ICT news

• Colorado, Connecticut Data Privacy Laws Go Into Effect July 1

  30-06-2023 23:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Data privacy laws in Colorado and Connecticut will go into effect Saturday. From a report: If companies haven't finished their compliance work to abide by the rules, they could face civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation in some states. Colorado and Connecticut add to an increasingly complex patchwork of state data privacy laws. California paved the way in 2018 after passing the country's first state-level privacy bill, while Virginia followed this year.
  The Colorado and Connecticut laws
  
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• FTC Finally Proposes Ban on Fake Reviews

  30-06-2023 22:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The FTC has proposed a new rule banning numerous forms of fake reviews online, from outright fabricated ones to those that are sketchily repurposed or secretly manipulated. It may not totally rehabilitate the notoriously unreliable online review ecosystem, but it could help make things a bit more bearable. From a report: This rule has been a long time in the making, which is par for the course at any federal regulator. The FTC's first case of this type was in 2019, against a merchant that was ma
  
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• TSMC Says Some Of Its Data Was Swept Up in a Hack on a Hardware Supplier

  30-06-2023 22:00 via it.slashdot.org
  Chipmaker TSMC said on Friday that one of its hardware suppliers experienced a "security incident" that allowed the attackers to obtain configurations and settings for some of the servers the company uses in its corporate network. From a report: The disclosure came a day after the LockBit ransomware crime syndicate listed TSMC on its extortion site and threatened to publish the data unless it received a payment of $70 million. The hardware supplier, Kinmax Technology, confirmed that one of its t
  
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• Top NIH Official Advised Covid Scientists That He Uses Personal Email To Evade FOIA

  30-06-2023 21:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A top adviser to Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health admitted that he used a personal email account in an apparent effort to evade the strictures of the Freedom of Information Act, according to records obtained by congressional investigators probing the origin of Covid-19. The official also expressed his intention to delete emails in order to avoid media scrutiny. The Intercept: "As you know, I try to always communicate on gmail because my NIH email is FOIA'd constantly," wrote Da
  
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• The Man Who Broke Bowling

  30-06-2023 20:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  theodp writes: In The Man Who Broke Bowling, GQ's Eric Wills profiles professional bowler Jason Belmonte, whose two-handed bowling technique made him both an outcast as well as one of bowling's greatest, changing the sport forever. Unlike the rest of us, a 7-year-old Belmonte was unconvinced by the taunts used to prompt kids into switching from bowling two-handed to one-handed ("It was, Come on, you're a big boy now. It's time to bowl properly," Belmonte recalls). As a result, Belmonte was able
  
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• European Companies Claim the EU's AI Act Could 'Jeopardise Technological Sovereignty'

  30-06-2023 20:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Some of the biggest companies in Europe have taken collective action to criticize the European Union's recently approved artificial intelligence regulations, claiming that the Artificial Intelligence Act is ineffective and could negatively impact competition. From a report: In an open letter sent to the European Parliament, Commission, and member states on Friday, over 150 executives from companies like Renault, Heineken, Airbus, and Siemens slammed the AI Act for its potential to "jeopardise Eu
  
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• Huawei Says Ready To Ship Entire 5.5G Networks - Whatever They Are - in 2024

  30-06-2023 19:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Huawei has claimed it will offer everything a carrier needs to run a 5.5G network next year. Which sounds great -- even if 5.5G is a little mysterious. From a report: Huawei announced its future products at the Shanghai incarnation of Mobile World Congress on Thursday. The Chinese firm's director and president of ICT Products & Solutions, Yang Chaobin, proclaimed Huawei intends for its launch "to mark the beginning of the 5.5G era for the ICT industry." But as The Register has previously rep
  
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• French Govt Wants To Inject Domain Blocking Lists Directly Into Web Browsers

  30-06-2023 18:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Online piracy, now being linked with malware, identity theft, and banking fraud, has prompted a coordinated concerning campaign for tougher legislation beyond copyright laws. The French government, news website TorrentFreak reports, is considering an ambitious approach: integrating state-operated domain blacklists into web browsers. This step is well-intentioned, indicating an evolving strategy in battling piracy.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Atom Feed Format Was Born 20 Years Ago

  30-06-2023 18:01 via it.slashdot.org
  
  RSS Advisory Board: This month marks the 20th anniversary of the effort that became the Atom feed format. It all began on June 16, 2003, with a blog post from Apache Software Foundation contributor Sam Ruby asking for feedback about what constitutes a well-formed blog entry. The development of RSS 2.0 had been an unplanned hopscotch from a small group at Netscape to a smaller one at UserLand Software, but Atom was a barn raising. Hundreds of software developers, web publishers and technologists
  
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• China on Course To Hit Wind and Solar Power Target Five Years Ahead of Time

  30-06-2023 17:21 via news.slashdot.org
  
  China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found. The Guardian: China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the countr
  
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• UK Tightens Online Safety Bill Again as It Nears Final Approval

  30-06-2023 16:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The UK made last-minute amendments toughening up its sweeping, long-awaited Online Safety Bill following scrutiny in Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords. From a report: Internet companies carrying pornographic content will be explicitly required to use age verification or estimation measures, and ensure these methods are effective, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said in an emailed statement Friday. Executives will be held personally responsible for child safety
  
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• Microsoft's Cloud Server Business in 2022 Was Less Than Half of AWS, New Document Reveals

  30-06-2023 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  For years Microsoft has kept a lid on details about the true size of its Azure cloud server rental business, making it impossible for investors to know how Microsoft's cloud operations unit stacked up against industry leader Amazon Web Services. But this week, thanks to antitrust regulators, the world got a peek under the lid. The Information: Azure generated half the revenue of its primary rival, Amazon Web Services, in the 12 months ended June 2022, according to internal documents briefly post
  
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• Social Media Apps Will Have To Shield Children From Dangerous Stunts

  30-06-2023 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Social media firms will be ordered to protect children from encountering dangerous stunts and challenges on their platforms under changes to the online safety bill. The legislation will explicitly refer to content that "encourages, promotes or provides instructions for a challenge or stunt highly likely to result in serious injury" as the type of material that under-18s should be protected from. The bill will also require social media compan
  
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• Police Need a Wiretap To Eavesdrop On Your Facebook Posts, Court Rules

  30-06-2023 12:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  In a landmark ruling (PDF) on Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court sided with Facebook in a major court decision that requires prosecutors to get a wiretap order if they want to eavesdrop on social media accounts without adequate evidence of a crime. New Jersey Monitor reports: In a reversal of lower court decisions, the high court ruled against authorities who argued a warrant is sufficient to obtain nearly real-time release of such communications. That argument is unsupported by federal or s
  
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• Scientists Find 'Ghost Particles' Spewing From Our Milky Way Galaxy

  30-06-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  According to new findings published in the journal Science, astronomers have detected high-energy neutrinos (also known as "ghost particles") coming from within our Milky Way galaxy. Space.com reports: High-energy neutrinos are known to originate from galaxies beyond the Milky Way. But researchers have long suspected that our own galaxy is a source as well. For example, when cosmic rays -- atomic nuclei moving at nearly the speed of light -- strike dust and gas, they generate both gamma rays and
  
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• Why the Internet's Going Wild For a 'Fish Doorbell'

  30-06-2023 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Something fishy is happening in the Netherlands and viewers worldwide are hooked. No, this isn't the latest voyeuristic reality series from the creators of Big Brother and The Traitors. It's a charmingly innocent live stream which lets you ring a doorbell on behalf of some frisky fish. For the past three migration seasons, an online feed has broadcast live footage from an underwater camera at a lock to the west of Utrecht. Every spring, thou
  
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• After 47 Years, the National Weather Service's Daily TV Broadcast To Alaskans Will End

  30-06-2023 04:10 via news.slashdot.org
  
  "Alaska Weather," a daily 30-minute TV show that has broadcast across Alaska for the past 47 years, is going off the air due to a lack of funds. Gizmodo reports: In lieu of the news, residents seeking information on their state's weather will be forced to lean on spotty, sub-par internet. Friday evening will be the final television installment of "Alaska Weather," as first reported by Alaska Public Media. The show, which is the only weather program produced directly by the National Weather Servi
  
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• Meta Is Planning To Let People In the EU Download Apps Through Facebook

  30-06-2023 03:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Meta is planning to allow users in the EU to directly download apps through Facebook ads, aiming to compete with Google and Apple's app stores. The Verge's Alex Heath writes: The new type of ad is set to start as a pilot with a handful of Android app developers as soon as later this year, I've learned. Meta sees an opening to try this thanks to new regulation in the EU called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that is expected to go into effect next spring. It deems Apple and Google as "gatekeepers"
  
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• Brave Aims To Curb Practice of Websites That Port Scan Visitors

  30-06-2023 02:50 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Brave browser will take action against websites that snoop on visitors by scanning their open Internet ports or accessing other network resources that can expose personal information. Starting in version 1.54, Brave will automatically block website port scanning, a practice that a surprisingly large number of sites were found engaging in a few years ago. According to this list compiled in 2021 by a researcher who goes by the handle G666g
  
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• Google Kills Its 'Project Iris' Augmented Reality Glasses

  30-06-2023 02:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google is pulling the plug on its "Project Iris" augmented-reality glasses, according to Insider. The Verge reports: According to the publication, Google is now focused on software instead of hardware. It's building a "micro XR" platform it could license to other headset manufacturers, much like how Google provides Android to a broad ecosystem of phones. However, Insider suggests the ski goggle-like headset we originally mentioned may actually still be in the cards -- as Google is no longer crea
  
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• Google To Remove News Links In Canada In Response To Online News Law

  30-06-2023 01:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Google said Thursday it will remove Canadian news content from its search, news and discover products after a new law meant to compensate media outlets comes into force. CBC.ca reports: "We're disappointed it has come to this. We don't take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it's important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible," said Kent Walker, the president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet. "The unprecedented decision to put a pric
  
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• FTC Prepares 'the Big One,' a Major Lawsuit Targeting Amazon's Core Business

  30-06-2023 00:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to file a major antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of "leverag[ing] its power to reward online merchants that use its logistics services and punish those who don't," Bloomberg reported today. Bloomberg described the forthcoming lawsuit as "the big one," following several earlier lawsuits filed by the FTC under Chair Lina Khan. "In the coming weeks, the agency plans to file a far-reaching antitrust sui
  
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• YouTube Could Be Testing a Three-Strikes Policy For Ad Blocking

  30-06-2023 00:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Some YouTube users with ad blockers are seeing a new three-strikes popup menu while watching videos. "The popup menu in the screenshot suggests users will be barred from YouTube viewing after watching three videos with an ad blocker enabled," reports Android Authority. From the report: "It looks like you may be using an ad blocker. Video playback will be blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled," reads an excerpt of the screenshot. The service presents users with two b
  
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• Valve Reportedly Banning Games Featuring AI Generated Content

  30-06-2023 00:10 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Valve has reportedly started banning Steam games featuring AI-created art assets, unless developers can prove they have rights to the IP used in the data set that trained the AI to create them. From a report: In a Reddit post spotted by games industry veteran Simon Carless, a developer recounted submitting an early version of a game to Steam with a few "fairly obviously AI generated" assets which they said they planned to improve by hand in a later build. In response, they were told the game cou
  
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