Nicole Vassh calculated how the r-process would lead to the co-production of light precision metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium and silver  —  as well as rare earth nuclei, like europium, gadolinium, dysprosium and holmium.

This prediction can be tested not only by looking at neutron star mergers but also by looking at the abundances of elements in stars that have been enriched by r-process-created material.

This new research looked at 42 stars and found the precise correlation predicted by Vassh, thus showing a clear signature of the fission and decay of elements heavier than found on the periodic table, further confirming that neutron star collisions are indeed the sites where elements heavier than iron are forged.

“The correlation is very robust in r-process enhanced stars where we have sufficient data. Every time nature produces an atom of silver, it’s also producing heavier rare earth nuclei in proportion. The composition of these element groups are in lockstep,” Mumpower concluded. “We have shown that only one mechanism can be responsible  —  fission  —  and people have been racking brains about this since the 1950s.”

The team’s research was published in the Dec. 6 edition of the journal Science.

Source: Cosmic nuclear fission seen for 1st time in ‘incredibly profound’ discovery | Space

1M non-profit donors PII exposed by unsecured DonorView database

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Close to a million records containing personally identifiable information belonging to donors that sent money to non-profits were found exposed in an online database.

The database is owned and operated by DonorView – provider of a cloud-based fundraising platform used by schools, charities, religious institutions, and other groups focused on charitable or philanthropic goals.

Infosec researcher Jeremiah Fowler found 948,029 records exposed online including donor names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, payment methods, and more.

Manual analysis of the data revealed what appeared to be the names and addresses of individuals designated as children – though it wasn’t clear to the researcher whether these children were associated with the organization collecting the donation or the funds’ recipients.

Another document seen by Fowler revealed children’s names, medical conditions, names of their attending doctors, and information on whether the child’s image could be used in marketing materials – though in many cases this was not permitted.

In just a single document, more than 70,000 names and contact details were exposed, all believed to be donors to non-profits.

Neither Fowler nor The Register has received a response from the US-based service provider, though Fowler said it did secure the database within days of him filing a disclosure report.

Source: DonorView exposes 1M records for unknown time frame • The Register

Polish Hackers Repaired Trains the Manufacturer Artificially Bricked. Now The Train Maker NEWAG Is Threatening Them

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[…]

three white-hat hackers helped a regional rail company in southwest Poland unbrick a train that had been artificially rendered inoperable by the train’s manufacturer after an independent maintenance company worked on it. The train’s manufacturer is now threatening to sue the hackers who were hired by the independent repair company to fix it.

The fallout from the situation is currently roiling Polish infrastructure circles and the repair world, with the manufacturer of those trains denying bricking the trains despite ample evidence to the contrary. The manufacturer is also now demanding that the repaired trains immediately be removed from service because they have been “hacked,” and thus might now be unsafe, a claim they also cannot substantiate.

The situation is a heavy machinery example of something that happens across most categories of electronics, from phones, laptops, health devices, and wearables to tractors and, apparently, trains. In this case, NEWAG, the manufacturer of the Impuls family of trains, put code in the train’s control systems that prevented them from running if a GPS tracker detected that it spent a certain number of days in an independent repair company’s maintenance center, and also prevented it from running if certain components had been replaced without a manufacturer-approved serial number.

This anti-repair mechanism is called “parts pairing,” and is a common frustration for farmers who want to repair their John Deere tractors without authorization from the company. It’s also used by Apple to prevent independent repair of iPhones.

An image posed by q3k of how the team did their work.

In this case, a Polish train operator called Lower Silesian Railway, which operates regional train services from Wrocław, purchased 11 Impuls trains. It began to do regular maintenance on the trains using an independent company called Serwis Pojazdów Szynowych (SPS), which notes on its website that “many Polish carriers have trusted us” with train maintenance. Over the course of maintaining four different Impuls trains, SPS found mysterious errors that prevented them from running. SPS became desperate and Googled “Polish hackers” and came across a group called Dragon Sector, a reverse-engineering team made up of white hat hackers. The trains had just undergone “mandatory maintenance” after having traveled a million kilometers.

“This is quite a peculiar part of the story—when SPS was unable to start the trains and almost gave up on their servicing, someone from the workshop typed “polscy hakerzy” (‘Polish hackers’) into Google,” the team from Dragon Sector, made up of Jakub Stępniewicz, Sergiusz Bazański, and Michał Kowalczyk, told me in an email. “Dragon Sector popped up and soon after we received an email asking for help.”

The problem was so bad that an infrastructure trade publication in Poland called Rynek Kolejowy picked up on the mysterious issues over the summer, and said that the lack of working trains was beginning to impact service: “Four vehicles after level P3-2 repair cannot be started. At this moment, it is not known what caused the failure. The lack of units is a serious problem for the carrier and passengers, because shorter trains are sent on routes.”

The hiring of Dragon Sector was a last resort: “In 2021, an independent train workshop won a maintenance tender for some trains made by Newag, but it turned out that they didn’t start after servicing,” Dragon Sector told me. “[SPS] hired us to analyze the issue and we discovered a ‘workshop-detection’ system built into the train software, which bricked the trains after some conditions were met (two of the trains even used a list of precise GPS coordinates of competitors’ workshops). We also discovered an undocumented ‘unlock code’ which you could enter from the train driver’s panel which magically fixed the issue.”

Dragon Sector was able to bypass the measures and fix the trains. The group posted a YouTube video of the train operating properly after they’d worked on it:

The news of Dragon Sector’s work was first reported by the Polish outlet Zaufana Trzecia Strona and was translated into English by the site Bad Cyber. Kowalczyk and Stępniewicz gave a talk about the saga last week at Poland’s Oh My H@ck conference in Warsaw. The group plans on doing further talks about the technical measures implemented to prevent the trains from running and how they fixed it.

“These trains were locking up for arbitrary reasons after being serviced at third-party workshops. The manufacturer argued that this was because of malpractice by these workshops, and that they should be serviced by them instead of third parties,” Bazański, who goes by the handle q3k, posted on Mastodon. “After a certain update by NEWAG, the cabin controls would also display scary messages about copyright violations if the human machine interface detected a subset of conditions that should’ve engaged the lock but the train was still operational. The trains also had a GSM telemetry unit that was broadcasting lock conditions, and in some cases appeared to be able to lock the train remotely.”

The train had a system that detected if it physically had been to an independent repair shop.

All of this has created quite a stir in Poland (and in repair circles). NEWAG did not respond to a request for comment from 404 Media. But Rynek Kolejowy reported that the company is now very mad, and has threatened to sue the hackers. In a statement to Rynek Kolejowy, NEWAG said “Our software is clean. We have not introduced, we do not introduce and we will not introduce into the software of our trains any solutions that lead to intentional failures. This is slander from our competition, which is conducting an illegal black PR campaign against us.” The company added that it has reported the situation to “the authorized authorities.”

“Hacking IT systems is a violation of many legal provisions and a threat to railway traffic safety,” NEWAG added. “We do not know who interfered with the train control software, using what methods and what qualifications. We also notified the Office of Rail Transport about this so that it could decide to withdraw from service the sets subjected to the activities of unknown hackers.”

In response, Dragon Sector released a lengthy statement explaining how they did their work and explaining the types of DRM they encountered: “We did not interfere with the code of the controllers in Impulsa – all vehicles still run on the original, unmodified software,” part of the statement reads. SPS, meanwhile, has said that its position “is consistent with the position of Dragon Sector.”

Kowalczk told 404 Media that “we are answering media and waiting to be summoned as witnesses,” and added that “NEWAG said that they will sue us, but we doubt they will – their defense line is really poor and they would have no chance defending it, they probably just want to sound scary in the media.”

This strategy—to intimidate independent repair professionals, claim that the device (in this case, a train) is unsafe, and threaten legal action—is an egregious but common playbook in manufacturers’ fight against repair, all over the world.

[…]

Source: Polish Hackers Repaired Trains the Manufacturer Artificially Bricked. Now The Train Company Is Threatening Them