Leftovers

• Terence Eden ☛ I can’t use my number pad for 2FA codes

  The JavaScript on the website was rejecting any key code which wasn't a "Digit"!

  Perhaps I am a weirdo for insisting on both having and using my numpad? Perhaps developers need to test on something other than MacBooks? Perhaps JavaScript was a mistake and the Web would be better without it?

• Juha-Matti Santala ☛ Good enough as a power for good

  Aaron wrote about various aspects of “Good enough” that he considers negative consequences of adopting such mindset. In my entry here, I want to take a different perspective and look at it from the positive point of view as I believe it to have a lot of good in it.

• Jarrod Blundy ☛ PenPal with Valerie: Climbing, Crafts, and Wrap-up

  Talking with Valerie opened my eyes to yet another way of living — a more nomadic and culturally curious one than the life I lead. I’m in awe of her tenacity to travel across the world to live in unfamiliar places. But, I suppose, places are unfamiliar for only so long. That’s one thing I got out of our conversation.

• Bitdefender ☛ Zambia arrests 77 people in swoop on "scam" call centre

  According to Zambian authorities, Chinese-run Golden Top Support Services, based in an upmarket area of capital city Lusaka, recruited Zambian youths between the ages of 20-25, who believed they were being hired as call centre agents.

  In reality, the workers were tasked to engage in fraudulent conversations with mobile users around the world via WhatsApp, Telegram, and other online chatrooms using scripted dialogues designed to steal money from their unsuspecting victims.

• Science

  • The Register UK ☛ NASA works on fix for Voyager 1's degraded memory chip

    The team was able to use this readout, which contained the computer's code and variables, to ascertain that approximately 3 percent of the FDS memory had been corrupted. That corruption is preventing normal operation of the FDS, which is responsible for packaging the probe's engineering and science data before it gets passed to the Telemetry Modulation Unit (TMU), the radio transmitter and is sent back to Earth.

• Education

  • International Business Times ☛ 'Do I Pay for My Daughter's Ear Infection or Food': Manager Had $34K Student Debt, Now It's Over $500K

    As of early 2023, Bolt's monthly payment was $5,698.30. She remarked, "That's basically almost what I make...There's no way I'll be able to make payments in my life. The kind of payments they want."

    Despite receiving multiple scholarships and grants, she found that they only covered some things. "There were times when I had to choose between getting money to pay for my daughter's ear infection or buying food for us," Bolt added.

    As a single parent, Bolt's only hope is that she ceases to exist before the student loans are due because she cannot afford to pay them and still sustain a household. The Education Data Initiative has highlighted the steady rise in US student loan balances, which reached $1.727 trillion in 2023 from $520 billion in 2006. Bolt's pain and dimming hope of repaying existing loans in a lifetime are becoming common across states.

  • Crooked Timber ☛ Academic Freedom, State Legislatures and Public Universities (Wisconsin edition). — Crooked Timber

    Gina’s post on Indiana’s DEI-related law came at a fortuitous time for me, because last week I participated in a panel about State Legislatures, Academic Freedom and Public Universities. The panelists were given about 6 minutes to present some prepared remarks’ and discussion ensued. As far as I could tell there was just one state legislator present, and one administrator; otherwise the audience was students, faculty, and members of the public.

    I did write out my remarks, but then I didn’t say exactly what I wrote, so below the fold is an attempt at a rough transcription of what I actually said: [...]

  • Air Force Times ☛ Internet subsidy used by millions of vets, troops set to expire in May

    The Affordable Connectivity Program currently provides between $30 and $75 a month to cover [Internet] bills of more than 23 million households across the country, about half of whom are veterans and service members. For some participants, that’s enough to cover the full cost of high-speed [Internet] access at their homes.

  • Sightline Media Group ☛ Will the Supreme Court’s GI Bill ruling mean more money for vets?

    In the 7-2 ruling, justices said that veterans can use both the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and Montgomery GI Bill benefits to pay for college classes if they meet eligibility for both programs.

  • The Atlantic ☛ The Man Who Died for the Liberal Arts

    In September 1942, during the Guadalcanal campaign, Phil wrote another letter, this one to his favorite Dartmouth professor, the sociologist George F. Theriault. “I’ve had lots of time to think out here,” he told Theriault, before adding, “A decent liberal arts education based on the Social Sciences is all a lot of us have left—and more and more becomes the only possible background on which to view all this”—the “all this” referring to the war and what it was about. He told Theriault, who was passionate about preserving the place of literature and the social sciences in Dartmouth’s wartime curriculum, that “no greater mistake could be made than to shunt all the fellows off into ‘war courses’ and neglect the fine, decent, really important things we had a chance to come to know.”

• Hardware

  • Jeff Geerling ☛ AM phasor has no setting for 'stun'

    In the video, we get into all the equipment on the site, and talk on a high level about tower array design, transmitter room layout, grounding for the building and towers, and more—but we didn't dive too deep into the actual physics of the phasor.

    For that, I found this great little intro with some nice 1950's illustrations: Antenna Theory - Directivity. The idea of a 'phased array' of antennas was introduced in 1905 by Karl Ferdinand Braun, and the phasor installed in the WSDZ-AM transmitter site builds on that theory, in a relatively simple way.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Jason Fry ☛ More People Are Seeing The Downsides of Smartphones | Jason Fry

    I was teaching university students at a weekend away a month or so ago, and one of my points touched on the scientific studies done that show how silent smartphones in the same room as you leave you feeling less connected to those around you. Afterwards this sparked several conversations with others about how they're already doing things like having a smartphone-free day every week or putting their phone to bed early.

  • Wouter Groeneveld ☛ Smartphone Pervasiveness

    Or should that be invasiveness? Persuasiveness? It’s no longer a distraction, it’s an addiction, it’s everywhere, and its aggressive promotion and passive acceptance is driving me crazy.

    I’m walking around on campus where students don’t look up while walking but down—desperately trying to catch every single glimpse of their backlit screen. Its usage in and around classrooms is detrimental to their learning.

  • Tracy Durnell ☛ The obscenity of women’s pleasure

    (And when companies like Meta say they don’t want politics discussed on their site? They mean they want us to roll over and take what’s coming to us. Talking about the theft of our rights is so uncouth — especially when it relates to sex. (Gasp!) It would be so unpleasant for their conservative users to have to see those whose rights they’re working to steal.)

  • Harvard University ☛ Exercise cuts heart disease risk in part by lowering stress, study finds

    In the study, which was led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, people with stress-related conditions such as depression experienced the most cardiovascular benefits from physical activity.

  • USMC ☛ Senators push VA to fix problems with vets’ toxic exposure claims

    A group of Senate Democrats is imploring Veterans Affairs officials to fix how they handle constrictive bronchiolitis and hypertension claims under new toxic exposure benefits legislation, saying that too many veterans are left without help due to confusing department rules.

  • Bloomberg ☛ Teen Suicides Force Meta, Snap to Tackle Rising Sextortion Problem

    In late January the chief executive officers of the world’s biggest platforms, including Meta, Snap and TikTok, were grilled during a congressional hearing about how their companies have endangered a generation of children. There were questions about addictive algorithms and youth suicide rates—and the sudden rise of sextortion.

  • Futurism ☛ OJ Simpson’s Family Refuses to Let Scientists Examine His Brain for CTE

    In an interview with the New York Post, Malcolm LaVergne, Simpson's longtime attorney and estate executor, said that following the infamous running back's death from cancer last week, he's fielded requests to study his brain for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), the type of cranial injury suffered by athletes that can lead to violent behavioral changes.

  • Democracy Now ☛ One Year into War, Sudan Wracked by World’s Largest Displacement and Hunger Crises

    One year ago this week, a devastating conflict erupted in Sudan when a fragile alliance between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces collapsed.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • India Times ☛ EU cybersecurity label: Vote on EU cybersecurity label delayed to May

    National cybersecurity experts have shelved a vote on a draft EU cybersecurity label allowing Amazon, Alphabet's Google and Microsoft to bid for highly sensitive EU cloud computing contracts to May, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

    The European Union wants to introduce a cybersecurity certification scheme (EUCS) to vouch for the cybersecurity of cloud services and help governments and companies pick a secure and trusted vendor for their cloud computing business.

  • EDRI ☛ The two sides of web scraping

    Everyone wants a piece of OpenAI’s innovative generative AI pie. This has come at the expense of two dearly-valued core principles of privacy and digital rights civil society organisations :

    1. Accountability for the spread of harmful or false information,

    2. User control over personal data.

  • Eric Walker ☛ Gmail Overload - Because of Calendar Invites and Document Shares | Eric Walker

    I was actually shocked that I found fairly quickly a filter I could create using the following:

    subject:("invitation" OR "accepted" OR "rejected" OR "updated" OR "canceled event" OR "declined" OR "proposed") when where calendar who organizer

    So I use that and dump them in a folder (still marked as unread but skipping the inbox) titled Meetings.

  • BSDly ☛ That grumpy BSD guy: Fun Facts About the April 2024 Cisco Attack Data

    Articles about recent or ongoing attacks are not uncommon, but this time I was delighted to see that the report included a link to the actual data, provided by Cisco subsidiary Talos Intelligence.

    When I downloaded the data approximately 09:15 CEST, the data consisted of [...]

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Landmark UK law would criminalize making sexualized deepfakes even if they aren't shared

    AI-generated deepfake pornography videos have been around for a while, so much so that the content has become a genre in the more prurient corners of the [Internet]. In 2018, a number of porn websites as well as message boards banned such videos, but it hasn’t stopped what has been called “involuntary pornography” being shared online.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Linux Foundation, Intel and others promote open-source data stacks for enterprise generative AI

    Announced today, the new initiative is called the Open Platform for Enterprise AI or OPEA, and it’s focused on building open standards for the data infrastructure that’s needed to run enterprise AI applications. One of it’s main interests is a technique known as “retrieval augmented generation” or RAG, which OPEA says has the capacity to “unlock significant value from existing data repositories.”

  • India Times ☛ telegram: Telegram platform to hit 1 billion users within year, founder Pavel Durov says

    The Telegram messaging app, one of the most popular social media platforms in Ukraine and Russia, will likely cross 1 billion active monthly users within a year, its founder said in remarks published on Tuesday.

    In a rare interview, Pavel Durov told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson that the Dubai-based free cloud-based app that allows users to send and receive messages, calls and other files, is spreading like a "forest fire".

  • CRN ☛ Google Layoffs Hit Finance, Real Estate Divisions: Report

    Google reportedly continues to conduct layoffs, this time letting go of employees in its finance and real estate units – but the company continues to invest in geographic growth hubs in Ireland, the U.S. and India.

    The layoffs have hit the Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud giant’s teams in treasury, business services, revenue cash operations and other areas, according to Business Insider.

    In a statement to CRN, a Google spokesperson said that the company is “simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers.”

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • EDRI ☛ Why the AI Act fails to protect civic space and the rule of la

      For this reason, EDRi member the European Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), Liberties and the European Civic Forum (ECF) closely monitored and contributed to the discussions on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), first proposed in 2021. From the beginning, we advocated for strong protections for fundamental rights and civic space and called on European policymakers to ensure that the AI Act is fully coherent with rule of law standards.

      The European Parliament approved the AI Act on 13 March 2024, thus marking the end of a three-year-long legislative process. Yet to come are guidelines and delegated acts to clarify the often vague requirements. In this article, we take stock of the extent to which fundamental rights, civic space and the rule of law will be safeguarded and provide an analysis of key AI Act provisions.

    • EDRI ☛ Meta must stop charging for people’s right to privacy

      Ahead of a crucial opinion by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) – a grouping of the EU’s chief privacy regulators - on Meta’s plan to charge for privacy, the European Commission has opened an investigation that we hope will cast light on the unlawfulness of Meta’s so-called ‘Pay or Okay’ model, which has become the ‘talk of the town’ in Brussels.

    • Techdirt ☛ Senate Now Considering Section 702 Re-Up With A Dangerous Amendment Attached To It

      Not only did the warrant requirement fail, but the reauthorization effort moved from the House to Senate with something much, much worse attached.

      "The Turner-Himes amendment – so named for its champions Representatives Mike Turner and Jim Himes – would permit federal law enforcement to also force “any other service provider” with access to communications equipment to hand over data. That means anyone with access to a wifi router, server or even phone – anyone from a landlord to a laundromat – could be required to help the government spy."

      This vastly expands the government’s collection authority under Section 702, moving on from the normal definition of “service providers” to cover places where communications are at rest, rather than being transmitted or received. Here’s how Marc Zwillinger, Steve Lane, and Jacob Sommer break down the wording of the Turner-Himes amendment: [...]

    • New York Times ☛ Colorado Bill Aims to Protect Consumer Brain Data

      On Wednesday, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado signed a bill that, for the first time in the United States, tries to ensure that such data remains truly private. The new law, which passed by a 61-to-1 vote in the Colorado House and a 34-to-0 vote in the Senate, expands the definition of “sensitive data” in the state’s current personal privacy law to include biological and “neural data” generated by the brain, the spinal cord and the network of nerves that relays messages throughout the body.

      “Everything that we are is within our mind,” said Jared Genser, general counsel and co-founder of the Neurorights Foundation, a science group that advocated the bill’s passage. “What we think and feel, and the ability to decode that from the human brain, couldn’t be any more intrusive or personal to us.”

    • The Record ☛ House votes in favor of curtailing government transactions with data brokers

      The House passed a bill on Wednesday that would rein in the government’s ability to buy information about Americans from data brokers without a subpoena or warrant, with the vote coming in the face of intense backlash from Biden administration officials over national security concerns.

      The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, a controversial bid to stop federal agencies from purchasing so-called commercially available information (CAI), passed 219-199, with both parties split over the measure.

    • Wired ☛ Big Tech Says Spy Bill Turns Its Workers Into Informants

      The US Senate is poised to vote Thursday on legislation that would extend a global wiretap program authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Passed by the House of Representatives last week, a provision contained in the bill—known as the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA)—threatens to significantly expand the scope of the spy program, helping the government to compel the assistance of whole new categories of businesses.

      Legal experts argue the provision could enable the government to conscript virtually anyone with access to facilities or equipment housing communications data, forcing “delivery personnel, cleaning contractors, and utilities providers,” among others, to assist US spies in acquiring access to Americans’ emails, phone calls, and text messages—so long as one side of the communication is foreign.

    • 404 Media ☛ A Spy Site Is Scraping Discord and Selling Users’ Messages

      An online service is scraping Discord servers en masse, archiving and tracking users’ messages and activity across servers including what voice channels they join, and then selling access to that data for as little as $5. Called Spy Pet, the service’s creator says it scrapes more than ten thousand Discord servers, and besides selling access to anyone with cryptocurrency, is also offering the data for training AI models or to assist law enforcement agencies, according to its website.

    • The Conversation ☛ A new wave of wearable devices will collect a mountain on information on us – we need to get wise about the privacy implications

      Policymakers have reacted by enforcing mechanisms to mitigate the risks inherent in tech companies storing and processing their citizens’ private information, such as health data.

      Wearable devices are now becoming a more significant element in this discussion due to their ability to collect continuous data, without the wearer necessarily being aware of it. Wearables such as smart watches gather an array of measurements on your wellbeing, such as sleep patterns, activity levels and heart fitness.

    • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Democrats Want to Expand New Spy Powers That Trump Could Use

      This week could see the radical expansion of government surveillance that would be ripe for abuse by a future authoritarian leader. The twist? It’s Joe Biden and the Democratic establishment who want to pass it.

    • EDRI ☛ Open letter: Mass surveillance and undermining encryption still on table in EU Council

      In the course of this EU legislative proposal, major concerns have been raised by thousands of experts across human rights law, cybersecurity, children’s (digital) rights, child protection hotlines, police forces, data protection and more. These concerns have been listened to by governments including of Germany, Poland, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland, who have all reportedly taken a stand against various of the proposal’s major legal and technical flaws. However, we warn that these critical issues are still very much present in the new approach.

    • RFA ☛ China's spy agency encourages people to see spies everywhere

      The Chinese authorities have typically employed a highly elastic definition of what constitutes a state secret, and national security charges are frequently leveled at journalists, rights lawyers and activists, often based on material they post online.

      "Comprehensive measures are needed in terms of raising awareness of safeguarding national security," the ministry, which included a top 10 list of public tip-offs, as well as details of "awards" handed out to people who made "significant contributions."

      The video warned that university teachers and students were targets for foreign infiltration, mirroring international allegations about China’s activities on overseas campuses.

    • EFF ☛ About Face (Recognition) | EFFector 36.5 [Ed: "LISTEN ON YouTube", says the Google-bribed EFF, which talks about privacy while sending listeners to a mass surveillance platform.]

      It can feel overwhelming to stay up to date, but we've got you covered with our EFFector newsletter! You can read the full issue here, or subscribe to get the next one in your inbox automatically! You can also listen to the audio version of the newsletter on the Internet Archive, or by clicking the button below:

    • Off Guardian ☛ Biometric identification: It’s what Russia craves?

      The nations of the world are racing each other to see who can tag their respective cattle in the safest and most voluntary and convenient way. Meanwhile, the cattle bicker on the internet about which rancher has the best and most moral cattle tag. “So it goes.” I suppose it’s a matter of taste, really.

• Defence/Aggression

  • VOA News ☛ New TikTok Lite app raises concerns in EU

    TikTok has 24 hours to provide a risk assessment after the launch of its new app, TikTok Lite, in France and Spain, the European Commission said Wednesday, citing concerns over the app’s impact on children and users’ mental health.

    The slimmed down version of the TikTok app essentially pays users to watch videos and earn points that can be exchanged for rewards like vouchers or gift cards. To participate, users must be over the age of 18 and verify their age. They can watch up to one hour per day to gain rewards, which equates to $1.06 a day.

    The commission said TikTok owner ByteDance, based in China, should have done a risk assessment before the app was released.

  • New York Times ☛ TikTok Bill to Be Bundled With Aid to Ukraine and Israel, House Speaker Indicates

    While the new legislation would still require TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to owners that resolved national security concerns, it includes an option to extend the deadline for a sale to nine months from the original six months, according to text of the legislation released by House leadership. The president could extend the deadline by another 90 days if progress toward a sale was being made.

    House lawmakers are expected to vote Saturday on a package of legislation that includes the TikTok ban and other bills popular with Republicans, a maneuver intended to induce lawmakers to vote for the foreign aid. If the package passes, the measures will be sent as a single bill to the Senate, which could vote soon after. President Biden has said he’ll sign TikTok legislation into law if it reaches his desk.

  • The Nation ☛ Where Is the Leftist Critique of Hamas?

    Hamas is not that partner. According to its own ideology, Hamas wants an Islamic Palestinian state, run according to Sharia (Muslim religious law), “from the river to the sea.” While Hamas defines itself as a national movement struggling for Palestinian rights, it also is clearly a fundamentalist Islamic movement, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood that was founded in Egypt. Therefore, it is not simply a Palestinian liberation movement but also a fundamentalist Islamic movement. Is that what the primarily secular American and international left wants? Don’t they believe in the importance of separation of church (religion) and state—a principle currently being challenged by the MAGA movement and evangelists in the United States? As it is by the settler movement here in Israel.

    For those who are not familiar with it, the original Hamas charter when the movement was founded in 1988 was clearly antisemitic, fundamentalist, and totally opposed to compromise with the State of Israel. It stated “that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.” It also stated, “The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’” So it was clearly against the right of the State of Israel to exist alongside a Palestinian state, and it was also clearly antisemitic. The charter recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as a brother organization in the struggle (Hamas is not a member) but rejected the PLO’s secular character and support for a democratic secular state, since it asserted that “we cannot give up the Islamic identity of Palestine.”

  • [Old] Federation of American Scientists ☛ The Covenant Of The Hamas - Main Points

    FAS Note: This is a translation of excerpts of the original 1988 charter of Hamas. A translation of the full document is here.

  • Federation of American Scientists ☛ The Covenant Of The Hamas

    Article Thirteen

    [Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the

    international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all

    contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing

    any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the

    nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the

    movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the

    banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: "Allah is

    the all-powerful, but most people are not aware."

  • The Verge ☛ Report: ByteDance still has access to US users’ TikTok data despite Project Texas

    Since 2022, TikTok has undertaken a massive, expensive effort to silo off its US operations — and American users’ data — from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. TikTok has described the corporate restructuring, which it dubbed Project Texas, as “an unprecedented initiative dedicated to making every American on TikTok feel safe, with confidence that their data is secure and the platform is free from outside influence.” Several former employees, however, told Fortune that Project Texas is instead “largely cosmetic” and that they and their colleagues continued to work closely with Beijing-based ByteDance executives after the plan’s implementation.

  • RTL ☛ According to law: Police defend saying Sydney church stabbing was 'terrorism'

    Australian police on Wednesday defended their decision to declare a 16-year-old's alleged stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church a "terrorist" act as community leaders fretted over its impact.

    Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was slashed on Monday during a live-streamed sermon in the Assyrian community's Christian church in western Sydney.

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Trudeau to introduce ‘halal mortgage’ for muslims in Canada, bans foreigners from buying home for 2 years

    Although some Canadian financial institutions already offer Islamic law-compliant mortgages, none of the country's five major banks currently provide them. Experts believe, these alternative mortgages might not be entirely interest-free but could involve regular fees as substitutes for interest charges.

  • The Hill ☛ Lawmakers: China ‘killing’ US with fentanyl

    “They incentivize companies to produce drugs and chemicals that are illegal in their country, just as long as they export it,” he continued. “So China is killing us with a weapon of mass destruction. Not only people in the United States, but across the West.”

  • New York Times ☛ Thursday Briefing: Israel Seems Poised to Retaliate

    Also, a deadly Russian missile strike in Ukraine and “green Islam” in Indonesia.

  • New York Times ☛ Thursday Briefing

    Europe asks Israel for restraint on Iran.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Much more unpopular than anyone anticipated’: After months of deliberation and thousands of amendments, Ukraine’s new mobilization law frustrates politicians and soldiers alike — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ At least 17 reportedly killed in Russian attack on Ukraine’s Chernihiv — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Envoy On Ukraine's Economic Recovery Says Reconstruction Process Already Under Way

      The United States and other partners have already started working on Ukraine’s economic recovery even as Kyiv focuses on defending itself because both they know that "part of Putin’s war strategy is to try and destroy Ukraine’s economy,” said the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine’s economic recovery.

    • RFERL ☛ Putin's Classmate Named Russian Supreme Court Chair

      Russia's Federation Council on April 17 voted to appoint Irina Podnosova, who in 1975 graduated from the Leningrad State University's law school along with Vladimir Putin, to the post of chairwoman of the Supreme Court.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia and Ukraine discuss future financial assistance

      On Tuesday, April 16, Latvian Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens met with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko at the annual World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meeting in Washington, according to a release from the Finance Ministry.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ US House resolution: Russian abduction of Ukrainian children is genocide

      A recent US House resolution clearly articulates Russia’s genocidal crimes in Ukraine. Western leaders must now follow such statements with the necessary actions, write Kristina Hook and Christopher Atwood.

    • France24 ☛ US House inches closer to vote over aid to Ukraine and Israel

      The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday announced a weekend vote on massive new military aid including some $61 billion in long-delayed support for Ukraine, as well as billions for Israel and Taiwan.

    • France24 ☛ More than a dozen killed in Ukraine after Russian strike on apartment block

      Three Russian missiles crashed into Ukraine's historic city of Chernigiv on Wednesday, killing 17 people, as officials pleaded for more air defence systems from allies.

    • LRT ☛ Israeli success must lead to strengthening of Ukraine’s air defence – Lithuanian FM

      The success of Israel and its allies’ joint efforts to defend against Iranian missiles and drones must lead to enhanced air defence supplies for Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stressed at a teleconference of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. House To Vote On Ukraine, Israel Aid Despite Hard-Line Objections

      The U.S. House of Representatives will have its long-awaited vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific as soon as this weekend, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said, paving the way for its possible passage despite fierce objections from the right wing of his conference.

    • RFERL ☛ Memorial Human Rights Group Recognizes Imprisoned Bashkir Anti-War Activist As Political Prisoner

      The Memorial human rights group has recognized activist Ramila Saitova (aka Galim) from Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, who was sentenced in December to five years in prison for her online post protesting Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as a political prisoner.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine is trying to rally new troops. Vets say weapons are more urgent.

      Ukraine is scrambling to bolster its defenses, and on Tuesday rolled out a new, tougher conscription law. But with resupplies still snared in Washington, some veterans warn that more troops only offer so much help.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Replenishing Ukraine

      From money to arms to recruits, Ukraine’s leader tries to keep building up his country’s protections. Yet he also focuses on the arts and culture. Why?

    • New York Times ☛ Johnson Pushes Ahead on Bill for Israel and Ukraine Aid, Teeing Up Weekend Vote

      The embattled Republican speaker said he expected Saturday votes on the long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, as well as fresh sanctions on Iran.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Missile Attack North of Kyiv Kills at Least 17, Ukraine Says

      President Volodymyr Zelensky said the death toll might rise and blamed lack of air defenses for the loss of life. Dozens more were reported wounded.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Mandiant links Russia’s Sandworm hacking group to water infrastructure breaches

      Mandiant today released a report that links Sandworm, a Russian state-backed threat actor, to a series of recent cyberattacks against water utilities. The Surveillance Giant Google LLC unit also changed the codename it uses to track the hacking group.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Mandiant: Notorious Russian hacking unit linked to breach of Texas water facility

      Researchers from the Google-owned firm conclude that Sandworm personas are linked to several recent attacks on critical infrastructure. 

    • France24 ☛ Russian athletes in limbo as Moscow weighs 'neutral' label at Paris Olympics

      With 100 days to go until the Paris Olympics, it’s still not clear whether any athletes from Russia who are expected to qualify will actually go.

    • RFERL ☛ Water Level Rising 'Dangerously' In Tobol River Crossing Russia, Kazakhstan

      Water levels in the Tobol River in the Russian region of Kurgan have risen "dangerously," amid flooding in the border region with Kazakhstan caused by heavy rains and a massive snowmelt sparked by unseasonably warm weather.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Dissident Kara-Murza Faces Brutal Prison Transfer, Says Lawyer

      Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza faces a long and arduous transfer from a Siberian penal colony to a Moscow court to appeal against his 25-year sentence on treason and other charges, his lawyer said on April 17.

    • RFERL ☛ Another Tajik Arrested In Connection With Moscow Terrorist Attack

      Russian authorities have arrested a dual Tajik–Russian national in connection with the March 22 terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow that left 144 people dead.

    • RFERL ☛ Kremlin Confirms Russian Peacekeepers Leaving Nagorno-Karabakh

      The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian peacekeepers are leaving Azerbaijan's once-breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    • RFERL ☛ Kazakh Judge Excludes Russian Forensics Experts' Conclusion From Ex-Minister's Murder Trial

      Judge Aizhan Qulbaeva on April 17 ruled to exclude Russian forensics experts' conclusion from the high-profile trial of former Kazakh Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev, who is accused of beating his wife to death.

    • LRT ☛ Fire breaks out at Lithuania’s border checkpoint with Belarus

      A fire broke out at Lithuania’s Medininkai border checkpoint with Belarus in the early morning on Thursday. No injuries were reported.

• Environment

  • Jeremy Cherfas ☛ A Bet on Hedging

    The capital that has replaced labour on so many farms is the fundamental reason, of course. Time was when laying hedges was one of the jobs carried out in winter not only because that was when the hedge was easiest to get to grips with but also because it kept farm hands busy at a time of year when there wasn’t that much else for them to do. The disaster of the modern, flailed hedge is a direct result of having a tractor but no farm hands.

  • NPR ☛ Earth Day 2024: 7 ways to live more sustainably

    By using home appliances and vehicles that run on electricity, we can help reduce our carbon footprint and leave more fossil fuels in the ground. Here are a few appliances to consider:

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Cult Of Mac ☛ Apple clean energy use tripled since 2020

      Apple said Wednesday it has tripled its use of clean energy since 2020, among other benchmarks of progress toward its goal to reach carbon neutrality across its supply chain by 2030.

    • The Atlantic ☛ Bicycles of World War II

      Over the course of World War II, countless challenges made basic transportation difficult, costly, and dangerous. The need for fast, efficient, and quiet ways of moving people from A to B—despite fuel shortages, damaged roads, and ongoing battles—led many soldiers and civilians to take advantage of bicycles as transport. Troops in some areas became more nimble, refugees used bikes to carry their family and belongings to safety, air-raid wardens could cover more ground on two wheels, and many civilians had no other options available. Gathered below are a handful of images of some of the many ways people put bicycles to use during the Second World War.

    • US News And World Report ☛ CSX Profit Drops 10% Despite Railroad Delivering 3% More Freight in First Quarter

      Hinrichs said he was pleased the railroad was able to deliver consistent customer service that helped it attract more business. He said many of the markets CSX serves are seeing “favorable trends” and more customers are willing to give the railroad more of their business because CSX has delivered better service consistently.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Omicron Limited ☛ Cut light pollution and treat glass to help migrating birds, say researchers

      To help prevent collisions, turn out non-essential lighting from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. or draw curtains to keep light inside. Add shields to external lighting to direct light downward and out of the skies. Taking these steps from February 15 to June 15 will save birds during spring migration. Reducing light pollution year-round will benefit wildlife, human health, and energy savings.

    • The Revelator ☛ Time to Let This Conservation Jargon Go Extinct?

    • Futurism ☛ Elephant Escapes Circus, Thunders Through Montana City

    • TMZ ☛ Elephant Roams Montana Streets After Escaping Circus

  • Overpopulation

    • The Hill ☛ California water regulators put major farming area on ‘probation’

      State water regulators voted unanimously Tuesday to place an agricultural hub in central California under “probation” due to excessive groundwater pumping that has dried up the region.

      Citing multiple deficiencies in the Tulare Lake basin’s groundwater sustainability plans, the State Water Resources Control Board made the decision to toughen usage restrictions and reporting requirements in this southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley.

    • Los Angeles Times ☛ A California farming region is placed on water probation

      California water regulators took the unprecedented step of cracking down on one of the state’s major farming regions for failing to take steps to curb growers’ excessive pumping of groundwater, which has sent water levels into rapid decline and is causing the land to sink.

      The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously Tuesday to place the Tulare Lake basin on “probationary” status for failing to adopt sufficient measures to address chronic overpumping.

    • Omicron Limited ☛ Plumbing problem at Glen Canyon Dam brings new threat to Colorado River system

      The structural problems at Glen Canyon Dam, first reported by the Arizona Daily Star, could complicate how federal officials manage the river in years to come when hydrologists and others predict Lake Powell will fall below current levels. The damaged tubes sit below much larger ones known as penstocks that normally carry the reservoir's water. The smaller tubes that make up the "river outlet works" allow water releases at lower reservoir levels.

      Lake Powell currently sits at about 32% capacity.

• Finance

  • The Gray Zone ☛ UK insurers refuse to pay Nord Stream because blasts were ‘government’ backed

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Elon Musk's Xitter Stalls a Criminal Investigation, Again

    As you recall, Xitter successfully delayed Jack Smith’s access to Trump’s Xitter account for 23 days in January and February of last year (from when then-Chief Judge Beryl Howell approved the warrant on January 17 until when Xitter finally complied on February 9), then spent several more months arguing that it should be able to inform Trump they had provided the information and should not have to pay fines for being in contempt.

    This time around, Xitter delayed DOJ’s access to the mere subscriber records — that is, records showing who owns the accounts in question — for two Xitter accounts for over two months (January 25 through March 29 of this year) based on a similar complaint: that before it complied, it should be able to tell the subjects of the criminal investigation about the request.

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Apple CEO Tim Cook's big announcement for Indonesia: ‘Looking into building…’

    Apple Inc will look into the possibility of building a manufacturing facility in Indonesia, its CEO said on Wednesday after meeting President Joko Widodo.

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Elon Musk's India visit: Tesla entry, meet with space startups and more

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk and PM Modi are likely to meet on April 22, following which the company's entry into India will be announced, it was reported. A senior government official told Moneycontrol that there will be a general announcement made on the EV maker's India entry. As per the report, it would be "more of a signalling".

  • Futurism ☛ Trump's "Truth Social" Announced a Hot New Product to Try to Turn Things Around, But Its Stock Kept Nosediving

    In an apparent attempt to stop the bleeding, Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology (TMTG) announced that it's looking to launch a live TV streaming platform — a wildly ambitious plan for a company whose share value has been in freefall for weeks now.

    Investors seemingly called the company's bluff, leading to shares sliding another 12 percent or so Tuesday morning, hovering just above $23 at press time.

  • International Business Times ☛ Tesla Layoff Scandal: Workers Unaware Until Badge Scans Deny Them Entry

    However, according to five current or former workers who spoke to Business Insider, some individuals arrived at company facilities on Monday unaware they had been laid off.

    In a message to staff, Musk acknowledged the hardship, stating, "There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done." The downsizing will enable Tesla to be "lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle," Musk noted in a company-wide memo, first reported by Elektrek.

  • Futurism ☛ Tesla Staff Didn’t Know They Were Laid Off Until They Tried to Enter the Building

    Getting laid off is bad enough, but finding out that you've been sacked by being denied entry to the building where you work is another thing entirely.

    According to multiple former and current Tesla workers who spoke to Business Insider, some employees sacked in Tesla's mass layoffs this week didn't learn about their terminations until they showed up to work Monday morning.

  • Business Insider ☛ Some Tesla Workers Get Badge Scan, Realize Layoff

    The cuts impacted engineers and production associates alike. At Tesla's factory in Sparks, Nevada, workers faced a roughly two-hour line to get into the facility on Monday morning as a result of badge checks, one worker said.

    At the factory, the security team was scanning the badges of workers coming out of the shuttles that ferry people between the factory and nearby parking lots, said two current Tesla workers who requested anonymity since they weren't authorized to speak about the matter. Typically, security guards inspect workers' badges at the site, but they don't usually scan them directly, the two workers said. On Monday morning, the officials picked out the workers who'd been laid off and sent them back in separate vans, the two workers said.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Hindu ☛ Deepfake video of Aamir Khan promoting a political party goes viral

      The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against an unidentified person in connection with a deepfake video of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan in which he is purportedly seen promoting a political party, an official said.

      The FIR was filed on Wednesday at the Khar police station following a complaint by Mr. Khan's office under relevant Indian Penal Code sections, including 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, the official said.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ "USC Canceling Valedictorian's Commencement Speech Looks Like Calculated Censorship"

    The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Alex Morey) discusses the incident; I also commented on it yesterday morning on AirTalk (with Larry Mantle) on an L.A. radio station yesterday; for more about the material that the valedictorian had apparently posted online, see this Daily Mail (James Gordon) story.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Is it safety or censorship? USC cancels valedictorian speech over Israel-Hamas protests.

    The University of Southern California has canceled its valedictorian’s commencement speech. She says she was censored for being pro-Palestinian as Jewish groups alleged her bias. University officials argued they were motivated by public safety concerns.

  • Techdirt ☛ Will Elon Sue? NBC News Finds, Yet Again, That ExTwitter Has ‘Verified’ Neo-Nazi Accounts, With Ads Appearing Next To Their Content

    Elon Musk does not seem to like it much when reports point out that ExTwitter appears to have a neo-Nazi issue. Of course, he could respond to these reports by noting that, as a “free speech absolutist,” that includes those who support Nazism, as distasteful as that is, but he stands by that horrific speech because of his belief in free speech.

  • Techdirt ☛ The Motion Picture Association Doesn’t Get To Decide Who The First Amendment Protects

    Twelve years ago, internet users spoke up with one voice to reject a law that would build censorship into the internet at a fundamental level. This week, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a group that represents six giant movie and TV studios, announced that it hoped we’d all forgotten how dangerous this idea was. The MPA is wrong. We remember, and the internet remembers.

  • Pen America ☛ Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis - PEN America

    The book ban crisis is often referred to by its numbers. A rising number of bans, more states impacted, more titles implicated. And behind every number, there is a deeper story: the narratives being censored from pages, the overworked librarians and teachers, the authors whose work has been maligned, and the students who see their identities and their opportunities to learn about other experiences and histories swept from shelves.

    This report provides data, alongside a comprehensive narrative of the censorship crisis affecting public schools. It shows the nuance of the current moment and damage that occurs when stories—compassionate, reflective, educational, and entertaining—are restricted or removed on the basis of fear, intimidation, or bigotry.

  • [Old] Reuters ☛ School boards get death threats over race, gender, mask policies

    Local school officials across the United States are being inundated with threats of violence and other hostile messages from anonymous harassers nationwide, fueled by anger over culture-war issues. Reuters found 220 examples of such intimidation in a sampling of districts.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ Salman Rushdie reflects on attack in 'Knife'

    The book "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder" is now being published in more than 15 countries.

    The essays are Rushdie's way of "coming to grips with what happened to him last year when he was stabbed, thus responding to violence with art," as described by publisher Penguin Random House.

    Rushdie had already told US magazine The New Yorker in February 2023 that he was planning to write a book about the attack.

    After attempting to write the story as a novel, he decided instead on a memoir.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • VOA News ☛ Georgia presses on with 'foreign agents' bill opposed by EU

    As many as 10,000 opponents of the bill gathered outside the parliament, sitting atop cars and buildings — a day after police used pepper spray to clear protesters away from part of the building.

    Several thousand protesters moved over to the government building, heavily guarded by police, to demand a meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the bill's principal backer.

  • VOA News ☛ American RFE/RL reporter marks 6 months jailed in Russia

    An American journalist jailed in Russia will mark six months behind bars on Thursday over charges that press freedom groups have condemned as bogus and politically motivated.

    Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor at the Tatar-Bashkir Service of VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was arrested on October 18, 2023, and has been held in pretrial detention since then.

  • CPJ ☛ Togo expels French journalist Thomas Dietrich, suspends foreign accreditations

    On Tuesday, a court in Togo’s capital Lomé sentenced Dietrich, a freelance reporter, to a six-month suspended prison sentence for illegal entry and banned him from Togolese territory. He was then taken to the country’s Benin border and expelled, according to the journalist.

  • New York Times ☛ How London Became a ‘Hot Spot’ for Threats Against Iranian Journalists

    Iranian journalists in London have experienced death threats, intimidation and online abuse. One broadcaster working for BBC Persian, the Persian-language branch of the BBC World Service, which has its headquarters in London, had her car broken into, and her conversations with family members were tapped.

  • The Dissenter ☛ CIA Invokes 'State Secrets' To End Assange Spying Lawsuit

    In a declaration [PDF] that invokes the “state secrets privilege,” Burns also maintained that the CIA could not provide any explanation in open court for why the agency believes damage could occur if the lawsuit proceeds.

  • ABC ☛ US submits assurances to UK over Julian Assange extradition, moving case forward again

    The United States has reportedly sent assurances to the United Kingdom intended to facilitate the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange -- including that he will not face the death penalty -- signaling, for now, that the U.S. is continuing to move forward with its efforts to prosecute Assange on espionage charges.

  • Quartz ☛ The U.S. said it won't kill Julian Assange if extradited

    U.S. officials say they will not pursue the death penalty against Julian Assange if he’s extradited from the UK to face charges related to his publication of documents highly embarrassing to the U.S. government, according to a report from Australia’s ABC News Tuesday. But that will be cold comfort to some in the British legal system who have argued U.S. prisons are so inherently cruel that sending Assange to America, even with such a guarantee, would still amount to an inhumane act.

  • ABC ☛ Julian Assange extradition edges closer after US promises not to seek death penalty

    • In short: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains at risk of being extradited to the United States, where he faces 18 criminal charges.

    • A London court had asked the US for several guarantees about how the Australian would be treated in the US before it makes a final decision, and its legal team provided those on Tuesday.

    • What's next: Lawyers for the US and Assange will return to the Royal Courts of Justice, on The Strand, on May 20 to continue making representations, before a final decision is made at some point after that.

  • WSWS ☛ Biden administration issues “weasel words” assurances to secure Assange’s extradition - World Socialist Web Site

    Assange’s wife Stella was quick to point out the “blatant weasel words” of the first assurance, which only states that Assange can “seek to raise” First Amendment rights—it does not guarantee that he will receive them.

    Legally, this should bar extradition outright.

    Section 87 of the UK’s Extradition Act (2003) requires the courts to “decide whether the person’s extradition would be compatible with the Convention rights [European Convention on Human Rights] within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998… If the judge decides the question… in the negative he must order the person’s discharge.”

    Article 10 of the Convention is the right to freedom of expression, or free speech. The same protection is enshrined in the US legal system in the form of the First Amendment. But the US Embassy’s letter leaves the door open to this right being denied to Assange at the say so of the US courts.

  • Democracy Now ☛ Extradition of Julian Assange Edges Closer as U.S. Gives Assurances to U.K. over His Rights

    The possible extradition of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to the United States has edged a step closer. On Tuesday, the Biden administration provided assurances to the British High Court that Assange would not face the death penalty and that his First Amendment rights would be protected if he were to be extradited from Britain, where he has been locked up for five years. Assange’s wife Stella slammed the U.S. response, saying, “The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family’s extreme distress about his future — his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism.”

  • US News And World Report ☛ EU Warns Georgia That 'Foreign Agent' Law Will Impact Membership Path

    "The proposed legislation would limit the capacity of civil society and media organisations to operate freely, could limit freedom of expression and unfairly stigmatise organisations that deliver benefits to the citizens of Georgia," it said.

  • [Repeat] EDRI ☛ Media Literacy Case for Educators: Empowering Educators for the Next Digital Decade

    With a growing generation of teens relying on the [Internet] for learning, entertainment and socialising, it's crucial to cultivate their capacity to ask critical questions about how technology impacts their lives, their communities and the planet. But how can educators guide teens to understand and navigate the digital world confidently? “Everywhere, All the Time” is a creative and playful digital literacy intervention, aiming to do just that.

  • CPJ ☛ U.S. Presidential Election 2024: Journalist safety kit

    The 2024 United States presidential election will take place on Tuesday, November 5 amid an increasingly polarized political climate. In addition to facing a high level of distrust in the media, journalists are likely to confront significant security challenges in the lead-up to the election, as well as on election day.

  • VOA News ☛ Writer jailed in Vietnam to be recognized with international award

    The rights group PEN America has announced that Pham Doan Trang will receive its 2024 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. The honor is bestowed each year to a writer imprisoned for his or her work.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Democracy Now ☛ Can UAW Unionize the South? Volkswagen Tennessee Vote Could Change U.S. Labor Landscape

    On Wednesday, 4,000 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, begin voting in a closely watched election on whether to organize with the United Auto Workers in what could be the union’s first big victory as they try to expand into the southern United States after huge contract wins in 2023 with Detroit companies General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Disneyland cast members file for union election with NLRB

    “After a couple of months ... the fairy dust fades away, and you see your friends and people you really care about hurting and burnt out and not able to pay their rent,” Hefner said. “ Despite it being ‘the Happiest Place on Earth’ ... it’s not always the case for the people that are working there.” ANAHEIM CA APRIL 30, 2021 - The first park visitors are greeted by cast members inside Disneyland as the theme park reopens for the first time in more than a year on Friday, April 30, 2021. The reopening of Disneyland, which was shut down in March of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ``is a monumental day for Anaheim,'' city spokesman Mike Lyster said.(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

    Hefner, 28, belongs to Magic United, a bargaining unit of about 1,700 employees in the characters and parades departments at Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort. In addition to the actors who portray characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Cinderella and Prince Charming in the parks and nearby hotels, Magic United includes hosts, trainers, leads and other workers who support them.

  • The Hill ☛ Los Angeles officer who shot and killed teen girl in dressing room won’t face charges

    A Los Angeles police officer who shot and killed a teenage girl with a stray bullet will not be charged over the incident, the California Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ LAPD officer won't face charges for Burlington Coat Factory shooting

    No LAPD officer has been charged in an on-duty shooting by county or state prosecutors in nearly two decades. Under Dist. Atty. George Gascón, however, L.A. County prosecutors have been more aggressive in filing cases against law enforcement officers who use force on duty, bringing assault and manslaughter charges against Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and Torrance police officers in recent years.

  • Maine Morning Star ☛ Free speech for Nazis? What about the right to be free from harassment? • Maine Morning Star

    No, these people are here, and this is where structural and institutional support is needed to corral them and impede them. While we can’t legislate hearts and minds, we can create laws to make their lives of promoting oppression and bigotry just a little harder. To make openly blatant racism and its many variations uncomfortable or illegal.

  • RFERL ☛ Wave Of Complaints Follows Police Hijab Crackdown In Tehran

    The stricter enforcement of the mandatory hijab law by Tehran police has prompted a wave of complaints from Iranians who say police are using aggressive and sometimes violent tactics in their treatment of alleged violators.

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 5 tips for a successful Digital Nomad Lifestyle

    Embracing a location-independent lifestyle is an exciting journey filled with opportunities for personal and professional growth. Here are some insights, resources, and tips to help you thrive: [...]

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • The Register UK ☛ Why we may get paid-for 5G fast lanes under net neutrality

    Now Professor Barbara van Schewick, of the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School, has argued the FCC’s proposed reinstatement of network neutrality will make it possible for US mobile carriers to pick applications and put them into a fast lane, for which they could charge more.

    “T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all testing ways to create these 5G fast lanes for apps such as video conferencing, games, and video where the ISP chooses and controls what gets boosted,” she explained this month.

    “The ISPs write about this in their blogs and press releases. They talk about these efforts and dreams openly at conferences, and their equipment vendors plainly lay out how ISPs can chop up internet service into all manner of fast lanes.”

    “These kinds of ISP-controlled fast lanes violate core net neutrality principles and would limit user choice, distort competition, hamper startups, and help cement platform dominance,” Professor van Schewick claims.

  • Stanford University ☛ ISPs can charge extra for fast gaming under FCC’s Internet rules, critics say

    Stanford Law Professor Barbara van Schewick, who has consistently argued for stricter net neutrality rules, wrote in a blog post on Thursday that "harmful 5G fast lanes are coming."

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• The Register UK ☛ Japan turns up heat on Apple, Google with threat of fines

  Apple, Google, and other Big Tech players could be fined 20 or even 30 percent of their sales in Japan if they break newly proposed regulations on abusive app store monopolies.

  This level of punishment is just at the draft stage, according to Nikkei, and if the proposed changes pass, today's current six percent fine for app store monopoly abuse will rise to 20 percent or more.

• [Old] Oxford University Press ☛ EU Obligation to the TRIPS Agreement: EU Microsoft Decision | European Journal of International Law

  In Microsoft v. Commission, Microsoft was ordered by the European Court of First Instance (CFI) to license interface information to its competitors on reasonable terms and to supply a fully functioning version of Windows Personal Computer Operating System without Windows Media Player. Microsoft claimed that the remedies infringed the minimum standards of IP protection provided by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). However, the CFI refused to examine the TRIPS provisions, on the basis that international agreements do not prevail over primary Community law, and in any case, the TRIPS agreement permits members to restrain anti-competitive abuse of IP rights. This article examines the issues that arise from this position: first, is the Microsoft decision TRIPS compliant? Secondly, to what extent is the EU bound to its obligations under the TRIPS Agreement? The article highlights the lack of a clear-cut hierarchy of norms and illustrates how EU law is placed within a multi-layered governance structure involving national law and international law. The article finds that the EU does not engage in consistent interpretation or application of the TRIPS provisions.

• Patents

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ How to Avoid Banana Skins on the Path towards a more Unified Patent System [Ed: Unified Patent System is illegal and unconstitutional. It's not means to exist and those who started it should be prosecuted, but this is a system motored by corruption and white-collar criminals who hijack courts.]

      There are now three interesting developments, albeit in quite different areas, which have in common the effort to avoid stepping on banana skins on the path towards a more unified patent monopoly system.

  • Software Patents

    • The Register UK ☛ Future Roku TVs may run tailored ads when you pause

      A Roku-assigned patent application, filed in the US as 20230388589A1 and titled "HDMI customized ad insertion," outlines a fairly convoluted system that ultimately shows adverts on your telly or some other display whenever some kind of pause in playback is detected.

      The proposed patent, published at the end of last year and spotted now, describes a display device that can show advertising after identifying a pause in the video content from an HDMI-connected media device.

• Copyrights

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Despite 155 Piracy Incidents in Cinemas, Pirates Suffer Worst Year Since 2012

    With shorter theatrical windows, access to legal streaming services, and a preference for consuming movies in higher quality, copies of films recorded in theaters are less attractive to Western consumers than they once were. Still, camcorder piracy remains a threat; data just released by the Film Content Protection Agency reveals that exhibitors reported 155 piracy-related security incidents in 2023. The end result was the worst year for pirates in the UK since 2012.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Reddit Reports Surge in Copyright-Related User Bans

    Reddit's latest transparency report reveals that user bans for repeat copyright infringement skyrocketed in the last half of 2023. The company attributes the 258% increase to improved detection methods and increased operational capacity. The number of items that were removed from the site following copyright complaints dropped to little over half a million.