Category: Global Domination

Mercedes Locks Better EV Engine Performance Your Car Has and you paid for Behind Subscription

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last year BMW took ample heat for its plans to turn heated seats into a costly $18 per month subscription in numerous countries. As we noted at the time, BMW is already including the hardware in new cars and adjusting the sale price accordingly. So it’s effectively charging users a new, recurring fee to enable Read more about Mercedes Locks Better EV Engine Performance Your Car Has and you paid for Behind Subscription[…]

Microsoft is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge, ignore OS default browser settings

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft Edge is a good browser but for some reason Microsoft keeps trying to shove it down everyone’s throat and make it more difficult to use rivals like Chrome or Firefox. Microsoft has now started notifying IT admins that it will force Outlook and Teams to ignore the default web browser on Windows and open Read more about Microsoft is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge, ignore OS default browser settings[…]

OpenAI Threatens Popular GitHub Project With Lawsuit Over API Use

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Anyone can use ChatGPT for free, but if you want to use GPT4, the latest language model, you have to either pay for ChatGPT Plus, pay for access to OpenAI’s API, or find another site that has incorporated GPT4 into its own free chatbot. There are sites that use OpenAI such as Forefront (opens in Read more about OpenAI Threatens Popular GitHub Project With Lawsuit Over API Use[…]

Bungie Somehow Wins $12 Million In Destiny 2 Anti-Cheat Lawsuit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As Bungie continues on its warpath against Destiny 2 cheaters, the studio has won $12 million in the lawsuit against Romanian cheat seller Mihai Claudiu-Florentin that began back in 2021. Claudiu-Florentin sold cheat software at VeteranCheats, which allowed users to get an edge over other players with software that could do things like tweak their Read more about Bungie Somehow Wins $12 Million In Destiny 2 Anti-Cheat Lawsuit[…]

Apple App Store Policies Upheld by Court in Epic Games Antitrust Challenge – Apple can continue monopoly and massive 30% charges in app store USA (but not in EU)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple Inc. won an appeals court ruling upholding its App Store’s policies in an antitrust challenge brought by Epic Games Inc. Monday’s ruling by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower-court judge’s 2021 decision largely rejecting claims by Epic, the maker of Fortnite, that Apple’s online marketplace policies violated federal law because Read more about Apple App Store Policies Upheld by Court in Epic Games Antitrust Challenge – Apple can continue monopoly and massive 30% charges in app store USA (but not in EU)[…]

ICANN and Verisign Proposal Would Allow Any Government In The World To Seize Domain Names with no redress

Posted on by Robin Edgar

ICANN, the organization that regulates global domain name policy, and Verisign, the abusive monopolist that operates the .COM and .NET top-level domains, have quietly proposed enormous changes to global domain name policy in their recently published “Proposed Renewal of the Registry Agreement for .NET”, which is now open for public comment. Either by design, or Read more about ICANN and Verisign Proposal Would Allow Any Government In The World To Seize Domain Names with no redress[…]

AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song pulled from streaming platforms

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you spent almost any time on the internet this week, you probably saw a lot of chatter about “Heart on My Sleeve.” The song went viral for featuring AI-generated voices that do a pretty good job of mimicking Drake and The Weeknd singing about a recent breakup. On Monday, Apple Music and Spotify pulled Read more about AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song pulled from streaming platforms[…]

Streaming Services Urged To Clamp Down on AI-Generated Music by Record Labels

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Universal Music Group has told streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple, to block artificial intelligence services from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs, according to emails viewed by the Financial Times. From the report: UMG, which controls about a third of the global music market, has become increasingly concerned about AI bots using Read more about Streaming Services Urged To Clamp Down on AI-Generated Music by Record Labels[…]

Google Will Require Android Apps to Make Account Deletion Easier

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Right now, developers simply need to declare to Google that account deletion is somehow possible, but beginning next year, developers will have to make it easier to delete data through both their app and an online portal. Google specifies: For apps that enable app account creation, developers will soon need to provide an option to Read more about Google Will Require Android Apps to Make Account Deletion Easier[…]

Tesla Employees Have Been Meme-ing Your Private Car Videos

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“We could see inside people’s garages and their private properties,” a former employee told Reuters. “Let’s say that a Tesla customer had something in their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds of things.” One office in particular, located in San Mateo, reportedly had a “free-wheeling” atmosphere, where employees would share Read more about Tesla Employees Have Been Meme-ing Your Private Car Videos[…]

Tesla workers shared and memed sensitive images recorded by customer cars

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Private camera recordings, captured by cars, were shared in chat rooms: ex-workersCirculated clips included one of child being hit by car: ex-employeesTesla says recordings made by vehicle cameras ‘remain anonymous’One video showed submersible vehicle from James Bond film, owned by Elon Musk LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO, April 6 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc assures its millions of electric Read more about Tesla workers shared and memed sensitive images recorded by customer cars[…]

ICE Is Grabbing Data From Schools, Abortion Clinics and news orgs with no judicial oversight

Posted on by Robin Edgar

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are using an obscure legal tool to demand data from elementary schools, news organizations, and abortion clinics in ways that, some experts say, may be illegal. While these administrative subpoenas, known as 1509 custom summonses, are meant to be used only in criminal investigations about illegal imports or unpaid Read more about ICE Is Grabbing Data From Schools, Abortion Clinics and news orgs with no judicial oversight[…]

Cruz, Warren Intro America Act to Break Up huge advertisers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Internet Competition Accountability Act, aka the AMERICA Act. Say what you will about government; Congress’ acronym acumen is untouchable. Introduced by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, the bill would prohibit companies from owning multiple parts of the digital ad ecosystem if they “process more than $20 billion in Read more about Cruz, Warren Intro America Act to Break Up huge advertisers[…]

‘A Blow for Libraries’: Internet Archive Loses Copyright Infringement Lawsuit by money grubbing publishers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A judge ruled against Internet Archive, a free online digital library, on Friday in a lawsuit filed by four top publishers who claimed the company was in violation of copyright laws. The publishers, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House filed the lawsuit against Internet Archive in 2020, claiming the Read more about ‘A Blow for Libraries’: Internet Archive Loses Copyright Infringement Lawsuit by money grubbing publishers[…]

Nike Blocks F1 Champ Max Verstappen’s ‘Max 1’ Clothing Brand because they can own words now

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Nike’s argument is that Max 1 is too similar to its longtime “Air Max” shoe line, including other “Max Force 1” products and other variations that include similar keywords. Verstappen had named his line of products after himself and his current racing number but encountered legal trouble soon after launch. The Benelux Office for Read more about Nike Blocks F1 Champ Max Verstappen’s ‘Max 1’ Clothing Brand because they can own words now[…]

“Click-to-cancel” rule would penalize companies that make you cancel by phone

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Canceling a subscription should be just as easy as signing up for the service, the Federal Trade Commission said in a proposed “click-to-cancel” rule announced today. If approved, the plan “would put an end to companies requiring you to call customer service to cancel an account that you opened on their website,” FTC commissioners said. Read more about “Click-to-cancel” rule would penalize companies that make you cancel by phone[…]

Dashcam App is driving nazi informer wet dream, Sends Video of You Speeding and other infractions Directly to Police

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Speed cameras have been around for a long time and so have dash cams. The uniquely devious idea of combining the two into a traffic hall monitor’s dream device was not a potential reality until recently, though. According to the British Royal Automobile Club, such a combination is coming soon. The app, which is reportedly Read more about Dashcam App is driving nazi informer wet dream, Sends Video of You Speeding and other infractions Directly to Police[…]

TSA Confirms Biometric Scanning Soon Won’t Be Optional Even For Domestic Travelers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] In 2017, the DHS began quietly rolling out its facial recognition program, starting with international airports and aimed mainly at collecting/scanning people boarding international flights. Even in its infancy, the DHS was hinting this was never going to remain solely an international affair. It made its domestic desires official shortly thereafter, with the TSA Read more about TSA Confirms Biometric Scanning Soon Won’t Be Optional Even For Domestic Travelers[…]

Big Four publishers move to crush the Internet Archive

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Monday four of the largest book publishers asked a New York court to grant summary judgment in a copyright lawsuit seeking to shut down the Internet Archive’s online library and hold the non-profit organization liable for damages. The lawsuit was filed back June 1, 2020, by the Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley Read more about Big Four publishers move to crush the Internet Archive[…]

AI-generated art may be protected, says US Copyright Office – requires meaningful creative input from a human

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] AI software capable of automatically generating images or text from an input prompt or instruction has made it easier for people to churn out content. Correspondingly, the USCO has received an increasing number of applications to register copyright protections for material, especially artwork, created using such tools. US law states that intellectual property can Read more about AI-generated art may be protected, says US Copyright Office – requires meaningful creative input from a human[…]

SCOPE Europe becomes the accredited monitoring body for a Dutch national data protection code of conduct

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]SCOPE Europe is now accredited by the Dutch Data Protection Authority as the monitoring body of the Data Pro Code. On this occasion, SCOPE Europe celebrates its success in obtaining its second accreditation and looks forward to continuing its work on fostering trust in the digital economy. When we were approached by NLdigital, the creators Read more about SCOPE Europe becomes the accredited monitoring body for a Dutch national data protection code of conduct[…]

Anker Eufy security cam ‘stored unique ID’ of everyone filmed in the cloud for other cameras to identify – and for anyone to watch

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A lawsuit filed against eufy security cam maker Anker Tech claims the biz assigns “unique identifiers” to the faces of any person who walks in front of its devices – and then stores that data in the cloud, “essentially logging the locations of unsuspecting individuals” when they stroll past. […] All three suits allege Anker Read more about Anker Eufy security cam ‘stored unique ID’ of everyone filmed in the cloud for other cameras to identify – and for anyone to watch[…]

Telehealth startup Cerebral shared millions of patients’ data with advertisers since 2019

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Cerebral has revealed it shared the private health information, including mental health assessments, of more than 3.1 million patients in the United States with advertisers and social media giants like Facebook, Google and TikTok. The telehealth startup, which exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic after rolling lockdowns and a surge in online-only virtual health Read more about Telehealth startup Cerebral shared millions of patients’ data with advertisers since 2019[…]

Holy shit: German Courts saying DNS Service (Quad9) Is Implicated In Any Copyright Infringement At The Domains It Resolves

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in September 2021 Techdirt covered an outrageous legal attack by Sony Music on Quad9, a free, recursive, anycast DNS platform. Quad9 is part of the Internet’s plumbing: it converts domain names to numerical IP addresses. It is operated by the Quad9 Foundation, a Swiss public-benefit, not-for-profit organization. Sony Music says that Quad9 is implicated Read more about Holy shit: German Courts saying DNS Service (Quad9) Is Implicated In Any Copyright Infringement At The Domains It Resolves[…]

YouTube Chills the Darned Hell Out On Its Cursing Policy, but you still can’t fucking say fuck

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google’s finally rolling back its unpopular decree against any kinds of profanity in videos, making it harder for any creators used to offering colorful sailor’s speech in videos from monetizing content on behalf of its beloved ad partners. The only thing is, Google still seems to think the “f-word” is excessively harsh language, so sorry Read more about YouTube Chills the Darned Hell Out On Its Cursing Policy, but you still can’t fucking say fuck[…]