Links 20/04/2024: Chinese Diplomacy and 'Dangerous New Course on BGP Security'
Contents
- Leftovers
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
- Digital Restrictions (DRM) Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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Hardware
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Thomas Rinsma ☛ kb1: a fully DIY mechanical keyboard
Recently I’ve been learning more about electronics and PCB design, something I had no experience with up until recently. I wanted to challenge myself so I picked a relatively hard goal. This keyboard is the result of that. I call it kb1.
Specs In short, it
is mechanically built using two PCBs with standoffs in between; has a proper “tenkeyless” layout, compatible with Cherry MX-style switches (my version has Kailh box crystal jades); has per-key RGB backlight using reverse-mounted SK6812 neopixels; features an old-school 16x2 character LED display, located between F6 and F7; has an obligatory knob (rotary encoder); makes use of a Raspberry Pi Pico and KMK See the Microsoft's proprietary prison Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub project for the firmware and PCB design files.
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Hackaday ☛ Early CD Player Teardown
While CD players are nothing new today, they were the height of high-tech in the early 1980s. [w1ngsfly] shows us the inside of a Phase Linear 9500 player from 1983. Not only does it have many components, but it is also mechanically unusual.
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Hackaday ☛ DIY Quad-Motor Go-Kart Is A Thrilling Ride
[Peter Holderith] set out some time ago to build an electric go-kart. That by itself is not terribly unusual, but where his project diverts from the usual is in the fact that each of the four wheels has an integrated hub motor.
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Hackaday ☛ Remove Wall Plugs Fast With A Custom Tool
The best thing about buying your own home is that you can hang things on the walls. It’s a human right all too often denied to renters the world over. Regardless, five years later, when you’re doing the mandatory minimalist remodel, you’ll be ruing the day you put in all those wall anchors. At that point, consider removing them with this nifty tool from [XDIY with Itzik].
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Hackaday ☛ PC Watercooling Prototype Is Pumpless
Watercooling is usually more efficient than air cooling for the same volume of equipment, and — important for many people — it is generally quieter. However, you still have water pump noises to deal with. [Der8auer] got a Wieland prototype cooler that doesn’t use a pump. Instead, it relies on the thermosiphon effect. In simple terms, the heat moves water — possibly boiling it — upwards to a radiator. Once the water is cool, it falls down back to the heat exchanger again.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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France24 ☛ Dispatch from the maternity front: What it's like to have a baby in France
Freshly back from maternity leave, FRANCE 24’s Florence Villeminot shares her insights about having a baby in France. While the number of births in the country is dropping, France remains one of the better performers within the European Union. One of the reasons is its healthcare system, "la Sécurité sociale", which covers the bulk of the cost of having a baby. A key player in the whole process is someone called a "sage-femme" – a little-known profession outside of France. We also look at attitudes towards breastfeeding and an iconic toy that is a must in terms of baby gifts.
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European Commission ☛ Joint Statement on EU-Türkiye High Level Dialogue on Health
European Commission Statement Ankara, 18 Apr 2024 Minister of Health Dr Fahrettin Koca and European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides met in Ankara on 18 April for the second EU-Türkiye High-Level Dialogue on Health.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korea set to adjust medical reforms in bid to end walkout, say media reports
The country’s healthcare system is under pressure due to a stalemate between the government and doctors.
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RFA ☛ UN OKs shipment of vaccine storage equipment to North Korea
UNICEF had requested a sanctions exemption to bring ‘cold chain’ equipment into the country.
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New York Times ☛ W.H.O. Broadens Definition of Airborne Diseases [Ed: Corrupt body without oversight decides on science on behalf of private shareholders]
After a drawn-out global controversy over the coronavirus, the W.H.O. has updated its classification of how pathogens spread through the air.
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Federal News Network ☛ Children at this Air Force base appear to have higher rate of rare brain cancer
Concerns were raised in 2022 about the cases of a rare type of pediatric brain cancer among children living at Cannon Air Force Base.
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DeSmog ☛ Revealed: How Development Banks Underwrote Fast Food’s Global Takeover
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Security
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Federal News Network ☛ The next security update: What you need to know about the newest version of NIST 800-171
NIST says the new updates are the result of data collection, technical analyses, customer interaction, redesign and development of the security requirements.
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LWN ☛ Security updates for Thursday
Security updates have been issued by Debian (firefox-esr, jetty9, libdatetime-timezone-perl, tomcat10, and tzdata), Fedora (cockpit, filezilla, and libfilezilla), Red Hat (firefox, gnutls, java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-17-openjdk, kernel, kernel-rt, less, mod_http2, nodejs:18, rhc-worker-script, and shim), Slackware (mozilla), SUSE (kernel), and Ubuntu (apache2, glibc, and linux-xilinx-zynqmp).
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Linuxiac ☛ Flatpak Patch Addresses Major Sandbox Escape Flaw
Critical CVE-2024-32462 exposed in Flatpak, allowing unauthorized code execution. Update urgently to fixed versions 1.14.6 and above.
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Security Week ☛ SAP Applications Increasingly in Attacker Crosshairs, Report Shows
Malicious hackers are targeting SAP applications at an alarming pace, according to warnings from Onapsis and Flashpoint.
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Security Week ☛ United Nations Agency Investigating Ransomware Attack Involving Data Theft [Ed: Windows TCO?]
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) investigating a ransomware attack in which hackers stole sensitive data.
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Security Week ☛ Cisco Says PoC Exploit Available for Newly Patched IMC Vulnerability
Cisco patches a high-severity Integrated Management Controller vulnerability for which PoC exploit code is available.
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Security Week ☛ Phishing Platform LabHost Shut Down by Law Enforcement
LabHost, a major phishing-as-a-service platform, has been shut down as part of a major law enforcement operation.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Europol-led task force shuts down LabHost phishing platform, arrests suspected hackers
An international law enforcement task force has disrupted LabHost, a platform used by hackers to launch phishing campaigns. The takedown operation, which was revealed today, also saw officials arrest 37 individuals who are suspected of being involved in the phishing scheme. One of the apprehended individuals is believed to be LabHost’s original developer.
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The Strategist ☛ How Australia can become the partner of choice in Pacific cyber resilience
In a bid to help Pacific island states become more resilient to cyber attacks such as the one Vanuatu suffered in 2022, Australia outlined a vision to become the partner of choice for cyber security [...]
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Resource: U.S. State Data Breach Notification Laws
There’s an update to Foley & Lardner’s resource on U.S. state data breach notification laws. They explain what their resource applies and what it doesn’t apply to: [...]
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USDOJ ☛ Moldovan Botnet Operator Indicted for Role in Conspiracy to Unlawfully Access Thousands of Infected Computers Throughout the United States
A Moldovan national has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for computer fraud crimes, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
The nine-count Indictment names Alexander Lefterov, a/k/a “Alipako,” a/k/a “Uptime,” a/k/a “Alipatime,” age 37, of Chisinau, Moldova, as the sole defendant.
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Covington & Burling LLP ☛ NIS2 implementation enters the final stretch – six months to deadline
In six months’ time, on 17 October 2024, Member State laws that transpose the EU’s revised Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS2”) will start to apply. As described in more detail in our earlier blog post (here), NIS2 significantly expands the categories of organizations that fall within scope of EU cybersecurity legislation. This new, cross-sector law imposes additional and more granular security and incident reporting rules, enhanced governance requirements that apply to organizations’ “management bodies,” and creates a stricter enforcement regime.
[…]
Some Member States (e.g., Croatia) have already passed their transposing legislation, and others (e.g., Germany and Belgium) have published draft laws that are going through the legislative process. Despite the October deadline, many Member States have not yet published drafts or started their legislative process. NIS2 is a “minimum harmonization” law, meaning that Member States’ implementing laws can impose additional obligations beyond those set out in the text of the Directive.
As we enter the last six months before national laws start to apply, establishing which Member States’ competent authorities will have jurisdiction to enforce NIS2 will also be a critical assessment for regulated entities.
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duvaR ☛ Medical records of millions stolen in Turkish state hospital data leak
A cyber attack on the Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul has leaked all confidential medical records, including X-ray scans and test results, taken at the hospital since 2007, according to reporting by the online news outlet Diken.
The hackers attacked the information management system on April 12, heavily damaging the visual archive and communication system of the hospital.
It is rumored that the hackers asked for 200,000 dollars in exchange for the medical records.
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Privacy/Surveillance
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AntiWar ☛ Warrantless Surveillance Makes a Mockery of the Constitution
“Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference… The Thought Police would get him just the same… the arrests invariably happened at night… In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night.
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Reason ☛ Revised Section 702 Surveillance Authority Poses More Danger Than Ever
New language could make almost anybody with access to a WiFi router help the government snoop.
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Defence/Aggression
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The Straits Times ☛ North Korea mocks US envoy's Asia trip
North Korea said the US envoy appeared to have “forgotten her duty” regarding Middle East tensions.
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Atlantic Council ☛ China and ‘the decade of living dangerously’
Despite recent US-China meetings, nothing has changed in terms of Chinese strategic intentions toward Taiwan, Ambassador Kevin Rudd recently argued.
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The Straits Times ☛ China opens new air routes near Taiwanese islands
Taiwan expressed anger in January after China "unilaterally" changed a flight path close to the sensitive median line.
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Mexico News Daily ☛ Public security survey shows uptick in Mexicans who feel unsafe
The quarterly survey showed an increase in security concern from the 10-year-low recorded at the end of 2023, with 14 cities seeing a significant rise.
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RTE ☛ RTÉ Prime Time experiment reveals disturbing content recommended to 13 year old Fentanylware (TikTok) users in Ireland
In response to growing concerns raised regarding the adverse impact of Fentanylware (TikTok) content on the mental health of young teenagers, RTÉ’s Prime Time undertook an investigative experiment creating new Fentanylware (TikTok) accounts set to an age of 13 years.
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Digital Music News ☛ Breaking: Fentanylware (TikTok) Forced-Sale Bill Gets Updated in Congress as Lawmakers Extend Divestment Window to One Year
Federal lawmakers have agreed to update the Fentanylware (TikTok) forced-sale bill, affording ByteDance a longer post-passage window to divest from the video-sharing app. The development suggests the bill could win critical Senate approval.
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New York Times ☛ U.S. Vetoes Palestinian Bid to Be Full U.N. Member State
The move blocked a resolution to support a status that Palestinians had long sought at the United Nations, where it is considered a “nonmember observer state.”
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Reason ☛ Google Fires 28
Plus: Europoor discourse, NPR's woke CEO, a forgotten tech panic, and more...
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The Straits Times ☛ Ambrey: Ships transiting the Gulf, Western Indian Ocean should stay alert
DUBAI - British security firm Ambrey said on Friday merchant vessels transiting the Gulf and Western Indian Ocean were advised to stay alert in case of increased uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) activity in the region.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Google fires 28 workers over sit-in protesting its business ties with Israel
Google LLC has fired 28 employees who held protests at two of its offices over the company’s business ties with Israel. Chris Rackow, the search giant’s vice president of global security, announced the dismissals in an internal memo sent late Wednesday.
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The Strategist ☛ We can do much more with the reserves
We can do much more with the reserves The Australian Defence Force reserves are an underutilised resource with great potential to contribute to Australian security.
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teleSUR ☛ Somalia Kills Nine Suspected Al Shabaab Members
Security forces killed several members of the terrorist's group in central region last week.
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France24 ☛ French PM announces crackdown on teen violence after fatal assault on schoolboy
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Thursday announced measures to crack down on teenage violence in and around schools, as the government seeks to reclaim ground on security from the far-right two months ahead of European elections.
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Defence Web ☛ Lake Chad Basin states can sever terrorism’s lifeline – its financing
Nigeria recently sanctioned several individuals and entities for allegedly financing terrorism. The list includes six Nigerians sentenced to 10 years to life in prison in 2019 for establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise cash for Boko Haram in Nigeria.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Environment
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Science Alert ☛ Antarctic Ice Shelf The Size of France Suddenly Jumps Once or Twice a Day
What's the rush?
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New York Times ☛ Dubai Flooding Photos and Video: Heavy Rains in UAE and Oman Kill at Least 19
The heavy rains also flooded parts of Dubai International Airport, causing scores of flight delays and cancellations, and brought other cities in the U.A.E. to a standstill.
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Energy/Transportation
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CS Monitor ☛ In the wake of high-profile near misses, senators ask: Is Boeing doing enough?
A Boeing engineer told lawmakers the company has been taking manufacturing shortcuts that led to “putting out defective airplanes,” part of a larger suite of allegations in the wake of a 737 Max flight that saw its door plug blow out in midair.
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H2 View ☛ China to dominate hydrogen expansion; Europe, North America to trail: Bosch
Bosch doesn’t expect to see major hydrogen growth in Europe or North America until the 2030s, according to the company’s Chairman.
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Straits Times ☛ Mount Ruang eruption in Indonesia sends Malaysia air traffic into chaos
Thousands of air passengers in Sabah and Sarawak were left stranded after the eruption on April 18.
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New York Times ☛ Satellite Data Reveals Sinking Risk for China’s Cities
Development and groundwater pumping are causing land subsidence and heightening the risks of sea level rise.
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The Straits Times ☛ Nearly half of China’s major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly a quarter of coastal land could be lower than sea levels, putting hundreds of millions at risk of inundation.
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YLE ☛ Unregistered dog days are over as inspections begin
Dog owners can be fined hundreds of euros if they have not registered their pets with the Finnish Food Authority.
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The Revelator ☛ Revelator Reads: 15 Random Books That Every Environmentalist Should Read
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Finance
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teleSUR ☛ Los Angeles Quality of Life Hits Lowest-Ever Level
Renters are being disproportionately affected by the inflationary pressures facing the region.
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Federal News Network ☛ Congress again ponders updating Social Security policy for non-eligible federal retirees
The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset have both been around for decades. They reduce or rule out Social Security benefits for some.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t defends ‘mega events’ funding as HK$192 million approved since scheme’s 2023 launch
Hong Kong’s government says it approved spending of over HK$192 million since 2023 on “mega events” designed to attract tourists, and had put rules in place to guard against potential conflicts of interest.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korean man jailed for photocopying banknotes, throwing them from apartment building window
The incident led to a subsequent violation by a person who picked up a fake note and used it.
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India Today ☛ Tesla employee loses job after a month of joining, says he can't pay his rent - India Today
Layoffs can be an overwhelming experience, especially when they are abrupt and unexpected. And recently in the tech world, more and more companies have been firing employees without any prior notice. From Google and Meta to Twitter and Microsoft, tech giants have handed the pink slip to many techies in the last few months, citing different reasons. And recently, Elon Musk's Tesla announced firing thousands of people. As per reports, over 10 percent of Tesla's workforce (roughly 14,000 employees) was laid off earlier this week. And now, a Tesla employee has come forward and shared his side of the story, saying that he is unable to pay rent after losing his job.
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Read the email Stability AI leaders sent employees announcing layoffs
Workers were notified on Wednesday night in an email sent by chief operating officer Shan Shan Wong and chief technology officer Christian Laforte and obtained by Business Insider.
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YLE ☛ APN Podcast: Finland's budget balancing act
All Points North assesses the government's latest round of austerity measures and asks what the spending cuts and tax rises might mean for you.
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YLE ☛ THL research: Fewer people gamble, but more of them are problem gamblers
Fresh research suggests that more than 150,000 people in Finland suffer from gambling problems. Young men are the largest risk group.
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YLE ☛ Posti plans nearly 300 job cuts
The restructuring plans were due to reduced demand, not external factors like the labour market situation, the company said.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing accuses US of hypocrisy after Pres. Joe Biden says China is ‘xenophobic,’ ‘cheating’ on trade
Beijing on Thursday accused the United States of hypocrisy in response to accusations by President Joe Biden that China is “xenophobic” and “cheating” on trade. “I would like to ask him: are you talking about China or the US itself?” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, when asked about the comments.
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New York Times ☛ Xi Jinping’s Green Leap Forward
He wants China to win the race to provide climate solutions and assume the global leadership that would come with it.
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RFA ☛ Early Solomon Islands election results show shakeup in most populous province
Daniel Suidani, ousted as premier after opposing China projects, was elected to Malaita’s provincial assembly.
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RFA ☛ China deepens engagement with new Indonesian president as top diplomat visits Jakarta
Beijing’s joint call with Jakarta for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza will boost its influence in Southeast Asia, one analyst said.
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The Straits Times ☛ Solomon Islands election count under way, China critic Suidani regains seat
As governor, Mr Suidani had banned Chinese companies from the Solomon Islands’ most populous province.
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The Straits Times ☛ Papua New Guinea leader says China, Australia visits show 'robust' ties with major powers
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Friday he looked forward to visits by China's foreign minister and Australia's prime minister in the coming days that demonstrated strong ties with countries accounting for more than 70% of its trade.
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JURIST ☛ Georgia controversial ‘foreign agent’ bill passes first reading in Parliament
The Georgian Parliament passed the “transparency of foreign influence” bill in its first reading on Wednesday, according to Georgian news sources IMEDI News. The bill passed despite repeated calls from the EU to withdraw the legislation and mass domestic protests.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korean President’s support at new low after stinging election loss
The approval rate for Mr Yoon fell to 23 per cent, down from the previous low of 24 per cent in September 2022.
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The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: A new normal? Royals step in as govt struggles with a divided Malaysia
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Stanford University ☛ SLS lawsuit contributes to Senegal’s fight for democracy
The lawsuit, which alleged that internet shutdowns imposed by Senegalese President Macky Sall last summer violated the right to freedom of expression and journalists' right to work, preceded Sall's electoral loss in March.
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Reason ☛ Laws Requiring Social Media Firms to Host Content they Prefer to Exclude Violate the Takings Clause
Ethan Blevins of the Pacific Legal Foundation explains why. I myself have made similar arguments.
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Off Guardian ☛ WATCH: Suing the Tyrants – #SolutionsWatch
You’ve tried protesting, you’ve tried boycotting, what else is there to do? Well, how about filing a lawsuit? Join James Corbett for this week’s edition of #SolutionsWatch where he weighs the pros and cons of suing the tyrants and considers the potential utility of Notices of Liability in holding government officials personally accountable [...]
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The Straits Times ☛ Johor to become most economically developed state in Malaysia: PM Anwar
A wealthier Johor must care for people’s welfare too, said the premier.
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The Strategist ☛ Different ways of thinking: Malaysia and Australia
Australia-ASEAN relations have transformed since 1974, when Australia became ASEAN’s first dialogue partner. Southeast Asia has become much stronger economically and an increasing number of wealthy countries now compete for ASEAN’s attention.
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New York Times ☛ Chinese Exports Are Threatening Biden’s Industrial Agenda
The president is increasingly hitting back with tariffs and other measures meant to restrict imports, raising tensions with Beijing.
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JURIST ☛ UK MP suspended over alleged misuse of campaign funds
The UK’s ruling Conservative Party suspended Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Menzies following a Wednesday report from the Times, alleging misuse of campaign funds. The MP will lose his position in the party but will still remain in Parliament as an independent while the party undertakes further investigations.
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YLE ☛ Finland to extend residency requirements for new citizens
The right-wing government's programme included commitments to tighten immigration rules, with more measures on the way in the autumn.
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teleSUR ☛ India Will Hold the World's Biggest Elections
Fifteen million officials and security personnel were deployed across 20 states that will vote tomorrow.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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The Straits Times ☛ North Korea releases song praising leader Kim Jong Un as ‘friendly father’
The music video features North Koreans belting out lines such as 'Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, a friendly father'.
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Techdirt ☛ Sextortion Is A Real & Serious Criminal Issue; Blaming Section 230 For It Is Not
Let’s say I told you a harrowing story about a crime. Criminals from halfway around the world used fraudulent means and social engineering to scam a teenager, causing them to effectively destroy their lives (at least in the mind of the teen). The person whose life was destroyed then took an easily accessible gun from their parent and shot and killed themselves. Law enforcement investigated the crime, tracked down the people responsible, extradited them to the US and tried them. Eventually, they were sentenced to many years in prison.
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RFA ☛ Does a photo show US troops stationed in Taiwan’s Kinmen islands?
Verdict: False
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France24 ☛ 'A global problem': US teen fights deepfake porn targeting schoolgirls
Deepfake pornography of famous women like Taylor Swift has sparked outrage and calls for the regulation of artificial intelligence. Yet this powerful technology is not only being used to bully women in the public eye – minors are also being victimised. Schoolgirls are finding themselves targeted by AI-generated deepfake porn made by their own classmates using new, easy-to-access "nudifying" apps. And no federal laws exist to stop it.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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RFERL ☛ Social Media Platform X Pledges To Work With Pakistan Amid Service Disruption
Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has pledged to work with Pakistan's government "to understand its concerns" after authorities said an ongoing two-month shutdown of the site in the country was based on national security threats.
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The Straits Times ☛ Japan doctors sue Surveillance Giant Google Maps over 'punching bag' reviews
The case at is believed to be the first in Japan to target a platform over negative online reviews.
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RFA ☛ Interfaith conference seeks to raise awareness about Uyghur genocide
Panelists discuss the Chinese government’s forced labor, surveillance and information control in Xinjiang.
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JURIST ☛ Voting machine company settles defamation case with far-right news network
Smartmatic, a voting technology company, reached a confidential settlement in a Washington DC court on Tuesday in its defamation lawsuit against the far-right One America News Network (OAN). The lawsuit was related to OAN’s dissemination of false claims about the 2020 US presidential election.
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Reason ☛ USC Cancels Valedictorian's Speech Over Bogus 'Safety Concerns'
The university has a history of suppressing speech from both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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New York Times ☛ Apple Says It Was Ordered to Pull WhatsApp From China App Store
Apple said it removed WhatsApp and Threads from its China app offerings Friday on Beijing’s orders, amid technological tensions between the U.S. and China.
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Techdirt ☛ UK Prosecutors Apologize For Pursuing BS Charges Against A Photographer
Cops hate being watched, no matter where they’re located.
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University of Michigan ☛ Meta’s political posting problem
Instagram is no longer promoting political content — a choice made by Meta in February in an attempt to let users avoid getting recommended content with political messages. However, the company has not made the same change for Facebook, its largest social control media platform.
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RFA ☛ China bans Uyghurs from using social control media apps
Experts say the measure could presage another major crackdown in Xinjiang.
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RFA ☛ Protesting Spanish professor 'warned university' over Confucius Institutes
Journalism professor Mar Llera makes waves with protest at University of Seville inauguration ceremony.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Public Knowledge ☛ The Debate About “Journalism Preservation” Just Got More Confusing
The push to force online platforms to pay to link to news content continues to evolve.
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New York Times ☛ Meta, in Its Biggest Hey Hi (AI) Push, Places Smart Assistants Across Its Apps
Users of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger will be able to turn to the new technology, powered by Meta’s latest artificial intelligence model, to obtain information and complete tasks.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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New York Times ☛ Scotland Pauses Gender Medications for Minors
The change followed a sweeping review by England’s National Health Service that found “remarkably weak” evidence for youth gender treatments.
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ACLU ☛ The Government Denies People Access to Asylum Because of Language Barriers. We're Fighting Back.
Every year, thousands of asylum seekers from diverse corners of the world seek refuge in the United States. Many — like Indigenous people from Latin America and Africa — are fleeing persecution based on the languages they speak and their cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. Their ability to access the asylum system has life-or-death consequences. Yet our government cuts off access to asylum and other fundamental rights based on language barriers alone.
The federal government has a responsibility to ensure people with limited English proficiency (LEP) can reasonably access its services. Failure to do so discriminates by excluding LEP people from federal programs. This infringes on LEP individuals’ constitutional due process and equal protection rights, as well as well-established language rights enshrined in federal law. Nevertheless, the government routinely denies asylum seekers critical language access throughout the asylum process.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ HK$3.75m in monthly expenses for Covid isolation facilities ‘not waste of taxpayer money,’ Hong Kong gov’t says
The Hong Kong government has defended its monthly spending of HK$3.75 million to maintain defunct Covid-19 isolation centres after one legislator described the bill as “shocking.” Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn addressed lawmakers in the Legislative Council on Wednesday as meetings to discuss the financial year’s budget continued.
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EFF ☛ EFF, Human Rights Organizations Call for Urgent Action in Case of Alaa Abd El Fattah
The appeal to the UNWGAD was initially filed in November 2023 just weeks after Alaa’s tenth birthday in prison. The British-Egyptian citizen is one of the most high-profile prisoners in Egypt and has spent much of the past decade behind bars for his pro-democracy writing and activism following Egypt’s revolution in 2011.
EFF and Media Legal Defence Initiative submitted a similar petition to the UNGWAD on behalf of Alaa in 2014. This led to the Working Group issuing an opinion that Alaa’s detention was arbitrary and called for his release. In 2016, the UNWGAD declared Alaa's detention (and the law under which he was arrested) a violation of international law, and again called for his release.
We once again urge the UN Working Group to urgently consider the recent petition and conclude that Alaa’s detention is arbitrary and contrary to international law. We also call for the Working Group to find that the appropriate remedy is a recommendation for Alaa’s immediate release.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Internet Society ☛ The US FCC Signals a Dangerous New Course on BGP Security
The US Federal Communications Commission recently released a draft Declaratory Ruling and Order in the Open Internet Proceeding. However, there is concerning language (paragraph 46) in this ruling that strongly implies the FCC’s intention to regulate border gateway protocol (BGP) routing security.
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EFF ☛ Internet Service Providers Plan to Subvert Net Neutrality. Don’t Let Them
The FCC released draft rules to reinstate net neutrality, with a vote on adopting the rules to come the 25th of April. Overall, the order is a great step for net neutrality. However, to be truly effective the rules must not preempt states from protecting their residents with stronger laws and clearly find the creation of “fast lanes” via positive discrimination and unpaid prioritization of specific applications or services are violations of net neutrality.
Since “fast lanes” aren’t a technical term, what do we mean when we are talking about a fast lane? To understand, it is helpful to think about data traffic and internet networking infrastructure like car traffic and public road systems. As roads connect people, goods, and services across distances, so does network infrastructure allow for data traffic to flow from one place to another. And just as a road with more capacity in the way of more lanes theoretically means the road can support more traffic moving at speed1, internet infrastructure with more “lanes” (i.e. bandwidth) should mean that a network can better support applications like streaming services and online gaming.
Individual ISPs have a maximum network capacity, and speed, of internet traffic they can handle. To continue the analogy, the road leading to your neighborhood has a set number of lanes. This is why the speed of your internet may change throughout the day. At peak hours your internet service may slow down because a slowdown has occurred from too much requested traffic clogging up the lanes.
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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The Verge ☛ Target confirms it’s all but completely ditching DVDs in physical stores
The Verge reached out to Target for more information about the change as well as when it will take place but didn’t immediately hear back.
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IGN ☛ Target Responds to Reports It's Abandoning Physical Media, Says It Will Keep Offering 'Select DVDs' in Stores
Retail chain Target has responded to the recent reports claiming that it will stop selling physical media, revealing that it will continue to sell physical media but will limit the number of copies it sells in its retail stores.
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Patents
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JUVE ☛ Huawei and AVM settle Wifi 6 dispute shortly before Munich hearing
AVM, the manufacturer of a wifi router known as FritzBox, has reached a settlement with Huawei. According to the latter company, Huawei has withdrawn all five patent monopoly infringement lawsuits against AVM that it filed with the Munich Regional Court between 2022 and 2024.
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New York Times ☛ Millions of Girls in Africa Will Miss HPV Shots After Merck Production Problem [Ed: Bill Gates et al with their patent ventures, experimenting on people too poor to hold them legally accountable]
The company has told countries that it can supply only 18.8 million of the 29.6 million doses it was contracted to deliver this year.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ AI as Author: Thaler v. Perlmutter Now Before the DC Circuit
The leading case on copyrightability of Hey Hi (AI) created works is now pending before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The case, Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. 2024), centers on Dr. Stephen Thaler’s attempts to register a copyright monopoly for an artistic image autonomously generated by his Hey Hi (AI) system that he has named the “Creativity Machine.” The U.S. Copyright Office refused registration on the basis that the work lacked the required human authorship. Thaler filed suit challenging this determination. The parties have now filed their briefs, along with one law professor amicus brief in support of Thaler.
Stephen Thaler developed an Hey Hi (AI) system he calls the Creativity Machine. Using this system, he autonomously generated a 2-D artwork titled “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” In November 2018, Thaler filed an application with the Copyright Office seeking to register a copyright monopoly in this AI-generated work.
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Are Cigarettes and Cigars Related to Alcoholic Beverages Under Section 2(d)?
Opposer Nemiroff IP opposed an application to register the mark NEMIROFF for cigars cigarettes, and various other tobacco-related products and accessories, claiming likelihood of confusion with its identical mark NEMIROFF for "alcoholic beverages, namely, brandy, vodka, liqueurs and distilled spirits featuring honey." Are the goods sufficiently related? How do you think this came out? Nemiroff Intellectual Property Establishment v. RAM Development Associates LLC, Opposition No. 91244891 (April 11, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas W. Wellington).
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NYPost ☛ Potential replacement names for Coyotes in Utah come into focus after trademark filings
Now that the Coyotes' move to Utah is official, the question on everyone’s mind is what the team’s new name will be.
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Copyrights
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EFF ☛ Congress: Don't Let Anyone Own The Law
A few well-resourced private organizations have made a business of charging money for access to building and safety codes, even when those codes have been incorporated into law.
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Techdirt ☛ Palworld Creator Loves That Others Are Trying To Clone The Game
We’ve had several posts on the video game sensation that is Palworld in the past. Given that the game has been described by others as “Pokémon, but with guns”, we kicked things off both wondering if Nintendo was going to try to take some kind of misguided legal action on the game, while also pointing out that the game is an excellent case study in copyright’s idea/expression dichotomy. After all, the game does not do any direct copying of any Pokémon IP, but does draw obvious inspiration from some of the base ideas behind that IP. In fact, highlighting the dichotomy further was a mod that injected actual Pokémon IP into Palworld, which Nintendo then managed to get taken down.
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Digital Music News ☛ Swifties Curl Up Online with Leaked Taylor Swift Album—Twitter Blocks Searches for ‘Taylor Swift Leak’
Swifties went rabid yesterday after a GDrive link appeared on Ex-Twitter that appeared to leak all the songs in Taylor Swift’s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department. Ex-Twitter shut down searches for ‘Taylor Swift leak’—showcasing absolutely no results in the wake of the leak.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Filmmakers Expand Piracy Liability Lawsuit, Add Dozens of Millions in Potential Damages
Independent movie companies have filed an updated complaint in their joint piracy liability lawsuit against Internet provider WOW!. With the addition of hundreds of new works, the potential damages are raised to well over $50 million. The update also adds two new piracy tracking companies, and doubles down on site blocking demands.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Operator of 'Bitcoin Invested' Pirate Site Movie2K Charged After More Than a Decade
More than a decade ago, Movie2K was one of the largest pirate sites on the Internet. Serving a German audience, the streaming portal shut down in 2013, but that wasn't the end of the story. This week, a suspected operator of the site and an accomplice were charged by German authorities. The long delay is noteworthy but also lucrative; a Bitcoin haul with a current value of €3 billion was seized recently.
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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Phlebotomists' Rituals
Have you ever noticed the various rituals and incantations that phlebotomists use? Do they belong to different cults or denominations of the Sacred Society of Phlebotomists?
I went to a doctor's office today and had an encounter there with a pleasant and very kind young woman of the phlebotomist persuasion. Now a brief bit of my personal history will be needed here before we can continue our enquiry.
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...doing this for all of us who never got the chance
I sit out here on the pier in this wonderous town by the sea, looking out at the bay past the cargo ships to the purple-grey mountains beyond
All this beauty always makes me think about you. Your beauty and how you loved coming up here to this beautiful place
Now I live here but you're not and it's just so bittersweet to see all of this awe-inducing majesty, only to not be able to share it with you
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Technology and Free Software
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Introducing RemiMonitor
So in my last post I mentioned how my usual over-arching workflow was to do my big "main" project for a while, release said project, and then take some time off to work on smaller projects/itches. Well, I did just that and wrote the system monitor that I mentioned! The project is called RemiMonitor and is actually composed of a daemon (RemiMond), a frontend client (YandereMon), and a library that ties them together (RemiMonitor).
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.