if buying isnt owning then piracy isnt stealing

Ubisoft Says It Out Loud: We Want People To Get Used To Not Owning What They’ve Bought

[…] the public too often doesn’t understand how it happens that products stop working the way they did after updates are performed remotely, or why movies purchased through an online store suddenly disappear with no refund, or why other media types purchased online likewise go poof. There is a severe misalignment, in other words, between Read more about Ubisoft Says It Out Loud: We Want People To Get Used To Not Owning What They’ve Bought[…]

amazon alexa echo device covered in green goo

Amazon wants you to pay to give them your data with Its Next-Gen “Remarkable Alexa” – which is remarkable in how poorly it works

Amazon is revamping its Alexa voice assistant as it prepares to launch a new paid subscription plan this year, according to internal documents and people familiar with the matter. But the change is causing internal conflict and may lead to further delay. Tentatively named “Alexa Plus,” the paid version of Alexa is intended to offer Read more about Amazon wants you to pay to give them your data with Its Next-Gen “Remarkable Alexa” – which is remarkable in how poorly it works[…]

hp printers printing money over your dead body

HP CEO: You’re ‘bad investment’ if you don’t buy HP supplies

HP CEO Enrique Lores admitted this week that the company’s long-term objective is “to make printing a subscription” when he was questioned about the company’s approach to third-party replacement ink suppliers. The PC and print biz is currently facing a class-action lawsuit (from 2.42 in the video below) regarding allegations that the company deliberately prevented Read more about HP CEO: You’re ‘bad investment’ if you don’t buy HP supplies[…]

a map of the netherlands with cellphone towers

Dutch phones can be easily tracked online: ‘Extreme security risk’

BNR received more than 80 gigabytes of location data from data traders: the coordinates of millions of telephones, often registered dozens of times a day. The gigantic mountain of data also includes movements of people with functions in which safety plays an important role. A senior army officer could be followed as he drove from Read more about Dutch phones can be easily tracked online: ‘Extreme security risk’[…]

Drivers would prefer to buy a low-tech car than one that shares their data

According to a survey of 2,000 Americans conducted by Kaspersky in November and published this week, 72 percent of drivers are uncomfortable with automakers sharing their data with advertisers, insurance companies, subscription services, and other third-party outfits. Specifically, 37.3 percent of those polled are “very uncomfortable” with this data sharing, and 34.5 percent are “somewhat Read more about Drivers would prefer to buy a low-tech car than one that shares their data[…]

two people holding hands watching a pc screen. On the screen is a robot painting a digitised Bob Ross painting

Generative AI Will Be A Huge Boon For The Public Domain, Unless Copyright Blocks It

A year ago, I noted that many of Walled Culture’s illustrations were being produced using generative AI. During that time, AI has developed rapidly. For example, in the field of images, OpenAI has introduced DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT: When prompted with an idea, ChatGPT will automatically generate tailored, detailed prompts for DALL·E 3 that bring your idea to life. Read more about Generative AI Will Be A Huge Boon For The Public Domain, Unless Copyright Blocks It[…]

The NY Times Lawsuit Against OpenAI Would Open Up The NY Times To All Sorts Of Lawsuits Should It Win, shows that if you feed it a URL it can regurgitate what’s on the first parts of that URL

This week the NY Times somehow broke the story of… well, the NY Times suing OpenAI and Microsoft. I wonder who tipped them off. Anyhoo, the lawsuit in many ways is similar to some of the over a dozen lawsuits filed by copyright holders against AI companies. We’ve written about how silly many of these Read more about The NY Times Lawsuit Against OpenAI Would Open Up The NY Times To All Sorts Of Lawsuits Should It Win, shows that if you feed it a URL it can regurgitate what’s on the first parts of that URL[…]

Google agrees to settle $5 billion lawsuit accusing it of tracking Incognito users

In 2020, Google was hit with a lawsuit that accused it of tracking Chrome users’ activities even when they were using Incognito mode. Now, after a failed attempt to get it dismissed, the company has agreed to settle the complaint that originally sought $5 billion in damages. According to Reuters and The Washington Post, neither Read more about Google agrees to settle $5 billion lawsuit accusing it of tracking Incognito users[…]

New York Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over Reading Publicly Available Information

The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement on Wednesday, opening a new front in the increasingly intense legal battle over the unauthorized use of published work to train artificial intelligence technologies. The Times is the first major American media organization to sue the companies, the creators of ChatGPT and other popular Read more about New York Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over Reading Publicly Available Information[…]

a verizon technician giving away a large binder of documents to an ugly orc

Verizon Once Again Busted Handing Out Sensitive Wireless Subscriber Information To Any Nitwit Who Asks For It – because no US enforcement of any kind

Half a decade ago we documented how the U.S. wireless industry was caught over-collecting sensitive user location and vast troves of behavioral data, then selling access to that data to pretty much anybody with a couple of nickels to rub together. It resulted in no limit of abuse from everybody from stalkers to law enforcement Read more about Verizon Once Again Busted Handing Out Sensitive Wireless Subscriber Information To Any Nitwit Who Asks For It – because no US enforcement of any kind[…]

police officer looking up data on a smartphone

UK Police to be able to run AI face recognition searches on all driving licence holders

The police will be able to run facial recognition searches on a database containing images of Britain’s 50 million driving licence holders under a law change being quietly introduced by the government. Should the police wish to put a name to an image collected on CCTV, or shared on social media, the legislation would provide Read more about UK Police to be able to run AI face recognition searches on all driving licence holders[…]

a slovak flag with a pile of coins in front of it. The coins are dripping with green mucus

Slovakian PM wants to kill EU anti-corruption policing

Prime Minister Robert Fico’s push dissolve the body that now oversees high-profile corruption cases poses a risk to the EU’s financial interests and would harm the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Juraj Novocký, Slovakia’s representative to the EU body, told Euractiv Slovakia. Fico’s government wants to pass a reform that would eliminate the Read more about Slovakian PM wants to kill EU anti-corruption policing[…]

AI cannot be patent ‘inventor’, UK Supreme Court rules in landmark case – but a company can

A U.S. computer scientist on Wednesday lost his bid to register patents over inventions created by his artificial intelligence system in a landmark case in Britain about whether AI can own patent rights. Stephen Thaler wanted to be granted two patents in the UK for inventions he says were devised by his “creativity machine” called Read more about AI cannot be patent ‘inventor’, UK Supreme Court rules in landmark case – but a company can[…]

france ai politicians giving each other money

AI Act: French govt accused of being influenced by lobbyist with conflict of interests by senators in the pockets of copyright giants. Which surprises no-one watching the AI act process.

French senators criticised the government’s stance in the AI Act negotiations, particularly a lack of copyright protection and the influence of a lobbyist with alleged conflicts of interests, former digital state secretary Cédric O. The EU AI Act is set to become the world’s first regulation of artificial intelligence. Since the emergence of AI models, Read more about AI Act: French govt accused of being influenced by lobbyist with conflict of interests by senators in the pockets of copyright giants. Which surprises no-one watching the AI act process.[…]

The UK Government Should Not Let Copyright Stifle AI Innovation

As Walled Culture has often noted, the process of framing new copyright laws is tilted against the public in multiple ways. And on the rare occasions when a government makes some mild concession to anyone outside the copyright industry, the latter invariably rolls out its highly-effective lobbying machine to fight against such measures. It’s happening again in Read more about The UK Government Should Not Let Copyright Stifle AI Innovation[…]

documents scattered

Internet Archive: Digital Lending is Fair Use, Not Copyright Infringement – a library is a library, whether it’s paper or digital

In 2020, publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, John Wiley and Penguin Random House sued the Internet Archive (IA) for copyright infringement, equating its ‘Open Library’ to a pirate site. IA’s library is a non-profit operation that scans physical books, which can then be lent out to patrons in an ebook format. Patrons can also borrow books that Read more about Internet Archive: Digital Lending is Fair Use, Not Copyright Infringement – a library is a library, whether it’s paper or digital[…]

Internet Archive Files Opening Brief In Its Appeal Of Book Publishers’ wanton destruction of it

A few weeks ago, publishing giant Penguin Random House (and, yes, I’m still confused why they didn’t call it Random Penguin House after the merger) announced that it was filing a lawsuit (along with many others) against the state of Iowa for its attempt to ban books in school libraries. In its announcement, Penguin Random Read more about Internet Archive Files Opening Brief In Its Appeal Of Book Publishers’ wanton destruction of it[…]

Internet Architecture Board hits out at US, EU, UK client-side scanning (spying on everything on your phone and pc all the time) plans – to save (heard it before?) kids

[…] Apple brought widespread attention to this so-called client-side scanning in August 2021 when it announced plans to examine photos on iPhones and iPads before they were synced to iCloud, as a safeguard against the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Under that plan, if someone’s files were deemed to be CSAM, the user Read more about Internet Architecture Board hits out at US, EU, UK client-side scanning (spying on everything on your phone and pc all the time) plans – to save (heard it before?) kids[…]

Google Will Stop Telling Law Enforcement Which Users Were Near a Crime, start saving location data on the mobile device instead of their servers. But not really though. And Why?

So most of the breathless reporting on Googles “Updates to Location History and new controls coming soon to Maps” is a bit like this below. However Google itself in “Manage your Location History” says that if you have location history on, it will also save it to it’s servers. There is no mention of encryption. Read more about Google Will Stop Telling Law Enforcement Which Users Were Near a Crime, start saving location data on the mobile device instead of their servers. But not really though. And Why?[…]

Copyright Troll Porn Company Makes Millions By Shaming Potential Porn Consumers

In 1999 Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik co-authored a Pulitzer Prize-winning story. Now a business columnist for the Times, he writes that a Southern California maker of pornographic films named Strike 3 Holdings is also “a copyright troll,” according to U.S. Judge Royce C. Lamberth: Lamberth cwrote in 2018, “Armed with hundreds of cut-and-pasted Read more about Copyright Troll Porn Company Makes Millions By Shaming Potential Porn Consumers[…]

Artificial intelligence and copyright – WIPO

[…] Robotic artists have been involved in various types of creative works for a long time. Since the 1970s computers have been producing crude works of art, and these efforts continue today. Most of these computer-generated works of art relied heavily on the creative input of the programmer; the machine was at most an instrument Read more about Artificial intelligence and copyright – WIPO[…]

Things That Make No Sense: Epic Lost Its Fight Over Apple’s Closed iOS Platform, But Won It Over Google’s More Open Android Platform

When Epic went after both Apple and Google a few years ago with antitrust claims regarding the need to go through their app stores to get on phones, we noted that it seemed more like negotiation-by-lawsuit. Both Apple and Google have cut some deals with larger companies to lower the 30% cut the companies take Read more about Things That Make No Sense: Epic Lost Its Fight Over Apple’s Closed iOS Platform, But Won It Over Google’s More Open Android Platform[…]

MEPs exclude audiovisual sector in geo-blocking regulation reassessment – Sabine Verheyen shows who’s pocket she is in.

In 2018, the European Parliament voted to ban geo-blocking, meaning blocking access to a network based on someone’s location. Geo-blocking systems block or authorise access to content based on where the user is located. On Wednesday, following a 2020 evaluation by the Commission on the regulation, MEPs advocated for reassessing geo-blocking, taking into account increased Read more about MEPs exclude audiovisual sector in geo-blocking regulation reassessment – Sabine Verheyen shows who’s pocket she is in.[…]

US Law enforcement can obtain prescription records from pharmacy giants without a warrant

America’s eight largest pharmacy providers shared customers’ prescription records to law enforcement when faced with subpoena requests, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The news arrives amid patients’ growing privacy concerns in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade. The new look into the legal workarounds was first detailed in a Read more about US Law enforcement can obtain prescription records from pharmacy giants without a warrant[…]

Italian “Piracy Shield” Instant Facisct Takedown Orders Apply to All ISPs, DNS & VPN Providers & Google

Italy’s Piracy Shield anti-piracy system reportedly launched last week, albeit in limited fashion. Whether the platform had any impact on pirate IPTV providers offering the big game last Friday is unclear but plans supporting a full-on assault are pressing ahead. […] When lawmakers gave Italy’s new blocking regime the green light during the summer, the Read more about Italian “Piracy Shield” Instant Facisct Takedown Orders Apply to All ISPs, DNS & VPN Providers & Google[…]