Links 11/07/2024: Intuit Layoffs, Companies Keep Bricking Products
Contents
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Leftovers
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The Straits Times ☛ Earthquake of 6.7 magnitude strikes southern Philippines
Aftershocks were expected, but there would be little damage, says seismology agency.
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Hardware
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Russell Coker ☛ Russell Coker: Computer Adavances in the Last Decade
I wrote a comment on a social control media post where someone claimed that there’s no computer advances in the last 12 years which got long so it’s worth a blog post.
In the last decade or so new laptops have become cheaper than new desktop PCs. USB-C has taken over for phones and for laptop charging so all recent laptops support USB-C docks and monitors with USB-C docks built in have become common. 4K monitors have become cheap and common and higher than 4K is cheap for some use cases such as ultra wide. 4K TVs are cheap and TVs with built-in Android computers for playing internet content are now standard. For most use cases spinning media hard drives are obsolete, SSDs large enough for all the content most people need to store are cheap. We have gone from gigabit Ethernet being expensive to 2.5 gigabit being cheap.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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University of Michigan ☛ Birth control: Modern medicine or modern torture?
Modern contraception begins and ends with suffering. Since the creation of modern gynecology and, therefore, contraception, women — primarily Black women — have suffered and continue to suffer in the wake of its advancement.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong passes bill to bring in non-locally trained dentists amid labour shortage
Hong Kong’s legislature has passed a bill that would allow for non-locally trained dentists to practice in the city in a bid to ease a labour shortage in the dental profession.
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Reason ☛ The Media Is Back to Deriding the Lab Leak as a 'Conspiracy Theory'
Even if EcoHealth's "basic research" in Wuhan didn't cause the pandemic, it certainly failed in its mission to stop it.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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UPI ☛ Intuit to lay off 1,800 employees before shifting focus to AI [Ed: This whole HEY HI thing is a lie which targets the shareholders]
Intuit, the owner of financial software platforms like QuickBooks and TurboTax announced on Wednesday that it will cut 1,800 jobs, or 10% of its workforce.
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said the company plans to return the company to its current staff numbers but will replace the laid-off staff members with employees who specialize in artificial intelligence and sales as the company shifts to focusing on products that will be driven by AI.
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Defence/Aggression
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Defence Web ☛ Six political parties on Parliamentary defence and veterans oversight committee
The newly constituted National Assembly (NA) Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV), in line with the multi-party government of national unity (GNU), has representation from six political parties with African National Congress (ANC) public representative Dakota Legoete as chair.
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New York Times ☛ Strike on Gaza School Compound Adds to Mounting Death Toll at U.N. Buildings
At least 27 people were killed when an Israeli airstrike exploded as people played soccer at a school turned shelter in southern Gaza.
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JURIST ☛ ECHR finds Türkiye authorities did not violate convention obligations during 2015 rally bombing
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously held on Tuesday that Turkish authorities had not been in breach of their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights regarding a suicide bombing committed in Ankara in 2015. The present case concerns an application lodged against Türkiye by Turkish national Coşkun Selçuk on June 10, 2020.
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European Commission ☛ Joint statement by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell and Commissioner Várhelyi on the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide
The genocide in Srebrenica, 29 years ago, is one of the darkest moments in modern European history.
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European Commission ☛ Opening Remarks by Commissioner Várhelyi at the Screening Conference in Moldova
I'm very happy to be here. I am very happy that we could combine this visit with the first screening of these accession negotiations with you.
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European Commission ☛ Remarks by Commissioner Olivér VÁRHELYI at the joint press conference with Dorin RECEAN, Moldovan Prime Minister in Chisinau, Moldova
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Latvia ☛ Border guards to be prosecuted for alleged data leaking
At the end of June, the Internal Security Bureau (IDB) sent to the Prosecutor's Office a criminal case against three officials of the State Border Guard of the Latgale region for illegal dissemination of data and knowingly providing false information, the IDB said July 10.
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European Commission ☛ Commission welcomes a twelve-month roaming extension for affordable calls to and from Ukraine
European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Jul 2024 The Commission welcomes the fifth prolongation for another twelve months of the voluntary agreement between 22 European and seven Ukrainian telecommunications operators to ensure that refugees from Ukraine can stay connected across borders.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Any attempt to undermine NATO undermines US security, says Lloyd Austin
At the Washington summit, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed NATO’s history and the Alliance’s plans to bolster support for Ukraine.
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France24 ☛ UK's Starmer makes international debut at NATO summit by offering strong support for Ukraine
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was elected last week, is making his international leaders' debut during the NATO summit in Washington. The new PM has pledged strong support for Ukraine and emphasised his country's 'special relationship' with the US.
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France24 ☛ NATO members pledge dozens of air defense systems to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden said NATO allies will send dozens of air defense systems, including at least four Patriot systems, in the coming months. On Tuesday Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelensky said air defense systems were still his country's number one request.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing warns against ‘provoking confrontation’ after NATO accuses China of aiding Russia’s war efforts
China on Thursday warned NATO against “provoking confrontation” over its ties with Russia, after the alliance accused it of playing a key role in helping Moscow’s assault on Ukraine. NATO leaders said in a declaration from their summit in Washington on Wednesday that China had “become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine”.
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JURIST ☛ UN says missile attacks launched on Ukraine likely caused by direct hit from Russia
The missile attacks that hit Ukraine on Monday morning were likely caused by a direct hit from Russia, the head of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Danielle Bell, said on Tuesday. Although video footage was analyzed and an assessment was made at the site of the incident, further investigations are necessary.
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LRT ☛ Lithuania provides €1m to rebuild Russia-struck children’s hospital in Kyiv
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday allocated 1 million euros to Ukraine to help rebuild a children’s hospital in Kyiv destroyed by this week’s Russian missile strike.
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LRT ☛ ‘Irreversible’ path to Ukraine’s NATO membership ‘best common denominator’ – Nausėda
The NATO summit in Washington, D.C. intends to describe Kyiv’s path to membership in the alliance as “irreversible”, which is the best common denominator at the moment, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said.
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LRT ☛ Lithuania mulls sending transport attaché to Ukraine
The Lithuanian Transport Ministry proposes to set up the post of transport attaché at the country’s Embassy in Ukraine.
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RFA ☛ NATO leaders condemn North Korea’s arms exports to Russia
They warn the North’s military support to Russia undermines the global non-proliferation regime.
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RFA ☛ NATO calls China ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine
The joint statement comes as China and Russia hold military exercises near the Polish border in Belarus.
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RFERL ☛ Netherlands, Other NATO Members Moving To Provide Air Defenses, Fighter Jets To Ukraine
The Netherlands will begin supplying Ukraine with promised components of Patriot air-defense systems “very soon,” the country’s defense minister told RFE/RL on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.
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RFERL ☛ NATO Strongly Backs Ukraine's 'Irreversible Path' To Membership, Outlines Plans To Make Alliance Stronger
NATO leaders attending a landmark summit have backed Ukraine's "irreversible path" to membership, saying that Kyiv has a right to choose its own security arrangements and that its "future is in NATO."
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RFERL ☛ Tajik-Russian, Russian-Canadian Plead Guilty To Exporting U.S. Electronics To Russia
Tajik-Russian citizen Salimdzhon Nasriddinov and Russian-Canadian citizen Nikolai Goltsev on July 9 pleaded guilty to illegally exporting millions of dollars worth of U.S. electronics to be used in Russian weapons in Ukraine.
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RFERL ☛ Japan Arrests Russian Suspected Of Helping Moscow Evade Sanctions
Japanese police have arrested a 38-year-old Russian citizen on suspicion of participating in activities assisting Russia in the evasion of international sanctions imposed over Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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RFERL ☛ More Than 23,000 Ukrainian Men Crossed Illegally Into Moldova Since Start Of Invasion
Some 23,500 Ukrainian men have entered Moldova illegally since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion in February 2022, according to data seen by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Attacks Port Infrastructure In Ukraine's Odesa
Russia on July 10 attacked infrastructure targets in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa and seven other Ukrainian regions, the Ukrainian air force said.
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New York Times ☛ NATO Accuses China of Supplying Russia’s Attacks on Ukraine
The statement was a major departure for the alliance, which until 2019 never officially mentioned China as a concern.
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New York Times ☛ At NATO Summit, U.S. and Allies Aim for Ukraine Commitments That Will Endure
The specter of a second Donald J. Trump presidency injects new urgency into the NATO summit this week. President Biden and other leaders agree Ukraine should have an “irreversible” path to membership.
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France24 ☛ NATO allies accuse China of supplying Russia's war in Ukraine
NATO allies on Wednesday called China a "decisive enabler" in Russia's war against Ukraine, highlighting Beijing's extensive support for Russia's defense capabilities. The alliance's communiqué underscores its growing concern about China's expanding arsenal, space activities, and the broader threat posed by its partnership with Russia
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Latvia ☛ Latvian security service offers insight on Russia's 'ideologization'
Latvia's Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB) has published the latest in a series of pieces of analysis it occasionally provides on matters of topical interest.
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Security Week ☛ US Disrupts AI-Powered Russian Bot Farm on X
The US and allies blame Russian state-sponsored threat actors for using Meliorator Hey Hi (AI) software to create a social control media bot farm.
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JURIST ☛ ECHR finds Russia custody agreement termination of trans person breached human rights convention
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that Russia’s termination of a foster parents’ custody agreement due to the foster parent’s sexual and gender identity violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
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LRT ☛ Baltics to inform Moscow of their exit from Russian power system
The Baltic power transmission system operators plan to notify Russia and Belarus about their decision not to renew the so-called BRELL contract and to exit the Moscow-controlled post-Soviet electricity system, the Lithuanian Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
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LRT ☛ LRT investigation prompts Citizenship Law changes, but loopholes persist
A report by LRT has prompted changes to the Citizenship Law so that Russian nationals working for the Kremlin could not get Lithuanian passports. However, the law may have more loopholes.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Conducting 'Shadow War' To Destabilize European Countries, Leaders Say
Russia is carrying out a "shadow war" against European countries through cyberattacks, disinformation, sabotage, and other measures and it's time to recognize it and respond, according to European leaders attending the NATO summit.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Naval Ship Reportedly Seen At Site Of Planned Base On Georgian Coast
A specialist website focused on naval activities around the world has shared an image it says shows a Russian Navy support ship docked at a Black Sea port in occupied Georgia where Moscow has vowed to establish a permanent naval base despite Tbilisi’s objections.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Warrant Issued For Journalist Lazareva In Exile
A Moscow court on July 10 issued an arrest warrant for self-exiled journalist Tatyana Lazareva on a charge of justifying terrorism.
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RFERL ☛ Small Plane Crashes In Tatarstan, 3 Dead
A single-engine Cessna 172 airplane crashed in Russia's Tatarstan region on July 10, killing three of the four people on board.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Launches Probe Against Chief Of International Anti-Corruption Foundation
Russian authorities have launched a probe against the chief of the International Anti-Corruption Foundation, Maria Pevchikh, who resides out of Russia, on charge of failure to fulfill the duties of a "foreign agent."
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The Straits Times ☛ Leaders of South Korea, Japan share concerns over Russia-North Korea ties
SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shared concerns over growing ties between Russia and North Korea and agreed to continue their security cooperation, a statement from Yoon's office said on Thursday.
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New York Times ☛ Kremlin Critic Vladimir Kara-Murza Is ‘Stable’ in Prison Hospital, Lawyer Says
Vladimir Kara-Murza’s legal representatives said they were denied access to their client in a remote Siberian penal colony for six days.
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LRT ☛ Lithuania will respond to Belarus abducting its citizens – intelligence chief
The Belarusian government is abducting Lithuanian citizens and the authorities will respond, according to Lithuania’s intelligence chief Darius Jauniškis.
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CS Monitor ☛ India-Russia summit: Why the world’s largest democracy is keeping Putin close
India-Russia ties seem as strong as ever after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin spent two days together in Moscow. But for India, experts say, the trip was really about asserting independence.
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RFA ☛ North Korea sends military delegation to Russia
Move signals increased cooperation after last month’s summit between Putin and Kim Jong Un.
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France24 ☛ 'Ukraine can and will stop Putin,' Biden says as NATO marks 75th anniversary
As NATO leaders gather for their 75th anniversary in Washington, they aim to increase support for Ukraine amid escalating Russian attacks and growing political uncertainties in the West. US President Joe Biden announced a new air defense system for Kyiv and emphasized unity against Russian aggression, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged for further assistance to defeat Russia.
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Environment
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NYPost ☛ Las Vegas marks historic fifth day of 115+ degrees in ‘most extreme’ heat wave ever recorded
The new record is just one of a whopping 16 heat-related measures Las Vegas has broken since the start of June, including the single highest temperature of 120 F which was set on Sunday.
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Energy/Transportation
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European Commission ☛ Commission approves €10.4 billion Dutch and French aid measures to provide liquidity support to the Air France-KLM Group during the coronavirus pandemic
European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Jul 2024 The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Dutch and French support measures of €10.4 billion in favour of the Air France-KLM Group.
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Finance
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RFA ☛ Myanmar junta restricts cash withdrawal at banks amid economic crisis
Withdrawals have increased as kyat loses value and economy tanks.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Lie David Sanger Told to Sustain NYT’s Non-Stop Campaign against Joe Biden
In February, David Sanger reported that even before Trump threatened to let Vladimir Putin invade NATO countries, European allies were discussing the possibility the US would withdraw from NATO. Now, he claims they're doing so only because Biden had a poor debate.
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ACLU ☛ Supreme Court Term Ends with Win for Trump, First Amendment Rights
The Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term will be remembered for one case above all: Trump v. United States, in which the court granted former President Donald Trump immunity from criminal liability for attempts to use his office to obstruct the peaceful transition of power after he lost the 2020 election.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ WaPo’s Manufactured “Landslide”
A "landslide" consisting of one Democratic senator was more important and featured on WaPo's front page rather than Trump's truly awful campaign-plus-grifting speech.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 35 Hong Kong athletes to compete in 13 events at 2024 Paris Olympics
Thirty-five Hong Kong athletes will compete in 13 sporting events across France this summer at the Paris Olympics.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong civil servant dies climbing Mount Fuji in Japan
A Hong Kong civil servant has died while climbing Mount Fuji, the first recorded fatality since the start of the summer climbing season at Japan’s tallest mountain. The Trade and Industry Department confirmed to HKFP on Wednesday that one of its employees had died while overseas and expressed sorrow over their death.
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Press Gazette ☛ News and politics page views reach record high in 2024 election week
2024 election results week page views beat previous record of week Liz Truss became PM and the Queen died.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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RFA ☛ Rights groups call on Thailand not to extradite Vietnamese activist
Y Quynh Bdap faces torture if returned, says Amnesty.
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Reason ☛ Journal of Free Speech Law: "Adding Injury to Insult: Kant on Defaming the Dead," by Prof. David Sussman
An article from the Defamation: Philosophical and Legal Perspectives symposium, sponsored by the Center for Legal Philosophy at UC Irvine.
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Medevel ☛ The Dark Side of Reddit: How Toxicity is Crippling Information Sharing and Opinions
Reddit, often heralded as the "front page of the internet," is a platform where users can find discussions on virtually any topic.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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EDRI ☛ EDRi-gram, 10 July 2024
This is the last edition of EDRi-gram before we take a (well-deserved) break for the summer. Keeping you updated about the various goings-on in the busy world of digital rights is a toilsome task! Don’t worry, this edition is full of interesting news and recommendations for you to follow up on all summer long.
You can start by going through a new document pool by the Resist Europol coalition that brings together all relevant resources you’ll need to understand and contest EU’s securitisation agenda, especially through the seemingly never-ending expansion of the bloc’s agency for law enforcement cooperation.
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EDRI ☛ Council of Europe approves Hey Hi (AI) Convention, but not many reasons to celebrate
EDRi-member ECNL is not rejoining at the adoption of Council of Europe’s Hey Hi (AI) Convention because of the significant flaws in the final text
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EDRI ☛ Policing by design: the latest EU surveillance plan
The EU should reintroduce mass telecommunications surveillance and create backdoors to encrypted data, a new plan drafted in secret by police and security officials says. To do so, close coordination between the state and industry would be required, to ensure what the plan calls “lawful access by design.” The plan repeats demands made many times over the years by officials, and may find a warm reception from the incoming European Commission.
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Reason ☛ Accessing Surveillance Giant Google Location History Records Is Not a Search — At Least When Limited — Fourth Circuit Rules
An important case on "The Digital Fourth Amendment"
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Tedium ☛ Splog Prevention
Why I ended up taking ownership of the domain where my late-2000s newspaper lived—and why you might want to consider doing the same.
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APNIC ☛ A multifaceted look at Starlink performance: The good, the bad and the ugly
Guest Post: First-of-its-kind comprehensive analysis of Starlink performance using several measurement sources.
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APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: 36th Annual FIRST Conference
Adli Wahid mentored FIRST fellows at the 36th Annual FIRST Conference, held from 9 to 14 June in Fukuoka, Japan.
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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iFixit ☛ Companies Keep Bricking Products. Who Will Hold Them Accountable? | iFixit News
Manufacturers are selling pricey, connected products then arbitrarily declaring they are “obsolete” or “dead.”
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Patents
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Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Rothschild entity Electronic Edison Transmission power patent monopoly prior art
Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners, Ekta Aswal and Dinesh Swami, who split an award of $2,000 for their prior art submissions on U.S. Patent 9,871,415, owned by Electronic Edison Transmission Technologies, LLC, an entity of Leigh M. Rothschild.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Long Arm of APEX: When (and Where) does Amazon’s Private Enforcement Mechanism Create Personal Jurisdictional
Back in May 2024, the Federal Circuit issued an important decision holding that a patentee’s use of Amazon’s patent monopoly enforcement process (APEX) to target an alleged infringer’s listings can subject the patent monopoly owner to specific personal jurisdiction in the alleged infringer’s home state – despite no direct contacts with that state. SnapRays, LLC v. Lighting Defense Group, LLC, No. 2023-1184 (Fed. Cir. 2024). The patentee has now petitioned for en banc rehearing, arguing that the opinion conflicts with prior Federal Circuit precedent and makes a holding that the Supreme Court at least implicitly rejected in Walden. The case is important as APEX and other similar private sales-channel
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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