● 07.11.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Leftover Links 11/07/2023: More on Microsoft Layoffs Today (Ireland Also)

Posted in News Roundup at 8:39 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Leftovers

=> ↺ APNIC ☛ Optimizing power consumption in high-end routers

• Guest Post: The power consumption of high-end routers is a hot topic. Who’s to blame for all this heat?

=> ↺ Ali Reza Hayati ☛ We’re afraid of being called!

• I’ve been training myself to not care about being called names. I don’t care if people try to hurt or insult me with words. I don’t care about their insults, they can’t upset me, and won’t be able to affect me in any way.

Science

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ How to Silence Your Thoughts And Drift Off to Sleep: An Expert Explains

• 6 important things you need to know.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Glorious New Saturn Image: JWST Has Now Captured All 4 Giant Planets

• The Solar System has never looked so amazing.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ It’s Possible to Identify Someone’s Sex With 96% Accuracy With Just a Sniff of Their Hand

• A huge deal for forensic science.

Hardware

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Computer Speed Gains Erased By Modern Software

• [Julio] has an older computer sitting on a desk, and recorded a quick video with it showing how fast this computer can do seemingly simple things, like open default Windows applications including the command prompt and Notepad. Compared to his modern laptop, which seems to struggle with even these basic tasks despite its impressive modern hardware, the antique machine seems like a speed demon. His videos set off a huge debate about why it seems that modern personal computers often appear slower than machines of the past.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ bitswrt NHX53X2 WiFi 7 system-on-module features Qualcomm IPQ5332 SoC

• bitswrt NHX53X2 is a WiFi 7 system-on-module (SoC) powered by a Qualcomm IPQ5332 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC and equipped with the QCN6274 commercial grade WiFi 7 chipset. The IPQ5332 processor looks to be the little brother of the IPQ9574 quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor found in the AL02 WiFi 7 reference router board from Qualcomm. The module comes with up to 3GB RAM, 1GB NAND flash, and exposes plenty of I/Os with multiple 2.5GbE interfaces, 10GbE, PCIe Gen 3.0, USB 3.0, GPIOs, and more.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Tentacle Robot Is Like An Elephant Trunk

• It sounds like bad science fiction or anime, but researchers are creating helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators. What? Oh, tentacle robot arms. Got it.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Retailers seek to shake up clinical trials business

• Big retailers expanding into health care delivery increasingly see a growth opportunity tapping their huge customer bases to recruit participants into clinical trials.

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ The FDA is being asked to look into Logan Paul’s energy drink, which has the caffeine of 6 Coke cans

• An influencer-backed energy drink that has earned viral popularity among children is facing scrutiny from lawmakers and health experts over its potentially dangerous levels of caffeine. Senator Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate PRIME. The beverage brand was launched last year by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI and has become something of an obsession among the influencers’ legions of young followers. Schumer said the drink contains nearly twice as much caffeine as Red Bull and poses a health risk to children. Representatives for PRIME have said the drinks are clearly marked as not recommended for minors. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Health, wealth and security mapped in wellbeing index

• As the federal government puts the finishing touches on its national wellbeing index, the treasurer has revisited his vision to mesh Australia’s economic goals with its social ones.

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers took aim at the former coalition government’s approach to budget management that saw economic and social objectives “in conflict, not concert”.

=> ↺ Now Steve Kirsch wants to “collaborate” with provaccine scientists?

• So now Steve Kirsch wants to “collaborate” with vaccine scientists, claiming that the “best way to settle an argument about ‘what the science says’ is with a collaborative experiment”? Maybe I should, as Kirsch likes to say a lot, “talk about it.” First, however, a little background is in order to explain why I find Kirsch’s offer to “collaborate” so risibly silly.

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

=> ↺ India Today ☛ Tech layoffs continue in 2023 [Ed: Microsoft layoffs went on every month this year, they don't just "continue" all of a sudden]

• Tech layoffs continue in 2023 as Microsoft, Evernote and others announce more job cuts.

=> ↺ Market Watch ☛ Microsoft is cutting more jobs, after laying off 10,000 earlier this year [Ed: Loaded headline because many more than 10k were fired, more are being laid off this week (more than media talks about it), and many more to come soon]

=> ↺ Investopedia ☛ 5 Things to Know Before Markets Open

• The technology company didn’t confirm how many additional layoffs are coming, though salespeople and customer representatives have confirmed they have lost jobs.

=> ↺ Bank of America agrees to pay $250M over junk fees, other violations [Ed: It was a lot more than 10,000, but they're parroting Microsoft's face-saving lies]

• Microsoft to increase layoffs on top of the 10,000 announced earlier this year

=> ↺ Seeking Alpha ☛ Microsoft said to lay off sales, customer support staff as new fiscal year begins

• While the total number of employees impacted was not disclosed, 276 workers at Microsoft (MSFT) offices in Redmond and Bellevue in Washington were laid off, according to the state’s Employment Security Department.

=> ↺ 10,000 Microsoft employees affected by July 2023 layoffs [Ed: We suspect the article is CG spew]

• While the official statement confirmed the layoffs, it left a lot to speculation. Neither the number of affected workers nor an insight into whether these layoffs would continue in subsequent rounds was divulged by Microsoft.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Black Artists Say A.I. Shows Bias, With Algorithms Erasing Their History

• Tech companies acknowledge machine-learning algorithms can perpetuate discrimination and need improvement.

=> ↺ CNBC ☛ Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Tuesday

• 3. Club name Microsoft (MSFT) confirms new job cuts on top of announced downsizing in January that led to 10,000 layoffs. CNBC reports that salespeople and customer success representatives posted messages on social networks to announce they lost their jobs.

=> ↺ Yahoo News ☛ Microsoft announces more job cuts after January layoffs [Ed: They intentionally belittle the scale of this by parroting Microsoft]

• A filing with the Washington state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system shows 276 layoffs in Redmond, where its headquarters is located, and Bellevue.

=> ↺ Nasdaq ☛ Daily Markets: Amazon’s Prime Day a Litmus for U.S. Consumer Spending

• Microsoft (MSFT) announced fresh layoffs impacting an undisclosed number of employees in customer service, support, and sales, according to multiple media sources. Layoffs are not uncommon for Microsoft as it restructures part of its businesses at the start of its new fiscal year.

=> ↺ Major blow as big tech firm set to cut up to 70 jobs from Irish workforce [Ed: For now. It'll increase over time, just like in January-March.]

• The company first announced they were cutting 120 Irish jobs in February.

• And in March, an extra 60 job cuts were revealed.

• It is understood that Microsoft’s latest layoffs may be less than 70 if some workers are redeployed to other areas.

• The company employs around 3,500 people in Ireland in areas including engineering, sales, operations and product development.

=> ↺ Seattle Times ☛ Microsoft cuts 276 Seattle-area jobs, but no hint of broader layoffs [Ed: This title is a lie from Bill Gates-funded “media”; RTE ☛ there are also layoffs in Europe and it’s not a secret]

=> ↺ Seattle Times ☛ Microsoft cuts 276 Seattle-area jobs, but no hint of broader layoffs [Ed: This title is a lie from Bill Gates-funded “media”; RTE ☛ there are also layoffs in Europe and it’s not a secret]

=> ↺ Game Rant ☛ Microsoft Hit With More Layoffs

• Now, Microsoft has announced a new round of layoffs, as originally reported by Geek Wire. According to the media outlet, the areas that will be affected include customer service, support, and sales. This comes on the heels of the end of the company’s fiscal year, which happened in June, and it’s deemed a common practice in the industry. Notably, the layoffs are quite smaller than the ones that happened at the beginning of 2023, affecting 276 employees and this time it does not seem that anyone in the gaming sector is affected.

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Microsoft’s 10,000 job cuts didn’t quite do the trick [Ed: Well, it was never 10k]

• A WARN notice posted in Washington shows 276 being let go in the state alone, but the global total is likely to be much higher and the cuts are much more widespread than the software giant’s home state. Typically at Microsoft, a round of layoffs happen in early July following Redmond’s June 30 fiscal end of year. Microsoft laid off about 1,000 people this time last year as it kicked off fiscal 2023. At the time, the company insisted the move was not related to fears about recession.

• Anecdotally, The Reg noticed Microsoft workers all over the world posting #OpenToWork status notices on LinkedIn within the last few hours from various other US states including Arizona, Texas, Florida, Philadelphia, Illinois, and Michigan, as well as places as far afield as Canada and Denmark. Most appear to be in sales, support, and customer roles.

=> ↺ Barrons ☛ Microsoft Cuts Hundreds More Jobs. Tech Layoffs Are Slowing but Not Stopping.

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Tech execs turn to drink and drugs as job losses mount

• During the first half of 2023, which included job losses and share price pressures, tech execs turned to drink and drugs to help them cope, at least according to one research firm.

• In a survey of over 500 tech execs, nearly 80 percent of tech workers told researchers they were taking medications, either under a doctor’s supervision or otherwise. To perform better and cope with long work hours and high stress, 32 percent said they consumed controlled substances, and 45 percent said they used painkillers including Codeine, Vicodin, and other opiate derivatives.

• Thirty-four percent of tech executives used stimulants, including amphetamines like Adderall, Dexedrine, and Concerta, the survey of 501 tech leaders found.

Linux Foundation

=> ↺ Linux Foundation’s Site/Blog ☛ More than 500 Winners from 80 Countries Selected for the 2023 Shubhra Kar Linux Foundation Training Scholarship [Ed: Sensitive subject, but did he use Linux or just cash in a lot of money?]

Security

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Exploit Code Published for Remote Root Flaw in VMware Logging Software

• VMware confirmed that exploit code for CVE-2023-20864 has been published, underscoring the urgency for enterprise network admins to apply available patches.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Apple Ships Urgent iOS Patch for WebKit Zero-Day

• Apple rolls out urgent iOS and iPadOS software updates and warned that zero-day exploitation has already been detected.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Critical Vulnerability Can Allow Takeover of Mastodon Servers

• A critical vulnerability in the Mastodon social networking platform may allow attackers to take over target servers.

=> ↺ Linux VPN Myths Exposed: Separating Fact from Fiction for Enhanced Online Security

• With online privacy and security becoming increasingly critical concerns, VPNs have gained immense popularity recently. Nevertheless, an abundance of false information about this tool for safeguarding online privacy is circulating.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Hackers stream anti-NATO broadcasts in Lithuania after cyber attacks

• Lithuania’s National Cyber Security Centre (NKSC) has recorded two cyber incidents when disinformation was broadcast on a regional radio station and in a shopping centre following a hacking of a music streaming service.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ A Cybersecurity Wish List Ahead of NATO Summit

• Assuming NATO can play a greater part in the cybersecurity of its members, possibly through a more formal NATO Cyber Command, the question then becomes ‘what should we hope for?’

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Apple issues emergency patches to fix 10th zero-day for 2023

• Apple has issued emergency updates to fix zero-days in its iOS, iPadOS and macOS Ventura operating systems, the 10th fix for zero-days being exploited in the wild issued this calendar year.

=> ↺ SANS ☛ Apple Rapid Security Update Patches Three Exploited Vulnerabilities, (Mon, Jul 10th)

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Australian infrastructure firm Ventia breached in online attack

• “Ventia’s operations are continuing. We are maintaining vigilance across our systems. We will not hesitate to take further protective action if required as operations return to normal in the days ahead.”

• Ventia operates in both Australia and New Zealand and is one of the bigger essential services providers in the two countries.

• In 2022, it pulled in revenue of $5.1 billion, an increase of 13.4% on the previous calendar year.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ PoC Exploit Published for Recent Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Vulnerability

• PoC exploit has been published for a recently patched Ubiquiti EdgeRouter vulnerability leading to arbitrary code execution.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Honeywell Boosting OT Cybersecurity Offering With Acquisition of SCADAfence

• Industrial giant Honeywell wants to extend its OT cybersecurity portfolio with the acquisition of Israel-based OT/IoT security firm SCADAfence.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Critical Infrastructure Services Firm Ventia Takes Systems Offline Due to Cyberattack

• Critical infrastructure services provider Ventia has taken some systems offline following a cyberattack.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ Federal Judge Sets Hearing Date for TikTok Preliminary Injunction Motions As Montana Ban Looms

• Last week, TikTok moved to prevent a much-publicized Montana law (which is expected to ban the short-form app’s use beginning on January 1st) from going into effect as planned. Now, a hearing has officially been scheduled for the ByteDance subsidiary’s preliminary injunction motions.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Europe Signs Off on a New Privacy Pact That Allows People’s Data to Keep Flowing to US

• The EU signed off on a new agreement over the privacy of people’s personal information that gets pinged across the Atlantic, aiming to ease European concerns about electronic spying by American intelligence agencies.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ TikTok admits ‘serious misconduct’ in surveilling press

• TikTok officials concede “serious changes” are needed at the social media company in the wake of a spying scandal.

• The admission from Australian general manager Lee Hunter came during a fiery hearing on Tuesday of a parliamentary committee probing foreign interference through social media.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Key aid crossing to rebel-held Syria closes as UN fails to extend authorisation

• A UN-brokered agreement that allows for the delivery of aid overland from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria expired on Monday after the Security Council failed to hold a vote to reauthorise it.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ UN Secretary-General says Taliban must restore freedom of speech, stop corporal punishment before admission to global community

• In the UN Security Council’s latest quarterly report regarding life in Afghanistan, released last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that Taliban authorities must ensure “inclusive governance,” allow freedom of speech and stop handing out corporal punishment in order to enter the global community.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Australia must investigate war crimes allegations, says ADF chief

• Investigating allegations that Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan is ‘utterly critical’ to the nation regaining moral authority at home and with its allies, says Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ UK Ministry of Defense confirms UK Special Forces at center of Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

• United Kingdom (UK) Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced Wednesday that UK Special Forces are the focus of an inquiry into allegations of “unlawful activity” in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ 22 tourists missing in Perm region — Meduza

• Rescuers are trying to find a group of 22 tourists who went rafting on the Usva River in the Perm region, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The group includes 11 adults and 11 children.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ North Korean police complain to Pyongyang about uncooperative state security agents

• Agents refused to share case data with local police prompting official letter to Central Committee.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Killed former submarine commander in Krasnodar could have been tracked through Strava — Meduza

• Baza writes that person who killed Stanislav Rzhitsky, deputy head of mobilization for Krasnodar, could have tracked his movements using a jogging app.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Finland prepares massive security operation ahead of Biden visit

• The US president is to attend a US-Nordic Leaders Summit in Helsinki on Thursday, but details about the visit are being kept under close wraps.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Six Iso Omena security guards suspected of negligent homicide

• Police are wrapping up their preliminary investigation into the death of a 35-year-old woman in January.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Iran Urges Pakistan to Ensure Border Security After Attack

• The armed attack was carried out by Jaish ul-Adl, which is a Salafi Islamist militant organization that operates mainly in southeastern Iran.

War in Ukraine

Axios ☛ Putin met with Wagner boss days after short-lived mutinyRussian President Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin less than a week after the Wagner boss launched a short-lived rebellion, the Kremlin said on Monday.Why it matters: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin, Prigozhin and other Wagner commanders met for three hours in Moscow on June 29 — the first known meeting between the Russian president and mercenary chief since the brief mutiny.The uprising was the biggest threat to Putin’s rule since he came to power more than two decades ago.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Türkiye Gives Green Light to Sweden’s NATO Accession

• “…Sweden and Türkiye have worked closely together to address Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns…”

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russian war bloggers’ reactions to news of Putin’s post-rebellion meeting with Prigozhin range from mockery to approval — Meduza

• On July 10, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed reports that the president met with Yevgeny Prigozhin and multiple Wagner Group commanders just days after the mercenary leader’s armed rebellion against the Russian Defense Ministry. “Putin listened to the commanders’ explanations and proposed options for their further employment and combat deployment,” Peskov told journalists. “The commanders gave their version of events, emphasizing that they are committed supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander, and expressed that they are ready to continue fighting for the motherland.”

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Parliamentary speakers warn against stalling Ukraine’s NATO membership bid

• The speakers of the parliaments of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Ukraine have adopted a joint statement on Ukraine’s future membership of NATO in which they ask for allance members attending the Vilnius NATO summit “to commit to Ukraine becoming a NATO member” with a clear path towards that goal.

=> ↺ AntiWar ☛ What if Russia Is Winning America’s Proxy War in Ukraine?

• Reprinted with permission from the American Conservative. Washington is a world apart. A war the United States supposedly isn’t waging hangs over the imperial city.

=> ↺ AntiWar ☛ Stop Biden From Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

• President Biden may have crossed a new red line for the Democratic Party when he announced he would send banned cluster munitions to shore up Ukraine’s slow counter-offensive against Russian troops.

=> ↺ Off Guardian ☛ AUDIO: Iain Davis on Perspective with Jesse Zurawell – July 5th 2023

• Iain Davis joins host Jesse Zurawell to discuss the recent Wagner mutiny in Ukraine, “interoperability” and its implications for global digital ID and currency, plans for future of G7, the nature of conflict in “multipolar” world and more.

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Cluster Bombs Aren’t the Only Weapons That Kill People After a War Is Over

• Progressive Democrats’ opposition to sending cluster bombs to Ukraine is welcome. Their arguments apply to much of the military aid the U.S. is sending the country.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Why Ukraine needs cluster munitions

=> ↺ AntiWar ☛ Can Washington Be Saved from Itself at the NATO Summit?

• Several crucial decisions likely will be made at this week’s NATO summit meeting.

=> ↺ AntiWar ☛ What a Negotiated Settlement to the Ukraine War Could Look Like

• It’s time. If the goal is for Ukraine to emerge from this horrible situation in as strong a position as possible, then the time has come to stop the war and negotiate a settlement.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Australia’s message for NATO

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to Vilnius for this week’s NATO summit needing to deliver the clear messages that Australia continues to be a serious supporter of Ukraine [...]

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Moldova must seize opportunity to end energy dependence on Russia

• With the Russian army struggling in Ukraine and Putin weakened on the domestic front, Moldova may never have a better opportunity to end its energy sector dependence on Russia, writes Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Prigozhin was a torpedo to the idea that the West must not humiliate Putin

• The Wagner Group founder punctured a number of myths about the Kremlin, its leader, and its ongoing war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Why local officials must participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction

• As the international community continues preparations for the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine it is vital to maximize engagement with Ukrainian local authorities, write Zachary Popovich and Michael Druckman.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Ukraine seeks security guarantees as NATO members gather in Vilnius

• NATO members gather Tuesday for a two-day summit in Vilnius amid calls from President Volodymyr Zelensky to confirm Ukraine as a de-facto member. Sweden’s NATO bid appeared set to go forward after a last-minute reversal from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the last obstacles to Swedish membership. In Ukraine, air defences fended off an overnight Russian drone attack on Kyiv.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Lithuanian military, allies ready to ensure 24/7 security of Vilnius NATO Summit

• The Lithuanian Armed Forces and their allies have reached “full operational capability” and are carrying out all of their tasks for NATO’s summit starting in Vilnius on Tuesday, according to the press release.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Turkey’s Erdogan agrees to back Swedish NATO bid

• Turkey agreed Monday to allow Sweden to join the NATO alliance, setting the stage for the allies to showcase their unity at a summit focused on securing support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s invasion.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Biden meets British PM Rishi Sunak, King Charles ahead of NATO summit

• US President Joe Biden dropped in for tea and climate change talks with King Charles III on Monday, after a garden meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a NATO leaders’ summit on Ukraine.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China warns of potential ‘humanitarian problems’ as US approves transfer of cluster bombs to Ukraine

• China warned on Monday that the “irresponsible transfer” of cluster munitions could lead to “humanitarian problems”, after the United States approved the shipment of the weapons to Ukraine. Washington’s decision drew “widespread attention from the international community, with many countries expressing opposition”, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Russian attack near Ukraine humanitarian aid center kills 5, wounds 11

• A Russian airstrike on Sunday hit a building in Zaporizhzhia, southeast Ukraine, that was next to a humanitarian aid center. The building collapsed on the center and trapped at least 15 people under the rubble. Five people died and 11 were injured as a result of the strike.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Live updates: NATO leaders assemble in Vilnius for two-day summit

• NATO leaders are meeting in Vilnius on Tuesday for a two-day summit where allies will discuss the prospects of Ukraine’s NATO membership and defence funding.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ ‘Western Europe is moving closer to the Baltics’. What can Lithuania expect from Vilnius NATO summit?

• The NATO summit in Vilnius was supposed to be an uneventful transition event between the other key meetings. However, Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine changed the plans, forcing NATO to think – again – about a potential war with Russia.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Allies agree that Ukraine will be NATO member, but it must win first – Stoltenberg

• All allies agree that Ukraine will become a NATO member, but first it must win the war against Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Vilnius on Monday.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Call Russia posters in Vilnius spark protests, campaign suspended ahead of NATO summit

• A campaign promoting the Call Russia initiative has angered people in Vilnius, who say that the project first launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends the wrong message to NATO leaders.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia Strikes Kyiv With Drones Hours Before Key NATO Summit For Ukraine

• Russia launched a fresh wave of kamikaze drones on Kyiv early on July 11, Ukrainian officials said, hours before the start of a crucial NATO summit in Lithuania where the military support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression and its future ties with the alliance top the agenda.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Biden, Sunak Discuss Ukraine Ahead Of NATO Summit In Lithuania

• U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on July 10 reaffirmed their “steadfast support” for Ukraine as they discussed the upcoming NATO summit, the White House said.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Kremlin Says Putin Met With Prigozhin In Russia On June 29, Days After Mutiny

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private Wagner mercenary group, on June 29, just five days after the group had marched to within 200 kilometers of Moscow in a short-lived mutiny.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Media Investigation Says War Deaths In Ukraine At Least 47,000

• The total number of Russian soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine was at least 47,000 by the end of May, a joint investigation by the Russian media outlets Mediazona and Meduza showed.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ahead Of Key NATO Summit, Ukraine Says It Has Made Advances In Southern Counteroffensive

• Ukrainian forces have continued to make gains in the south, liberating an area roughly the size of the city of Odesa since the start of its counteroffensive, the General Staff of Ukraine’s military said on July 10.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia’s Top General Shown In Video For First Time Since Failed Wagner Mutiny

• Russia’s most senior general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, was shown ordering subordinates to destroy Ukrainian missile sites in a video released on July 10, in what would be his first appearance in public since a failed June 24 Wagner mercenary mutiny.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ NATO Uses Ukraine as Sacrificial Pawn in Defeating Russia

• By delivering weapons and deploying military advisors in Ukraine, NATO is now waging a proxy war against Russia, said the chairwoman of the Left Party parliamentary group.

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin’s commanders met Putin after short-lived mutiny, pledged loyalty

• The Kremlin says mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s commanders met with Russian President Vladimir Putin five days after staging a short-lived rebellion. Kremlin officials say the commanders pledged loyalty to the Russian government. The announcement Monday about the meeting in Moscow was the latest twist in a baffling episode that has raised questions about the power and influence held by both men. A Kremlin spokesman said the three-hour meeting took place on June 29. It involved not only Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor. Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine and of the revolt itself.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Turkey Clears the Way for Sweden’s Entry to NATO on the Eve of Summit

• The announcement allows the military alliance to project unity, which is getting harder to sustain as the war in Ukraine goes on.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ A Tangled Past Complicates Poland’s Welcome to Ukrainian Refugees

• Polish memories of ethnic pogroms by Ukrainian nationalists in the 1940s jostle with the trauma left by Russia and its war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Biden Meets With Sunak in the U.K. Ahead of NATO Summit

• The two men met briefly in London on the eve of a summit of NATO leaders in Lithuania.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ How a Distant War Is Threatening Livelihoods in the Arctic Circle

• The fighting in Ukraine has disrupted a region in northern Norway that had thrived on cross-border trade and cooperation with Russia.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ NATO members divided over whether and when to admit Ukraine

• NATO members are sharply divided heading into this week’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, over how to handle the delicate question of Ukraine’s future membership.

• Why it matters: Ukraine’s most fervent backers, including the Baltic states and Poland, want to send a clear signal that Kyiv’s accession is a matter of when, not if. But the U.S. and Germany are intent on avoiding any such definitive statements.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Hungarian Farm Minister To Visit Turkey For Talks On Black Sea Grain Deal

• Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy will go to Turkey on July 11 for talks with his Turkish counterpart about extending the deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, the minister said on Facebook.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ More help for Ukraine as Albanese prepares for NATO

• Anthony Albanese will provide NATO leaders with an Indo-Pacific perspective on global security as he unveils further military support for war-torn Ukraine.

• The prime minister has landed in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for a NATO summit on Tuesday afternoon (AEST) after announcing the deployment of an Australian reconnaissance aircraft to Europe during a visit to Germany.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Struggles

• The much-anticipated counteroffensive is off to a slow start.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Russia-Ukraine War: Turkey Agrees to Support Sweden’s NATO Bid, Clearing Main Obstacle

• The decision clears the way for Sweden to join the defense alliance, a move that had been held up by Turkey’s demands.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Now playing at Odesa’s opera house: Renewal and hope

• How relevant is opera? In the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, what has been dismissed as elitist elsewhere has emerged as a pillar of community strength and support.

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ NATO summit boosted by Turkey’s decision to end opposition to Sweden’s bid to join alliance

• NATO opened its summit Tuesday with fresh momentum after Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance. It’s a step toward the unity that Western leaders have been eager to demonstrate in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a significant step toward Sweden’s membership. It also will alleviate tension in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called it a “historic day” late Monday evening as he announced the agreement. U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet separately on Tuesday with the leaders of Turkey and Sweden.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Four big takeaways from the new Czech national security strategy

• Prague approved a new national security strategy on June 28. Here’s what stands out in the document on Russia, China, and more.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Deputy Chief Of Mobilization In Krasnodar Shot Dead While Jogging, Russian Media Reports

• A deputy chief of the department for mobilization in Krasnodar has been shot dead in the southern Russian city, Russian media reported on July 10.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Poland Detains Russian Spy, Says Interior Minister

• Poland has detained another member of a Russian spy network, bringing the total number of people rounded up in an investigation to 15, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Chinese President Meets With Russian Federation Council Speaker

• Valentina Matviyenko visits the Asian nation at the invitation of Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Putin met with Prigozhin days after rebellion, Kremlin says

• Days after a short-lived rebellion by a private army, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin said. Mr. Prigozhin’s fate and whereabouts are currently uncertain.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Future of Prigozhin’s Vast Empire Is Clouded After Rebellion

• Over decades, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin amassed considerable clout in Russia and built businesses in at least 15 countries. His whereabouts and the future of his extensive portfolio are now uncertain.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ ‘If Russia sets foot here, it will be pushed out’ – NATO approves Baltic defence plans on eve of summit

• A deal on new regional defence plans was reached in Vilnius on Monday evening. It is a major achievement of the NATO summit that kicks off on Tuesday, commented Deividas Matulionis, Lithuania’s ambassador to the alliance.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russian mobilization official Stanislav Rzhitsky killed in Krasnodar — Meduza

• The deputy head of mobilization for Krasnodar, Stanislav Rzhitsky, was killed, report the Telegram channels Shot, Baza, and Mash.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Quiet fears hang over Russia’s newest border with a NATO nation.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Canada will significantly increase its troop presence in Latvia

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Latvia July 10 en route to the NATO summit taking place in Vilnius this week.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Trudeau opens Canada’s embassy in Vilnius

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday the opening of his country’s embassies in Vilnius and Tallinn.

Environment

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Monday’s Shocking Record For Hottest Day May Have Been Broken Already

• Don’t expect this one to last, either.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ HK Express flight giveaway opens on Tuesday, with free fares from Hong Kong to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan

• Airline HK Express will launch its free flight giveaway at 10.30 am on Tuesday, with round-trip tickets to destinations in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan on offer – the latest phase of a campaign aimed at rebooting tourism after years of Covid travel restrictions.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Unsold electric cars are piling up on dealer lots

• The auto industry is beginning to crank out more electric vehicles (EVs) to challenge Tesla, but there’s one big problem: not enough buyers.

• Why it matters: The growing mismatch between EV supply and demand is a sign that even though consumers are showing more interest in EVs, they’re still wary about purchasing one because of price or charging concerns.

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ Eurobarometer: Europeans show strong support for the EU energy policy and for EU’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more optimism regarding economy

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Music Monday, and Antranig tries LXC

• In a situation in which I’m well familiar… am familiar with… am with a familiar because I… man, English, isn’t it great? Fellow FreeBSD aficionado and friend of the Internet Antranig Vartanian required the provisioning of a Linux host for a client.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Hong Kong Targets Dissidents Overseas With Bounties

• The rewards of $128,000 for information leading to the prosecution of dissidents who have fled Hong Kong reflect stepped-up pressure to intimidate activists beyond the reach of the government.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Drone video shows disastrous flooding in Ludlow after torrential rain hits Vermont

• Ludlow, Vermont, was one of the hardest hit areas Monday after torrential rain caused catastrophic flash flooding.

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Relentless rain causes floods in Northeast, prompts rescues and swamps Vermont’s capital

• Heavy rain has washed out roads and forced evacuations in the Northeast, especially in Vermont and New York. One woman in New York’s hard-hit Hudson Valley drowned as she was trying to leave her flooded home. In Vermont, search crews from North Carolina, Michigan and Connecticut helped rescuers get to towns that had been unreachable since torrents of rain began belting the state. Swift water rescue crews also have evacuated people stuck in homes. The slow-moving storm reached New England after hitting parts of New York and Connecticut. Officials say the storm has already wrought tens of millions of dollars in damage and canceled hundreds of flights in the New York and Boston airports.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ China battered by torrid heat and floods

• Soaring temperatures and torrential rains are testing China’s readiness for extreme weather events, experts warn.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Torrential rains kill at least 15 in southwest China

• Fifteen people have been killed and four are missing after torrential rain in southwest China, state media said Wednesday. “The latest round of torrential rains since Monday had killed 15 people and left four others missing in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality as of 7 am Wednesday”, state news agency Xinhua said, citing local authorities. The […]

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ China warns of ‘multiple natural disasters’ including floods, typhoons in July

• July 04, 2023 2:12 PM

• Dozens of homes and roads were damaged in north-west China by torrential rains on the weekend.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Hundreds evacuated in South Korea amid torrential rain; baby caught in landslide dies

• June 30, 2023 2:20 PM

• A landslide buried the baby’s home in the south-eastern city of Yeongju overnight.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Torrential rain, floods kill 22 across northern India

• July 10, 2023 6:35 AM

• The authorities have ordered schools to be shut in New Delhi on Monday.

Overpopulation

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ UN: 43 Mln USD To Mitigate Drought Impact in Somalia

• “Recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years”

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Drought menacing Thailand threatens global supply of sugar, rice

• Authorities have asked farmers to restrict rice planting to a single crop to conserve water.

Finance

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Warning: Student loan cliff ahead

• There’s a big economic shock coming this fall for both the economy and millions of American households — the resumption of student loan payments.

• Why it matters: For millions of individuals that means real and often painful cuts to spending — cuts that will translate to a slowdown for the economy overall.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ US banks are bracing for losses on bad loans by filling their coffers

• The largest US banks kick off their earnings season this week, starting with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and BlackRock on Friday (July 14), and their peers to follow the week after. And even though things may look calm on the surface, the financial seas are on the verge of getting rough.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ China’s deflation alarm bells are ringing

• Prices in China are plunging, and the risk of deflation is rising. Consumer inflation fell to 0% in June from a year earlier, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Inflation’s fear factor ebbs

• Inflation is not looking quite so scary to American consumers, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that suggests a broader cooldown could be on the way.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Student housing rush bigger in some cities than others

• The upcoming weeks are expected to be the busiest period in the rental market, especially in major university cities.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Social Class Is Not About Only Race

• Class diversity has been a blind spot for many colleges. Will that now change?

=> ↺ Cost of living in İstanbul rises 64 percent in a year

• The highest rise in June was in the price of meat, compared to last December. The price of meat and minced meat has risen 68.64 percent in the last six months.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Rates and inflation keeping clamp on consumer sentiment

• Consumers are not convinced the Reserve Bank has finished hiking interest rates, despite leaving the cash rate unchanged.

• The mood as captured by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute every month soured further after the July rate pause, with the weekly index assembled by ANZ and Roy Morgan also falling after last week’s decision.

=> ↺ Breach Media ☛ End the billionaire tantrum over news—tax Big Tech

• Google and Meta have already killed hundreds of journalism jobs—they’re back for round two, and there’s no need to play nice

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Axios ☛ House GOP wants to ban foreigners from donating to political non-profit organizations

• House Republicans are working on new legislation to prevent foreign nationals from influencing America’s political process, Axios has learned.

• Why it matters: The last two presidential elections have been colored by allegations that foreign influence helped the GOP.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Foreign tourists return to Finland, but more slowly than elsewhere in Europe

• The gap left by Russian tourists is being filled by visitors from the US and western Europe, while tourism from Asia has slowly started to recover as well.

=> ↺ The Nation ☛ Gus Newport Showed Bernie Sanders How to Be a Socialist Mayor in the Age of Reagan

• Former Berkeley mayor Eugene “Gus” Newport was an indefatigable activist who proudly identified as “an avowed socialist” in the age of Ronald Reagan—a fact that The New York Times noted in its rare and not always generous coverage of his two terms as the anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist, anti-racist, peace-and-justice championing mayor of the Left Coast city. Newport, who died on June 17 at age 88, spent decades on the front lines of radical struggles for economic, social, and racial equity, working with Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Harvey Milk, and his friend and ideological ally Bernie Sanders.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Calls Grow for a New Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of NYC Anti-Corruption Crusader

• A 911 caller reports that a man had been walking with a pedometer in his hand when he collapsed. A veteran NYPD precinct detective provides that account to an NYPD investigator working with the medical examiner’s office. 

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev cements power with election win

• Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev won a third term that will keep him in charge of the gas-rich country until 2030 as international observers said Monday the vote had lacked “genuine” competition.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ South Sudan to Hold First Elections Since Independence

• The world’s newest country has spent nearly half of its existence at war.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Axios ☛ How AI will turbocharge misinformation — and what we can do about it

• Attention-grabbing warnings of artificial intelligence’s existential threats have eclipsed what many experts and researchers say is a much more imminent risk: A near-certain rise in misinformation.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Meta reassures on Threads misinformation policies

• Officials for Facebook’s parent company have sought to reassure its new social media platform Threads will be monitored for misinformation in the same way as its other sites.

• Meta executives appeared before a parliamentary committee examining foreign interference through social media on Tuesday, which is examining how Australian elections and government agencies can be safeguarded from online threats.

=> ↺ Press Gazette ☛ Sun BBC presenter sex scandal scoop prompts Twitter libel actions

• Allegations over an unnamed BBC presenter prompt legal concerns for innocent stars.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ University Fires Russian Opposition Politician, Academic

• Opposition politician and academic Mikhail Lobanov says he was fired from his position as an associate professor at Moscow State University.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ From militia leader to refugee: The backstory of the man who burned a Koran in Sweden

• Soon after a Chrisitan Iraqi man named Salwan Momika burned a Koran in front of Sweden’s largest mosque on June 28, 2023, it was reported that he was a member of a Swedish ultra-nationalist party. Then videos from Momika’s past in Iraq started to surface. This footage showed him wearing the uniform of an Iraqi militia with close links to Iran – a militia that has been accused of war crimes. Momika apparently burned the Koran just a few months after his application for citizenship was denied.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Iran Sentences Rapper Salehi To Prison For Supporting Protests

• Prominent Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, considered by many as the voice of the unrest that has rocked the country’s Islamic leadership for almost a year, has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison on charges of “corruption on Earth” over tweets he posted supporting protesters.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Activist Nathan Law’s family taken away by Hong Kong national security police – reports

• Hong Kong national security police have taken away the parents and brother of activist Nathan Law for questioning, according to several local media outlets citing sources. Law is among the eight self-exiled activists wanted by the Hong Kong national security police, with authorities offering a bounty of HK$1 million for each of the democrats.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong justice minister files complaints to legal bodies against 2 wanted democrats

• Hong Kong’s justice minister has filed complaints to the city’s legal professional bodies against two pro-democracy activists wanted by the police under the Beijing-imposed national security law over alleged collusion with foreign forces.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Treat Hong Kong’s 8 wanted democrats like ‘street rats’ who should be ‘avoided at all costs,’ leader John Lee says

• The eight overseas democrats wanted by national police should be treated like “street rats” that people should “avoid at all costs,” Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has said.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong 47: Pro-democracy group aimed to uphold Chinese sovereignty, ex-chief says at nat. security trial

• One of the missions of the grassroots pro-democracy group Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADPL) was to uphold Chinese sovereignty, the organisation’s ex-chairman – one of the 47 democrats accused of conspiring to commit subversion – has said at a high-profile trial under the national security law.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ HRW: Tunisia must cease expulsions of Africa migrants and grant humanitarian aid access

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Tunisia on Thursday to cease the collective expulsions of sub-Saharan African migrants. HRW also urged that Tunisia should allow migrants, which its government has sent to a dangerous area of the Tunisia-Libya border, access to humanitarian services. According to HRW,

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Atlantic Council partners with UN Women to advance gender equity and security in the Caribbean

• The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center (AALAC) announced today a new partnership with the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean to tackle the most pressing gender-based challenges in the Caribbean, which will focus particularly on Guyana and Jamaica.

=> ↺ Explosion at industrial cleaning facility in Trabzon claims life of one person

• The person, identified as a citizen of Afghanistan, had come to the facility as a daily visitor, according to the authorities.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ ACLU ☛ Biden Knows Section 702 is Unconstitutional, Yet His Administration Still Defends It

• Fifteen years ago this week, then Senator Joe Biden voted no on the FISA Amendments Act, which legalized a secret mass surveillance program that allows the government to collect Americans’ international phone calls, text messages, emails, and other digital communications — all without a warrant. At the time, Biden correctly identified this amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a new authority known as Section 702, as “constitutionally infirm.” Yet today, his own administration is defending this very same law at his request.

• Upon passage, then-Sen. Biden stated he was voting no because Section 702 “would be a breathtaking and unconstitutional expansion of the President’s powers and it is wholly unnecessary to address the problems the administration has identified.” He added that he would “not give the President unchecked authority to eavesdrop on whomever he wants in exchange for the vague and hollow assurance that he will protect the civil liberties of the American people.”

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ An interesting time for (text?) social media again

• Who’d have thought 2023 would be the year where text-forward social networks would get a shake up? It seemed that for years the Internet dust had settled on a handful of sites, and everyone had resigned themselves to this bland, dystopian reality.

• I qualify my description with text-forward, because image and video sharing sites have been in flux for a few years now. It’s interesting to think about, given you’d expect the barrier to entry for a social network based around text would be so much lower. Encoding text is what the web was designed for, but images and video introduce formats, scaling, encoding, and vast storage and bandwidth requirements.

• (I work at a small cloud infrastructure company that deals with petabytes of data. This already seems unfathomably large, but the space these latest video sites must use? It’s beyond my ability to even comprehend).

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ Ask Sydney image search patent challenged

• On July 7, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,474,705, owned and asserted by Ask Sydney, LLC, an NPE. The ‘705 patent relates to analyzing tags associated with a sequence of images presented to a user to guide a user to a current interest.

=> ↺ JUVE ☛ Shell and Norton Rose invalidate Ensygnia mobile payment patent [Ed: Fake patents in the UK, reported by a bribed mouthpiece of Team UPC (breaking the law)]

• In a case concerning a patent which covers a mobile app payment system, the UK High Court has rejected technology company Ensygnia’s claims of infringement against oil company, Shell. GB 2 489 332 C1 concerns a method and system for identifying a user via QR code, allowing them to obtain accss to a registered service.

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ IPVal entity, DataCloud Technologies, network patent reexam granted

• On July 3, 2023, less than six weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,762,498, owned by DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an NPE and an IP Investments Group entity.

=> ↺ All the winners: European Inventor Award and Young Inventors Prize 2023 [Ed: Criminals who run the EPO exploit "young people" to seem benign and helpful to science]

• Women inventors feature prominently, winning inventions reflect shift towards sustainability

=> ↺ EPO publishes results of latest User Satisfaction Survey [Ed: Trying hard to distract from the backlash and the crime; the applicants are extremely unhappy]

• Independent survey indicates high levels of satisfaction with the EPO’s core services

=> ↺ EPO Annual Review 2022 highlights [Ed: The EPO ought not even exist anymore, due to the corruption. But some dark corporate forces let it carry on.]

• The EPO published its Annual Review 2022 today, accompanied by a video highlighting an Office that’s fit for a more sustainable future.

=> ↺ EPO and European Innovation Council strengthen ties to advance European breakthrough innovation [Ed: EPO stands for corruption, not innovation. It's rather telling that the EPO buys itself puff pieces.]

• EPO and EISMEA sign letter of intent

Trademarks

=> ↺ TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: How Did These Three Appeals from Section 2(d) Refusals Turn Out?

• By my count, the TTAB has affirmed about 88% of the Section 2(d) refusals it has reviewed on appeal this year. How do you think these latest three appeals came out? Results will be found in the first comment.

• Samjen of Tampa, Inc., Serial No. 90501168 (June 29, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christen M. English). [Refusal to register BLACK BELT for “advisory services relating to building construction” and “construction project management services,” in view of the registered mark BLACKBELT for real estate management, real estate brokerage services and investment advisory services].

Copyrights

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Canadian PM likens fight over Online News Act to World War II

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stepped up the rhetoric over the recently enacted Online News Act, likening the fight with Facebook and Google to defending democracy in Ukraine or during World War II.

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Content ID Claims Reach All-Time High — 826 Million Claims in Just 6 Months

• YouTube’s recent transparency report shows the number of Content ID copyright system claims has reached a new high — 826 million claims in just six months. YouTube’s latest transparency report reveals that the number of Content ID system claims has hit a new high during the latter half of 2022.

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ Sarah Silverman Sues OpenAI and Meta for Copyright Infringement, DMCA Violations Amid Continued Artificial Intelligence Boom

• Sarah Silverman has officially filed class-action complaints against both ChatGPT developer OpenAI and LLaMA developer Meta for allegedly training their artificial intelligence products on copyrighted works without permission.

=> ↺ Techdirt ☛ Germany’s New Copyright Exception For Pastiche Applied For First Time

• Although overall the EU Copyright Directive is bad news for the digital world because of things like its need for the use of automated upload filters, it does contain a few glimmers of good sense. For example, it rectifies a failing of the previous EU legislation in this area, the 2001 Infosec Directive. The 2001 law allowed Member States to implement an exception or limitation for the use of copyrighted material “for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche”. Because it was vague and optional, this exception was not widely implemented by EU countries.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ “Shadow libraries” are at the heart of the mounting copyright lawsuits against OpenAI

• Comedian and author Sarah Silverman is one of three writers to file a class-action lawsuit against the technology company OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, for copyright infringement.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Google quietly changes privacy policy after iTWire query on copyright infringement

• “For example, we may collect information that’s publicly available online or from other public sources to help train Google’s languageAI models and build products and features like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities. Or, if your business’s information appears on a website, we may index and display it on Google services.”

• Given that, iTWire made the following queries:

• “What about the copyright that applies to public information? Does this mean that Google plans to infringe on individual copyright with no respect for copyright laws?

• “Or does Google plan to pay for people’s copyright before blithely using their IP?”

• Google is very quick to acknowledge media queries, doing so almost instantaneously and saying it will send a response provided the query comes from a genuine media outlet.

=> ↺ Creative Commons ☛ ccMixter: A Collaborative Music Community

• Starting in 2009, ccMixter’s marks, terms of use, and format were managed by both Creative Commons and ArtisTech Media, an organization that supports global open music communities. Going forward, ccMixter will be operated independently by ArtisTech Media alone, with Creative Commons’ enthusiastic support.

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