https://soundcloud.com/thewanshow/the-eus-new-laws-could-kill-youtube-the-wan-show-oct-26-2018

 

Main News Topics

Google mandates 2 years of security updates for popular phones

Source 1: D13H4RD2L1V3 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/986835-google-mandates-android-oems-to-provide-patches-to-their-phones-for-2-years-after-launch/

Source 2: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/24/18019356/android-security-update-mandate-google-contract

 

• Every month, a security team at Google releases a new set of patches for Android — and every month, carriers and manufacturers struggle to get them installed on actual phones.

• confidential contracts obtained by The Verge show many manufacturers now have explicit obligations related to updates:

  • required to regularly install updates for any popular phone or tablet for at least two years.

  • they must provide “at least four security updates” within one year of the phone’s launch.

  • Security updates are mandated within the second year as well, though without a specified minimum number of releases.

• The terms cover any device launched after January 31st, 2018 that’s been activated by more than 100,000 users.

• Manufacturers have to patch flaws identified by Google within a specific timeframe.

  • By the end of each month, covered devices must be protected against all vulnerabilities identified more than 90 days ago

• If manufacturers fail to keep their devices updated, Google could withhold approval of future phones, which could prevent them from being released.

• It’s unclear whether this applies only to Europe, or everywhere

 

How much will Google apps cost in Europe?

Source 1: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/19/17999366/google-eu-android-licensing-terms

Source 2:

 

• Last week we learned that Android OEMs would no longer be forced to include Google Search and Chrome, but that they would have to pay to put the Google Play Store on the phone.

• Now we’ve learned how much this could cost.

• A leaked fee schedule shows costs as high as $40 per device to install the “Google Mobile Services” suite of apps, which includes the Google Play Store.

• The new fees vary depending on country and device type, and it would apply to devices activated on or after February 1st, 2019.

  • EU countries are divided into three tiers, with the highest fees coming in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.

  • In those countries, a device with a pixel density higher than 500 ppi would have to pay a $40 fee

    • Pixel ⅔ XL

    • S9 and S9+

  • 400 to 500 ppi devices would pay a $20 fee,

    • Pixel 3

    • Iphone X, Xs, Xs Max

  • devices under 400 ppi would pay only $10.

    • iPhone Xr

  • for lower-end phones in some countries, the fee can be as little as $2.50 per device.

• Google is also offering separate agreements to cover some or all of the licensing costs for companies that choose to install Chrome and Google search on their devices as well

• Tablets face an entirely different pricing tier, applied evenly across countries and capping out at $20 per device.

• manufacturers that don’t preinstall Chrome could also miss out on search revenue from the browser, a long-standing incentive to prioritize Google and its apps.

 

Meme Tax means maybe you can’t upload to YouTube

Source 1: rcmaehl https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/985960-content-ban-anza-youtube-to-ban-video-uploads/

Source 2: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/youtube-eu-copyright-rules-meme-ban-article-13-11-latest-google-a8596366.html

Source 3: https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2018/10/a-final-update-on-our-priorities-for.html

 

• The EU's new copyright directive, known as article 13, will force major platforms like YouTube to scan through everything uploaded to them and ensure that nothing in it includes copyrighted content.

• Letter from YouTube’s CEO:

  • "It would be too risky for platforms to host content from smaller original content creators, because the platforms would now be directly liable for that content."

  • "The proposal could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies,"

 

Big win for Right to Repair

Source 1: iamdarkyoshi https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/987097-bypassing-software-locks-to-fix-your-electronics-is-now-legal/

Source 2: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xw9bwd/1201-exemptions-right-to-repair

Source 3: https://www.pcgamer.com/us-congress-deems-it-legal-to-circumvent-drm-to-repair-electronic-devices/

 

• The Librarian of Congress and US Copyright Office has proposed new rules that will let consumers and independent repair experts legally hack embedded software on their devices in order to repair or maintain them.

• Essentially, the federal government has ruled that consumers and repair professionals have the right to legally hack the firmware of “lawfully acquired” devices for the “maintenance” and “repair” of that device.

  • This exemption to copyright law will apply to smartphones, cars, smart home appliances, and many other devices.

• it allows breaking digital rights management (DRM) and embedded software locks for “the maintenance of a device or system … in order to make it work in accordance with its original specifications” or for “the repair of a device or system … to a state of working in accordance with its original specifications.”

• the decision doesn’t make DRM illegal, it just makes it legal for the owner of a device to bypass it for the purposes of repair

• GAMES: allows "copying and modification of the computer program to restore access to the game for personal, local gameplay on a personal computer or video game console” when the copyright-owner has disabled the game’s server - letting gamers restore functionality when online play has been disabled

 

What’s Coming Out on Floatplane? Go Over Current Week.

Rapid Fire

iOS 12 defeats GrayKey iPhone unlocker

Source 1: DrMacintosh https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/986893-ios-12-defeats-graykey/

Source 2: https://www.cultofmac.com/585260/ios-12-defeats-graykey-iphone-unlocker-law-enforcement/

 

• GrayKey, the unlocking tool to used by police to access password-protected iPhones, Previously, has been defeated by iOS 12.

  • … for now?

• GrayKey works by getting around limits on the number of times a password can be entered into the iOS device, and how frequently.

  • Once the passcode has been bypassed, the device can download the entire contents of the phone or tablet.

• A new report says that GrayKey is only able to operate in “partial extraction” mode on iOS 12 devices. That means it cannot decrypt the full device storage.

  • any passcode-locked iPhone automatically encrypts the contents of the device

  • All investigators get are a few unencrypted configuration files and metadata about files and folders (files sizes, folder structure, and so on).

• GrayKey starts at $15,000 with a limit of 300 uses, and an unlimited version costs $30,000

 

Breakthrough: twisted fibre optics

Source 1: AlexOak https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/986666-twisted-fibre-optic-light-breakthrough/

Source 2: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/24/twisted-fibre-optic-light-breakthrough-could-make-internet-100-times-faster

 

• A new development in fibre optics could make internet speeds up to 100 times faster by detecting light that has been twisted into a spiral.

• Fibre optic cables use pulses of light to transmit information, but currently information can only be stored through the colour of the light, and whether the wave is horizontal or vertical.

• By twisting light into a spiral, you get a third dimension for light to carry information: orbital angular momentum, or spin.

 

Facebook gets slap on the wrist for Cambridge Analytica scandal

Source 1: AluminiumTech https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/987109-facebook-gets-a-weak-slap-on-the-wrist-from-uk-data-watchdog-for-cambridge-analytica-scandal/

Source 2: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/25/18021900/facebook-cambridge-analytica-scandal-uk-data-watchdog-ico-fines-maximum-amount

 

• The UK’s data watchdog has levied the maximum possible fine against Facebook for its failure to protect user’s personal information in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

• The fine is just £500,000 ($644,000), a small fee for a company that posted $13.2 billion in revenue in the last quarter alone.

  • the figure was calculated using the UK’s 1998 Data Protection Act

  • under the EU’s new GDPR regulations, the fine would have been £17 million ($22 million) or 4% of Facebook’s global turnover.

 

Google paid Andy Rubin $90 Million after alleged Sexual Misconduct

Source 1: AluminiumTech https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/987117-report-google-paid-andy-rubin-90-million-after-he-allegedly-coerced-sex-from-employee-google-rewards-sexual-misconduct/

Source 2: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html

 

• Andy Rubin, the father of Android, was apparently asked to resign from Google in 2014 after the company was given a tip - that they deemed credible - that Rubin had engaged in secual misconduct with another Googler in 2013.

  • The woman, with whom Mr. Rubin had been having an extramarital relationship, said he coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room

• Google could have fired Mr. Rubin and paid him little to nothing on the way out. Instead, the company handed him a $90 million exit package, paid in installments of about $2 million a month for four years.

  • After Mr. Rubin left, the company invested millions of dollars in his next venture

• a spokesman for Rubin disputed that Rubin had been told of any misconduct at Google and said he left the company of his own accord.

  • “The New York Times story contains numerous inaccuracies about my employment at Google and wild exaggerations about my compensation,”

  • “These false allegations are part of a smear campaign by my ex-wife to disparage me during a divorce and custody battle.”

• Rubin was one of three executives that Google protected over the past decade after they were accused of sexual misconduct.

  • In two instances, it ousted senior executives, but softened the blow by paying them millions of dollars as they departed, even though it had no legal obligation to do so.

  • In a third, the executive remained in a highly compensated post at the company. Each time Google stayed silent about the accusations against the men.

• In an email to staff, Google CEO wrote that the company had fired 48 people for sexual harassment over the last two years and that none of them received an exit package.

 

Flexible display on a laptop?

Source 1: https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/samsung-wants-to-bring-its-foldable-amoled-displays-to-laptops-too/

Source 2: https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3065156/samsung-is-reportedly-working-on-foldable-laptop-displays

 

• Samsung’s VP of PC marketing recently touched on the company’s foldable display plans at a recent event:

  • “Like foldable smartphones, Samsung is collaborating with display makers to develop laptops with foldable displays that will not just simply fold in and out but create new value and user experience”.

• These laptop displays would use Samsung’s AMOLED technology

 

Motorola launches official phone repair kits

Source 1: https://www.techradar.com/news/motorola-and-ifixit-team-up-for-official-phone-repair-kits

Source 2:

 

• Motorola has announced it will be teaming up with iFixit to provide official screen and battery repair replacement kits for a number of its devices.

• The kits will cost between $40 and $200 depending on the repair needed, and will include both replacement parts and the specialized tools required to carry out the repair.

• On sale now are kits for a range of Motorola devices

  • including the Moto G5, Droid Turbo 2 and Moto Z Play.

• Users will also be given an online guide to walk them through the process, which iFixit says can often be done entirely solo.

 

OnePlus event moved because Apple

Source 1: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/oneplus-6t-launch-event,news-28346.html

Source 2:

 

• Apple decided to have a second event, putting it on the same day as OnePlus’ event.

• OP moved their event to the day before.

• Is this a blessing for OnePlus?

First? Also, Linus/Luke, how will Floatplane be dealing with Article 13 if it passes?

Quote

October 26, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

4 hours ago, LinusTech said:

.

2016?? Also that fiber optic thing is cool.

Edited October 27, 2018 by MEC-777
Removed quoted content.

Anyone else feel like now the WAN show is just a longer TechLinked?

Why did you include iPhones in the Android play store fee thing?

I would like a more structured show again. I mean it was always caotic and we love that but if you could go back to kinda listing the news and talking about them in order instead of one huge kinda uncontrolled conversation with intermittent rants  thx

I did this calculation once before, for those interested, just the people cost ALONE to police all content with people would cost google something like $500 million/year at least and that's paying people federal minimum wage and not taking anything else but salary into account. Factor in health care costs, building, etc. and you're looking at billions of dollars a year just to police YouTube content.

1 hour ago, Lurick said:

I did this calculation once before, for those interested, just the people cost ALONE to police all content with people would cost google something like $500 million/year at least and that's paying people federal minimum wage and not taking anything else but salary into account. Factor in health care costs, building, etc. and you're looking at billions of dollars a year just to police YouTube content.

What if they watched the video on 2x speed like I do with Techquickie?

 

@LinusTech: Re: travel to events - could it be more cost-effective to hire local freelance journalists in NY and China to provide coverage, rather than have you or your employees go out there?

In the past, you've sold floatplane as somewhere to upload whatever you want with no supervision. With article 13 where does that leave you?

How big are the fees in Austria?