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Experts Key to Epic vs Apple Battle

Charlotte Henry ·

The Epic Games vs Apple case is well underway. A key part of the trial is expert witnesses, with David Evans, chairman of Global Economics Group set to be there for the Fortnite maker. Reuters has a breakdown of the significance of his, and other, appearances.

On the stand this week, Evans testified that Apple is what is known as a single-brand market, arguing that once consumers buy an iPhone, the costs of switching to an Android are so high that they rarely make the jump. Since about 2010, Evans testified, Apple’s App Store has effectively been its own market, and users rarely venture outside. After Apple kicked “Fortnite” off the App Store, Evans testified, only a small fraction of Apple users jumped to other devices like PCs or gaming consoles to play “Fortnite.”

 

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YouTube TV Added Direct to App as Roku Row Escalates

Charlotte Henry ·

Google and Roku are still rowing over how to get YouTube TV back on the streaming platform. It seems like Google has taken things into its own hands, as The Verge reported that YouTube TV is now in the main YouTube app.

YouTube users will start seeing a “Go to YouTube TV” option in the main YouTube app over the next few days. When they select that, they’ll then be switched over to the standard YouTube TV user experience. This option is coming to Roku devices first — where it’s currently most needed — but will also come to YouTube on other platforms as well. In essence, Google has basically stuffed the YouTube TV app into YouTube itself, a solution that seems unlikely to make Roku very happy. Google says it’s “still working to come to an agreement with Roku to ensure continued access to YouTube TV for our mutual customers,” and it notes the YouTube TV app remains usable for those who already have it installed

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‘Brave’ Browser Adds Support for Crypto Domains

Andrew Orr ·

Brave is the latest browser to partner with Unstoppable Domains, letting users access decentralized crypto websites.

Through this integration, the Brave browser is supporting a decentralized network not part of the traditional Domain Name Service (DNS), which is increasingly susceptible to hijacking, denial-of-service attacks, and phishing attacks. Unstoppable Domains allows users to build and host decentralized websites for a variety of use cases, including creating NFT galleries, video, and file sharing.

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IRS Can Seize Your Bitcoin if you Have Unpaid Taxes

Andrew Orr ·

Deputy associate chief counsel Robert Wearing of the IRS said that the agency would seize cryptocurrency assets to settle unpaid taxes.

The perceived authority to seize an asset like bitcoin from the IRS stems from a 2014 notice it issued claiming that “virtual currency is treated as property for Federal income tax purposes.”

But there is still some question as to how the IRS would accurately determine the BTC holdings of taxpayers, let alone compel them to relinquish their bitcoin.

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President Biden Signs Order to Improve U.S. Cybersecurity

Andrew Orr ·

After the attack on Colonial Pipeline, President Biden has signed an executive order to improve the nation’s cybersecurity.

The executive order requires IT service providers to share certain breach information with the government, modernizes and implements stronger cybersecurity standards in the federal government, establishes security standards for development of software sold to the government and will create an “energy star” label so that consumers can better determine whether software was developed securely.

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Two Months After it Was discontinued, HomePod Models Remain Available to Purchase

Charlotte Henry ·

The HomePod was meant to be discontinued on March 12. However, 9to5 Mac picked up on reports of the device’s ongoing availability.

Apple announced that the original HomePod would be discontinued on March 12, as it shifted its focus to the HomePod mini. Here’s what the company said back then: HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99. We are focusing our efforts on the mini model. We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple will provide customers with software updates and service and support through Apple Care. Over these past two months, evidence has emerged on just how poorly Apple’s smart speaker sold. The YouTuber Michael Kukielka, also known as DetroitBORG, bought at least two HomePods after Apple discontinued the product, and by his surprise, the models he bought were from the launch stock three years ago.

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Security Researcher Hacks Apple’s ‘Find My’ Network

Andrew Orr ·

Researcher Fabian Bräunlein found that Apple’s Find My location network can be used to “upload arbitrary data to the internet.”

Being inherent to the privacy and security-focused design of the Find My Offline Finding system, it seems unlikely that this misuse can be prevented completely.

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CIDA Warns of New Ransomware ‘FiveHands’

Andrew Orr ·

FiveHands has been around since January but was recently used in a successful attack against an unknown organization.

Attackers were targeting unpatched SonicWall Secure Mobile Access SMA 100 remote access products, for which patches were released in February. The publicly available tools the group users including the SoftPerfect Network Scanner for Discovery and Microsoft’s own remote administration program, PsExec.exe and its related ServeManager.exe.