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Get a LED color-changing floor lamp for $69.99 (reg. $149.99) or a two-pack for $119.99 (reg. $299.99) in the Mashable Shop.View the full article

Save 53% on a refurbished Microsoft Surface Pro 6 at the Mashable Shop, now on sale for $393.99.View the full article

Get a 2017 refurbished 13" MacBook Air for only $399.99 in the Mashable Shop.View the full article

Fall movie lineup 2023. From "Killers of the Flower Moon" to "Poor Things," "Saw X," and more.View the full article

In Jennifer Reeder's horror, a young woman discovers a strange, bloody power and uses it to track a serial kidnapper. Film review.View the full article

The dating site feels outdated, spammy, and confusing to navigate. Zoosk's prices are competitive, but the features are not.View the full article

Two years ago, Spanish-born movie tycoon Carlos Vasallo sued YouTube at a Florida federal court over various piracy-related claims. The actor and producer owns the rights to the world’s largest collection of Mexican and Latin American movies, many of which are illegally shared on YouTube. The lawsuit accused YouTube of not doing enough to stop people from uploading pirated copies of Vasallo’s content. Those allegations aren’t new, but the movie tycoon also said that YouTube would not allow him to join the Content ID copyright protection program unless he agreed to specific terms, including a revenue share agreement. Vasallo refused these terms and chose to send standard DMCA notices instead. YouTube processed them, as it should, but the movie tycoon complained that this did little to stop pirates. New copies were constantly uploaded and banned users reportedly returned under new aliases. Motions of Summary Judgment YouTube and Google vehemently disagreed with the copyright infringement allegations and filed a motion to dismiss. This was partially successful as the Florida federal court dropped the antitrust claims, but the infringement allegations remained. As the case progressed, both parties submitted motions for summary judgment, which were filed under seal. The movie tycoon claimed that since YouTube only took down reported videos but failed to use its piracy filtering technology to find and voluntarily remove similar videos, the platform could be held liable for direct and secondary copyright infringement. YouTube also submitted a motion for summary judgment to establish that it does nothing wrong. According to the company, the DMCA doesn’t require platforms to proactively monitor uploads. Also, the movie tycoon failed to provide any evidence that YouTube was aware of ‘non reported’ infringing videos. Both motions for summary judgment eventually landed on the desk of Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres. In a detailed report and recommendations, the Judge sided with YouTube concluding that, since the movie tycoon has no triable case, the lawsuit should be closed. YouTube Defeats Piracy Accusations This week, U.S. District Court Judge Darrin Gayles issued a final order in the case. After reviewing all available evidence, including the movie tycoon’s objections to the report and recommendations, the Judge decided to grant YouTube’s motion for summary judgment. “The Court agrees with Judge Torres’ well-reasoned analysis and conclusion that Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment be denied, and Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment be granted,” Judge Gayles writes. The final judgment is an important win for YouTube. It essentially confirms that the processes and policies used by the company are in accordance with the law. Under the DMCA, platforms such as YouTube are required to respond to takedown requests. In this case, there is little doubt that the video platform did just that. However, the movie tycoon argued that it should have used its piracy filtering technology to proactively find similar videos and remove those as well. The court, however, concluded that YouTube is not required to do so. The DMCA makes it clear that online platforms have to respond to takedown notices, but piracy filters are not mandatory. Protected by the DMCA’s Safe Harbor No matter how the movie tycoon presented his case, he eventually ran “headlong against a brick wall erected by the DMCA,” Judge Torres wrote in his recommendations. The DMCA simply doesn’t require YouTube to remove content that isn’t specifically identified. In addition, the court found no evidence that YouTube or its employees were aware of any non-reported infringing activity. Neither does anything suggest that YouTube could control the infringing activity it wasn’t aware of, or that it specifically profited from the alleged infringements. District Court Judge Gayles agrees with these conclusions. By granting YouTube and Google’s motion for summary judgment, the court establishes that the video platform is protected by the DMCA’s safe harbor. At the same time, the movie tycoon’s motion for summary judgment is denied. This is a key victory for YouTube. Not only does it confirm that YouTube acts completely in accordance with the law, but it also saves the company from potential statutory damages that could add up to more than $100 million. — A copy of U.S. District Court Judge Darrin Gayles’ order, adopting the report and recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

The rapper will give the single its live debut at the MTV Video Music AwardsView the full article

The third single from Scarlet arrives with a horror-inspired visualView the full article

The trio returns with the follow-up to the 2007 hit “Give It to Me”View the full article

The Scottish singer’s first solo music arrives as she prepares for a solo tourView the full article

The Puerto Rican singer and rapper connects with the rising Mexican star for a new singleView the full article

The North American and European tour with Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, and Homixide Gang was originally set to begin in Denver in SeptemberView the full article

Alley Cat is a London-based expat of over two decades and a drum & bass veteran for at least that long, as well as co-head of ESP Agency and Kokeshi Records. She also just started her own radio show with KoolFM on RinseFM. If anyone knows how big and bad and dark London can be, it’s Alley Cat. With all her industry credits and connections, Alley Cat’s music has always been decidedly personal to her own taste and she’s known for not following trends. In a world where pop D&B and dancefloor are bringing in the crowds, Alley Cat is happy to play her own way, and she still has plenty of takers: in the past year alone she’s played Let It Roll, Locus, Outlook UK, Ministry of Sound and Boomtown, just to name the big ones, and will be playing next weekend at Sun and Bass and XOYO later in autumn. D&B veteran is a bit of an understatement. Alley Cat’s last chronological release was the 2015 digital re-release on Offshore Recordings of a 2009 two-sided vinyl single called “Sweet Spot”/”Radiate” with her good friend, the sadly recently passed dubstep and breakbeat producer, Vaccine. 2012 was her actual most recently produced release on the Kokeshi Kompilation album with the snappy dubstep-and-hip hop-infused track, “Don’t Edit Me.” Since then, she’s been focused on all the stuff listed above, but it seems she’s also been working away at her own stuff lo these eleven years, through all the changes to the industry, the pandemic and all the other big, bad, dark stuff in recent history. To say this EP title is apt would be an understatement. All that political author posturing aside, it’s likely Alley Cat named her EP Big Bad Dark City as more of an homage, or at least as a nod to the vibes on said EP. Big, bad, deep and dark also seems to perfectly describe the sound she’s created here, with a heavy focus on deep bass sounds and deeper sound design. This is not the deep drum & bass that is prevalent nowadays, but something more intelligent and tribal, as the opening title track makes immediately clear. With what sounds like steel drum samples and an analog tom and snare creating the main drums, the beat comes in at intervals during the intro before filling in the main track with more snappy snare ornamentations and a deep, dark, primal bass note to ground each phrase. Emotive and rolling, there’s the slightest throwback to early breakbeat but there’s so much innovation here in terms of composition audiences might miss it if they blink. Luckily, the next track, “Construction Tune” sets the record straight on where Alley’s favors lie in terms of sound combos. A straight up and down, amen-filled breakbeat track of the highest order, here the artist merges old school sounds, samples and vibes with modern techniques and sound design (and possibly a little construction noise from her own house) to bring this oft-forgotten-nowadays style forward to 2023. Still trippy, tribal and totally her own, “Construction Tune” would be cool to hear mixed with other genres, and given that Alley self-describes her sound as “drum, bass, dubstep, whatever,” it likely will be in the future. Our premiere for today is the last track on Big Bad Dark City, called “May Day.” The amen, Venetian Snares-style snare fun is even more front and center on this track; in fact it’s the main feature. Alley’s gone full ambient on this tune when it comes to the higher registers, with sine wave synths swelling in and out of the track as the structure is once again a backwards jungle/breakbeat combo that hearkens back to the inception of D&B. The warmth of all these sounds put together is truly like nothing else being released right now, and it’s clear that’s what this artist wants. The OG heads will recognize all the samples of D&B and electronic yore, but younger audiences will see this track for its innovation and clean production style. It’s really all in the eye – or ear, in this case – of the beholder, and “May Day” has something for every ear. It seems an 11-year hiatus from production hasn’t dulled Alley Cat’s compositional senses, nor her sense of what she wants her sound to be. This artist knows what she’s about, both in the industry and in her artistic expression. The Big Bad Dark City tends to demand that of its artists, and in Alley Cat’s case, it’s a result that’s definitely worth the time it took to create. Big Bad Dark City releases tomorrow, September 1 on Armory, a new label out of Sacramento. Click here to purchase or stream starting tomorrow and here for links to Alley Cat’s other projects. This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Your EDM Premiere: Enter Alley ‘Cat’s Big Bad Dark City’ With Some Big, Bad, Dark Amens [Armory] View the full article

To address counterfeiting and piracy, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invited submissions from the private sector detailing effective anti-piracy strategies and those envisioned for the future. In advance of a roundtable scheduled for October 3, submissions from rightsholders and their representatives have called for pirate site blocking in the United States and amendments to the DMCA that would allow for instant blocking of pirate streams. Big Coalition The International Intellectual Property Alliance is a coalition of already powerful trade associations, including the Motion Picture Association, Recording Industry Association of America, Entertainment Software Association, Independent Film & Television Alliance, and the Association of American Publishers. IIPA aims to improve copyright protection and enforcement in overseas markets with high levels of piracy. The IIPA’s submission begins by painting a picture of creativity and productivity in the United States versus an “entrenchment of infringing services” in foreign markets. IIPA says that online piracy harms the creative industries in the United States, causes hardships for U.S. creators, undermines exports of legal content, which in turn impacts returning revenue. The coalition cites numerous studies dating back to 2013 that have concluded, to a greater or lesser extent, that piracy reduces legitimate sales. The numbers are huge; over $29 billion in lost revenue for movies and TV shows alone each year, plus the loss of up to 560,000 jobs. While the first figure is straight from a Hollywood study and the second could also be ‘just’ half of that, the numbers are still big. The main point is that IIPA members are huge contributors to the United States and in order for that to continue and grow, significant changes are required at the international level. ‘Notorious Markets’ Should Be Dismantled Each year the United States Trade Representative receives submissions from rightsholders that detail overseas sites and services causing significant problems for rightsholders. After consideration, the USTR produces a ‘notorious markets’ report which lists the piracy platforms and attributes them to specific countries. The general idea is for those countries to recognize how relations with the United States might improve if those platforms were no longer in business, and then act accordingly. ‘Notorious markets’ have been taken down over the years but the IIPA sounds keen to see additional positive action, especially when criminal syndicates are involved. “There have been many successes with the closure of Internet sites and services identified as notorious markets by USTR. IIPA’s long-standing recommendation is that USTR should urge trading partners either to convert sites and services to licensed disseminators of works and recordings, or these notorious markets should be taken down followed by, where appropriate, criminal enforcement actions,” IIPA writes. Create an Effective Legal Framework This request is supported by significant detail on what the IIPA would like to see changed, but isn’t explicit on the problem it needs to mitigate or why it can’t be handled under existing law. Where the issue is being encountered is loosely linked to cyberlocker-type sites based in Russia, but the problem is clearly more widespread. Taking the section as a whole, it appears that copyright enforcement measures are frustrated when pirate sites and/or their service providers present as being in compliance with the law and keep up the charade to stay in business. “Some services, including some clearly pirate services, attempt to rely on notice and takedown procedures to avoid proper copyright licensing,” IIPA notes. “Clear primary and secondary liability rules are necessary to discourage abuses and to avoid inaction or license evasion.” What the IIPA seems to want are acknowledged bright lines on conduct that remove any ability to claim compliance when services are obviously infringing, sometimes criminally so. In turn, this would allow rightsholders to lean on intermediaries with a credible discussion on secondary liability, thus gaining their voluntary cooperation – or else. The goal is a legal framework that: (i) prevents the operation of services that promote or otherwise induce infringement; (ii) criminalizes online infringement (particularly all ‘commercial scale’ piracy, in line with best practices); and (iii) provides strong incentives for neutral intermediaries to work with rights holders to curb the use of their proprietary networks and services for infringing purposes Within the framework, IIPA’s members would have their exclusive rights respected, including those that relate to technical protection measures. As for internet service providers, bright lines should govern their behavior too. ISP Liability Limitations….Should Be Limited According to the submission, the proposed legal framework should ensure that ISP liability limitations (if there are any at all) should not “reduce the scope of substantive copyright protections” and should only be available to ISPs that meet eligibility criteria. For example, upon an ISP “obtaining knowledge or awareness” of infringing activity, the allegedly-infringing content should be removed “expeditiously” before the ISP takes further action using “measures demonstrated effective” to prevent or restrain further infringement. That sounds not dissimilar to current understanding of the law in many developed countries, with the filtering requirements of the EU’s Article 17 bolted on top. Within the framework, IIPA says that governments should recognize online piracy as a form of cybercrime, foster cooperation among all industry stakeholders (including ISPs) in the online supply chain, and if there are any impediments to collaboration, remove them. “[G]overnments should encourage private sector agreements, especially those that provide enforcement rights, to properly reflect the needs of industry stakeholders, and that any remedies outside of a legal framework are available to all copyright owners,” the submission reads. “In addition, governments should require marketplaces and encourage all relevant intermediaries to implement ‘know your business customers’ (KYBC) policies to ensure they keep up to date and accurate information about their customers and to allow rights holders to obtain accurate information to protect their rights against direct infringers.” ICANN and Cloudflare (probably) Difficulties linking domain names to individuals have persisted for several years. The IIPA’s submission places the blame at the feet of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The coalition makes no suggestions on what should be done but its statements leave no real doubt. The lack of meaningful access to accurate domain registrant data occurs because of ICANN’s “failure to meaningfully enforce a requirement for accurate registrant data collection, (ii) ICANN’s failure to implement approved policies concerning privacy/proxy services, and (iii) ICANN’s overinterpretation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has almost entirely shut down access to registrant WHOIS data.” Despite being a coalition interested in reducing infringement overseas, IIPA’s submission finds itself referencing a problem that is overwhelmingly seen in the United States and has already been mentioned in several anti-piracy reports; reverse proxy services and the layer of anonymity they provide. IIPA doesn’t mention Cloudflare by name but on the basis that most significant pirate sites do indeed use Cloudflare, it’s safe to assume we’re talking about the American company with the same name. In any event, IIPA is calling for the U.S. government to get involved. “While reverse proxy services serve a legitimate purpose, many pirate sites utilize reverse proxy services to hide true hosting information and to transmit large files faster. Such uses make enforcement against these sites extremely challenging. IIPA requests that the U.S. government include reverse proxy services in its efforts to address this widespread, systemic problem and to stop the misuse of such services.” The IIPA’s submission is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Doja Cat’s initial Scarlet artwork was strikingly similar to that of Chaver’s Of Gloom, which was made by the same artistView the full article

Tomorrow X Together and Kelsea Ballerini are also set to perform at the Newark eventView the full article

“The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon”View the full article

A few weeks ago, Lithuania amended its Code of Administrative Offenses, allowing media watchdog LRTK to fine pirates, without going to court. This legislative change is the latest attempt to deter piracy in the European country. The potential fines should make pirates reconsider their habits, the idea goes. Monitoring Pirates While this plan may be sound on paper, there are some challenges to overcome. Tracking pirates isn’t always possible. Outsiders can’t easily see who uses a pirate streaming site, for example. Tracking BitTorrent pirates is easier, but not straightforward when the largest torrent site in the country, LinkoManija.net, is a private community. The torrent site is relatively unknown in most parts of the world but it’s a local legend. LinkoManija has been around for more than two decades and continues to survive. Although the torrent site is not openly accessible, many Lithuanians are members, as evidenced by the fact that it’s one of the most visited sites in the country. The site’s members include some piracy investigators too, it appears. Watchdog Fines LinkoManija Users This week, media watchdog LRTK announced that it had fined three LinkoManija users. The people in question were tracked down on July 27, presumably by their IP-addresses. All three shared a copy of the locally produced film “Tu Mano Deimantas“. LRTK says this is the first time it has issued administrative fines for copyright violations carried out by individual pirates. These fines are presumably directed at the Internet subscribers associated with the pirating IP addresses. Under the updated law, the consumer watchdog can fine online pirates up to 600 euros per offense. In this case, the three LinkoManija users were fined 140 euros each. The scale of the fines is relatively mild and may not stop the most determined pirates. However, the authorities likely hope that by showing that people can indeed get caught, that will act as a deterrent. Meanwhile, the LinkoManija website remains up and running, as it has done since 2003. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Twitter/X owner Elon Musk says the company will launch video and audio calls.View the full article

Netflix's "One Piece" is an unabashedly fun live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's beloved manga.View the full article

Teenage prodigy Orlando Kallen stands out from the crowd with his ground-breaking debut single “Lone Wolf” in a world where musical genres are constantly being blurred and reinvented. Australian-born musician Orlando, who has Greek, Egyptian, and Croatian ancestry, has finally released his long-awaited track today, ushering in a new era of musical experimentation. “Lone Wolf” is a rich tapestry of diverse influences, reflecting Orlando’s dynamic musical background, and is a far cry from the monotony of mass-produced pop. “Lone Wolf” channels the spirit of its many influences, from the edgy rock of Lenny Kravitz to the emotionally charged pop of Billie Eilish to the timeless allure of Elvis Presley, while forging its own path. Orlando said, “Everything about ‘Lone Wolf’ is reflective of my life, its highs and lows. I hope this song encourages anyone who has ever felt different to follow their own path. This song represents my personal journey of self-discovery and the unifying power of music. Those who have followed Orlando’s rapid rise will not be surprised by the strength of his first work. From his early training at Australia’s NIDA and David Jaanz International Singing Academy to his recent award as “Best Leading Actor” from the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria, Orlando has never failed to impress with his natural musical talent and captivating stage presence. The release of “Lone Wolf” is the first step in Orlando’s grand plan to bring people together and inspire them with his music. As this powerful track reverberates around the world, it gives listeners a taste of the life-altering experience that awaits them in his upcoming debut album. About Orlando Kallen Australian-born 18-year-old musical prodigy Orlando Kallen. Orlando’s debut single “Lone Wolf” heralds the beginning of a promising career in the international music industry thanks to his multifaceted talent in musical theater, vocals, piano, guitar, gospel, R&B, and rock. Orlando Kallen is a promising new talent on the international music scene, drawing attention thanks to his captivating live shows and distinctive sound. This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Teenage Prodigy Orlando Kallen Makes Explosive Debut with “Lone Wolf” View the full article

A lifetime subscription to the Tykr stock screener is on sale for £95.11, saving you 87% on list price.View the full article

Unblock Disney+ Hotstar to watch the Asia Cup 2023 for free from anywhere in the world.View the full article

Here's the answer for "Wordle" #803 on August 31, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.View the full article