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The Top Dawg Entertainment rapper is looking to release his Crash Talk follow-up on March 1View the full article

Long out of print, the 1968 and 1970 albums will come to vinyl and CD next monthView the full article

The album, which Del Rey says she made with Jack Antonoff in Muscle Shoals, Nashville, and Mississippi, is apparently coming out in SeptemberView the full article

After its purported final tour last year, the band will play more than a dozen shows this springView the full article

Joel made his first original track since 2007 with Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon, and Wayne HectorView the full article

The accolade recognizes Black artists “whose dedication to the art form has greatly influenced the industry”View the full article

Last Friday, we reported on two Freedom of Information Act requests directed at two regional police forces in the UK. In almost identical requests, which appear to have been filed by the same person, Wiltshire Police and West Yorkshire Police were asked eight questions relating to enforcement measures taken against suppliers, distributors, and consumers of illegal streaming services. Both police forces said that no information was readily accessible, adding that it would take so long to retrieve information manually that the estimated costs rendered both requests ineligible for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. That was disappointing. A key component of an ongoing anti-piracy campaign in the UK includes sensitizing the public to the risk of being convicted for fraud offenses carrying prison sentences of up to 10 years. Not for getting involved in the supply or sale of pirate streams, but for simply watching them. Certainly, legal theory doesn’t rule out the possibility, but in a campaign that relies almost entirely on fear, hard independent facts would’ve been a welcome addition. Information Accessible, Reasonably Priced During the weekend, we learned that the eight questions covering the five-year period 2019-2023, rejected by Wiltshire Police and West Yorkshire Police for being too costly to answer, were also sent to Greater Manchester Police (GMP). With just one exception (question 7 relating to the supply of illegal streams, see earlier article) GMP answered every question. GMP reports that two people received a police caution for distributing or supplying illegal streaming services in 2021. During the same year, a total of two people were arrested for distributing or supplying illegal streaming services. There’s insufficient information in the response to determine whether the two people arrested in 2021 were the same people who received cautions in 2021. In 2022, one person was arrested for distributing or supplying illegal streaming services. Distribution, Supply, & Viewing Since GMP declined to answer question seven (which relates exclusively to the supply of illegal streams) but were happy respond to question six (which mentions both distribution and supply) it seems likely that all figures released here relate to distribution. Overall then, a maximum of three arrests and two cautions in a five-year period doesn’t sound like a lot, even accounting for the possibility of additional arrests/cautions/fines relating to action under question 7. Based on how many members of the public could be affected by the purported fraud prosecutions publicized in the media, we now turn to the most important disclosures by GMP with government figures for context. The most recent data published by the Intellectual Property Office estimates that in 2022 alone, 3.9 million people in the UK watched live sports via illegal streams. How many of the 3.9 million live in GMP’s area is unknown but, with almost 500 square miles of mostly urban conurbation and a population of 2.8 million, it accounts for 5% of the overall UK population. In its response to the FOIA request, Greater Manchester Police reveal that the number of people cautioned, fined and/or arrested for simply watching illegal streams in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 combined, was…..zero. Inconvenient Facts Are Still Facts GMP’s disclosure doesn’t come as a surprise but seeing the zero figure in black and white confirms our suspicions. Had there been a single arrest anywhere in the UK, purely for watching illegal streams, no effort would’ve been spared to ensure everyone heard about it. Whether similar disclosures will appear in the days and weeks ahead is unknown but thanks to GMP’s ability to accurately retrieve information, at least some facts have entered the public domain. If West Midlands Police or Leicestershire Police receive similar requests, their record retrieval skills shouldn’t disappoint. For a six-week period early 2023, West Midlands Police were able to report that four crimes were linked to Prime Energy drink, (pdf) including assault, harassment, criminal damage, and theft from a machine. None of the offenses related to the extortionate price of the drink, however. In response to a FOIA request to disclose caller logs that featured terms including ‘UFO’, ‘Alien’, ‘UAP’ and ‘spaceship’, Leicestershire Police went to considerable lengths to protect caller privacy (pdf). After being provided with an example of appropriate redaction (“Male caller named (REDACTED) reports seeing four flashing lights hovering above his property in (REDACTED) street before a female was beamed into the sky”) the force published a spreadsheet. It lists 65 calls but no information that could identify any particular caller. West Yorkshire Police received the same request (pdf) and was able to confirm that the words ‘UFO’, ‘UAP’, ‘ALIEN’ or ‘SPACESHIP’ appeared in log text 1805 times. GMP’s response to the FOIA request related to streaming is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Apple's upcoming iOS 18, likely to be announced during the company's WWDC event in June, might be one of the biggest in the company's history. This is according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who talked about the upcoming release in the subscribers-only portion of his newsletter (via 9to5Mac). He claims that iOS 18 is "seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company’s history." SEE ALSO: iOS 17.4 beta: 5 new features coming to iPhone, including Apple Podcasts transcripts The fact that Apple considers iOS 18 to be very important isn't new; Gurman himself wrote about it in November 2023, while also reporting that Apple then took the unusual step of pausing development of iOS 18 to focus on ironing out the bugs. One thing that makes the upcoming version of Apple's mobile platform is probably the focus on generative AI. According to Gurman, this means a smarter Siri and far more AI integration into basic iOS features including Messages and Apple Music. But Gurman now says that there's a "lot more" coming with iOS 18, although details on what, exactly, are absent. Macrumors pointed out that Apple announced support for cross-platform messaging standard RCS on the iPhone sometime later in 2024, which might coincide with the launch of iOS 18. For users, RCS support means that Android users will have a better experience when exchanging messages with iPhone users, and vice versa. In any case, with so much on the line, this year's WWDC will probably be exciting. Apple's developers-centered conference hasn't officially been announced yet, but it typically takes place in June. View the full article

"I like to manipulate the tears out of people with...sexiness." You know when an interview features Paul Mescal saying a line like that it's going to be a banger, and the Chicken Shop Date above by no means disappoints. Sitting opposite host Amelia Dimoldenberg, the All of Us Strangers star talks about everything from his newfound love of Guinness to his flirting techniques. It's every bit as hilarious and awkward as we'd hope it would be. View the full article

Lost called, it wants its polar bear back. One of the many mysteries of True Detective: Night Country is embodied by one of the cutest and deadliest animals on the planet: the majestic and terrifying polar bear. In the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle, during "the long night", this enormous pagophilic carnivore turns up again and again. It wanders through town in very real form; it appears in characters' homes in plush toy form; images of it flash at us during the opening credits. While these bears don't have anything to do with their island-dwelling kin in Lost, they strike the same chord of mystery in True Detective. SEE ALSO: How 'True Detective: Night Country' pulled off its most WTF moment What's the deal with the polar bears and why are they important to the story? Each week, we're tracking the polar bears of Night Country, tracing their appearances to pull this whole thing together with red yarn. Opening credits bearsIn the True Detective: Night Country opening credits, we see a rocking chair perched on the side of the icy road. A plush polar bear sits on the chair, with a close-up revealing it's missing an eye. Seconds later, a polar bear wanders onto the road, and another close-up shows it, too, is missing an eye. The plush polar bear is clearly important, as it appears later in the credits, floating in icy dark water. And of course, it turns up in the show from the very first episode. The plush polar bearIn episode 1, Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) is woken up in the middle of the night to a fervent whisper declaring, "She's awake." It comes after what seems to be a memory or a dream for Danvers, involving a child whose identity remains unknown — in her dream, a child's hand touches her shoulder. Bleary-eyed, Danvers then finds a plush polar bear toy on the floor in her room. It's missing an eye, and Danvers holds it looking pretty unsettled. It's definitely the plush bear from the credits, but as to who it belongs to, we're going to have to wait to find out. Credit: Michele K. Short/HBO In episode 3, when Navarro's out on the ice, she hears an eerie voice singing The Beatles' "Twist and Shout" (the song that triggers Danvers, the one that features in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the film the Tsalal scientists were watching when they disappeared). Navarro then sees a child running into the darkness and goes to catch up to them but slips and hits her head. She's transported to a vision of her time served in the military, sitting beside a burned home. A child wearing pyjamas and holding a plush polar bear puts their hand on Navarro's shoulder and whispers, "Tell my mommy." The polar bear in the middle of townAs Detective Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) investigates leads in town in Ennis in episode 1, she's driving around, calling potential witnesses and contacts, when her phone stops working. A voice whispers the same hissing "she's awake" message Danvers heard in her dream and Navarro hits the brakes. A large polar bear stands in the road, blocking her path and notably missing an eye. Standing its ground with a growl, the bear then retreats. As there are no other witnesses to this bear, it's unclear whether Navarro is looking at a real polar pal or not — but if it's not real, what does it mean? What do the polar bears mean in True Detective? As far as episode 1, it's still unclear what role the polar bears have to play in the series other than indicating a sinister presence in the story or suggesting a memory for Danvers. Are the polar bears connected to the research the missing scientists were conducting at the remote Tsalal Arctic Research Station? Is it a commentary on climate change? Does it connect to the reindeer that throw themselves over the cliff in the show's opening sequence? Is the polar bear Navarro saw in town real? Why do both the real polar bear and the plush toy have only one eye? We'll be updating this piece every week with any new polar bears per episode — we have a feeling they're not done. True Detective: Night Country is now streaming on Max. View the full article

If you're watching True Detective: Night Country, chances are you're glued to the screen scanning for clues like we are. And that means you're onto the spirals. In the fourth season of the HBO series, this time helmed by showrunner Issa López, police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) can't stop finding these symbols in their investigations. SEE ALSO: 'True Detective: Night County's Isabella Star LaBlanc and Anna Lambe on Indigenous representation It's not the first time we've seen sinister spirals in this show. As Mashable's Kristy Puchko points out, "In Season 1 of True Detective, spirals were a creepy recurring symbol tied to the Yellow King and his mystical murder spree." But what do the spirals mean? It's one of the burning questions we have for the season (along with those polar bears and what the hell that ungodly corpsicle is). Let's track them down in an act that will make a true armchair detective of us all. Episode 1 Evidence processing in spiral form. Credit: Michele K. Short/HBO Danvers makes the first spiral in the season herself as she's processing evidence related to the disappearance of the scientists from the remote Tsalal Arctic Research Station and the murder of Iñupiaq activist Annie Masu Kowtok (Nivi Pedersen). She inadvertently makes a spiral pattern of her printouts, finding her way to the pink parka jacket that will connect the cases before the actual spiral symbol starts showing up. Danvers and Navarro make a similar spiral processing evidence in episode 3. Episode 2 Clark's creepy caravan has a giant spiral on the ceiling. Credit: Michele K. Short / HBO After the discovery of the corpiscle, Danvers sweeps snow off the forehead of one of the frozen scientists and uncovers a spiral on the corpse's skin. Later, when Rose Aguineau (Fiona Shaw) is talking with Navarro, she asks whether the trooper saw the shape. When Navarro says she vaguely remembers seeing it before, Rose draws the shape in the snow and explains, "It’s old, missy. Older than Ennis. It's older than the ice, probably." Navarro remembers Annie had a tattoo of a spiral. She shows Danvers a picture of the design, proving the connection between their cases. Danvers begrudgingly follows the lead and asks a former worker from the Tsalal facility (L'xeis Diane Benson) about the symbol, who supposes it to be linked to witchcraft or a "devil sign." Her colleague (Kathryn Wilder) says she doesn't recognise it either. Noooope. Credit: Michele K. Short/HBO Later in the episode, Danvers figures out that one of the Tsalal scientists, Raymond Clark (Owen McDonnell), had gotten a spiral tattoo on his chest four days after Annie's body was found. The tattoo artist tells Danvers that Clark cried for "sentimental" reasons when he had it done, and shares the photo Clark gave as a design reference; it's a photo of the tattoo on Annie's back, and one that indicates Clark and Annie were lovers. Now officially teamed up on the cases, Danvers and Navarro find their way to Clark's creepy trailer, where a giant spiral (among other things) has been scrawled on the ceiling — above a woven, life-sized doll lying on the bed. By the end of the episode, they've figured out Clark's actually probably alive. Episode 3 Spiraling. Credit: Michele K. Short/HBO When Navarro is asking hairdresser Susan (Bridie Trainor) about Annie, she mentions Annie had showed Clark her tattoo when they first met, and that he was "fixated on it." Susan explains Annie came up with the design after seeing the spiral in recurring dreams in high school. "She got the tattoo, the dreams stopped," she says. In the very last moments of the episode, when officer Peter Prior (Finn Bennett) hacks into Annie's phone, he shows Navarro and Danvers a video from it, a recording of her last moments alive in the ice caves we've only seen in the opening credits. After a terrible scream, Annie seems to drop her phone, which continues to film the cave ceiling — where a spiral skeleton of some form of prehistoric sea creature can be seen embedded in the ice. Coincidence? What do the spirals in True Detective mean?It's still very early days in Night Country to make a call, but the symbol connects the murder of Annie Masu Kowtok and the disappearance of the scientists. Clark seems to be the key here, but the fact that Annie saw the symbol in recurring dreams hints at something more supernatural at play, perhaps. What the spiral means in this context is unclear so far, but as Rose says, it's an ancient symbol, which means historically there are loads of interpretations. Is Annie's tattoo connected to the ancient spiral skeleton in the ice? Whether or not Night Country's spirals connect to Season 1's use of the imagery remains to be seen. How to watch: True Detective airs Sunday nights on HBO/Max at 9 p.m ET/PT. View the full article

The spirals have been on an ongoing mystery in True Detective: Night Country, popping up on episode 2's frozen corpsicle as well as the roof of Clark's creepy trailer — and it looks like we'll be seeing more of them in episode 4. In the one-minute teaser above we see the symbol carved on a small rock and daubed in what looks like blood on the wall of a dark room. The creepy closing words, as police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) stand facing something unseen in the middle of nowhere? "You're all in the night country now." How to watch: True Detective airs Sunday nights on HBO/Max at 9 p.m ET/PT. View the full article

2023 was a great year for British TV (and for TV in general), but it looks like 2024 is already shaping up well. Not only do we have new seasons of Heartstopper, We Are Lady Parts and Bridgerton to look forward to, but there are also new royal dramas in the form of Mary & George and The Regime. Plus, there's an adaptation of Holly Jackson's wildly popular book A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and a brand new show from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. SEE ALSO: 'The Traitors' UK is just as fun as 'Succession'. If you're not watching it, you're missing out. Without further ado, here are the British TV shows we're most excited about in 2024 — and if you're outside the UK, you might need a VPN to see some of them before they hit Hulu, Max et al. 1. The Tourist, Season 2 Jamie Dornan returns for another season. Credit: BBC/Two Brothers/Steffan Hill The Tourist's first outing was an entertaining mix of dark comedy, thriller and Memento-style mystery in the Australian outback, following a man (Jamie Dornan) who wakes up with amnesia after a car accident and has to race to discover who he is — all while people are (you guessed it!) trying to kill him. The six-episode BBC miniseries made for a twisty adventure with plenty of surprises, so it'll be interesting to see where Harry and Jack Williams' show goes next as the main characters travel to Ireland to discover Dornan's character's roots. Starring: Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Olwen Fouéré, Diarmaid Murtagh, Nessa Matthews, Mark McKenna, Francis Magee, and Conor MacNeill. How to watch: The Tourist is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK. 2. Doctor Who The big one. Credit: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios A new series of Doctor Who always brings with it fresh excitement, but it's probably fair to say that Ncuti Gatwa's upcoming season — following on the heels of a popular Christmas special — has to be one of the most highly-anticipated in a while. As Mashable's Chris Taylor pointed out, rather than being known as Season 14, the upcoming series will be Season 1 — a fresh start. "This is New, New Who, then: A very Gen Z reboot," Taylor wrote. "As older fans cope with exploded brains and (potentially) seething anger, the Doctor merrily shape-shifts once more, changing what we thought knew yet again. And the show proves it has the chops to last another 60 years. Because it always takes us where we need to go." SEE ALSO: 'Doctor Who' Christmas specials ranked, and where to watch them Starring: Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Yasmin Finney, Bonnie Langford, Jinkx Monsoon, Jonathan Groff, Indira Varma, Lenny Rush, Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, Anita Dobson, Jemma Redgrave, Alexander Devrient, and Aneurin Barnard. How to watch: The new season of Doctor Who will be streaming on BBC iPlayer in May 2024. 3. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Holly Jackson's YA thriller is coming to the screen. Credit: BBC/Moonage Pictures/Joss Barratt Based on the first novel in Holly Jackson's wildly popular YA thriller series, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder follows teenage student Pip (Wednesday star Emma Myers) as she digs into a five-year-old murder case — and tries to prove that the person blamed wasn't actually the one responsible. This crime mystery is likely to get a lot of attention from the book's huge fanbase alone. Starring: Emma Myers, Zain Iqbal, Yali Topol Margalith, Asha Banks, Jude Collie, Raiko Gohara, Anna Maxwell Martin, Gary Beadle, Mathew Baynton, Henry Ashton, Mitu Panicucci, India Lillie Davies, Rahul Pattni, Orla Hill, Ephraim O.P. Sampson, Carla Woodcock, Yasmin Al-Khudhairi, Jessica Webber, Matthew Khan, Georgia Aaron, Adam Astill, Jackson Bews, Oliver Wickham, Annabel Mullion, and Adam Astill. How to watch: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder will be streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK, release date TBC. 4. Heartstopper, Season 3 What will happen next for Tao and Elle? Credit: Netflix / Samuel Dore Netflix's adaptation of Alice Oseman's beloved graphic novel Heartstopper will return for a third season this year, reuniting you with Charlie and Nick and their delightful gang of pals. They decided to make it official at the end of Season 1 and dabbled with saying "love" out loud in Season 2. Meanwhile, Tao and Elle finally figured out their feelings, Isaac found a name for his own sexuality, while Darcy's turbulent home life boiled over. Filming has wrapped for Season 3, with the first episode titled "Love." As far as characters go, the toxic Ben (Sebastian Croft) won't be back, but Oseman announced graphic novel character Michael Holden (Darragh Hand) will join the story. Can't bloody wait. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor Starring: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Jenny Walser, and Rhea Norwood. How to watch: Heartstopper Season 3 will be streaming on Netflix, date TBC. 5. We Are Lady Parts, Season 2 They're baaaaack. Credit: Channel 4 It's been a while since Nida Manzoor's comedy about an all-female Muslim punk bad made a splash with its first season, but fans will be pleased to hear that it won't be long before Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), Bisma (Faith Omole), Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse) and Amina (Anjana Vasan) are back on our screens. "The main critique for We Are Lady Parts remains that it is too short," wrote Mashable's Proma Khosla about Season 1. "I want eight episodes, or 10, or 50. Finishing the first season feels a lot like performing a stage gig; you won't remember every detail but you'll remember the feeling, a rush of joy and adrenaline that you were grateful to share with this motley, magnificent crew." Starring: Sarah Kameela Impey, Juliette Motamed, Faith Omole, Lucie Shorthouse, and Anjana Vasan. How to watch: We Are Lady Parts will be streaming on Channel 4 in the UK, then likely streaming on Peacock in the U.S. 6. This Town New Steven Knight show coming. Credit: BBC / Banijay Rights, Kudos / Robert Viglasky Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is back with a new show set around Birmingham, UK — a six-part mini-series that trades 1900s gangs for the early 1980s music scene while keeping the tension, violence and family drama that made Knight's earlier show such a hit. We don't have too much more info to go on at this stage, but the story will apparently follow the formation of a band "against a backdrop of violence." Sounds ominous. Starring: Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose, Eve Austin, Geraldine James, Peter McDonald, Freya Parks, Shyvonne Ahmmad, John Heffernan, Stefan Asante-Boateng, Séainín Brennan, George Somner, and Brendan Gibson. How to watch: This Town is available on BBC iPlayer from spring 2024. 7. Queenie Candice Carty-Williams' adaptation of her debut novel. Credit: Channel 4 Candice Carty-Williams has already had a big 2023 with her awesome BBC series Champion, but this year has even more on the horizon. The author has adapted her popular 2020 debut novel Queenie as a buzzy series with Onyx Collective and Channel 4, with Dionne Brown in the lead as the eponymous protagonist. With Carty-Williams at the helm as showrunner and executive producer, the series revolves around Queenie, a 25-year-old Jamaican-British journalist who's going through a break-up, navigating the mess of modern dating, and figuring out how to keep her job together, all while connecting with her family and incredibly tight group of friends. Starring: Dionne Brown, Jon Pointing, Samuel Adewunmi, Bellah, Sally Phillips, Tilly Keeper, Elisha Applebaum, Mim Shaikh, Llewella Gideon, Michelle Greenidge, Cristale De’Abreu, Joseph Marcell, Joseph Ollman, Melissa Johns, and Laura Whitmore. How to watch: Queenie will premiere in 2024 on Channel 4 in the UK and Ireland and will stream on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in all other territories. 8. The Responder, Season 2 Martin Freeman is back for another season. Credit: BBC/Dancing Ledge The corrupt antics of Liverpool cop Chris Carson (a gritty Martin Freeman) in The Responder's first outing made our list of the best British TV shows of 2022, so we're looking forward to seeing where Tony Schumacher's police thriller goes next. Alongside Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo also returns as fellow officer Rachel Hargreaves, this time separate from Carson and trying to rebuild her life after the grim events of Season 1. Starring: Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo, Warren Brown, MyAnna Buring, Emily Fairn, Josh Finan, Philip S McGuinness, Faye McKeever, Mark Womack, Adam Nagaitis, Bernard Hill, and Ian Puleston-Davies. How to watch: The Responder will be streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK, date TBC. 9. The Gentlemen Guy Ritchie's movie has expanded into a series. Credit: Christopher Rafael/Netflix Fans of Snatch, Lock, Stock and indeed the 2019 movie The Gentlemen will want to keep an eye out for writer/director Guy Ritchie's new series, which takes that movie as its starting point and weaves a new tale of weed empires and the criminal underworld. The eight-episode spin-off follows Eddie Horniman (The White Lotus Season 2's Theo James), who realises his newly-inherited family estate is actually embroiled in a drug ring run by British gangsters. As this is a Guy Ritchie show it's probably safe to expect black comedy and explosive violence. Starring: Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Giancarlo Esposito, Peter Serafinowicz, and Vinnie Jones. How to watch: The Gentlemen is streaming on Netflix from March 2024. 10. One Day Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall as Emma and Dexter. Credit: Teddy Cavendish/Netflix Looking for some romance to tide you over this coming Valentine's Day? One Day, based on David Nicholls's novel of the same name, is here to fill that void. (You may remember the 2011 movie adaptation with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.) The series takes us through a decades-long love story between students Emma and Dexter, who meet for the very first time the night of their graduation from university. Even though they go their separate ways, the next years find them reconnecting in unexpected places, with each episode cataloging what they're doing on the same date each year. Could this be 2024's Normal People?* Starring: Ambika Mod, Leo Woodall, Essie Davis, Tim McInnerny, Amber Grappy, Jonny Weldon, Eleanor Tomlinson, Joely Richardson, and Toby Stephens. How to watch: One Day is streaming on Netflix from Feb. 8. 11. Bridgerton, Season 3 Penelope has a lot to think about this season. Credit: Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix Dearest gentle readers, it's high time we reunite with the Bridgerton family, wouldn't you agree? After the swoon-worthy story of Queen Charlotte and King George, Netflix's juggernaut Bridgerton returns to its roots for a third season, this time focusing on the romance between Penelope Featherington (who is secretly gossip maven Lady Whistledown) and Colin Bridgerton. For the first time in Bridgerton history, Netflix will release the series in two parts — so be sure to time your binge viewing accordingly!* Starring: Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie, Luke Thompson, Golda Rosheuvel, Adjoa Andoh, Ruth Gemmell, Lorraine Ashbourne, Hannah Dodd, Simone Ashley, Jonathan Bailey, Harriet Cains, Bessie Carter, Jessica Madsen, Florence Hunt, Martins Imhangbe, Will Tilston, Polly Walker, and Julie Andrews. How to watch: The first four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 premiere May 16 on Netflix, and the last four on June 13. 12. Mary & George Julianne Moore as real-life historical figure Mary Villers. Credit: Sky Royal court-based treachery is always fun, isn't it? Sounding like a fusion of Game of Thrones and The Crown, Mary & George stars Julianne Moore as real-life historical figure Mary Villers, who teamed up with her own son George (Nicholas Galitzine) to scheme her way up the ranks of nobility. As with many historical dramas we may need to take this one's accuracy with a pinch of salt, but it certainly looks like an entertaining, Bridgerton-style romp. Starring: Julianne Moore, Nicholas Galitzine, Tony Curran, Nicola Walker, Niamh Algar, Trine Dyrholm, Sean Gilder, Adrian Rawlins, Mark O’Halloran, Laurie Davidson, Samuel Blenkin, Jacob McCarthy, Tom Victor, Alice Grant, Amelia Gething, Mirren Mack, Rina Mahoney, and Simon Russell Beale. How to watch: Mary & George premiere's on Sky and NOW TV in March 2024, and Starz in the U.S. 13. The Regime Kate Winslet dominates a political satire this time. Credit: Miya Mizuno/HBO Loved the Kate Winslet-led HBO limited series Mare of Easttown? Then brace yourself for The Regime, another Kate Winslet-led HBO limited series — albeit one with a very different vibe. A political satire through and through, the show charts the unraveling of a modern European regime over the course of one year. The chancellor of said regime? None other than Winslet, who spends The Regime's first teaser alternating between delivering ice-cold threats to foreign dignitaries and having a breakdown in the woods.* Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant, Danny Webb, David Bamber, Henry Goodman, Stanley Townsend, Louie Mynett, Rory Keenan, Karl Markovics, and Pippa Haywood. How to watch: The Regime is streaming March 3 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max in the U.S., and will stream on on Sky Atlantic and NOW in 2024, dates TBC. 14. How to Get to Heaven From BelfastIf you've seen the awesome Derry Girls, you'll know that any new show from Lisa McGee is a cause for celebration. How to Get to Heaven From Belfast follows three old school friends, now in their thirties, who get pulled into a strange mystery after attending the wake of a childhood classmate. Described in the press release as "Not so much a ‘whodunit’ as a ‘what the hell happened,'" this one sounds like it'll be as much of a thriller as a comedy. We don't yet know anything about the cast or when it'll be on, but we're keeping this one firmly on our radars. Starring: Yet to be announced. How to watch: How to Get to Heaven From Belfast is streaming on Channel 4 in 2024, exact date TBC. *This blurb has appeared on a previous Mashable list. View the full article

TL;DR: As of January 29, get the Poly Studio 4K Video System Speaker Bar on sale for $449.99 — usually $484.99. We live in a whole new era of remote and hybrid work. Because of our incredible tech and digital access, we can easily collaborate virtually, which is a different playing field than years ago. This also means that having a reliable and high-quality video conferencing solution is essential. The Poly Studio 4K Video System Speaker Bar will cover your audio and video conferencing needs in one convenient low-profile package. And it's on sale for just $449.99 (reg. $484.99). The Poly Studio Bar has a plug-and-play design. This means there's no need for complex installation time or technical expertise. You won't need the IT department to ensure your presentations, discussions, and collaborations are conveyed in clear 4K resolution right when you need it. The 120-degree field of view and digital zoom offers a way to include every detail of what you and your team are working on. As far as the audio, the powerful stereo speakers offer clear sound, while the NoiseBlockAI technology works to intuitively block out unnecessary sound that could distract from your meeting. It also features a six-microphone array to ensure everyone's voice is heard loud and clear. Plus, an acoustic fence makes sure just the voices in a particular space are picked up. This audio-video solution offers an easy-to-use professional meeting experience that can be relied on day in and day out. It is also compatible with nearly all platforms, including Skype and Microsoft Teams. It also comes with a remote, wall-mount kit, and table stand. Give your virtual meetings a professional polish with this audio-video conferencing system. Pick up the Poly Studio 4K Video System Speaker Bar while it's on sale for just $449.99 (reg. $484.99) for a limited time. StackSocial prices subject to change. Opens in a new window Credit: Poly Poly Studio 4K Video System Speaker Bar $449.99 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal View the full article

TL;DR: The Lavisha Cashmere-Blend Shawl is price-dropped to $15.97 through February 4 — that's $34 off the regular price of $50. Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so it's time to start brainstorming what to get your partner or Galentine. Or, you can be your own Valentine this year — we love an excuse to treat yourself to something nice. If the weather has been chilly, you or your valentine could benefit from a warm and elegant cashmere-wool blend shawl. This cold-weather accessory offers total comfort as it fashionably drapes over your shoulders and adds some spark to your ensemble — which could be exactly what you need to cocoon yourself in warmth during the winter months. Just be sure to order it by February 4 to receive it before Valentine’s Day. Embrace the luxurious feel, warmth, and style of the Lavisha Cashmere-Blend Shawl this winter season. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, this six-foot long shawl comes with other great benefits. Its soft fringe adds a touch of sophistication to any outfit, making you stand out in style. Ideal for those with sensitive skin, the shawl is hypoallergenic, providing the wearer with a comfortable feel that won’t itch or irritate the skin. Moreover, it’s fade-resistant, preserving the bold red color of this cashmere-wool blend shawl over time (it also comes in other colors). Act now to take advantage of the special pricing, and get this cashmere-wool blend shawl for just $15.97 (68% off) until 11:59 p.m. PT on February 4, with no coupon required. StackSocial prices subject to change. Opens in a new window Credit: Lavisha Lavisha Cashmere-Blend Shawl (Multiple Colors) $15.97 in the Mashable Shop Get Deal View the full article

TL;DR: As of January 29, get the ChatGPT & Automation E-Degree courses for only $29.99 — a 96% discount. You may have used AI tools like ChatGPT, but that doesn't mean you already know how to get the best results out of them. If you've spent hours editing results and refining your prompts and still haven't gotten the exact response from AI that you want, it might be time to study up with the ChatGPT and Automation E-Degree. This online learning opportunity is made up of 12 lectures on everything from tailoring ChatGPT to your industry, streamlining business processes with automation tools, and even exploring how AI and data visualization can intersect. Get the whole bundle on sale for $29.99. Become an AI expertThere's a lot more to ChatGPT than asking it to write your emails or summarize the articles you don't have time to read. This bundle gives you the chance to learn more about using AI to amplify your own creativity, contribute to different parts of your existing projects, and visualize data for you. Keep in mind that access to AI software isn't included in this bundle, but you may be able to use your own free OpenAI membership for some lessons. Each course is taught by a professional from Eduonix Learning Solutions, and you can progress at your own pace. All course materials are yours for life and can be viewed or re-viewed as many times as you'd like. Find out how to automate your industry Make sure to check out each lesson on using automation to make your own job easier. You might be wasting time on repetitive tasks you could delegate to AI. See what AI and automation tools can do to make your life easier when you get the ChatGPT and Automation E-Degree course on sale for $29.99. StackSocial prices subject to change. Opens in a new window Credit: Eduonix Learning Solutions ChatGPT & Automation E-Degree $29.99 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal View the full article

TL;DR: As of January 29, get this iRobot Roomba 675 Wi-Fi Robot Vacuum (Open Box) for just $149.99 — a savings of 16%. With the use of AI on the rise, it might be time to enlist it for another sector of work: household chores. If you want a robot to sweep your hardwood floors and vacuum your carpets, you should get an iRobot Roomba. While these can be spendy, this open-box model is only $149.99 (reg. $179.99). AI can clean your house nowJust turn the robot on and it’ll clean your home all on its own. The Roomba 675 uses a three-stage system and multi-surface brushes to lift dirt, dust, and pet hair from all rooms of your house — hardwood kitchen floors, carpeted living and bedrooms, and tiled bathrooms. It also has an edge-sweeping brush to get into nooks and crannies. Control your Roomba from anywhere with the iRobot HOME iOS or Android app. You could set custom schedules to have it run while you’re working or running errands, select an area of focus if there’s a particularly messy room, track its progress, or control it with voice commands through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. If you’re worried about your Roomba doing something crazy when you’re not around — like falling down the stairs or sucking up a rug — you can rest assured with intelligent object sensors and cliff detection that help prevent these issues. Save $30 with this open-box modelThese devices were purchased and returned (literally meaning their box has been opened). While it’s not brand-new and might have some cosmetic imperfections, your Roomba is reset to factory settings and includes all of its original accessories. Enlist this open-box iRobot Roomba 675 to keep your house tidy at just $149.99 (reg. $179.99). StackSocial prices subject to change. Opens in a new window Credit: iRobot iRobot Roomba 675 Wi-Fi Robot Vacuum (Open Box) $149.99 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal View the full article

Cloudy Parallels’ recent collaboration with American Idol sensation Robbie Rosen has unveiled a sonic masterpiece, establishing itself as one of the most impressive tracks in recent years. “Feel Nothin” is a fusion of Robbie’s soulful writing and Cloudy Parallels’ expert production that crafts a dynamic sound painting pictures of both sadness and inspiration. The vocals soar to epic heights, creating an emotive experience that transcends the boundaries of conventional electronic dance music. This marks Cloudy Parallels’ third consecutive release, each one surpassing the last in terms of innovation and musicality. The evolution in their sound is undeniable, and it’s no surprise that their latest track is destined to do big numbers like the last few have done. Limelight Music Entertainment takes center stage in orchestrating this collaboration, playing a pivotal role in bringing together two musical powerhouses. Their expertise in managing Cloudy Parallels is evident, as the collaboration not only maintains the duo’s signature style but also pushes the boundaries of what is expected in the EDM scene. As listeners immerse themselves in this electrifying collaboration, it becomes apparent that Cloudy Parallels and Robbie Rosen have not just created a song but an experience. The track’s infectious energy and profound undertones make it an unmissable addition to the biggest dance playlists around the world. This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Cloudy Parallels Collabs With American Idol Star: Robbie Rosen View the full article

For several decades, Disney has managed to keep the earliest footage of its iconic mouse protected. Notably, the 1998 U.S. Copyright Term Extension Act, also dubbed the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, extended copyright protection to 95 years. When Walt Disney released “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, he couldn’t have envisioned how important this short film would become, or that its entrance into the U.S. public domain would spark headlines worldwide. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened. Free Mickey On January 1, many people celebrated the public domain event by uploading “Steamboat Willie” to YouTube and elsewhere. This, ironically, triggered several takedown notices from Disney, which were swiftly retracted afterward. At the same time, a trailer for a Mickey-themed horror movie was making the rounds. The early versions of the Mickey character are now free to use, so non-Disney creators can use that to their advantage. This doesn’t mean that Mickey Mouse is completely free, however. Later iterations of the famous mouse remain well-protected and Disney has stated that it will safeguard those to the best of its ability. “We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright, and we will work to safeguard against consumer confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey and our other iconic characters,” Disney said. Steamboat… Silly Indeed, if we look at the recent takedown notices sent by Disney to Google there are plenty of Mickey references. There are even some mentioning “steamboat,” but those are not what they seem. The steamboat mentions point to “Steamboat Silly,” which is the final episode in The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse series. This short, released last year, celebrates the 100th Disney anniversary by bringing back many key characters. The episode is littered with easter eggs including references to the 1929 The Skeleton Dance and Dumbo’s debut in 1941. The undisputed star of the show, however, is the original Mickey Mouse. To make things more confusing, “Steamboat Silly” also includes footage from “Steamboat Willie” which could confuse automatic content recognition systems that flag pirated content. For now, however, we have seen no concrete evidence of that. As seen above, the publicly available takedown notices simply ask Google to remove URLs from its search engine that link to the 2023 “Steamboat Silly” release. Strangely enough, we also noticed that music group BPI targeted a site listing Roblox videos that include “Steamboat Willie” footage to protect content from an artist named “Willie,” but that must be a mistake. Pirates? Just how ‘free’ Mickey Mouse is today has yet to be seen and controversy remains likely going forward. Public domain rules are not the same everywhere in the world, but it’s safe to say that anyone can use the original “Steamboat Willie” footage under U.S. law. From a copyright angle, a public domain Mickey Mouse is highly intriguing, but it seems that pirates can’t be bothered by it. We searched a few torrent and streaming sites for a copy of “Steamboat Willie”, both before and after it entered the public domain, without result. Not strange, perhaps, for a 95-year-old show, but quite the contrast compared to YouTube where people can monetize it. Searching for “Steamboat” does return more pirate results, including copies of the 1928 classic “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” And the “Steamboat Silly” short, of course, which Disney can protect until 2119. By then, we won’t be around to check though. — From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Almost half a decade ago, eight Las Vegas men were indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to violate criminal copyright law. The U.S. government labeled Jetflicks and iStreamitAll as two of the largest pirate streaming platforms in the United States. Disguised as an aviation service, Jetflicks allegedly offered a library of 183,285 pirated TV episodes. iStreamitAll allegedly made available more than 118,479 TV shows and 10,980 movies to its customers; at the time more content than Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime could muster. Some Plead Guilty, Others Dig in Early on, Jetflicks programmer and iStreamitAll founder Darryl Julius Polo (aka djppimp) pled guilty to copyright infringement and money laundering; that earned him a 57-month sentence and a $1m forfeiture order. Fellow Jetflicks programmer Luis Angel Villarino pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. The remainder, Kristopher Lee Dallmann, Douglas M. Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Edward Jaurequi, Peter H. Huber, and Yoany Vaillant Fajardo, dug in for the long haul. And what a haul that turned out to be. COVID-19 Chaos Why this case has dragged on for so long isn’t easily explained. To say that personal issues played a role would be an understatement. COVID-19 played a role too, and also provided cover for numerous pre-trial release violations that led the government to conclude that at least one defendant, “may as well not be under any supervision at all.” One defendant refused court-ordered drug tests, informing a pretrial services officer that nothing could be done to enforce compliance. Another found out that wasn’t actually the case and was detained at least twice for violations. Then there were the allegations of illegal searches, effective denial of Miranda and Fifth Amendment rights, infliction of psychological stress due to the coercive tactics of the FBI, and motions to suppress evidence. Yet this barely scratches the surface when viewed from a whole case perspective. Trial Scheduled for March 2024 While it would be foolish to completely rule out the possibility of yet more drama unfolding between now and then, as things stand the case is scheduled for trial in Las Vegas starting March 4, 2024. Due to the “nature of the case” and “the difficulties it presents” counsel for at least two defendants have filed motions seeking the appointment of co-counsel. An earlier filing on behalf of Dallmann provides context on the scale of what lies ahead. “This case includes a voluminous amount of discovery and a lengthy docket sheet (i.e over 700 filings) in the Eastern District of Virginia. On April 15, 2022, the government provided defense counsel with approximately 423 gigabytes of data including at least 175,000 pages of print discovery (i.e. reports, photos, and spreadsheets),” it reads. Heavyweight Discovery For theoretical scale, a single sheet of regular office paper weighs around 5 grams, so 175,000 sheets represents 1,929lb (875kg) of print discovery. Other material in the 423GB haul includes FD-302s (FBI interview report forms), investigation reports, bank records, imaging reports, merchant transactions, emails from six different full Google accounts, search warrants, subpoena materials, audio and video recordings, and web page images. “Besides this data, the government provided another 18.68 terabytes of data including images of various electronics such as servers, phones, tablets, drives, and evidence obtained from Canada pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request,” the filing adds. As previously reported, the U.S. requested access to this data in March 2018 under the US-Canada Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). The data was eventually handed over to the Department of Justice some 21 months later. It reportedly included reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, subscriber information documents, a list of tickets and messages pertaining to subscribers, plus five forensic images of servers located at OVH, a hosting provider in Canada. Last September, Dallmann’s defense team reported that additional discovery-related requests were filed with the government in early 2023. A request made in February that year required the defense to supply their own hard drives in order to receive copies of the data. “The government estimates it will take at least a couple of months to copy the data. The data requested contains 63.2 TB of storage.” From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

With more ways to stream online video than ever before, protecting video continues to be a key issue for copyright holders. This is often achieved through Digital Rights Management, better known as DRM; an anti-piracy tool that dictates when and where digital content can be accessed. Widevine DRM is one of the leading players in the field. The Google-owned technology is used by many of the largest streaming services including Amazon, Netflix, Disney+ and others. As such, keeping it secure is vital. Unfortunately for rightsholders, most protection measures have their weak spots. Widevine DRM comes in different security levels and pirates have repeatedly shown that the lower specifications are not exactly watertight. Lawsuit Against ‘DRM-Bypassing IPTV Pirates’ As a result of these and other weaknesses, pirate IPTV services are booming. This is a thorn in the side of Sling TV and parent company Dish Network, which sued one of these operations in a U.S. court this week. The complaint, filed at the federal court in Atlanta, targets “Channel Wala”, “Doordarshan,” and several related individuals and companies, all from Georgia. They stand accused of selling set-top boxes (STBs) through their websites and Amazon stores. One of the stores While the hardware itself is not illegal, the sellers also promoted free trials and paid subscriptions through stickers on these streaming boxes. These were more problematic, according to the undercover agents who purchased them. “An investigator purchased a STB from Defendants through Channelwala.com. Upon receipt of the STB, the investigator messaged Defendants at the WhatsApp number on the sticker on the box and requested a free trial of the Services.” The Whatsapp conversation below shows that the investigator did get the promised free trial. This allowed them to access Dish and Sling channels, as well as those of many other media companies. According to the complainants, this is all done without permission from rightsholders. Undercover WhatsApp (large) Stickers and Flyers In addition to the free trial, the investigator also discovered boxes with other stickers through Channelwala.com and the “MAG Box store” on Amazon. These versions directed buyers to visit Tvplususa.com, where they could get setup instructions and a streaming subscription for $6.99 per month. All of these offers are unauthorized, Dish and Sling say. Besides the sticker promos, the plaintiffs also ran into several advertisements on Facebook and even flyers in physical stores throughout Atlanta. “Defendants market the Services by distributing flyers and business cards in Indian grocery, liquor, and retail stores, gas stations, and other locations in the Atlanta metropolitan area,” the complaint reads. Flyers As shown above, these flyers advertised the IPTV streaming service as an “Authorized Retailer” for Dish and Sling, which people could “WATCH FOR $7/mo.” This amounts to false advertising and misuse of the Dish and Sling trademarks, the complaint notes. Circumventing Widevine DRM Thus far, the allegations are pretty straightforward. The people and companies involved, including Channel Wala LLC and Parshva Distributor LLC, sold set-top boxes that were linked to pirate IPTV services. However, it doesn’t stop there. The complaint adds several DMCA violations, accusing the defendants of circumventing Widevine DRM. This is not the first time that Dish and Sling have brought DRM-related claims before a court, but here they are rather specific about what happened. “The Widevine DRM […] is circumvented using a specially developed computer program that emulates the behavior of a reverse engineered hardware device,” the complaint explains. “The computer program tricks Sling’s Widevine DRM server to grant access and provide a channel decryption key by making the server believe the request originated from a legitimate Widevine supported device that would keep the channel decryption key secured.” The reverse-engineered hardware doesn’t keep Sling’s programming secure, of course, as it can easily be copied now. “The unencrypted Channel can be uploaded to a server outside of the Sling platform and retransmitted to any number of users that can receive the Channel without purchasing a legitimate subscription from Plaintiffs,” the complaint notes. Cease and Desist The DRM circumvention technique is described in detail but it’s not immediately clear if the defendants had a hand in coding it. They are accused of using it, however, to pass on a variety of protected channels, also from many other rightsholders who use Widevine. Last summer, Dish reportedly warned the defendant about their presumed illegal activities. The company sent a cease and desist notice in June, asking them to stop, but without result. According to the complaint, some sites were taken down but the IPTV operation kept working with resellers. Defendant Abhishek Shah allegedly runs a $20+ million business, while encouraging resellers to ignore the legal threat and keep going. “Abhishek Shah forwarded an image of Plaintiffs’ cease and desist letter to numerous resellers that purchase the STBs and Services from Defendants stating he has made more than $20 million, ‘continue business as usual,’ ‘DISH can’t stop us,’ ‘I am putting down my website but it does not impact you in any way,..,” the complaint reads. Injunction and Damages Through the lawsuit, Dish and Sling hope to recoup damages, which could easily run into many millions of dollars. Besides the DMCA violations, where every subscription sold is seen as an individual offense, the rightsholders also request damages for trademark infringement. Finally, they seek a permanent injunction to shut down the IPTV operation and have all infringing products destroyed. At the time of writing, the Channelwala.com, Thegreatiptvsub.com, and Tvplususa.com websites are all offline. However, the resellers may still be in business, as the defendants instructed. — A copy of the complaint Dish and Sling filed at the federal count in Atlanta, Georgia, is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

San Pacho has grown to become one of the most buzzworthy artist in tech house and for good reason. His knack for crafting these bouncy, infectious grooves paired with house elements dating back to the roots of the genre is unlike any other. Now, he’s back with a new single “No Guest List”, a lively symbol of San Pacho’s creativity, seamlessly merging high-energy, club-ready dynamics with an epic, catchy, and formidable style. “No Guest List” is marked by thrilling build-ups and expertly executed drops, encapsulates the essence of the clubbing experience. San Pacho’s rapid ascent in the music industry is a story of relentless pursuit and bold innovation. His collaborations with labels like Insomniac, Terminal Underground, Sink or Swim and others are a stark example to his versatility and forward-thinking approach. His work has not only captivated listeners but also garnered the respect and support of industry pioneers such as Tiesto, Chris Lake, MK, Matroda & many other A-list DJs. Listen below! This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: San Pacho Drops Electrifying Single “No Guest List” View the full article

Elohim is without a doubt of the most prominent female acts right now in Electronic Music, known for lyrics that go straight to your heart with beats that make you want to dance. Today, she’s back with her first single of 2024, “Can’t Remember Your Name.” Building on the emotional depth of her previous track, “Broken Face,” released in December, Elohim delves deeper into the intricacies of her mental journey with this new release. In “Can’t Remember Your Name,” she unveils her experiences with the fluctuating challenges of finding comfort in prescription medication, a personal struggle she confronted during her tour in the autumn of 2023. Within a span of merely two weeks, she shed more than ten pounds and grappled with uncontrollable shaking and daily vomiting, all stemming from overwhelming anxiety and panic. Recognizing the perilous health implications of excessive benzodiazepine use, Elohim’s team intervened, concluding that it was imperative for her to return home and seek assistance. Elohim shares her experience, saying “medication has been amazing, life-saving, and life-changing for me but it also began to lead me down a dark and unhealthy path. When I was touring in the fall I wasn’t myself. I was puking every day, I couldn’t stop shaking, I couldn’t eat. I felt and looked like a zombie. Taking a small prescribed dose of benzodiazepines to get through in an emergency was nothing new to me but this level of anxiety and panic was. After those two weeks on the road I realized I could not rely on temporary fixes, I needed a proper treatment plan. I made the decision to cancel the rest of the tour, go home, and focus on my health. I am happy to share that with the help of medical professionals I have a solid treatment plan which includes SSRIs, exercise, and intensive therapy. ‘Can’t Remember Your Name’ is a song that explores the ups and downs I experienced taking medication.” “Can’t Remember Your Name” is a mesmerizing combination of pop melodies driven by vibrant bass elements. The track envelops Elohim’s consistently ethereal vocals with swelling bass, resonant synths, and an irresistible beat. Featuring resonant traces of vulnerability and serving as a powerful testament to the unpredictable highs and lows of medication, “Can’t Remember Your Name” fearlessly immerses itself into the psyche of Elohim. Check it out below! This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Premiere: Elohim Releases Vulnerable New Single “Can’t Remember Your Name” View the full article

For the past few years, regional police forces in the UK have shown a growing interest in cracking down on those involved in the supply of illegal streams. With regional organized crime units now part of the mix, joint press releases featuring police, the Premier League, Sky, and the Federation Against Copyright Theft, report enforcement action on a fairly regular basis. The importance of protecting copyright holders from criminal groups is the overriding message but for the last 12 months in particular, emphasis has shifted to include those who consume pirated content too. A see-saw of deterrent messaging warns consumers not to become a victim of crime, through malware, fraud, and identity theft, for example. As that pushes pirates down on one side, the journey back up sees the same people warned of potential convictions for fraud, in this case for obtaining services dishonestly. Baseless Threats or Genuine Intent? Recent coordinated amplification of these threats in the tabloids has certainly raised awareness. Unfortunately, however, massive revving of the engine not only came too soon, but has left deterrent messaging with almost nowhere to go. Casual pirates are asking more questions than they did before. That may be considered a plus but, when it comes to weighing up risk, the lack of information weighs in favor of pirates, not against. The big question, then, is whether there’s any real intent behind the stark warnings. Since history has a habit of predicting the future, knowing what has been happening on the enforcement front could prove informative. Two Freedom of Information requests published this week asked two regional police forces to fill in the gaps. The first, dated December 19, 2023, was directed at Wiltshire Police. It asked the following questions, all related to live sports streaming piracy, for the years 2019 to 2023 inclusive. (Questions edited to remove repetition) 1. How many people were cautioned for viewing illegal streams? 2. ….. were given penalty notices for viewing illegal streams? 3. ….. were arrested for viewing illegal streams? 4. ….. were cautioned for distributing / supplying illegal streaming services? 5. ….. were given penalty notices for distributing / supplying illegal streaming services? 6. ….. were arrested for distributing / supplying illegal streaming services? 7. For questions 4, 5 & 6, how many were supplying illegal streams digitally? 8. For questions 4, 5, & 6, were supplying illegal streams through dodgy boxes/firesticks? Since any convictions of note are extremely well-publicized for deterrent purposes, ballpark figures are more readily available for distribution-related offenses. Question 7 appears somewhat redundant and only the person who asked the question would know the purpose of number eight. It would be interesting to know the specific figures for 3, 4 and 5, while the answer to 6 would be much more valuable if placed against the number people actually prosecuted, rather than simply arrested. No Information Provided, Too Expensive to Process Of most interest, in our opinion, are the questions relating to those who faced action for simply viewing streams. The answers to those might inform those who remain undecided about the nature of recent warnings. Unfortunately, Wiltshire Police provided nothing of value. The key points from the Force Disclosure Decision Maker’s response read as follows: The information that you are requesting is not stored in a way which permits easy retrieval. This is because illegal streaming does not have a specific crime code on our system. Therefore, in order to ascertain whether a caution was given due to illegal sports streaming, we would have to go into each individual occurrence on our system to determine whether this is related to the matter in question. Under the circumstances I am absolutely confident that to locate, retrieve and extract the information you seek would by far exceed the time obligations upon this authority to comply, and in so doing would exceed the fees limits. This is set at £450 calculated at a flat rate of £25 per hour for those work activities comprising of confirming the information is held, locating it, retrieving it and extracting it. Ordinarily under our Section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance, we would advise you how to refine your request to a more manageable level. However, due to the difficulties outlined above, I cannot see how this can be achieved in this particular case. The questions sent to West Yorkshire police were broadly similar. This time, however, the decision to suggest specific keyword searches such as ‘set-top box’, ‘top box piracy’, ‘Kodi’, ‘IPTV’, ‘firestick’, ‘dodgy box’ & ‘internet TV media box’, plus ‘sports streaming’, ‘sports piracy’, ‘illegal streaming’, and ‘football streaming’, may have unintentionally captured other offenses. “Between 01/01/2019 and 18/12/2023 there were 1,287 crimes recorded based on the offenses and/or keywords provided. In order to provide a response to the full question set would involve a manual review of each crime. At an estimate of 1 minute per record this would take 22 hours to provide. In addition to this there were 1,939 arrests for the aforementioned offenses taking a further 65 hours at 2 minutes each,” the response reads. “Unfortunately, West Yorkshire Police are unable to provide you with the information requested.” Yorkshire Police note that a revised request may be considered but even then, reasons exist for not providing the requested information. “We may be able to provide you with information based on crimes classified as an offense under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and specifically related to illegal streaming. Please note however any information held is subject to exemptions under the Freedom of information Act,” the rejection notice adds. It’s worth noting that viewers of illegal streams have been advised of a potential offense under the Fraud Act. Lack of Access to Information That the requests were unsuccessful doesn’t come as an especially big surprise. We’ve had our own narrow requests rejected in the past, and we’ve seen other requests handled in the same way. What does seem remarkable is that scant police resources are being deployed to tackle a very specific type of crime, as part of a national campaign that has government support, yet readily accessible figures are simply unavailable. That raises the question of whether deterrent and enforcement measures undergo evaluation for efficacy within the force, or if rightsholders supply that information for the guidance of the police. If that’s the case, even in part, history shows that the problem is perpetual, rarely improves for very long, and only responds to changes in the market that are non-reliant on force. Avon & Somerset Police Has Its Own Pirate Website While trying to determine whether additional FOIA requests had been filed with other forces in the UK, something rather bizarre caught our attention. The website of Avon & Somerset Police is usually available at avonandsomerset.police.uk and indeed still is, as the image below (left) shows. On the right is the website as it appears on the ‘opcc-maintenance’ subdomain of avonandsomerset.police.uk. The small text on the left, whatever it means, was enlarged by us. That doesn’t look like a standard police-issue font. More significant concerns appear in search engines where at least hundreds of police URLs containing the ‘rogue’ subdomain now advertise pirate streams of live sporting events. It’s possible the subdomain started life as a staging area for web development but as the image below shows, the current situation goes way beyond that. click to zoom On the left of the image is a small sample of the modified URLs as listed in search engines. In the middle, a small selection of the hundreds or thousands of links claiming to offer pirated live streams. On the right is a screenshot of where people end up after clicking any of the police links containing the subdomain. Mindful of all the malware stories lately, we progressed no further, even though the Australian Open was apparently on offer. Those visiting that portal via the links in search engines proceed at their own risk; anyone with the nerve to do this to a police website wouldn’t think twice about doing almost anything else, to anyone else, should the opportunity arise. Avon & Somerset Police have been informed via the regular ‘report a crime’ system, but this may have been going on for quite some time already. There are no URLs listed on the Wayback Machine, but publicly-listed subdomain scans show that the problematic subdomain existed back in the summer of 2020. The Freedom of Information requests can be found here and here (pdf) Crime reported, delays expected From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

The Oscars are the most anticipated movie awards show of the year, as the elusive statue is widely regarded as Hollywood’s highest accolade. The winners are selected by Academy members following extensive screening sessions. In the past, copies of advance screeners leaked en masse, creating an annual bounty hunt for online pirates. OscarTorrents… The troubling relationship between the Oscars and pirates reached a peak in 2007 when The Pirate Bay promoted an alternative voting process. Through Oscartorrents.com, pirates could download the nominated films, review them, and vote for their favorite. This rogue Oscars alternative taunted Hollywood by attracting over 100,000 ‘pirate’ votes and many more illegal downloads. In the end, both pirates and Academy members picked The Departed as the Best Picture, with Martin Scorsese voted the best director. After its first award show, OscarTorrents never returned, but that doesn’t mean that pirates have lost their interest in the annual event. While Oscar screeners no longer leak online today, most contenders are already available on pirate sites. Piracy Boost for Oscar Contenders Looking at the download numbers for all ‘Best Picture’ contenders, we can see that the annual nominations boost is still intact. An extensive dataset of BitTorrent downloads shows that ‘smaller’ films enjoy the relatively largest piracy spikes. “Poor Things” has a 124% increase in downloads if we compare the numbers this Tuesday and Wednesday, to the same days last week. “Anatomy of a Fall” saw a 71% spike in downloads, followed by “Maestro” and “Past Lives” respectively. Estimated torrent downloads (Jan 15 – 24) Below is an overview of all findings. This includes all Best Picture nominees except “The Zone of Interest” and “American Fiction,” which either aren’t available yet or had small download numbers. Movie Increase (Jan 16/17 vs. 23/24) Anatomy of a Fall 71% Barbie 4% The Holdovers 18% Killers of the Flower Moon 30% Maestro 53% Oppenheimer 3% Past Lives 48% Poor Things 124% Overall, we can see that relatively smaller films get a bigger piracy boost. For Oppenheimer and Barbie, the nomination effect is minimal and likely not statistically significant. These movies do have more downloads and streams on pirate sites overall, of course. Pirates are People Too This spike in interest for lesser-known films likely isn’t limited to pirate sites. The extra exposure from the Oscar nominations generally boosts interest in the films through legal channels as well. This shows that, in addition to prestige, an Oscar can also bring in revenue. The numbers reported here once again illustrate that pirates are not dissimilar to their non-pirating counterparts. They are just as susceptible to advertising and media attention as everyone else. With this in mind, we can confidently predict a massive piracy spike if one of the smaller films wins the Best Picture Award in March. A win for Oppenheimer, on the other hand, is not expected to move the needle much. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article