Leftovers

• Science

  • Latvia ☛ Women invited to apply to NATO science challenge

    The Latvian Ministry of Defense said February 27 it is urging applications for the NATO Science and Technology Organisation (STO) challenge "Women & Girls in Science 2025" (WGS25 ), which aims to encourage young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields that contribute to security and defence.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Female Physicians Are Dying by Suicide at Astonishingly High Rates

    The need for change is urgent.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Milo, Kopiko, Mi Sedap: British woman brings 28kg of snacks from Malaysia to London

    A clip of Ms Leila Purchase’s stash from her London apartment on Fentanylware (TikTok) has gone viral.

• Proprietary

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Apple Shareholders Vote to Continue Illegal DEI Practices

    "Apple may need to make DEl changes in the future as the legal landscape evolves," says Fashion Company Apple CEO Tim Cook.

  • Business Insider ☛ Autodesk (ADSK) Cuts 1,350 Jobs to Boost AI Investment

    U.S.-based Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) announced plans to cut 1,350 jobs to streamline operations and boots its investments in AI and cloud computing. The layoffs account for 9% of the software company’s workforce, with expected restructuring costs between $135 million and $140 million. Autodesk announced layoffs as part of its restructuring plan alongside strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 12% to $1.64 billion, in line with analyst expectations. It further stated that its restructuring efforts are focused on AI development and improving its market approach to enhance customer service.

  • Layoffs: Even the best employees are getting fired

    The recent layoffs at Meta, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase exemplify this paradox. At the heart of these decisions lies a growing crisis of trust between employers and employees.

    If a strong performance review no longer guarantees job security, and if a company’s record profits still translate to job cuts, then what message are leaders really sending to their workforce?

  • MoneyControl ☛ Skype's final call set for May as Microsoft prioritizes Teams

  • Santa Cruz ☛ Microsoft shutting down Skype in May

  • CBC ☛ Skype to shut down in May, Microsoft says

    Skype will ring for the last time on May 5 as owner Microsoft retires the two-decade-old internet calling service that redefined how people connect across borders.

    Shutting down Skype will help Microsoft focus on its homegrown Teams service by simplifying its communication offerings, the software giant said on Friday.

    Founded in 2003, Skype's audio and video calls quickly disrupted the landline industry in the early 2000s and made the company a household name boasting hundreds of millions of users at its peak. But the platform has struggled to keep up in the face of competitors that include Zoom, Meta's WhatsApp, Salesforce's Slack and WeChat from Tencent in recent years.

  • HP announces 2,000 more global redundancies amid cost-cutting drive

    Hewlett Packard on Thursday revealed plans to slash up to 2,000 additional jobs as part of its ongoing restructuring initiative, bringing the total layoffs to 9,000 since the program began in November 2022.

    The world's second biggest PC maker is expected to save an additional roughly US$300 million by the end of its 2025 fiscal year in October. The layoffs, which will vary by country based on local regulations and union negotiations, affect the American information technology giant's global workforce of 58,000 employees across 59 nations.

  • Meta Fires 20 Employees for Leaking Confidential Information Amid Ongoing Layoffs: Reports

    Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has reportedly fired 20 employees amid its ongoing layoffs rounds. The social media giant decided to take a punitive measure against these individuals who leaked confidential information outside. Meta layoffs have affected hundreds of individuals this year, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an all-hands meeting last year that 2025 would be an 'intense' year.

    According to reports, Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold said that it was against company policies to leak information, and the employees were told about this when they joined. Arnold also said that the employees were regularly informed and given periodic reminders not to leak information. The Meta spokesperson said that the intent did not matter for which they leaked the confidential details. HP Layoffs: IT Giant Laying of More 2,000 Employees as Part of Restructuring, Cost-Cutting Plans.

  • Social Control Media

    • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Launches a Desktop Version as YouTube Continues to Poach Users

      TikTok is overhauling its desktop functionality with several new features designed to take on YouTube for platform dominance.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Meta Considers Spinning Off Instagram Reels Into a Separate App

      Meta is looking into launching a standalone app for its Reels short-form videos, according to an anonymous source who overheard Instagram head Adam Mosseri discussing it with staff. Last month, Meta announced a video editing app called Edits to compete with CapCut, which is owned by Fentanylware (TikTok) parent company ByteDance.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Residents: Scam center workers smuggled into Cambodia via the Mekong River

      Night and day, boats with immigrants land on riverbanks after navigating Laos’ Siphan Don riverine archipelago.

    • New York Times ☛ Electric Shocks and Tied Crucifixion-Style: The Life of a Scam-Mill Worker

      Tens of thousands of people from dozens of nations have been trafficked to cyberfraud hubs in Myanmar, where they must con victims or endure brutal punishment.

    • France24 ☛ The global rise of online scams: 'Call centres' flourish in Southeast Asia

      Online scamming has reached global proportions, with an estimated 200,000 people forced to execute lucrative scams in Myanmar and Cambodia alone. This week's show delves into a criminal activity that's grown into a $500 billion per year industry that now rivals the illegal drug trade in size. Charles Pellegrin speaks to Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist’s Southeast Asia correspondent and creator of an eight-part podcast investigation into the scamming industry entitled "Scam Inc".

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Al-Assad Becomes a Punchline in Syria’s Comedy Scene

    Comics had already been trying to foster stand-up in Syria before Bashar al-Assad’s fall. Now, they are telling jokes in a liberated country, while warily eyeing the new government.

  • Defence Web ☛ Defence and security a growing focus for CSIR

    Defence and security is one of the key focus areas of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and is expected to continue to grow, with many research projects underway and others in production or undergoing trials with the South African National Defence Force, Department of Correctional Services, law enforcement, and other entities.

  • Myanmar insurgents strike in junta-dominated central area: NUG

    The military is facing significant set-backs in central and western areas.

  • JURIST ☛ Company halts use of digital forensic tool in Serbia following misuse allegations by Amnesty International

    Amnesty International welcomed on Wednesday the discontinuation of digital forensic equipment for some customers in Serbia. The move followed Amnesty International’s allegations that the technology was being misused against journalists and activists.

  • France24 ☛ Across Africa | In DRCongo, blasts kill 11 at rally in Bukavu

    In this week's Across Africa: at least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in explosions at a rally called by M23 rebels in the captrued eastern congolese city of Bukavu, Ghana's defence capabilities are being boosted by a €50 million EU military package. In Benin, the fall armyworm is devastating thousands of hectares of maize, the country's main food crop. To combat this threat, a digital solution is turning smartphones into detection tools.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Could the EU “blocking statute” protect the ICC from US sanctions?

    The new US sanctions targeting ICC personnel could severely disrupt the Court’s operations—particularly if Dutch banks suspend financial services to the ICC out of fear of violating US sanctions.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Putin 'Hopes' Meeting Between U.S., Russian Officials Helps Thaw Relations

      Diplomats from Russia and the United States have ended their talks on resolving disputes over their respective diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow that Russian President Vladimir Putin said "inspire certain hopes."

    • France24 ☛ Starmer's turn: What can old allies do to convince Convicted Felon on Ukraine?

      Whispering in Convicted Felon’s ear is no easy task—just ask Emmanuel Macron. Despite Monday’s broshakes, flattery, and mild reproaches, the U.S. still sided with Russia and North Korea on Ukraine at the UN. Maybe one meeting wasn’t enough.

      Now it’s Keir Starmer’s turn, and his job might be even tougher. Convicted Felon prefers presidents and kings, and post-Brexit Britain is in a tighter financial bind than even deficit-happy France. In a sign of the times, the prime minister is proposing to fund increased defense spending by cutting international aid.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ The Finlandization fallacy: Ukrainian neutrality will not stop Putin’s Russia

      The Insurrectionist seeks to broker a peace deal with Vladimir Putin but any attempt to impose neutrality on Ukraine could set the stage for further Russian aggression, writes Brian Mefford.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal’s Kathmandu rattled by strong quake, no casualties reported

    There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ Paris's La Défense business district reels from working-from-home trend

    For many years, the La Défense business district on the edge of Paris was the beating heart of France's corporate and financial sectors. La Défense emerged in the late 1960s as a modernist hub of skyscrapers and commercial infrastructure, with hundreds of thousands of people working there every day. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many of those employees began to work remotely. The neighbourhood has since struggled to attract the pre-Covid crowds, and local business are suffering as a result. FRANCE 24's Natacha Vesnitch, George Yazbeck and Siobhán Silke report.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Scoop News Group ☛ CFPB nominee signals openness to continuing data-broker work

    Jonathan McKernan spoke positively about Rohit Chopra’s rule-making targeting data brokers during a Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam jails leading journalist for 30 months over Facebook (Farcebook) posts

    Huy Duc had criticised Vietnam’s communist leaders on issues such as corruption, media control and relations with China.

  • Latvia ☛ Foreign policy yearbook prompts spicy free speech debate in Saeima

    Opposition political force the United List (AS) voiced objections in Saeima February 27 to the recently-published Latvian Foreign and Security Policy Yearbook 2025.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • ACLU ☛ 'We Have to Reclaim Race and Racism'

    “What matters to me, as a former teacher and current litigator, is that students see themselves in what they learn and feel empowered to make change,” says Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Racial Justice Program. “It’s unacceptable to force students to accept the government’s talking points even when those views are not only inaccurate, but racist and sexist.”

    As a member of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project since 2020, Watson’s work focuses on preventing the government from enforcing its discriminatory agenda. She has, understandably, been even busier since President The Insurrectionist was reelected and began to gut federally-supported diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and to coerce other entities – like universities or workplaces – into abandoning DEI entirely.

    Watson was ready for it. She’s been here before.

  • New York Times ☛ Google’s Sergey Brin Asks Workers to Spend More Time In the Office [Ed: How to cause many people to resign to make layoffs seem smaller]

    The tech giant’s co-founder said that if employees worked harder and were in the office more, the company could reach an artificial general intelligence breakthrough.

  • JURIST ☛ Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik sentenced to prison for defying international official

    The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday sentenced Republika Srpska (RS) president Milorad Dodik to one year in prison, imposing a six-year ban on his political participation within the RS due to his frequent calls for Republika Srpska’s independence.

  • New York Times ☛ Thailand Deports Dozens of Uyghurs to China Despite Pleas

    Rights groups criticized the Thai government for sending the Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority, back to China, where they face the risk of torture and imprisonment.

  • Your flight to Xinjiang is now boarding

    Despite warnings that 40 Uyghurs could be tortured if sent back to China, Thai authorities deported them to Xinjian

  • New York Times ☛ Mother on Hunger Strike to Free Alaa Abd El Fattah From Egyptian Jail at ‘Risk to Life’

    Laila Soueif, the mother of Alaa Abd El Fattah, one of Egypt’s most prominent political prisoners, has fasted for 151 days as she seeks his release.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: BIGF 2024

    APNIC supported and participated remotely in the Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF) held in Dhaka on 29 January 2025.

  • APNIC ☛ Thanks for participating in APRICOT 2025

    Thanks for participating in APRICOT 2025, held with APNIC 59 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. We look forward to seeing you at APNIC 60!

  • APNIC ☛ Resource delegation audit update at APNIC 59

    APNIC’s resource delegation audit program is progressing as planned.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Litigation Transparency Act Reintroduced with Support from Stakeholders

    In February, IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa (CA) reintroduced legislation requiring disclosure of third-party investments in federal civil litigation. The Litigation Transparency Act of 2025 would mandate that litigants disclose any third-party investment agreements within ten days of filing a lawsuit.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ USPTO Facing Additional Cuts: What’s Core vs. Expendable

    As federal agencies begin to respond to the new Republican Administration's agency reorganization directive, the USPTO finds itself in an unusual position. Unlike many federal agencies, the USPTO operates primarily on user fees rather than appropriated funds. However, this self-funding status does not exempt the agency from the new "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) initiative requiring agencies to develop plans for "large-scale reductions in force" (RIFs) by March 13, 2025.  opm-omb-memo-guidance-on-agency-rif-2-26-2025.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Denies Patent Agent Registration for Former USPTO Examiner Who Failed to Disclose Workplace Suspension

    I am teaching professional responsibility this semester and it is fascinating to read about all the different ways legal professionals can stumble on their own feet. In a recent nonprecedential decision, the Federal Circuit upheld the USPTO's denial of a former patent monopoly examiner's application to register as a patent monopoly practitioner. Behnamian v. Stewart, No. 24-1139 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 26, 2025). [24-1139.OPINION.2-26-2025_2473270]

  • Unified Patents ☛ $10,500 awarded for AutoConnect Holdings vehicle patents prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners below totaling $10,500 in cash prizes. The patents are owned by AutoConnect Holdings LLC, an NPE. The patents generally relate to vehicle ecosystems. These patents have been asserted against Ford and Toyota.

    We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on these patents. The ongoing contests are open to anyone, and include tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests. Visit PATROLL today to learn more about how to participate.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Use Hey Hi (AI) to submit PATROLL Claim Charts for FREE

    PATROLL contestants can now use Pearl, Unified Patents’ AI-based tool, to create invalidity claim charts faster and more efficiently than if they were creating them by hand. 

    Pearl can use prior art from patents, standards documents, product descriptions, scientific literature, or non-patent literature, and maps these references, including the citations, to each patent monopoly limitation in a table format that can be exported into Word, PDF, Excel or CSV format. 

  • Unified Patents ☛ Longhorn Automotive measurement controller patent monopoly challenged

    On February 26, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,987,002, owned and asserted by Longhorn Automotive Group LLC, an NPE and entity of Alpha Alpha Intellectual Partners LLC. The ‘002 patent monopoly relates to a distributed measurement system for obtaining measurements and simulations in a distributed control system.

  • Unified Patents ☛ AutoConnect Holdings vehicle control patent monopoly challenged

    On February 26, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,862,764, owned and asserted by AutoConnect Holdings LLC, an NPE. The ‘764 patent monopoly is directed to a vehicle control system incorporating multiple devices and sensors, where a device (e.g., a phone) communicates with the vehicle control system and the system can use the computing capability of the device.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ RazDog web video control patent monopoly challenged

      On February 25, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,334,068, owned and asserted by RazDog Holdings LLC. The ‘068 patent monopoly relates to providing users with interactive elements on a video player webpage. It is currently asserted against Twitch but has been asserted against Cook Brothers, Continental Salvage, and Cooling Equipment Services in the past.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Another InterDigital AV1 patent monopoly challenged

      On February 26, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,080,024, owned by InterDigital VC Holdings. The '024 patent monopoly is directed to increasing video encoding efficiency by dividing a block of pixels into groups and using different intra-planar prediction methods for each group. The patent monopoly had previously been designated as essential to SISVEL’s AV1 and VP9 patent monopoly pools.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ On Remand, Great Concepts Escapes With TTAB Wrist Slap for its Fraudulent Section 15 Declaration

    Last year, a divided panel of the CAFC reversed the TTAB's decision in Chutter, Inc. v. Great Management Group, LLC and Great Concepts, LLC [TTABlogged here]. The Board had granted Chutter's petition for cancellation of a registration for the mark DANTANNA'S for restaurant services on the ground of fraud, but the CAFC concluded that "a Section 14 cancellation proceeding is not available as a remedy for a fraudulent Section 15 incontestability declaration." The CAFC remanded the case to the Board for consideration of "whether to declare that Great Concepts’ mark does not enjoy incontestable status and to evaluate whether to impose other sanctions on Great Concepts or its attorney." [TTABlogged here].

• Copyrights

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘I didn’t know I needed it.’ Why neighborhoods rally to save movie houses.

    This Oscar season, our reporter explores the quirky ecosystem of cinephiles and their efforts to save community movie theaters. Can independent cinema survive Netflix?