Links 06/01/2024: Many Windows TCO Stories and Apple Antitrust Case Cooking
Contents
- Leftovers
- Education
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality Monopolies/Monopsonies
-
Leftovers
-
Mat Duggan ☛ Fixing Macs Door to Door
I was hired to do something that I haven't seen anyone else talk about on the Internet and wanted to record before it was lost to time. It was a weird program, a throwback to the pre-Apple Store days of Apple Mac support that was called AppleCare Dispatch. It still appears to exist (https://www.apple.com/support/products/mac/) but I don't know of any AASPs still dispatching employees. It's possible that Apple has subcontracted it out to someone else.
-
Manuel Moreale ☛ P&B: Arun Venkatesan
This is the 19th edition of People and Blogs, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Arun Venkatesan and his blog, arun.is
-
Stephen Smith ☛ Welcome to 2024, Looking Ahead
This article will look at some of the forces that are at work defining and driving the high-tech world. This includes various geo-political conflicts currently unfolding as well as following the money where all the venture capitalists are funneling all the money. These are in no particular order and as with any predictions they could be proven entirely wrong as early as tomorrow.
-
Education
-
Troy Patterson ☛ 52 Frames
I’ve joined the 52 Frames Photo Challenge. The idea is to take a photo a week that fits the challenge. The first week is a selfie. So, I have my assignment for tonight (since this is a weekly challenge, the first submission is due by January 7th).
-
The Atlantic ☛ The Debate That Claudine Gay Is Evading
I don’t doubt that some of Gay’s critics are cynical opportunists and others are racists who would reflexively distrust the competence of any Black woman hired to lead Harvard. Still others may be reprobates who, say, cheat orphans, steal penguin eggs, or stick chewed gum in airport charging outlets. But constructive academic elites don’t focus scarce public attention on their most easily discreditable critics––they engage the most formidable criticism they can find.
-
-
Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
-
NPR ☛ Want to stress less in 2024? A new book offers '5 resets' to tame toxic stress
"Studies have shown that on average, adults check their phone 2,617 times a day," says Nerurkar.
Surveys also show that over 50% of people check their phones within five minutes of waking up, and some even before their second eye is open, she says.
-
Pro Publica ☛ Utah Bills Itself as “Family-Friendly” Even as Lawmakers Neglect Child Care
For nearly a year, Melanie Call struggled to balance working from home full time with caring for her new baby.
Her job as a project manager for a Salt Lake City health care staffing agency required spending hours in video meetings. If her son was awake, she would turn off her camera. When he woke from a nap while she was already occupied in a meeting, she would feel her guilt grow as she heard him cry through a baby monitor.
-
-
Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
-
The Register UK ☛ NIST: If someone's trying to sell you some secure AI, it's snake oil
Vassilev coautored a paper on the topic with Alina Oprea (Northeastern University), and Alie Fordyce and Hyrum Anderson from security shop Robust Intelligence, that attempts to categorize the security risks posed by AI systems. Overall, the results don't look good.
-
NIST ☛ NIST Identifies Types of Cyberattacks That Manipulate Behavior of AI Systems
Adversaries can deliberately confuse or even “poison” artificial intelligence (AI) systems to make them malfunction — and there’s no foolproof defense that their developers can employ. Computer scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators identify these and other vulnerabilities of AI and machine learning (ML) in a new publication.
-
NIST ☛ Adversarial Machine Learning: A Taxonomy and Terminology of Attacks and Mitigations [PDF]
This NIST Trustworthy and Responsible AI report develops a taxonomy of concepts and defnes terminology in the feld of adversarial machine learning (AML). The taxonomy is built on surveying the AML literature and is arranged in a conceptual hierarchy that includes key types of ML methods and lifecycle stages of attack, attacker goals and objectives, and attacker capabilities and knowledge of the learning process. The report also provides corresponding methods for mitigating and managing the onsequences of attacks and points out relevant open challenges to take into account in the lifecycle of AI systems. The terminology used in the report is consistent with the literature on AML and is complemented by a glossary that defnes key terms associated with the security of AI systems and is intended to assist non-expert readers. Taken together, the taxonomy and terminology are meant to inform other standards and future practice guides for assessing and managing the security of AI systems, by establishing a common language and understanding of the rapidly developing AML landscape.
-
Explain Extended ☛ Happy New Year: GPT in 500 lines of SQL
Large language models are used in text applications (chatbots, content generators, code assistants etc). These applications repeatedly call the model and select the word suggested by it (with some degree of randomness). The next suggested word is added to the prompt and the model is called again. This continues in a loop until enough words are generated.
The accrued sequence of words will look like a text in a human language, complete with grammar, syntax and even what appears to be intelligence and reasoning. In this aspect, it is not unlike a Markov chain which works on the same principle.
The internals of a large language model are wired up so that the next suggested word will be a natural continuation of the prompt, complete with its grammar, semantics and sentiment. Equipping a function with such a logic became possible through a series of scientific breakthroughs (and programming drudgery) that have resulted in the development of the family of algorithms known as GPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
-
JURIST ☛ HRW calls for international treaty to ban ‘killer robots’
The UNGA Resolution 78/241 was adopted on December 22, 2023, with 152 votes in favor, four votes against and 11 votes of abstention. The resolution emphasized the application of international law, including the UN Charter and humanitarian and human rights laws, to autonomous weapons systems. It acknowledged the potential benefits of emerging technologies while also expressing concerns about their humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical challenges. The resolution voiced worries about negative global security impacts, commended ongoing efforts by the Group of Governmental Experts, and recognized contributions from various conferences. It highlighted the importance of seeking diverse perspectives on lethal autonomous weapons systems from member states, observers, international organizations, civil society and industry.
-
Fernando Borretti ☛ Thoughts on LLM Agents
One factor is that LLM agents are born of necessity. If you have the skills and resources ($$$) to pretrain an LLM, you’re not building agents, you’re building something like Yann LeCun’s differentiable neural architecture, where the model architecture is the agent, or, at the very least, you’re pretraining an LLM where the shape of the training data tells it is’s going to be a submodule of a larger mind.
If you’re just a simple country programmer with an OpenAI API key, you can’t innovate at the model layer, you have to innovate at the API layer. So you build a cognitive architecture with the LLM as the central executive. The innovation is the architecture: the flow of information and the processes that build up the prompt, while the LLM itself remains a COTS black box. And so the people most qualified to build effective agents are working further up the value chain.
-
Windows TCO
-
Scoop News Group ☛ Energy Department has cyber threats to infrastructure in mind with $70 million funding offer
With awards of up to $5 million in funds, the DOE said it’s looking for universities, tribal nations, companies and others to provide solutions for technology meant to protect critical energy infrastructure from all threats, such as malicious cyber attacks and bad actors.
-
Cyble Inc ☛ Alleged Phoenix Group DDoS Attack Disrupts US Congress Website
The ICBC cyberattack believed to be orchestrated by the LockBit ransomware gang, poses a significant threat to the stability of international finance. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has alerted its members about the ransomware attack on ICBC Financial Services, forcing clients to alter their trade routes to mitigate potential risks.
-
Data Breaches ☛ Major Us Museums Suffer Cyberattack Fallout
Gallery Systems is said to have first become aware of the problem on December 28, when computers running its software became encrypted and no longer operable.
-
Penske Media Corporation ☛ Major US Museums Suffer Cyberattack Fallout
The scale, nature, and duration of the attack on Gallery Systems are not yet known. Cyberattacks on cultural organizations, many carried out by ransomware groups seeking remuneration in exchange for retreat, have become more frequent, with London’s British Library, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra having been recently targeted.
-
New York Times ☛ Museum World Hit by Cyberattack on Widely Used Software
The service provider, Gallery Systems, said in a recent message to clients, which was obtained by The New York Times, that it had noticed a problem on Dec. 28, when computers running its software became encrypted and could no longer operate. “We immediately took steps to isolate those systems and implemented measures to prevent additional systems from being affected, including taking systems offline as a precaution,” the company said in the message. “We also launched an investigation and third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to assist. In addition, we notified law enforcement.”
-
Data Breaches ☛ Zeppelin ransomware source code sold for $500 on [cracking] forum
A threat actor announced on a cybercrime forum that they sold the source code and a cracked version of the Zeppelin ransomware builder for just $500.
-
Data Breaches ☛ Merck Settles Coverage Dispute With Insurers Over War Exclusion in NotPetya Attack
The New Jersey Supreme Court in July 2023 agreed to hear the case after a state appeals court ruled months prior against eight insurers, finding that a hostile/warlike action exclusion in an all risks property insurance policy did not apply to a Russian-linked cyberattack known as “NotPetya” on the pharmaceutical firm.
-
Insurance Journal ☛ Merck Settles Coverage Dispute With Insurers Over War Exclusion in NotPetya Attack
More than 30 insurers were involved in the case at the start, but many have since resolved their claims with Merck. Eight insurers that remained in the case included Ace American, Allianz, Liberty Mutual, QBE, XL and Lloyd’s syndicates. Merck’s property insurance program included the “all risks” property policies in a three-layer structure, with $1.75 billion in total limits above a $150 million deductible. The remaining eight insurers’ policies insured percentages of coverage in one, two or all three of the layers. In total, they disputed about $700 million in coverage or just under 40% of Merck’s total coverage for the policy period.
-
Insurance Journal ☛ New Jersey High Court to Hear Insurers’ Appeal Over War Exclusion in NotPetya Attack
While insurers conceded the word “warlike” in the exclusion might not be applicable, they asserted the word “hostile” should be read in the broadest possible sense, as meaning “adverse,” “showing ill will or a desire to harm,” “antagonistic,” or “unfriendly.” They contended that any action that “reflects ill will or a desire to harm by the actor” falls within the hostile/warlike action exclusion, as long as the actor was a government or sovereign power, in this case the Russian Federation.
The insurers maintained that the exclusion “is clear and unambiguous” and it plainly applies to the NotPetya attack because it was attributed to Russia and was meant to be deployed to disrupt and destabilize Ukraine.
-
The Register UK ☛ After injecting cancer hospital with ransomware, crims threaten to swat patients
After intruders broke into Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center's IT network in November and stole medical records – everything from Social Security numbers to diagnoses and lab results – miscreants threatened to turn on the patients themselves directly.
-
-
-
Security
-
Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
-
Silicon Angle ☛ Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant targeted in X account takeover
The scammer who took control of the account on X, still generally known as Twitter, spread a cryptocurrency scam while pretending to be the Phanton crypto wallet, with a message claiming that a distribution of the $PHNTM cryptocurrency was underway. Not surprisingly, the link in the X post sent readers to a fake phishing site that asks users to enter their wallet details to claim their share of the distribution.
-
-
Privacy/Surveillance
-
India Times ☛ Telegram Messenger in the dark as to why fines in Russia were dropped
Fines imposed by Russian courts on Alphabet's Google and YouTube, Meta, TikTok and Telegram appear to have been settled as the companies are no longer registered as debtors in the state bailiffs' database, online records showed this week.
-
Patrick Breyer ☛ Chat control: EU Ombudsman launches investigation into Europol
Following a complaint by Patrick Breyer, Pirate Party MEP, the EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has announced that she has opened an investigation into the transfer of two former Europol officials to the chat control surveillance tech provider Thorn. Despite the obvious conflict of interest, the transfer of the officials, who had already been involved in child sexual abuse at Europol, was authorised by the authority. One of the officials was involved in a pilot project at Europol for the AI-based analysis of abuse reports, is now registered with the Bundestag as a lobbyist for Thorn and travelled to a Europol meeting with his former colleagues in his new role. O’Reilly is asking Europol to provide access to all documents relating to the transfer and its approval by 15 January.
-
NYOB ☛ Creditors' association earns millions with (actually) cost-free GDPR rights
Today, noyb filed a complaint and report against the creditors’ association KSV1870 with the Austrian data protection authority. Although Article 15 GDPR stipulates that the right of access must be free of charge, KSV is making huge profits from it. They use misleading website designs to urge people to purchase a high-priced "InfoPass" instead of getting a free copy of their data. The main target of this scheme appears to be foreigners. For example, the Department of Immigration (MA35) in Vienna requires KSV data as proof of solvency. The damage to unknowing victims is likely to run into the millions.
-
The Register UK ☛ Expert sounds alarm bells over upcoming NHS data platform
In late December, a month after the FDP was finally awarded to Palantir – the contract for which was heavily redacted – Helen Jones, senior safety investigator for the UK's Health Services Safety Investigations Body, pointed out the harms done by patient record systems in recent years.
In April last year, a $10 billion Oracle Cerner project in the US ground to an indefinite halt following repeated problems with the rollout of electronic patient records (EPR), some of which caused physical harm to patients.
-
404 Media ☛ Google Contractor Pays Parents $50 to Scan Their Childrens' Faces
Parents are asked to take 11 short videos of their children while wearing props such as face masks or hats, or no props at all, with each video lasting less than 40 seconds each. Overall participants can expect to spend 30 to 45 minutes on the task, the description reads.
-
-
-
Defence/Aggression
-
RFERL ☛ Interview: Russia Bets It Can 'Outlast The Attention Span Of The West' To Defeat Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on a conflict that could drag on for years, Roberts says, and "outlast the attention span of the West." For Ukraine, whose fighters are more "adept," according to Roberts, much will depend on the country's ability to step up its own military production, with its Western partners playing a role.
-
India Times ☛ A group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Ohio over new law limiting kids' use of social media
The law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July. It's set to take effect Jan. 15. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children's mental health, with Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying at the time that social media was "intentionally addictive" and harmful to kids.
-
Digital Music News ☛ Can TikTok Shop Take on Amazon? That’s the Plan for 2024
Black Friday 2023 was a great introduction to the platform for many Americans, as Bloomberg reports more than five million new U.S. customers bought at least one item via TikTok Shop. The TikTok social media platform currently has around 150 million users in the United States, so there is plenty of room for the platform to grow.
-
JURIST ☛ Trump accepted millions from foreign states during presidency, US lawmakers say
Through entities he owned or controlled, the report alleges, Trump accepted at least $7.8 million from at least 20 countries spanning the globe during his presidency, and in doing so, failed to seek Congressional approval, in violation of the US constitution.
China was the largest contributor in terms of total payments made to Trump’s private business interests, the report alleges, which the authors assert is at odds with a president’’s responsibility to the public interest.
-
US House Of Representatives ☛ White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump [PDF]
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution forbids the President to accept money payments or gifts “of any kind whatever” from foreign governments and monarchs unless he obtains “the Consent of the Congress” to do so. Yet Donald Trump, while holding the office of president, used his business entities to pocket millions of dollars from foreign states and royalty and never once went to Congress to seek its consent. This report sets forth the records showing foreign government money—and all the spoils from royals we can find—pouring into hotels and buildings that the President continued to own during his presidency, all in direct violation of the Constitutional prohibition.
-
The Nation ☛ Welcome to 2024, the Year We Stop Trump’s Rolling Insurrection
Publicly and privately, progressives I love spent the holidays confiding that they’ve never been so anxious about a coming year, especially a presidential election year. In The New Republic, editor Michael Tomasky tells us to “be prepared for 11 months of hell.” Oh, we are, Mike, we are.
-
The Nation ☛ The Insurrection Is Far From Over
One key tell in all this unhinged mythmaking was that, for all the heavy-breathing invocations of deep-state choreographing of the insurrection, neither Trump nor any of the lead MAGA propagandists on the case have named a single alleged Lux Luthor figure knitting all the threads of conspiracy together. To be sure, the right-wing grievance-sphere abounds with drive-by insinuations lobbed at prominent public figures such as President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Chris Wray, but these are always blindingly vague and comically evidence-free. There’s a simple reason for this, beyond the imaginary character of the whole crusade: Affixing actual names and practices to the litany of stab-in-the-back allegations creates dire legal exposure for the accusers. That lesson’s been driven home in the sprawling industry of fallacious right-wing charges of election fraud that enabled the insurrection, in judgments that have so far cost Fox News $787 million and Trump attorney cum fascist carnival barker Rudy Giuliani $148 million.
-
The Atlantic ☛ Who’s Afraid of Calling Donald Trump an Insurrectionist?
There are many compelling political reasons not to disqualify Trump under the Fourteenth Amendment, among them the potential implications of removing the immense decision of who gets to be president from the electorate’s control. But to oppose his removal on legal, not political, grounds is to, in a circuitous way, make the same argument as Trump himself: that he is above the law—that the constraints of the Constitution apply to others but, for some reason, not to him.
-
Omicron Limited ☛ When young people seem to make threats on social media, do they mean it? A web app could offer clarity
The SAFELab team used this pseudo-dictionary created by the students to create online social media training for teachers, police, and journalists.
-
New York Times ☛ If Trump Is Not an Insurrectionist, What Is He?
The people decided. And Trump said, in so many words, that he didn’t care. What followed, according to the final report of the House select committee on Jan. 6, was an effort to overturn the result of the election.
-
The Hill ☛ Raskin: Trump has fulfilled ‘worst fears and nightmares’ of founders with foreign spending at businesses
Oversight Committee Democrats found that the nearly $8 million in payments Trump took in could violate the constitutional prohibition on accepting funds from foreign governments. A majority of the payments, about $5.6 million, came from China and went to Trump’s hotels in Washington and Las Vegas and Trump Tower in New York, their report found.
Raskin cautioned that the total number is likely larger because the report covered only two of Trump’s four years in office, related to only four of Trump’s more than 500 businesses and was able to examine only 20 countries. Still, it shows foreign governments and agents made payments directly to Trump-owned businesses while he was in the White House.
-
Marcy Wheeler ☛ This Poll Is as Important as a Trump Trial
Trying and convicting Donald Trump for his January 6 crimes is necessary, but not sufficient, to reverse the tide of fascism in the United States. Just as important is defeating the Republicans who empowered Trump’s fascism, to punish them for doing his bidding for the last three years. Just as important is affirming the importance of democracy, is ensuring that Americans choose to protect democracy. A Trump trial should help convince swing voters; indeed, prosecutors plan to tie Trump directly to the violence that Republicans reject here.
-
Techdirt ☛ Police Union Defends Forfeiture By Saying Anyone Carrying A Bunch Of Cash Is Probably A Criminal
I’m always heartened to see another local news team start digging into asset forfeiture. Especially the ones that don’t sugarcoat the findings with headlines that read like they were crafted by law enforcement officials.
-
Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
-
-
Transparency/Investigative Reporting
-
404 Media ☛ Download the Huge New Cache of Unsealed Jeffrey Epstein Documents Here
We are publishing them here as a single ZIP file because PACER, the federal government's court records site is expensive, difficult to navigate, and buggy. We have downloaded some of them from the excellent RECAP service and some of them directly from PACER. The previous documents are available here.
-
Emmanuel Maggiori ☛ Does venture capital return good money to investors?
VC firms are very secretive about their performance; they rarely disclose performance figures to the public and their LPs are contractually forbidden to do so. Sequoia Capital, the world’s largest VC firm, went as far as cutting its 22-year relationship with an LP for fear that a Freedom of Information Act request would force it to share performance figures publicly.
-
International Business Times ☛ Explosive Emails Show Prince Andrew May Have Lied About Cutting Ties With Jeffrey Epstein
However the emails, released as part of the U.S. Virgin Islands' civil case against JP Morgan, seemingly contradict his assurances. They suggest that the Duke of York had on a "number of occasions" contacted Epstein even before their 2010 meeting and in 2011, during which the duke said he had already cut ties with the offender.
-
Hindustan Times ☛ Jeffrey Epstein list: Hillary Clinton named in the paedophile's list
The third set of documents, which were made public on Friday, briefly mention Clinton along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and several other people who were named as witnesses in a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of Epstein.
-
Hindustan Times ☛ Jeffrey Epstein list: Girls would get $200m, Hillary Clinton named and other 10 big revelations
Hillary Clinton was one of the "thirteen specific witnesses" mentioned by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre sought copies of all communications between them and Epstein's ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell as per The Messenger.
-
Hindustan Times ☛ Jeffrey Epstein list: Third set of documents connected to notorious paedophile released
These 100-page documents are in addition to the more than 1,375 pages that were revealed on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The first batch of documents caused such a huge online interest that the website that hosted them, Court Listener, crashed.
-
-
Environment
-
US News And World Report ☛ Finland's Extreme Cold Freezes Even Boiling Water Thrown in the Air
He said he boiled water in his cabin, quickly brought it outside and threw it in an arc over his head - surviving the attempt without burns as the water immediately turned into an icy cloud that drifted away.
The Nordic countries have seen extremely cold weather for the past few days, with the lowest temperature in 25 years at minus 44.3 C (-47.74°F) recorded on Friday in Enontekio, further north in the Arctic from Pyhatunturi where Untamo was staying.
-
Energy/Transportation
-
Futurism ☛ Scientists Drilling Into Magma Chamber for Potentially Unlimited Energy
Scientists in Iceland are steaming ahead with an ambitious project to drill straight down into a magma chamber that could provide not only the first direct look at the oceans of molten rock stewing miles beneath the Earth's surface, but a revolution in geothermal energy that could potentially see the technology be used anywhere on the globe with never before achieved efficiency.
-
New Scientist ☛ World's first tunnel to a magma chamber could unleash unlimited energy
Iceland is one of the most boring countries in the world. That is meant as a compliment, not an insult. The island nation is dotted with thousands of boreholes drilled deep into the rock to extract geothermal energy. They will soon be joined by another, which will be anything but boring. “We are going to drill into a magma chamber,” says Hjalti Páll Ingólfsson at the Geothermal Research Cluster (GEORG) in Reykjavík. “It’s the first journey to the centre of the Earth,” says his colleague Björn Þór Guðmundsson.
-
-
Wildlife/Nature
-
Omicron Limited ☛ Study finds protected areas for elephants work best if they are connected
The team found that the most stable populations occur in large, core areas that are surrounded by buffer zones. The core areas are defined by their strong levels of environmental protection and minimal human impact, whereas the buffers allow some activities such as sustainable farming, forestry, or trophy hunting. Unlike the insular fortresses, core areas are connected to other parks, allowing herds to move naturally.
-
AAAS ☛ Protecting and connecting landscapes stabilizes populations of the Endangered savannah elephant
The influence of protected areas on the growth of African savannah elephant populations is inadequately known. Across southern Africa, elephant numbers grew at 0.16% annually for the past quarter century. Locally, much depends on metapopulation dynamics—the size and connections of individual populations. Population numbers in large, connected, and strictly protected areas typically increased, were less variable from year to year, and suffered less from poaching. Conversely, populations in buffer areas that are less protected but still connected have more variation in growth from year to year. Buffer areas also differed more in their growth rates, likely due to more threats and dispersal opportunities in the face of such dangers. Isolated populations showed consistently high growth due to a lack of emigration. This suggests that “fortress” conservation generally maintains high growth, while anthropogenic-driven source-sink dynamics within connected conservation clusters drive stability in core areas and variability in buffers.
-
-
-
Finance
-
MWL ☛ 2023 Income Sources
My web site (TWP, or Tilted Windmill Press) is again this year’s star. The combination of direct sales, sponsors, and my homebrew Patreon is 34.71% of my income, a couple points over last year. It’s built on Woocommerce with a handful of commercial plugins that total about $600 a year. My business goal is to get folks to buy directly from me rather than retailers, so I’m content but not satisfied.
-
-
AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
-
Vice Media Group ☛ OpenAI’s Make or Break Lawsuit and the Golden Idol of AGI
The New York Times kicked off the holiday season by suing OpenAI and Microsoft. The paper of record believes that ChatGPT is violating various copyrights by using its articles as training data. It’s a landmark case that may end up before the Supreme Court and might change copyright law in America forever.
This week on Cyber, Sharon Goldman of VentureBeat sits down with us to discuss the lawsuit, the coming presidential election, and all the other big AI stories she’s watching in 2024.
-
Pete Brown ☛ We should stop listening to people who tell us that obvious solutions to problems won’t work.
Honestly, I shouldn’t use the passive-voice there. We haven’t “gotten ourselves” to that point. We have been pushed to the point where we don’t believe we can fix problems with the obvious solutions, because there are a bunch of people who are interested in not fixing those problems, and they fund media and politicians and pundits to push that agenda.
-
The Nation ☛ California’s Urban “Doom Loop”
But as bad as that urban “doom loop” might be in Manhattan, it’s worse in San Francisco, where more than a third of office space is now dormant, up from 25 percent in late 2022. That translates to 30 million square feet of unused space, and means that the city is experiencing the weakest post-pandemic recovery of any major urban area in the country. Once-thriving commercial areas have been largely abandoned, with homeless encampments ranged along the base of underused office towers.
-
The Hill ☛ FTC to hold virtual AI summit
The summit on Jan. 25 will include representatives from academia, industry, civil society organizations and government to discuss the state of AI and the real-world impacts of the technology.
-
Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
-
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo parrots antivax disinformation [Ed: disinformation is now the go-to word when experimental, barely-tested vaccines are scrutinised]
It figures. Just when I didn’t have time to get a post out for tomorrow something big happened, starting off 2024 in a bad way. I’m referring to Wednesday’s press release from the Florida Department of Health, courtesy of its director, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. In it, Dr. Ladapo calls for a halt in the use of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines based on, well…let me just quote the press release, because I have never in my life seen a government agency as important as the department of health for a large state issue a press release like this: [...]
-
EFF ☛ AI Watermarking Won't Curb Disinformation
Unfortunately, watermarking schemes are unlikely to work. So far most have proven easy to remove, and it’s likely that future schemes will have similar problems.
One kind of watermark is already common for digital images. Stock image sites often overlay text on an image that renders it mostly useless for publication. This kind of watermark is visible and is slightly challenging to remove since it requires some photo editing skills.
-
-
-
Censorship/Free Speech
-
RFA ☛ Critic faces charges after mocking government on Facebook
A government critic who was severely beaten by assailants on the streets of Phnom Penh in September was arrested Friday on charges of incitement and defamation after he made a Facebook comment that mocked the Ministry of Commerce.
-
Deutsche Welle ☛ Burkino Faso's youth utilize free-speech sanctuaries
The relegation of French as a working language has proven to be a divisive issue, with few daring to openly express their views.
-
[Old] Government Executive ☛ How VOA Pressed Ahead to Cover the Tiananmen Square Anniversary
A second dispatch went out June 2 from Al Pessin, who was VOA’s Beijing correspondent in 1989 and is now in Kiev. He recalled how the pro-democracy movement expanded from a mostly student effort to include average people. “VOA was extremely popular on the square, with students holding up radios so crowds could hear our Mandarin-language newscasts,” he wrote. “Others transcribed our stories and posted them on electrical poles around the city. People asked me if I knew some of our famous Mandarin broadcasters. VOA pulled out one colleague from that service, Betty Tsu, who had come to report on the protests, fearing for her safety if there was a crackdown.”
-
Reason ☛ Canadian Immigration Officials Block Citizenship Grant for Russian Immigrant Because She Was Convicted of the "Crime" of Speaking Out Against Russia's War of Aggression Against Ukraine
Kartasheva's blog posts condemning the invasion of Ukraine and atrocities committed by Russian forces ran afoul of new draconian Russian laws criminalizing dissent on the war. A Russian court convicted her in absentia, and sentenced her to an eight-year prison sentence. Ironically, the judge who sentenced Kartasheva is under sanctions by Canada, for her role in perpetrating human rights violations. Yet Canadian immigration authorities are relying on her decision in this case as a reason to deny citizenship.
-
-
Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
-
Hindustan Times ☛ Not Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein tried to snap the nib of Vanity Fair
In 2002, Jeffrey Epstein stormed into the office of Vanity Fair’s editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter, in an effort to stop the magazine from exposing his sexual crimes — which it ultimately did not.
The magazine had been working on a profile of Epstein, the notorious paedophile financier with powerful connections, and had interviewed two of his accusers, sisters Annie and Maria Farmer, who had revealed his depraved behaviour.
-
Press Gazette ☛ Why Assange case is bigger threat to press freedom than SLAPPs
The most significant is that of Julian Assange, whose final appeal to stay in the UK will be heard by a court in London at the end of February. So long has his incarceration dragged on, and so multitudinous are the issues that appear to surround his case, that he has faded from the public’s imagination. This is hardly surprising. His greatest revelation – the ‘collateral murder’ video – took place 17 years ago. He has not been at liberty for 12 years and has been in HMP Belmarsh for nearly five.
-
Vox ☛ Eric Levitz and Kyndall Cunningham Join Vox
Vox editor-in-chief Swati Sharma and executive editor Elbert Ventura announced today that Eric Levitz has joined the brand as a senior correspondent on the politics team and Kyndall Cunningham as a staff reporter on the culture team. They began in their new roles this week.
-
teleSUR ☛ 140 Journalists Were Killed in 2023 Worldwide
By regions, the Middle East occupied the first place with 64 percent of the deaths recorded in 2023, followed by Latin America with 20 deaths; Asia, with 12; Africa, with 11; Europe, with four; and North America, with three.
-
The Hill ☛ ‘Radio Free Everywhere’ defeats the purpose of Voice of America
Now, scarce transmitting, newsgathering, talent and budget resources are split between the two stations. Administrative and management bureaucracies are doubled. Furthermore, Radio Free Asia and VOA duplicate one another extensively. See a story about Asia on one station’s website, and chances are you will see the same topic covered by the other station. It took me about 10 minutes to find stories about China’s new defense minister at VOA and RFA, both on Dec. 29.
-
-
Civil Rights/Policing
-
Axios ☛ Navajo Nation fights sending human remains to the moon
"We're not trying to say, 'don't do exploration, don't go to the moon and don't do those types of scenarios.' All we're just saying is this is the one part that we feel like there should be some sacredness to it."
-
RFERL ☛ Iranian Shop Owner Sentenced To Two Years For Photo Without Head Scarf
A shop owner in Iran has been sentenced to two years in prison after publishing photos without a hijab, or head scarf, the U.S.-based human rights network HRANA said on January 5. [...]
-
JURIST ☛ Taliban arrests women for ‘bad hijab’ in first dress code crackdown since returning to power
Spokesperson Abdul Ghafar Farooq informed the AP that the ministry has received complaints about women not adhering to the correct hijab. After issuing recommendations and advice, female police officers were dispatched to arrest those who failed to comply. According to Farooq, these women are considered a minority, who violate Islamic values and promote improper hijab in society.
-
RFA ☛ Body found near where Tibetan Buddhist monk went missing
He served as an English language translator for the Dalai Lama and as a speaker and interpreter at many Buddhist conferences that delve into the intersection of Buddhism with modern science, psychology and Western philosophy.
-
EFF ☛ EFF Urges Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Find Keyword Search Warrant Unconstitutional
Everyone deserves to search online without police looking over their shoulder, yet millions of innocent Americans’ privacy rights are at risk in Commonwealth v. Kurtz—only the second case of its kind to reach a state’s highest court. The brief filed by EFF, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) challenges the constitutionality of a keyword search warrant issued by the police to Google. The case involves a massive invasion of Google users’ privacy, and unless the lower court’s ruling is overturned, it could be applied to any user using any search engine.
“Keyword search warrants are totally incompatible with constitutional protections for privacy and freedom of speech and expression,” said EFF Surveillance Litigation Director Andrew Crocker. “All keyword warrants—which target our speech when we seek information on a search engine—have the potential to implicate innocent people who just happen to be searching for something an officer believes is somehow linked to a crime. Dragnet warrants that target speech simply have no place in a democracy.”
Users have come to rely on search engines to routinely seek answers to sensitive or unflattering questions that they might never feel comfortable asking a human confidant. Google keeps detailed information on every search query it receives, however, resulting in a vast record of users’ most private and personal thoughts, opinions, and associations that police seek to access by merely demanding the identities of all users who searched for specific keywords.
-
-
Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
-
DomainTools ☛ Finding New ASNs
A surprisingly large number of ASNs get assigned by the Internet’s regional registries every month, see table 1.
-
-
The Verge ☛ Apple might be the next Big Tech company facing antitrust charges in the US
The DOJ’s investigation is looking at how Apple blocks rivals from using iMessage as well as how the Apple Watch works better when used with the iPhone when compared to watches from other brands, the Times reports. Additionally, investigators are reportedly examining how Apple prevents other financial providers from using iPhone-specific payment services.
-
New York Times ☛ U.S. Moves Closer to Filing Sweeping Antitrust Case Against Apple
The agency is focused on how Apple has used its control over its hardware and software to make it more difficult for consumers to ditch the company’s devices, as well as for rivals to compete, said the people, who spoke anonymously because the investigation was active.
Specifically, investigators have examined how the Apple Watch works better with the iPhone than with other brands, as well as how Apple locks competitors out of its iMessage service. They have also scrutinized Apple’s payments system for the iPhone, which blocks other financial firms from offering similar services, these people said.
-
Silicon Angle ☛ Justice Department could file broad antitrust lawsuit against Apple
Three sources familiar with the matter told the paper that officials may file the lawsuit as soon as the first half of 2024. According to the report, the potential litigation is connected with an antitrust investigation that the Justice Department opened into Apple in 2019. The probe is said to be nearing completion.
-
Trademarks
-
Techdirt ☛ Company Threatens To Sue Cyclist For Trademark Over ‘Near Miss’ YouTube Video
It’s no secret that there are mountains of examples of companies and individuals attempting to use intellectual property laws merely to silence critics and disappear information from the internet. While I’m sure this sort of thing must somtimes work, it’s also quite common for these would-be censorial folks to be introduced to the Streisand Effect instead, finding that the attempt to suppress negative information instead gains it far more attention than it would have had on its own.
-
-
Copyrights
-
The Verge ☛ The [Internet] copyright machine wasn’t made for Mickey Mouse
The Verge has reached out to YouTube and TeePublic for comment on their policies; YouTube has declined to comment on the record, and TeePublic hasn’t responded. But there are a few obvious possible explanations for the takedowns, since the examples above touch gray areas where restrictions could still apply. The first is that Steamboat Willie’s copyright status remains potentially messier outside the US, particularly in Europe, which is where YouTube appears to be restricting access. The second is that Disney still holds a trademark on Mickey, so — as explained by Duke School of Law professor Jennifer Jenkins with a handy mouse-shaped diagram — it can argue that certain merchandise might mislead people into believing it’s created or endorsed by Disney. The third is that Disney still holds a copyright on later iterations of the character, who appeared in Steamboat Willie without now-standard features like his white gloves or (since it’s a black-and-white film) bright red shorts. Both these features were included in Caine’s original shirt design and, notably, not a reworked version that remains online.
-
Silicon Angle ☛ Report: OpenAI is offering news publishers as little as $1M to use content for AI training
This might seem like a paltry amount, given the rapid rise of the company’s flagship LLM, ChatGPT, but that might depend on the terms of those deals. The news comes from the website The Information, which said today it had spoken with two executives familiar with the matter. The report states that the company is currently negotiating with about a dozen media companies.
-
Techdirt ☛ Copyright Liability On LLMs Should Mostly Fall On The Prompter, Not The Service
The technological marvel of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, developed by AI engineers and experts, has posed a unique challenge in the realm of copyright law. These advanced AI systems, which undergo extensive training on diverse datasets, including copyrighted material, and provide output highly dependent on user “prompts,” have raised questions about the bounds of fair use and the responsibilities of both the AI developers and users.
-
Torrent Freak ☛ Pro-Plex News Articles on Facebook Deleted By Markscan On Behalf of Plex
A South American news site reporting on developments in the streaming sector says its Facebook administrator account was limited after two of its news articles posted to the platform were flagged for copyright infringement. Published by Hollogram TV, the articles both featured positive news about Plex, based on information released to the media by Plex. The copyright complaints were filed at Facebook by anti-piracy outfit Markscan, acting on behalf of Plex.
-
Torrent Freak ☛ Estonian Government Eyes a Pirate Site Blocking Regime
Estonia is the latest European country to consider implementing a pirate site blocking regime. The government has asked stakeholders for input on a copyright law amendment that would empower a local consumer protection watchdog to block copyright-infringing websites. Digital rights activists fear further normalization of Internet censorship.
-
Monopolies/Monopsonies
-