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Fildelningen fortsätter öka

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TorrentFreak:

The latest Internet traffic report from Sandvine shows that global file-sharing traffic continues to rise. The same is true for VPN usage, which saw a drastic increase over the past year. According to Sandvine, increased fragmentation among legal video streaming services likely plays an important role in these trends.

Detta tycks bekräfta trenden att folk tycker det är enklare att ladda ner filmer och serier illegalt, än att ha abonnemang hos en rad olika legala streamingtjänster. Speciellt när mycket av innehållet är exklusivt för de respektive tjänsterna.

Länk: File-Sharing and VPN Traffic Grow Explosively »

Trender: I USA föredrar unga Youtube framför Netflix

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CNBC rapporterar:

  • Piper Jaffray found 37% of teens prefer to watch videos on YouTube, narrowly edging out Netflix, which came in at 35%.
  • YouTube’s diverse content library appeals to teens, the firm said.
  • However, Netflix ranked far ahead of other streaming platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

Detta är visserligen amerikanska siffror baserade på amerikanska förutsättningar. Men sådana här trender brukar sprida sig till resten av västvärlden.

Despite Netflix ceding its pole position to YouTube, teens are flocking to it far more than other streaming services, Piper Jaffray found. Hulu and Amazon’s Prime Video served as the preferred platforms for 7% and 3% of teens surveyed, respectively. Cable TV ranked third at 12%, down from 14% in the spring, indicating that cord-cutting continues to be on the rise, the firm said.

Länk: Teens choose YouTube over Netflix for the first time, according to new survey »

Kina: Ansiktsigenkänning för internetuppkoppling

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Den kinesiska regimen kopplar ett allt hårdare grepp om medborgarna:

The Chinese regime announced a new rule which requires residents to pass a facial recognition test in order to apply for an internet connection via smartphone or computer.

The rule will be implemented from Dec. 1, 2019. In addition, no cell phone or landline number can be transferred to another person privately.

Länk: Beijing Launches New Rule: Residents Must Pass Facial Recognition Test to Surf Internet »

USA, Storbritannien och Australien vill ha tillgång till allt på Facebooks alla plattformar

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EFF:

»Top law enforcement officials in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia told Facebook today that they want backdoor access to all encrypted messages sent on all its platforms. In an open letter, these governments called on Mark Zuckerberg to stop Facebook’s plan to introduce end-to-end encryption on all of the company’s messaging products and instead promise that it will “enable law enforcement to obtain lawful access to content in a readable and usable format.”

This is a staggering attempt to undermine the security and privacy of communications tools used by billions of people. Facebook should not comply.«

Länk: The Open Letter from the Governments of US, UK, and Australia to Facebook is An All-Out Attack on Encryption »

Uppdatering, fler länkar:
• BBC: Facebook encryption threatens public safety, say ministers »
• Privacy International: PI response to confused governments’ confusing declaration of war and victory on encryption »
• ArsTechnica: US wants Facebook to backdoor WhatsApp and halt encryption plans »

Öppnade EU-domstolen just dörren för mer automatisk filtrering av innehåll på nätet?

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I ett förtalsrelaterat mål har EU-domstolen kommit fram till att Facebook kan föreläggas att hindra att innehåll publiceras, om det är är identiskt med sådant som tidigare förklarats olagligt av domstol. Även om beslutet har en viss logik – så måste man fråga sig: hur? I praktiken lär det vara omöjligt utan automatisk filtrering av allt som alla användare laddar upp.

EDRi skriver:

»The ruling confirms that a hosting provider such as Facebook can be ordered, in the context of an injunction, to seek and identify, among all the content shared by its users, content that is identical to the content characterised as illegal by a court. If the obligation to block future content applies to all users on a large platform like Facebook, the Court has in effect considered it to be in line with the E-Commerce Directive that courts demand automated upload filters and blurred the distinction between general and specific monitoring in its previous case law. EDRi is concerned that automated upload filters for identical content will not be able to distinguish between legal and illegal content, in particular when applied to individual words that could have very different meanings depending on the context and the intent of the user.«

Politico:

“The court’s decision opens the door for serious restrictions on freedom of expression due to the takedown of legitimate speech. Extending removal to the vague concept of “equivalent” content is harmful because the context as well as motivation of users re-sharing content may significantly differ with each re-upload,” said Eliška Pírková, Europe policy analyst at Access Now, a campaigning group.

Speciellt komplicerat blir detta med tanke på att EU:s eHandelsdirektiv förbjuder generell övervakning av vad som laddas upp. (Vilket för övrigt även kolliderar med det uppladdningsfilter som blir konsekvensen av EU:s nya upphovsrättsdirektiv.)

• EDRi: CJEU ruling on fighting defamation online could open the door for upload filters »
• Politico: Facebook can be forced to delete defamatory content worldwide, top EU court rules »

Uppdatering:
• TechCrunch: Zuckerberg says Facebook will sue to stop EU’s global content takedowns »

Hyppönen: Internet of things är som digital asbest

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»[D]e flesta smarta saker är egentligen otroligt korkade ur säkerhetssynvinkel. Helt plötsligt sprejas internet med saker med urgamla Linux-kärnor, med alla portar öppna, som kör telnet och inte går att patcha.« (…)

»Kommer framtida generationer att hata oss för IoT? Kanske det. Mikko Hyppönen drar en parallell med asbest. Smarta saker är det nya digitala asbest. Asbest var ju ett fantastiskt material, en revolution. Det kunde användas till allt möjligt. Mikko Hyppönen visar ett klipp från en reklamfilm från 1960-talet. Reklamen går ut på att till och med en kvinna, en smart kvinna alltså, kan lägga golvplattor i köket. Golvplattor av asbest. Fantastiskt. Smart. Femtio år senare är asbest fortfarande ett miljöproblem. Blir det samma sak med smarta saker? Hur många decennier kommer det ta att senara världen från dumma smarta saker?»

IDG Techworld:
• Mikko Hyppönen: Smarta saker är det nya digitala asbest »

Tyska »statstrojaner« till författningsdomstolen

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I Tyskland har Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) anmält bruket av så kallade statstrojaner till författningsdomstolen.

Det handlar om program som myndigheterna kan låta installera på datorer, telefoner, plattor och andra enheter för att till exempel övervaka och avlyssna dess användare. Detta är relevant även för oss, då regeringen just nu förbereder en svensk variant – hemlig dataavläsning.

»As a form of government surveillance, state trojans present unique and grave threats to privacy and security. It has the potential to be far more intrusive than any other surveillance technique, permitting the government to remotely and surreptitiously access personal devices and all the intimate information they store. It also permits the government to conduct novel forms of real-time surveillance, by covertly turning on a device’s microphone, camera, or GPS-based locator technology, or by capturing continuous screenshots or seeing anything input into and output from the device. The use of trojans allows governments to manipulate data on devices, by deleting, corrupting or planting data; recovering data that has been deleted; or adding or editing code to alter or add capabilities, all while erasing any trace of the intrusion. These targets are not confined to devices. They can extend also to communications networks and their underlying infrastructure.

At the same time, the use of state trojans has the potential to undermine the security of targeted devices, networks or infrastructure, and potentially even the internet as a whole. Computer systems are complex and, almost with certainty, contain vulnerabilities that third parties can exploit to compromise their security. Government use of state trojans often depends on exploiting vulnerabilities in systems to facilitate a surveillance objective. Government hacking may also involve manipulating people to interfere with their own systems. These latter techniques prey on user trust, the loss of which can undermine the security of systems and the internet.«

Statewatch: GFF Challenge to use of government spyware (Germany) »

Studie: Exklusivt strömmat innehåll kan öka piratkopieringen

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Just som alla tycks mena att man fått den illegala fildelningen under kontroll genom att erbjuda lagliga alternativ:

»Broadband Genie, a UK broadband comparison website, conducted a survey of 1,500 consumers and found that 18 percent of respondents admitted to “often” or “occasionally” accessing content via illegal streams or file sharing services like BitTorrent.

The survey found that number would jump to 37 percent if users are inundated with too many content exclusives spread across too many services. 67 percent of those surveyed felt they already pay too much for television content, and 48 percent said that price remained the biggest problem with having multiple streaming services.«

Vice Motherboard: Streaming Exclusives Could Double Piracy Rates, Study Warns »