The Cook County Medical Examiner has not yet declared a cause of death.
Source: Prenda-linked copyright trolling lawyer Paul Duffy dead at age 55 | Ars Technica
Australian court slaps down Hollywood’s speculative invoices • The Register
Sure you can mail possible pirates, after paying a bond larger than your possible profits
Source: Australian court slaps down Hollywood’s speculative invoices • The Register
Chelsea Manning Threatened With Indefinite Solitary Confinement For Expired Toothpaste & Having A Copy Of Vanity Fair | Techdirt
It appears that Chelsea Manning is now facing indefinite solitary confinment for a short list of “infractions” which include having expired toothpaste (“medicine misuse”) and having a copy of the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair, along with some other magazines (“prohibited property”). The other two charges may seem slightly less crazy, but not when you look at the details. They are for “disrespect” and “disorderly conduct,” but the “disorderly conduct” was for apparently sweeping some food on the floor during a dinner, and the “disorderly conduct” was for asking for a lawyer when Manning was being yelled at over the food incident.
Adult Movie Outfit is Most Litigious Copyright Plaintiff in U.S. – TorrentFreak
A report crunching more than six years of copyright lawsuits filed in the U.S. has revealed that porn troll Malibu Media is the country’s most litigious plaintiff. The company, which demands thousands of dollars from individual file-sharers, filed 4,332 lawsuits since January 2009, fifteen times more than its nearest rival. Overall, it’s estimated that 90% of file-sharing cases are settled out of court.
Source: Adult Movie Outfit is Most Litigious Copyright Plaintiff in U.S. – TorrentFreak
St. Louis County Charges Journalists Who Covered Ferguson Protests With Trespassing | Techdirt
CAUGHT: Lenovo crams unremovable crapware into Windows laptops – by hiding it in the BIOS • The Register
How Microsoft made it possible, and how to truly purge it
Even when told not to, Windows 10 just can’t stop talking to Microsoft | Ars Technica
It’s no wonder that privacy activists are up in arms.
Source: Even when told not to, Windows 10 just can’t stop talking to Microsoft | Ars Technica
Rightscorp Deal Turns DMCA Notices Into Piracy Lawsuits – TorrentFreak
Piracy monetization firm Rightscorp has signed an agreement to provide lawfirm Flynn Wirkus Young with the IP-addresses of persistent pirates. The data will be used to target U.S. Internet users who ignore DMCA notices and settlement offers sent by copyright holders. The first cases are already in progress.
Source: Rightscorp Deal Turns DMCA Notices Into Piracy Lawsuits – TorrentFreak
Want to harvest Facebook data? Get a mobile number and off you go • The Register
This is actually quite good advice:
“Assume that everything you post online will be available to the worst possible entities to cause you maximum grief,” he said.
Source: Want to harvest Facebook data? Get a mobile number and off you go • The Register
Verizon Thinks It’s A Good Idea To Mock New Jersey Taxpayers After Ripping Them Off For Years | Techdirt
We’ve noted a few times how Verizon has a rich history of taking taxpayer money, subsidies and tax breaks, then promising fiber deployment that never occurs. When it then comes time for local municipalities to hold the telco’s feet to the fire, campaign contributions ensure any investigation is short lived. It happened in Pennsylvania, it happened in New York City, and it recently happened in New Jersey, when state officials let Verizon off the hook for a 1993 promise to evenly deploy fiber across the state in exchange for billions in benefits.
Shortly after state officials let Verizon walk away from its obligations, they also granted Verizon exemption from regulations requiring it continue servicing DSL customers whose lines were paid for in large part thanks to billions in subsidies. As we’ve noted, companies like AT&T and Verizon are hanging up on customers they don’t want to upgrade, and forcing them instead to notably more expensive and capped wireless services. Many customers would prefer Verizon maintain or upgrade their fixed-line broadband connections, since they’ve paid an arm and a leg for them.
About fifty annoyed municipalities have now formed an alliance aimed at holding Verizon’s feet to the fire. Collectively, they’re trying to explore ways to hold Verizon accountable, require it to deliver promised upgrades, or at the very least maintain existing DSL lines until something better comes along. Verizon’s response? To mock these people as Luddites:
“But Verizon New Jersey spokesman Lee Gierczynski has called this “misplaced fear” resulting from “misinformation and misunderstanding about copper networks, fiber networks and the reliability of those networks.” “This is a classic example of how some people fear new technology so they reactively reject it instead of accepting it, no matter how irrational that fear may be,” Gierczynski said.