ReHacked #41: privacy, security and the reasons to cease death penalty.

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EFF Sues Proctorio on Behalf of Student It Falsely Accused of Copyright Infringement to Get Critical Tweets Taken Down #copyrights #copyleft

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit today against Proctorio Inc. on behalf of college student Erik Johnson, seeking a judgment that he didn’t infringe the company’s copyrights when he linked to excerpts of its software code in tweets criticizing the software maker.

Proctorio, a developer of exam administration and surveillance software, misused the copyright takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to have Twitter remove posts by Johnson, a Miami University computer engineering undergraduate and security researcher. EFF and co-counsel Osborn Maledon said in a complaint filed today in U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, that Johnson made fair use of excerpts of Proctorio’s software code, and the company’s false claims of infringement interfered with Johnson’s First Amendment right to criticize the company.

Argentine version of Google falls into “wrong” hands leading to search engine's temporary collapse #security

An Argentine internet user claimed realized ownership of the google.com.ar domain had expired Wednesday, April 21 and since it was available, he decided to purchase it for reportedly AR $ 540 (around the US $ 3.85 at the unofficial exchange rate) leading to a temporary shutdown of the search engine ending in “.ar”.

These actions, however, had no impact on the international “www.google.com” version.

Signal's CEO Just Hacked the Cops' Favorite Phone Cracking Tool #privacy #security

Israeli digital intelligence firm Cellebrite sells software designed to unlock phones and extract their data. As a result, its products are a favorite of law enforcement agencies across the U.S., and police frequently use them to gather evidence from seized devices. In the past, the company has received criticism for its willingness to sell to pretty much any government—including repressive regimes around the world. However, despite its mission to compromise phone security everywhere, Cellebrite would appear to have little interest in securing its own software—if you believe the CEO of encrypted chat app Signal.

In a blog post published Wednesday, Moxie Marlinspike claimed that Cellebrite’s software has atrocious security that can be easily manipulated in a number of pretty astounding ways.

The Real Reason to End the Death Penalty #society

When intellectuals talk about the death penalty, they talk about things like whether it's permissible for the state to take someone's life, whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent, and whether more death sentences are given to some groups than others. But in practice the debate about the death penalty is not about whether it's ok to kill murderers. It's about whether it's ok to kill innocent people, because at least 4% of people on death row are innocent.

Light polution map #technology #nature

Lego Microscope GitHub page. The aim is to provide the instructions and resources of the Lego Microscope for everybody interested. Additionally, we hope that you get inspired to introduce extension or improvements. We are especially keen on translations of the explorer kit instructions for kids. But here are many other things that you might think you can improve. If so, feel free to create a forge, and to upload your changes. #technology #science

Referees’ Home-Bias in Football Disappears without Audience [Study] #sport

…referees’ bias towards away sides has completely changed without an audience in stadiums.

Previously, away sides used to get more yellow cards in all leagues, and they also had an inferior fouls to cards ratio. However, without an audience, the disparity has disappeared, and in fact, the trend has reversed in some leagues.

We also notice that referees are giving fewer yellow cards overall and allowing more fouls in three out of four leagues. Only in the Bundesliga, the overall yellow card count has increased post-COVID.

Dutch MPs in video conference with deep fake imitation of Navalny's Chief of Staff #security

Dutch parliamentarians, like their British and Baltic colleagues, had a conversation via Zoom with a deep fake imitation of the chief of staff of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Wednesday.

National newspaper de Volkskrant reports that this was confirmed by the registry of the House of Representatives on Friday evening.

It concerns the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, which thought it was talking to Leonid Volkov, Navalny's chief of staff, who has been operating from Vilnius since last year due to increased repression in Russia. But it was a moving image created by artificial intelligence.

Deepfake technology makes it possible to replace one face in a video with another face. That way, you can get someone to say anything that, in reality, they didn't say at all.

Earth Restored #space #nature

Only 24 people have journeyed far enough to see the whole Earth against the black of space.

The images they brought back changed our world.

Here is a selection of the most beautiful photographs of Earth

— iconic images and unknown gems —

digitally restored to their full glory.

Sisters with Transistors movie review (2021) #history #culture

A crash course about how women were often the pioneers of the unknown frontier still defined by the names of men such as John Carpenter and Edgar Froese, "Sisters with Transistors" introduces ten of these incredible women—Clara Rockmore, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Maryanne Amacher, Wendy Carlos, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel—using archival footage and audio to tell the fascinating accounts of how they influenced what is today one of the most popular mediums of music, accompanied by narration from artist and composer Laurie Anderson. It's a story about rebelling, freedom, and establishing new cultures and languages in a world with strict rules on how things are done, especially when it comes to women.

Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life beneath its surface, study finds #space #science

New research suggests that rocks in the Martian crust could produce the same kind of chemical energy that supports microbial life deep beneath Earth’s surface.

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Dainius