Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ This post went somewhere, then nowhere

  This was one of those posts I started writing, but in the process of putting text to console, I changed my mind about part of it, and figured out something much more interesting. Or at least, interesting to me.

  Text to console is my way of saying pen to paper. I say it because I’m technically typing this, and because writing anything for more than a few sentences makes my hands cramp like someone with cramped hands. In fact, exactly like someone with cramped hands, because it cramps my hands. Even the one that isn’t writing, somehow. Maybe its pity cramps. In my hands.

• Hackaday ☛ Measuring An Unknown Velocity Factor

  When is the speed of light not the speed of light? Of course, that’s a trick question. The speed of light may be constant, but just as sound travels at different speeds in different media, electronic signals move through transmission lines at a reduced speed. When you have a known cable, you can look up the velocity factor and use it to approximate the length of cable to have a given effective length. But what if you don’t know what kind of cable you have? [More Than Electronics] used a scope to measure it. You can see what he did in the video below.

• Hackaday ☛ Building A Giant Boardgame Isn’t Easy

  [Stevenson Streeper] is a maker, and was recently charged with a serious mission. He had to prototype, design, and build a board game. A software-controlled board game, that is, and one that was 400 square-feet in size. As you might imagine, this ended up being a tall order, and he’s been kind enough to share his tale on his blog.

• Kev Quirk ☛ Cross-Posting with EchoFeed

  I've been cross-posting using a self-hosted EchoFeed instance for a while, but now Robb has built a managed version, I flipped to that and it's brilliant.

  Alllllll the way back in February 2021, I shared my thoughts on Micro.blog, and in that post I said...

  The only real value I would get from MB, would be the cross-posting service, which I don't think is worth $5/month.

  That still holds true today. The best part of Micro.blog, in my opinion, is the cross-posting feature. Socially I only really use Mastodon, but still, cross-posting links to every post I write is a pain in the arse. So a way to automate that would be cool, but not cool enough to warrant $5/month.

• Manuel Moreale ☛ P&B: Simone Silvestroni

  This is the 34th edition of People and Blogs, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Simone Silvestroni and his blog, minutestomidnight.co.uk

  I first connected with Simone via email a couple of years ago and then re-discovered his blog thanks to a link in someone's blogroll. The blogroll on his site is excellent btw, definitely worth checking out and the reason why I'm going to rewrite mine—if and when I can find the time.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ Copenhagen Stock Exchange facade collapses after fire

  Half of the structure was destroyed Tuesday, and its 54-meter (1,800-foot) tall spire toppled after the fire broke out during restoration work being carried out before the building's 400-year anniversary.

  The spire, it was later reported, was saved, as were hundreds of artworks that were quickly removed from the burning structure.

• Science

  • Futurism ☛ Dying Mars Helicopter Sends NASA Final Transmission

    NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which became the first ever aircraft piloted on another planet back in 2021, has its flying days behind it after a crash in January and will now be put to use as a stationary monitor to take pictures of its surroundings and collect temperature data for any future Mars explorers who may happen to drop by, according to the space agency.

    On Tuesday, staff monitored its final link with the helicopter, a transmission of data from Ingenuity to researchers and engineers back on Earth. The milestone comes after the helicopter's almost three-year run exploring the planet, with 1,000 Martian days and a total of 72 flights under its belt.

  • New York Times ☛ The Magnetic Heart of the Milky Way

    A new map of the center of the Milky Way galaxy reveals details of its magnetic fields

  • CS Monitor ☛ Hey now, you’re a dead star. Meet Gaia, the Milky Way’s second-largest black hole.

    A black hole named Gaia BH3, 33 times greater in size than the sun, was discovered 2,000 light years from Earth. The only other in our Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius, is 26,000 light years away from Earth and traveling in the opposite direction.

  • Science Alert ☛ Here's How Scientists Might Detect Alien Life For The First Time in a Nearby Moon

    We can only hope.

  • Science Alert ☛ Physicists Created an Exotic Superconductor Controlled by Magnetism

    "This is a true breakthrough in quantum physics."

• Education

  • VOA News ☛ Librarians in Ukraine and their wartime struggle to save libraries

    In Ukraine, more than 200 libraries have been destroyed and about 400 damaged since Russia launched its war, say Ukrainian officials. [...]

  • The Register UK ☛ NASA solar sail to be Siriusly visible in orbit from Earth

    The primary goal of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) mission is to demonstrate the deployment of a new composite boom made from flexible polymer and carbon fiber materials.

    Despite being stiffer than previous designs, the tube-shaped boom can be squashed flat and rolled like a tape measure, according to Keats Wilkie, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Roboticizing An Etch-a-Sketch

    The Etch-a-Sketch was a popular toy, but a polarizing one. You were either one of those kids that had the knack, or one of the kids that didn’t. [Micah] was pretty firmly in the latter group, so decided to roboticize the Etch-a-Sketch so a computer could draw for him instead.

  • The Register UK ☛ NASA solar sail to be Siriusly visible in orbit from Earth

    The primary goal of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) mission is to demonstrate the deployment of a new composite boom made from flexible polymer and carbon fiber materials.

    Despite being stiffer than previous designs, the tube-shaped boom can be squashed flat and rolled like a tape measure, according to Keats Wilkie, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

  • Old VCR ☛ So long, Z80

    You can still buy 6502s from Western Design Center and others, but Zilog's getting out of Z80s, announcing earlier this week that after June 14th you won't be able to buy them anymore [...]

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Uncovers Serious Side Effects From Common Dementia Drugs

    This is very concerning.

  • New York Times ☛ Scientists Fault Federal Response to Bird Flu Outbreaks on Dairy Farms

    Testing for H5N1 infection has been limited, and the outbreak was never confined. But asymptomatic cows in North Carolina may require a reassessment.

  • New Yorker ☛ How Gaza’s Largest Mental-Health Organization Works Through War

    Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei on providing counselling services to Palestinian children: “When relatives are killed, we try somehow to calm the child and then ask questions: What are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do the day after tomorrow?”

  • University of Michigan ☛ Michigan Medicine finds Barbie dolls increase efficacy of telehealth visits

    Doctors at the Michigan Medicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center have discovered a new way to make telehealth visits, or online medical appointments, run smoother: the Barbie doll. 

  • Air Force Times ☛ Pentagon anti-fentanyl efforts face operational challenges: watchdog

    An assessment of Pentagon efforts to disrupt drug traffickers comes at a precarious time in the United States. Overdoses involving synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, are the leading cause of death for people 18 to 45, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. A study from Mayo Clinic and Yale University found that deaths from fentanyl alone tripled between 2016 and 2021.

  • Rolling Stone ☛ Hear Hayes Carll, Band of Heathens' 4/20 Tune 'Nobody Dies From Weed'

    One unintentionally comical section of the DEA’s website asks, “What is its effect on the body?” The answer: “Relaxation, disinhibition, increased appetite, sedation, increased sociability,” among others, so Carll and the Heathens, who are touring together this spring, will probably be pleasant, plump, and pleasantly plump by the end of the trek.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Academic minors introduce students to public health

    While public health professionals stood front and center during the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiology is just one of many fields within public health.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Futurism ☛ Facebook Says Sorry Its AI Flagged Auschwitz Museum Posts as Offensive

    Earlier this month, Facebook's algorithm flagged 21 posts from the Auschwitz Museum as going against its community standards — and now its parent company Meta is eating crow.

  • The Register UK ☛ Meta debuts third-generation Llama large language model

    For now, we're only getting access to Llama 3's eight billion and 70 billion parameter text variants. Meta isn't done training its largest and most complex models just yet, but hints they will be multilingual and multimodal – meaning they're assembled from multiple smaller domain-optimized models.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ It’s time to retire the term “user”

    People have been called “users” for a long time; it’s a practical shorthand enforced by executives, founders, operators, engineers, and investors ad infinitum. Often, it is the right word to describe people who use software: a user is more than just a customer or a consumer. Sometimes a user isn’t even a person; corporate bots are known to run accounts on Instagram and other social media platforms, for example. But “users” is also unspecific enough to refer to just about everyone. It can accommodate almost any big idea or long-term vision. We use—and are used by—computers and platforms and companies. Though “user” seems to describe a relationship that is deeply transactional, many of the technological relationships in which a person would be considered a user are actually quite personal. That being the case, is “user” still relevant?

  • Silicon Angle ☛ GitLab announces general availability Duo Chat AI chatbot for DevSecOps

    GitLab Inc. announced Thursday the general availability of its new generative artificial intelligence chatbot Duo Chat, which can bring real-time guidance for both advanced software engineers and non-engineers with a conversational experience.

  • Wired ☛ The Biggest Deepfake Porn Website Is Now Blocked in the UK

    Two of the biggest deepfake pornography websites have now started blocking people trying to access them from the United Kingdom. The move comes days after the UK government announced plans for a new law that will make creating nonconsensual deepfakes a criminal offense.

  • Wired ☛ The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived

    Except, he isn’t who he claims to be. His videofeed is a lie. And—beard or not—the face the woman can see over the video call is not his: It’s a deepfake.

    In reality, the man is a scammer using face-swapping technology to totally change his appearance in real time. In a video of the call—filmed by the scammer’s accomplice likely thousands of miles away from the woman—his real face can be seen on this laptop alongside the fake persona as he speaks to his victim.

  • India Times ☛ Internet [sic] browser Veera says it has crossed 1 million users

    Veera, India’s homegrown mobile-only internet [sic] browser, said it crossed 1 million users in less than a year since its inception.

    The app, entirely developed in India with tailored content and ad-blocking services, competes largely with global internet [sic] browsers including Microsoft, Google Chrome and Apple safari.

  • Futurism ☛ CEOs Suddenly Fear AI Will Take Their Jobs Too

    Per a new report from the IT consulting firm AND Digital which surveyed hundreds of business leaders in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands, 43 percent of respondents said they believed AI could take their job as CEO.

    Denizens of the C-suite aren't making a strong case for keeping their positions, either. Embarrassingly, nearly that exact same proportion — 45 percent — admitted to secretly making major business decisions "based on data and information obtained using ChatGPT." Strong evidence, perhaps, that maybe replacing CEOs with AI isn't such a bad idea after all.

  • PC Gamer ☛ World of Warcraft boss says Microsoft is happy to 'let Blizzard be Blizzard,' but I'm not sure that's entirely true

    While the proverbial Sword of Damocles may or may not be hanging over Blizzard's head at this moment, there's no overlooking the fact that Microsoft has already made some big changes at Blizzard. Activision Blizzard was hammered by layoffs across Microsoft's gaming division, and even more notably the survival game Blizzard announced with much fanfare in 2022—"a journey to a whole new universe," Blizzard said at the time, "a place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived"—was unceremoniously cancelled, despite having been in development for six years and by all reports had some exciting potential.

  • Google Implements New Round of Layoffs and Team Restructurings

    Google has announced another series of layoffs and restructuring, impacting several key areas within the company, including its finance and real estate divisions.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Federal News Network ☛ A look into whether one HHS component is properly securing its cloud information systems

      A new audit looks at how one agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) manages its clown computing assets.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New York Times ☛ Senate Passes Two-Year Extension of Surveillance Law Just After It Expired

      The law lapsed only briefly after a late-night deal that allowed votes on privacy advocates’ proposed changes, all of which were defeated.

    • Techdirt ☛ Senate Must Follow House’s Lead In Passing Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act

      The Fourth Amendment exists for a reason. It’s supposed to protect our private possessions and data from government snooping, unless they have a warrant. It doesn’t entirely prevent the government from getting access to data, they just need to show probable cause of a crime.

• Defence/Aggression

  • FAIR ☛ Baher Azmy on Abu Ghraib Lawsuit, Dave Lindorff on Spy for No Country

  • RFERL ☛ Japanese Group Escapes Suicide Bombing Attempt In Pakistan

    Five Japanese nationals escaped unhurt from a suicide attack in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, early on April 19.

  • France24 ☛ Tests expose worrying flaws in France’s anti-drone system for 2024 Olympics

    With less than 100 days to go before Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics, which organisers plan to open with an elaborate waterborne ceremony on the Seine river, concerns are mounting about the efficiency of the anti-drone shield meant to protect the French capital from a potential terror attack. According to several security sources, recent tests have exposed some worrying flaws in the system.

  • Techdirt ☛ ‘Lol, No’ Is The Perfect Response To LAPD’s Nonsense ‘IP’ Threat Letter Over ‘Fuck The LAPD’ Shirt

    We’ve had plenty of posts discussing all manner of behavior from the Los Angeles Police Dept. and/or the LAPD union here at Techdirt. As you might imagine if you’re a regular reader here, the majority of those posts haven’t exactly involved fawning praise for these supposed crimefighters. In fact, if you went on a reading blitz of those posts, you might even come away thinking, “You know what? Fuck the LAPD!”

  • Techdirt ☛ The US Banning TikTok Would Play Right Into China’s Hands, And Destroy Decades Of US Work On Promoting An Open Internet

    Apparently, the TikTok ban bill is back.

  • Pro Publica ☛ U.S. Army Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes to Face More Scrutiny Under New Regulation

    The U.S. Army, the country’s largest military branch, will no longer allow military commanders to decide on their own whether soldiers accused of certain serious crimes can leave the service rather than go on trial.

    The decision comes one year after ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Military Times published an investigation exposing how hundreds of soldiers charged with violent crimes were administratively discharged instead of facing a court martial.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Life on the Front Lines of America’s Wildfires

    With record-setting blazes becoming more and more common, the demands placed on wildland firefighters are greater than ever. Already this year, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which broke out in the Texas Panhandle in February, has become the second-largest wildfire in U.S. history, burning nearly 1.1 million acres. Last year, a relatively quiet fire season, saw the Lahaina fire on Maui, Hawaii’s largest-ever wildfire and one of the deadliest on record, with at least 100 fatalities. The previous year, New Mexico experienced its biggest and second-biggest fires simultaneously — the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in the northern half of the state and the Black Fire down south.

    But at this crucial hour, America’s last line of defense against fires is fraying. A recent ProPublica investigation found that the Forest Service is losing wildland firefighters, suffering an attrition rate of 45% among its permanent employees in the past three years. The investigation spotlighted the challenges that wildland firefighters face: weeklong stretches away from family, a bureaucracy indifferent to physical and mental health concerns and a byzantine pay structure that incentivizes risk.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea conducts cruise missile warhead test on April 19: KCNA

    North Korea's strategic cruise missile is believed to be designed to carry a nuclear warhead.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Police in Malaysia beef up presence and step up patrols at KLIA after shooting

    Police may be given e-scooters to make their rounds at the airport.

  • France24 ☛ Indian elections: Dhruv Rathee, the YouTube sensation holding the government to account

    In this week’s special edition of Access Asia, we focus on India as the country's record-breaking election gets under way. In the past few years, India's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has plummeted. With the country’s independent media increasingly under threat, YouTube has become a key medium to fact-check trending topics. Twenty-nine-year-old Dhruv Rathee has been using the platform to fact-check issues and hold the Indian government to account. He spoke to FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza.

  • JURIST ☛ India security forces kill at least 29 left-wing extremists in Chhattisgarh

    Indian security forces killed at least 29 left-wing extremists called Naxals, or Maoists, in the Indian Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected state of Chhattisgarh’s sensitive region Bastar this week.

  • JURIST ☛ 505 law professors sign letter condemning US House committee investigation into Rutgers University

    A group of 505 law professors and faculty have signed a letter that was delivered to the US House Committee on Wednesday, condemning the investigation into Rutgers University Newark Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR) for campus antisemitism.

  • India Times ☛ TikTok: Kyrgyzstan's TikTok block builds censorship fears

    The Central Asian country this week blocked the video-sharing platform after its security services expressed concern over the influence on children.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Congress Suddenly Fast-Tracks Modified TikTok Ban Bill

    Multiple outlets have reported on the modified legislation’s inclusion in a broader spending package, after the House first passed the forced-sale measure in a bipartisan vote last month. Per the appropriate text, the retooled version of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act simply features a larger post-passage window (roughly nine months and a possible three-month extension instead of six months flat) for ByteDance to divest from or shut down TikTok in the U.S.

    Now tied to multibillion-dollar bills earmarking aid for Israel, Ukraine, and more, the TikTok ban measure, owing in part to its current legislative grouping, could well be destined for congressional approval. Last month, the White House indicated that the president would sign the legislation into law if it reached his desk.

  • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Ban Bill Update Extends ByteDance's Divestment Window

    This movement on the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act came to light in an update from Senator Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. While March saw the mentioned legislation quickly pass through the House in a bipartisan vote, it’s had a comparatively slow journey in the Senate.

    To that end, reports closer to April’s beginning suggested that Senator Cantwell intended to push for changes – among them an extension of the six-month period ByteDance would have to sell or shut down TikTok in the States.

  • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok and Taylor Swift Launch Huge Album Promotion Campaign

    Although this confrontation looks to be heating up, Swift, to the surprise of UMG execs, went ahead and brought her body of work back to TikTok shortly before today’s release of The Tortured Poets Department.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese navy is operating out of Cambodia's Ream base: US think tank

    The prolonged presence of 2 Chinese vessels suggests a deeper involvement than Phnom Penh admits.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ FBI director warns of China’s preparations for disruptive infrastructure attacks

    Wray indicated the FBI sees China as a more imminent threat to U.S. infrastructure as hacking groups like Volt Typhoon position resources for disruption ahead of a potential confrontation with the U.S. over Taiwan as early as 2027.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Experts react: Israel just conducted a limited strike in Iran. Is this the end of the tit for tat?

    The strike early Friday near the Isfahan air base and nuclear site is an apparent retaliation against Iran’s attack on Israel on April 13.

  • France24 ☛ Caught between Israel and Iran, Jordan clings desperately to stability

    After Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13, Jordan finds itself caught between the two enemies. Friday morning's suspected Israeli strikes in central Iran have intensified fear that the country could be dragged into an escalation against its will. Having been historically neutral in the two countries’ decades-old struggle, the Hashemite kingdom is now seeing its delicate balancing act threatened.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴 LIVE : Iran’s muted response to reported Israeli strike raises hopes for easing of tensions

    World leaders called for de-escalation in the Middle East after Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan on Friday and US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival. Iranian officials played down the incident and said the blasts caused no major damage. Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel last weekend.

  • France24 ☛ World leaders urge restraint after suspected Israeli strikes on Iran

    World leaders called for de-escalation in the Middle East after Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan on Friday and US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival. Iranian officials played down the incident and said the blasts caused no major damage. Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend.

  • RFERL ☛ Apparent Israeli Air Attack Strikes Near Iranian City Of Isfahan

    Israel's military reportedly struck targets inside Iran in retaliation for an unprecedented air attack Tehran launched last weekend on its sworn enemy, but the limited scope of the operation and a muted Iranian response appeared to indicate an escalation of the conflict had been avoided.

  • teleSUR ☛ Israeli Airstrikes Target Syrian Air Defense Sites

    No casualties were reported in the attack, although more than six Israeli aircraft were observed flying in southern Syria.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel’s Strike on Iran: A Limited Attack but a Potentially Big Signal

    Israel hit a strategic city with carefully measured force, but made the point that it could strike at a center of Iran’s nuclear program.

  • New York Times ☛ What We Know About Israel’s Strike in Iran

    Israel struck Iran early Friday, according to officials from both countries, in what appeared to be its first military response to the Iranian attack on Israel last weekend.

  • France24 ☛ 'Bombing' hits Iraq military base housing pro-Iranian force, Iraqi officials say

    Several people were wounded in a “bombing” overnight on an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, two security sources said early Saturday.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Strikes an Iranian Military Base, but Damage Appears Limited

    The drone attack may have been launched from inside Iran, once again demonstrating Israel’s ability to carry out clandestine operations there.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel’s Strike Was Smaller Than Expected, and So Was Iran’s Reaction

    The relatively limited scope of the attack, as well as a muted response from Iranian officials, may have lowered the chances of an immediate escalation, analysts said.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Launched Missiles as Well as Drones at Iran, Officials Say

    Though it was not immediately clear if the missiles struck targets inside Iran, their use would mean more sophisticated firepower was involved in the attack than first reported.

  • New York Times ☛ Iran-Israel Shadow War Timeline: A History of Recent Hostilities

    A recent round of strikes has brought the conflict more clearly into the open and raised fears of a broader war.

  • teleSUR ☛ Suspicious Man Who Entered Iranian Consulate in Paris Arrested

    The presence of a man allegedly carrying explosives triggered security measures.

  • teleSUR ☛ Iran Does Not Want an Escalation, Russia Told Israel

    Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Lavrov insisted today that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • YLE ☛ Von der Leyen: "We should be more Finnish when it comes to security"

      The President of the EU Commission met with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) in the eastern city of Lappeenranta on Friday morning.

    • Insight Hungary ☛ CPAC Hungary rejects journalist accreditation requests claiming their outlet is too "woke"

      Several journalists received a response from CPAC Hungary to their accreditation request: “We regret to inform you that we are unable to accommodate your registration request at this time. As organizers, we must abide by one of the conference’s ironclad rules: CPAC is a NO WOKE ZONE. We look forward to welcoming you to future events when and if your organization becomes significantly less woke.”The Centre for Fundamental Rights, the entity behind CPAC Hungary, took to social media, proclaiming, "What's the basic rule at CPAC Hungary? Simple: zero woke." CPAC rejected almost all independent outlets the past two years, however, this was the first time, they attached an explanation to their decision.

      Despite controversy, the event boasts an array of confirmed speakers, including the keynote speaker, Hungary's far right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders, Spanish far-right politician Santiago Abascal, several US lawmakers and media figures. After the first day of the event, the organizers will hold a gala dinner for the guests at the Opera House in Budapest.

    • Meduza ☛ Polish authorities reportedly arrest two Poles and one Belarusian over attack on Navalny ally Leonid Volkov — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Students throughout Russia pose in star shape to commemorate the ‘genocide of the Soviet people’ — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Suspects linked to Vilnius attack on Navalny ally Volkov arrested in Poland

      Three men who allegedly organised and carried out an attack last month in Lithuania on Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov have been arrested, officials said Friday.

    • LRT ☛ Two Poles, Belarusian detained on suspicion of attacking Navalny’s associate in Vilnius

      Two people have been detained in Poland on suspicion of attacking Russian opposition activist Leonid Volkov in Vilnius, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced on Friday. A Belarusian national working for Russia has also been detained on suspicion of ordering the attack.

    • RFERL ☛ Poland Detains 2 Suspects In Attack On Navalny Associate In Lithuania

      Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on April 19 that Polish authorities had detained two men suspected of attacking Leonid Volkov, an associate of late Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

    • New York Times ☛ Arrests of Europeans for Aiding Russia Raise Fears of Kremlin’s Reach

      A string of arrests, including two Poles accused of attacking a Navalny aide and a third for ties to a possible plot against Ukraine’s president, have amplified worries of Russian infiltration.

    • Latvia ☛ Baltic parliamentarians visit U.S. to urge aid for Ukraine

      The Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the three parliaments of the Baltic states are emphasising the importance of supporting Ukraine during a joint visit to Los Angeles.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Experts on the REPO Act: A good deal for the United States and for Ukraine

      Experts evaluate what the provisions of the REPO Act would mean for Ukraine, the United States, and the rest of the world.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Failure to support Ukraine now would be ‘geopolitical malpractice’

      The US House should approve additional aid to Ukraine this coming weekend, and President Joe Biden should send Kyiv the weapons it needs.

    • Defence Web ☛ Mbombe 6 inspected by Ukraine Armed Forces

      A single Paramount Mbombe 6 infantry combat vehicle that was exported to Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion as a demonstration model has been inspected by the Ukrainian military’s Commander-in-Chief after being fitted with a locally made turret.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky says NATO must decide if alliance and Ukraine ‘indeed are allies’

      Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that NATO must choose whether it really is an ally of Ukraine by accelerating weapons supplies to help his struggling forces.

    • France24 ☛ At least nine killed in Ukraine strikes as Kyiv says it downed Russian warplane

      Russian strikes on Ukraine in the early hours of Friday killed at least nine people, including three children, as Kyiv said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber for the first time.

    • LRT ☛ Baltics urge US House to pass Ukraine aid package

      The speakers of the Baltic parliaments have urged the US House of Representatives to pass a multi-billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. House On Brink Of Approving Crucial Ukraine Aid

      The House of Representatives is to vote on April 20 on a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other U.S. allies after Democrats and Republicans finally joined together behind the legislation following months of Republican opposition over continued U.S. support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. National Dies In Occupied Donetsk, Says Russian Journalist

      Russell Bentley, a U.S. national, has died in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russia's state media outlet RT, wrote on Telegram on April 19.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine, Israel Aid Advances In Rare House Vote As Democrats Help Republicans

      With rare bipartisan momentum, the U.S. House of Representatives pushed ahead on April 19 on a foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and humanitarian support as a robust coalition of lawmakers helped it clear a procedural hurdle to reach final votes this weekend.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Suspect In Assassination Attempt On Ex-Ukrainian Security Officer Arrested

      A court in Moscow on April 18 sent to pretrial detention a Russian man suspected of being involved in the attempted murder of a former officer of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).

    • teleSUR ☛ Russian Regions Suspend Victory Day Parade

      Since 2022, they have declined to celebrate the annual parade due to fear of Ukrainian sabotage.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Aid Bill Clears Critical Hurdle in the House as Democrats Supply the Votes

      Democrats stepped in to support bringing the aid package to the floor, in a remarkable breach of custom on a key vote that paved the way for its passage.

    • New York Times ☛ Do Tanks Have a Place in 21st-Century Warfare?

      As explosive drones gain battlefield prominence, even the mighty U.S. Abrams tank is increasingly vulnerable.

    • New York Times ☛ At G7 Meeting in Capri, Blinken Tackles Rough Seas and Global Crises

      Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his counterparts, who met on the Italian island of Capri, welcomed signs that tensions between Iran and Israel might not worsen.

    • New York Times ☛ Worried About Trump’s Support for Ukraine, Eastern Europe Tries Outreach

      A gathering of officials from Lithuania and Ukraine and supporters of Donald J. Trump highlights growing efforts to get on the good side of the former U.S. president in case he is elected again.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukrainians Wait, Nervously, to See if U.S. Will Provide Critical Aid

      From the battlefield to battered cities, soldiers and civilians are counting on Congress to approve $60 billion in military support. Without it, Ukrainian officials say, prospects in the war are grim.

    • European Commission ☛ Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Orpo

      European Commission Statement Lappeenranta, 19 Apr 2024 Dear Prime Minister, dear Petteri,

      First of all, thank you very much for inviting me here to Lappeenranta, close to the Russian border.

    • JURIST ☛ ECHR upholds barring of Russia pop singer from Lithuania citing security concerns

      The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld Thursday Lithuania’s barring of entry of Russian pop singer Philipp Kirkorov, citing concerns about his role as a tool for Russia’s propaganda in former Soviet States. The court used Lithuania’s Law on the Legal Status of Aliens to adjudicate on the legality of the decision.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia jails top hypersonics scientist for seven years on treason charges

      Renowned Russian scientist Alexander Kuranov received a seven-year sentence in a high-security prison on Thursday for state treason, according to the Head of the United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg. Kuranov, who formerly headed a state research institute in St.

    • JURIST ☛ US appeals court rules against former Republican consultant in foreign election contribution case

      The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled against former Republican campaign consultant Jesse R. Benton on Friday, upholding Benton’s conviction for allegedly funneling $100,000 in campaign donations from a Russian businessman to his consulting firm.

    • LRT ☛ Kaunas mayor’s Vičiūnai Group sold its entire business in Russia

      Vičiūnai Group, a company co-owned by Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis, has sold its entire business in Russia – a factory in Sovetsk, Kaliningrad, and six other companies involved in logistics, warehousing, wholesale of surimi products, and waste management – to Gruppa Okean, a Russian management company.

    • RFERL ☛ Imprisoned Mother Of Chechen Activists Loses Bid For Early Release For Health Reasons

      Zarema Musayeva, the imprisoned mother of three self-exiled outspoken Chechen opposition activists, has lost a bid for early release because of her medical condition after health officials in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya changed her diagnosis.

    • RFERL ☛ Detained Former Karabakh Separatist Official Begins Hunger Strike, Says Family

      Ruben Vardanian, a former Russian citizen of Armenian descent who served as prime minister in the de facto government of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, has begun a hunger strike in a Baku prison, his family said on April 19.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Military Court To Try Theater Director Berkovich, Playwright Petriichuk

      Moscow theater director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriichuk will face trial in a Russian military court after prosecutors affirmed charges of justifying terrorism.

    • RFERL ☛ EU's Von Der Leyen Visits Finland-Russia Border To Assess Security Situation

      The head of the European Union's executive branch said Finland's decision to close its border with Russia over a surge in migrants is a security matter for the whole 27-member bloc.

    • RFERL ☛ Rising Rivers Force More Evacuations in Kazakhstan, Russia

      Water levels are still rising in rivers crossing Kazakhstan and Russia as floods continue to wreak havoc and force the evacuation of thousands from towns and cities.

    • RFERL ☛ Belarusian Gets Prison Term For Sending $32 To Banned Groups

      A court in Belarus has sentenced a man to 3 1/2 years in prison for sending the equivalent of $32 to three Belarusian groups, which were labeled extremist and banned by authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Journalist's Home Searched Over Case Against Colleague In Exile

      Police in St. Petersburg on April 18 searched the home of journalist Ksenia Klochkova as part of an investigation of her former colleague, Andrei Zakharov.

    • RFERL ☛ Bulgarian President Blocks Replacement Of Caretaker Minister

      Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who has been accused by the opposition of taking a pro-Russian stance, has refused to endorse the replacement of current caretaker Foreign Minister Stefan Dimitrov with Daniel Mitov from the pro-Western GERB party.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Truthdig ☛ Why Most Americans Can’t Afford EVs

      EV prices have come down in recent years. But they’re still unaffordable for the majority of Americans, especially those who want to reduce their carbon footprint as well as their expenses. “Pricing is still very much the biggest barrier to electric vehicles,” according to one analyst.

    • The Register UK ☛ AI energy draw from Chicago datacenters to rise tenfold

      US energy provider Exelon has calculated that power demand from datacenters in the Chicago area is set to increase ninefold, in more evidence that AI adoption is will put further strain electricity supplies.

      The utility giant revealed there are about 25 datacenter projects planned in the area around Chicago that would consume an estimated 5 GW of power, according to a report from Bloomberg.

    • NL Times ☛ Over 85,000 bikes stolen in Netherlands last year; Amsterdam in the lead by far

      Over 85,000 bicycle thefts were reported in the Netherlands last year, almost 10 percent higher than in 2022. Amsterdam is, by far, the bike theft capital of the Netherlands, comparison site Independer reported based on figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Bridge Michigan ☛ Michigan’s morel mushroom season: Where to find them and how to identify them

      Morel mushroom foraging season lasts long, beginning in mid-April and continuing through mid-June. Hunters in southern Michigan may start to see them earlier in the season while hunters in the Upper Peninsula will see them later in the season.

• Finance

  • YLE ☛ Court convicts famous Finnish YouTuber in tax trial

    Paqpa is one of the most popular Finnish-language channels on YouTube.

  • YLE ☛ Statistics Finland: Government's VAT hike will hit low-income earners the hardest

    "The key conclusion is that an increase in the general value added tax rate would further exacerbate the gap between high and low income levels," a chief actuary at Statistics Finland notes.

  • YLE ☛ Finland to stop paying pension top-ups to recipients abroad

    The government has ruled that a supplement to the lowest pensions is a social benefit now limited only to residents.

  • YLE ☛ Ombudsman: Some collective labour agreements may be discriminatory

    Finland's equality ombudsman says it suspects some labour agreements violate legislation concerning pay discrimination, since men's paid parental leave is shorter than women's.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese runner He Jie among 3 stripped of Beijing half marathon medals after controversial finish

    The top three in Sunday’s Beijing half marathon have been stripped of their medals, organisers said, following an investigation into the finish that saw China’s He Jie controversially win.

  • YLE ☛ Yle sources: Thousands of civil servants face redundancy next year

    The Finnish government is looking to save about 650 million euros in administration costs during its term in office.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ In Trump Trial, Press Coverage of Jurors Draws Partisan Reactions

    Journalists covering the trial face a tricky balancing act: inform the public while keeping its participants out of harm’s way.

  • CS Monitor ☛ On Columbine anniversary, a nation divided over guns

    A quarter century after the Columbine massacre, Americans continue to square off over the interplay of guns, safety, health, and freedom.

  • RFERL ☛ 'Security Measures' Taken For Kazakh Judge In Murder Trial Of Ex-Minister Amid Threats

    Kazakhstan's Supreme Court said on April 19 that Judge Aizhan Qulbaeva -- who is presiding over the high-profile trial of former Kazakh Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev -- has been provided with "personal security measures" after she received multiple threats.

  • India Times ☛ Pornhub, XVideos, Stripchat face strict EU rules, Commission says

    The three companies were designated as very large online platforms last December under the Digital Services Act (DSA) which requires them to do more to remove illegal and harmful content on their platforms.

    Pornhub and Stripchat will have to comply with these DSA obligations, among the strictest, on April 21 and XVideos on April 23, the EU executive said.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ EU wants to undo Brexit, a little bit, for people 18 to 30

    The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, is trying to open bloc-wide talks with the UK on allowing youth from EU countries to study or work and live in Britain for up to four years, with the same arrangement for British youth.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Claims of opposition MPs pledging support in return for funding baseless, says Malaysia PM Anwar

    Malaysia's govt have agreed in principle to consider providing funds to elected representatives from the opposition.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Ethan Zuckerman ☛ Twitter's New Business Model: Russian Disinfo

      I’m at an event today at UMass Amherst put together by colleagues to launch the new initiative, GloTech, which focuses on perspectives on technology and media from the Global Majority. I’m thrilled to be a senior fellow with GloTech and to lend a hand today with moderating a panel on elections around the world, and the role of mis/disinfo and foreign influence in global elections.

      So my mind is on questions of election interference. And that’s a helpful frame with which to explore X, Elon Musk’s transformed Twitter, which has moved from being a space that carefully labeled misinformation and foreign influence operations, to one which now relies on Russian propagandists as a key advertiser.

    • The Record ☛ Ukrainian sentenced to 15 years in prison for spreading Russian propaganda

      According to the investigation, he received more than $6,000 from Russian intelligence for creating over 60 social media posts in which he discredited Ukraine and its military and denied Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

    • 404 Media ☛ Netflix Doc ‘What Jennifer Did’ Uses AI Images to Create False Historical Record

      A primary concern for Petrucelli, Jenkins, and Antell, longtime documentary filmmakers and co-founders of the Archival Producers Alliance (APA), is to avoid a situation in which AI-generated images make their way into documentaries without proper disclosure, creating a false historical record.

    • Tim Bray ☛ Meta.ai Oh My!

      The problem isn’t that these answers are really, really wrong (which they are). The problem is that they are terrifyingly plausible, and presented in a tone of serene confidence. For clarity: [...]

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Techdirt ☛ SCOTUS Needs To Take Up The Texas Age Verification Lawsuit

    I think we could witness one of the most important First Amendment legal showdowns ever.

  • CPJ ☛ Taliban shuts down broadcasters Noor and Barya, seals Noor offices

    On Tuesday, Taliban intelligence forces stormed the headquarters of Noor TV in the capital, Kabul, disconnected the electricity, and sealed the premises, a former staffer told CPJ, on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

    Barya TV also was taken off air, according to a journalist familiar with the situation who also spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Sources could not confirm whether its offices were also sealed.

  • Democracy Now ☛ Over 100 Arrested at Columbia After Univ. President Orders NYPD to Clear Pro-Palestine Student Protest

    Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik on Thursday called on New York police to forcibly clear a student occupation on the lawn of the school, which had been dubbed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, resulting in over 100 arrests. The protesters were demanding the Ivy League school divest from firms and institutions that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but Shafik ordered the raid a day after being questioned on Capitol Hill about ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campus. The move caused outrage among students and many faculty, who decried it as censorship and a violation of academic freedom. The renowned professor and presidential candidate Cornel West, chair of the Columbia-affiliated Union Theological Seminary, joined students Thursday in solidarity with their protest and told Democracy Now! they “represent the best … of the human spirit,” and lauded them for “fighting in the face of domination and occupation and subjugation, and doing it with tremendous determination.”

  • Democracy Now ☛ “Fear and Terror”: Gaza Photographer Ahmed Zakot on Documenting the Carnage of Israel’s Assault

    As Israel continues bombarding the Gaza Strip, we speak with a Palestinian photographer who recently fled the territory with his family. Ahmed Zakot has been documenting Gaza for the last 25 years, and two of his photographs were just featured in a project by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and published by Rolling Stone earlier this month in a piece titled “Gaza’s Carnage Through the Eyes of Palestinian Photojournalists.” One of Zakot’s photos shows a Gaza neighborhood lit up by Israeli airstrikes at night, while the second is of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes with their belongings in a scene reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba that displaced some 700,000 Palestinians from their homes. “It reminds me [of] what my grandfather told me about this displacement. It’s the same [that] happened since 1948 — now we are in 2024,” Zakot says.

  • Democracy Now ☛ U.N. Photo Collection Shows Gaza War Through the Lens of Palestinian Journalists

    The Gaza Collective Photo Essay project, organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), collected work from 14 Palestinian photographers who were each asked to share one image that captured the devastation of the Gaza Strip over the last six months. We speak with Charlotte Cans, head of photography at OCHA, about the project. “It’s one thing to say there’s a war and it’s horrible, and it’s another thing to see an image of a child being pulled out from the rubble. It really hits you differently,” Cans says of the motivation behind the project. “It was really important to elevate the stories coming from Palestinian photojournalists, who are the only window into what is going on in Gaza.”

  • Reason ☛ Seattle Improperly Imposed a "Heckler's Veto" on Street Preacher at "an Abortion Rally and an LGBTQ Pride Event"

    So holds the Ninth Circuit.

  • JURIST ☛ Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from China’s App Store following government order

    Apple removed two popular social control media applications, Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads, from its Chinese App Store on Friday due to a directive issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, citing ‘national security reasons’ according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads from App Store in China on government orders

    Apple has removed Meta’s WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China on orders from the country’s internet regulator, US media reported Friday.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Trading platform bets on ad-funded business journalism with Sherwood News

    Sherwood News, the US-based business news outlet launched this month by retail trading platform Robinhood, is betting that ad-supported, un-paywalled news can turn a profit in the internet’s post-scale era. The publication says it aims to report “actionable, illuminating news on the markets, business, tech and the culture of money”.

  • CPJ ☛ Georgian police assault at least 4 journalists covering ‘foreign agents’ bill protests

    During protests against the bill on the night of April 16, riot police assaulted at least four journalists covering them, according to independent trade group Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, and the journalists, who spoke to CPJ by telephone and messaging app.

  • CPJ ☛ Tunisian journalist Mohamed Boughaleb sentenced to 6 months in prison for defamation

    “The sentencing of journalist Mohamed Boughaleb to six months in prison over social media posts and statements on television and radio is a clear attack against independent journalists and the freedom of the press,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna, from New York. “Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Boughaleb and drop all charges against him.”

  • VOA News ☛ Whereabouts of Ukrainian journalists held by Russia are unknown

    The whereabouts of two Ukrainian journalists held by Russia have been unknown for several months, a press freedom group said Wednesday.

    Heorhiy Levchenko and Anatasiya Glukhovska were detained in August 2023 by officers with the Russian Federal Security Service, but their arrests were not made public until October 2023 when Russian state media reported on the jailings.

  • VOA News ☛ Journalist jailed as Taliban continue media crackdown

    Free-press advocates are calling on de facto Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to release a local reporter jailed on unspecified charges.

    Habib Rahman Taseer was detained by the Taliban intelligence agency in Ghazni province this month.

  • VOA News ☛ Editor who criticized NPR resigns after being suspended

    Uri Berliner, a senior editor on NPR's business desk, posted his resignation letter on X, formerly Twitter, a day after it was revealed that he had been suspended for five days for violating company rules about outside work done without permission.

    "I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems" written about in his essay, Berliner said in his resignation letter.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai wanted to ‘unite different sectors’ to achieve ‘China implosion,’ court hears

    Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai had wanted to bring together legislators, overseas groups, the power of the community, and other sectors to achieve “China implosion,” a court has heard during a landmark trial under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • ACLU ☛ Final ‘Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’ Regulations Were Released—And It’s Great News for Women

    Today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The landmark statute mandating “reasonable accommodation” of workers’ pregnancy-related needs went into effect last summer, but the regulations explain the PWFA’s protections in more detail, providing additional guidance to workers, employers, and the courts so that the full force of the law is given effect.

  • Reason ☛ Lawsuit Alleging School District Wouldn't Inform Certain Parents About Their Children's "Sign[s] of an LGBTQ+ Identity" Dismissed for Lack of Standing

    From today's opinion by Judge Michael Watson (S.D. Ohio) in Kaltenbach v. Hilliard City Schools (a notice of appeal has been filed): … Plaintiffs allege that, if the District believes a parent holds anti-LGBTQ+ views, the District will not inform that parent if the parent's child shows any sign of an LGBTQ+ identity. ;

  • The Telegraph UK ☛ Watch: Police threaten to arrest 'openly Jewish' man for walking near pro-Palestine protest

    The police sergeant told him: “You are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything but I am worried about the reaction to your presence.”

    In another exchange a short time later he was told if he did not leave the area he would be arrested.

  • India Times ☛ Amazon to push cashierless shopping tech into more third-party stores, while backing off itself

    Amazon.com said on Wednesday it plans to push its cashierless shopping technology into more third-party stores this year, even as it reduces its reliance on the technology in its own.

    The online retailer said about 140 stores use the system, known as "Just Walk Out," which allows customers to scan an app to enter a store and leave with their items without paying at a register. Amazon will more than double that number this year.

  • BIA Net ☛ Şırnak man faces voter suppression charge after viral 'voter transfer' protest

    A video showing Süleyman Salğucak’s rant against relocated security officers casting their votes went viral on social control media, leading to an investigation into him for violating the election law.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Techdirt ☛ Congressional Testimony On Section 230 Was So Wrong That It Should Be Struck From The Record

    A few months ago, we wondered if Wired had fired its entire fact-checking staff because it published what appeared to be a facts-optional article co-authored by professional consistently wrong Jaron Lanier and an academic I’d not come across before, Allison Stanger. The article suggested that getting rid of Section 230 “could save everything.” Yet the article was so far off-base that it was in the “not even wrong” category of wrongness.

  • Internet Society ☛ Final Results of the 2024 Internet Society Board of Trustees Elections and IETF Selections

    The Internet Society Elections Committee is pleased to announce the final results of the 2024 elections and the IETF selections for the Board of Trustees. Voting concluded on 5 April. The results were announced, and the challenge period was opened on 8 April. The deadline to file challenges was 15 April at 15:00 UTC.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Techdirt ☛ Apple Praised For Repair Reforms Only Made Possible By New Oregon Law It Tried To Kill

    Last month Oregon state lawmakers passed a new “right to repair” law making it easier and cheaper to repair your electronics. The law requires that manufacturers that do business in the state provide users with easy and affordable access to tools, manuals, and parts. It also cracks down on practices like “parts pairing,” which often uses software locks to block use of third-party parts and assemblages.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• CCIA ☛ ICYMI: Experts discuss the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines and Their Impact on Merger Transactions

  Last week, prior to the American Bar Association’s 72nd Antitrust Spring Meeting, CCIA co-hosted a conference alongside Concurrences [...]

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Sustains 2(e)(1) Opposition, Finding WOOLWAX Merely Descriptive of Lubricants

    The Board sustained this opposition to registration of the proposed mark WOOLWAX for "corrosion inhibitors in the nature of a coating; rust preventatives in the nature of a coating" and for  "all purpose lubricants," on the ground of mere descriptiveness under Section 2(e)(1). Applicant Kellsport sought registration under Section 2(f), thereby conceding that the mark is not inherently distinctive. To prove acquired distinctiveness, it relied on a declaration of at least five years of continuous and substantially exclusive use. Not good enough, said the Board. Eureka Chemical Company v. Kellsport Industries Inc., Opposition No. 91274117 (April 17, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Wendy B. Cohen).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Birdman Says He Owns 100% of His Masters and Publishing — ‘I Got Nothing But Love and Respect for Universal’

    In a recent interview on Steve-O’s ‘Wild Ride!’ podcast, Birdman says his relationship with Universal Music enabled him to retain 100% ownership of his masters and publishing.