🌎 Discussion: Online Piracy, AI, Net Neutrality, Killswitch, and Other Internet Issues II

[MagnarTheGreat]

Reuters - U.S. lawmakers unveil bipartisan bid to ban China's TikTok

It's a gift package to Zuckerberg and Musk to eliminate competition, who have done more damage and spying using their platforms than TikTok has.

Bloomberg News - Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws
Apple Inc. is preparing to allow alternative app stores on its iPhones and iPads, part of a sweeping overhaul aimed at complying with strict European Union requirements coming in 2024.

 

[Teelie]

Facebook and Twitter are both bigger threats than TikTok but TikTok is Chinese spying instead of good old fashioned American spying.

 

[Lily Adler]

Reuters - U.S. lawmakers unveil bipartisan bid to ban China's TikTok

It's a gift package to Zuckerberg and Musk to eliminate competition, who have done more damage and spying using their platforms than TikTok has.

Bloomberg News - Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws
Apple Inc. is preparing to allow alternative app stores on its iPhones and iPads, part of a sweeping overhaul aimed at complying with strict European Union requirements coming in 2024.

Where was this initiative when Face App was around?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - Russian Trolls Are Using Under-Moderated Right-Wing Sites Like Truth Social to Post Manipulating Content
A new study reveals that Russian groups are found to have a larger impact on conservative platforms than previously thought.

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Lifehacker - Delete Your Phone Number From Twitter Before They Sell It

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Apple may drop the WebKit requirement for web browsers on iOS - gHacks Tech News

So, why is this happening?

We can thank the European Union for that. A month ago, the EU passed a law called the Digital Markets Act, that requires gatekeepers (controllers of large online platforms) including Apple, Microsoft, and Google, to allow users to install apps from third-party sources. This will free users from the restrictions of the App Store, you will be able to sideload apps on your iPhone and iPad. It will also provide developers some relief, as they could host their apps elsewhere, without paying a 30% commission fee to Apple.

This would mean web browsers wouldn't be required to us Safari as the engine. All web browsers no matter who makes them for iOS have to use Safari even though they all have their own UIs and Apps.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Epic Games fined half a billion dollars in privacy-based fiasco - gHacks Tech News

Do Musk Twitter next.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - Documents Show Zuckerberg Knew of Cambridge Analytica Earlier Than He Admitted
A SEC Deposition shows that the Meta CEO had planned to tell users they would analyze the political consulting firm back in 2017. Then the script changed.

Gizmodo - After Twitter Voted Him Out, Elon Musk Indicates Future Polls Could Be Restricted to 'Blue' Users
Don't like the outcome of the democratic process? Just change the rules.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

ReviewGeek - The LastPass Data Breach Just Got Even Worse … Again
Please, stop using LastPass.

You shouldn’t store your passwords online in any grouping service: they are all a massive target for the world’s hackers. They especially want your banking and credit card and other financial information.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Washington Post - Crypto Crash Makes Blockchain a Dirty Word

GameSpot - Square Enix Reaffirms Commitment To Blockchain Gaming, Despite Crypto Winter
In its New Year's letter, Square Enix's president called blockchain its biggest focus, despite recent volatility.

 

[Iceman]

The Washington Post - Crypto Crash Makes Blockchain a Dirty Word

GameSpot - Square Enix Reaffirms Commitment To Blockchain Gaming, Despite Crypto Winter
In its New Year's letter, Square Enix's president called blockchain its biggest focus, despite recent volatility.

Square are such a terribly run company. That tiny amount they raised from selling their western studios will soon be wasted on some blockchain ****.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

USA Today - Andy Cohen, Michael B. Jordan and the problem with the dead celebrities TikTok prank

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - The Feds Are Investigating How Big Data Hurts Marginalized Groups
The Commerce Department is inviting comments on how the problems of data harvesting worsen structural inequality

Gizmodo - Apple Hit With Third Privacy Lawsuit After Gizmodo Story
iPhones collect analytics data even when they promise not to, according to privacy researchers' tests. It's giving "I'll see you in court."

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

DOJ Files Antitrust Lawuit Against Google, Alleges Digital Ad Monopoly - Variety

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Wired - The Rise of the Tech Bro Supervillain

Cinema has a new villain, the tech billionaire - gHacks Tech News

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Vice - AI-Generated Voice Firm Clamps Down After 4chan Makes Celebrity Voices for Abuse
4chan members used ElevenLabs to make deepfake voices of Emma Watson, Joe Rogan, and others saying racist, transphobic, and violent things.

 

[squeekness]

Vice - AI-Generated Voice Firm Clamps Down After 4chan Makes Celebrity Voices for Abuse
4chan members used ElevenLabs to make deepfake voices of Emma Watson, Joe Rogan, and others saying racist, transphobic, and violent things.

I am not surprised. That sort of thing is ripe for abuse.

 

[Teelie]

You mean the first thing 4chan was going to do with this AI generated voice technology is exactly the first thing they did? I am shocked they would use it for trolling and abuse.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Ars Technica - Apple should be required to let iPhone users sideload apps, Biden admin says
Gov't report recommends laws targeting mobile "gatekeepers" Apple and Google.

 

[Teelie]

As if Google's store is such a safe place to get apps. Apple's system is definitely secure even if they are too restrictive.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Microsoft’s Bing AI is insulting and gaslighting users - gHacks Tech News

AI Chatbots Keep Becoming Cocky - gHacks Tech News

Bing AI unhinged: How will Microsoft prevent this from happening again? - gHacks Tech News

HAL 9000 - Wikipedia

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - Record Number of Countries Blocked the Internet in Blackouts in 2022

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - Democrats' New Bill Could Be the First Real US Privacy Law
A new bill in the Senate wants to finally make some rules about how companies spy on you.

A bill introduced Thursday in response to the reversal of Roe v. Wade would enshrine first-of-its kind protections for location data and health information. If it passes, it has the potential to be one of the most significant privacy laws in American history.

The bill, called the Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act was introduced by three Democratic senators, citing digital privacy concerns in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe. The proposed law would prohibit the use of personally identifiable health information for targeted ads—but far more significant is the bill’s proposal to ban the sale of location data by data brokers, companies that make their money by harvesting information about you and selling the insights.

The bill was introduced by Sens. Mazie Hirono, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The tech industry and ethics are too often like oil and water.

The Verge - Microsoft lays off team that taught employees how to make AI tools responsibly

The Verge - Meta gives up on NFTs for Facebook and Instagram