[Ecks]

Trying out a new format for my news threads here, let me know what you think as well as the normal conversation around the topics.

GTA 5 Spammed With Negative Reviews
OpenIV, a popular modding tool used by tons of GTA V fans, is shutting down. After nearly 10 years of operation, the creators claim they have received a cease and desist from Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto. The news has shocked the PC Grand Theft Auto community, who use OpenIV to add thousands of mods into GTA V. Many upset modders have retaliated by flooding GTA V with negative reviews on Steam. Kotaku reports:
According to a post on the official OpenIV website, the alleged cease and desist came on June 5th 2017. The supposed problem, OpenIV's creators say, is that the program allows "third parties to defeat security features of its software and modify that software in violation Take-Two's rights." After discussing their options, the team behind the tool says they decided it was not worth their time to fight back. "Yes, we can go to court and yet again prove that modding is fair use and our actions are legal," creator GooD-NTS wrote. "Yes, we could. But we decided not to. Going to court will take at least few months of our time and huge amount of efforts, and, at best, we'll get absolutely nothing. Spending time just to restore status quo is really unproductive, and all the money in the world can't compensate the loss of time. So, we decided to agree with their claims and we're stopping distribution of OpenIV."

Read More @ http://kotaku.com/popular-gta-v-modding-...1796112893

US Tried To Bribe Telegram
In a series of tweets, Pavel Durov, the Russian founder of the popular secure messaging app Telegram has revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies tried twice to bribe his company's developers to weaken encryption in the app. The incident, Durov said, happened last year during the team's visit to the United States. "During our team's 1-week visit to the US last year we had two attempts to bribe our devs by US agencies + pressure on me from the FBI," he said. "And that was just 1 week. It would be naive to think you can run an independent/secure cryptoapp based in the US."
Telegram is one of the most secure messaging apps available today, though researchers have pointed flaws in it as well.

Read More @ https://twitter.com/durov/status/873868773119451136

CRTC Bans Locked Phones and Carrier Unlocking Fees
Canada's telecom regulator has announced that as of December 1st, 2017, all individual and small business wireless consumers will have the right to have their mobile devices unlocked free of charge upon request, while all newly purchased devices must be provided unlocked from that day forward. The decision came following the February 2017 review of the Wireless Code, where unlocking fees took center stage, with some parties (like Freedom Mobile) advocating for the abolishing of those fees altogether, some arguing they should remain as an important theft deterrent and the CRTC suggesting the fee should be far under the current $50 CAD standard. "The Wireless Code has helped make the wireless market more dynamic to the benefit of Canadians. While they appreciate the Code, they told us loudly and clearly that it could be more effective," said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the CRTC, in a press release.

Read More @ http://mobilesyrup.com/2017/06/15/crtc-c...es-banned/

Dubai Airport Will Use Biometric Scanning By 2020
For visitors or residents coming in to Dubai, a new face-recognition software in the offing at the Dubai International Airport will enable them to walk straight to the baggage claim area after deplaning without having to stop at passport control. British start-up ObjectTech announced that they will work with the Dubai government to install biometric tunnels that scan people's faces as they walk to baggage reclaim. The "biometric border" walkway takes a 3D scan of people's faces as they enter the airport and checks it against a digital passport using face-recognition software. If this project is completed, passengers arriving at Dubai airport will be able to step off their flight and walk straight to baggage reclaim via biometric verification tunnels -- allowing them to be registered into the country using a pre-approved and entirely digitized passport.

Read More @ http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/emergencies...-1.2044170

Japan Passes Controversial 'Anti-Conspiracy' Bill
Earlier today, after an intentionally rushed consideration process, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed a new mass surveillance law conveniently called the "anti-conspiracy bill." With the vague wording of the bill, anyone suspected of planning any of [the 277 acts listed in the bill] could be put under targeted surveillance. Of course, the Japanese government has promised not to overstep their boundaries and emphasized that the new law is only meant to increase security before the 2020 Olympics. Among the noted crimes that would be punishable in Japan under the new anti-terrorism law is copyright violation, which is a criminal offense not a civil offense in Japan. Both the Japanese Bar Association and the United Nation's Special Rapporteur have spoken out against the law, saying that it will severely curtail civil liberties in Japan.

BBC laid out some of the most ridiculous things that someone in Japan can now catch a potentially terrorism-related charge for even planning or discussing on social media the acts of: Copying music; Conducting sit-ins to protest against the construction of apartment buildings; Using forged stamps; Competing in a motor boat race without a license; Mushroom picking in conservation forests; Avoiding paying consumption tax. The stated rationale of the government is that these now-illegal acts, such as copying music to CDs or foraging for mushrooms in conservation forests, could be used to fund terrorist activities. Hence, planning or thinking about them is bad. If this sounds like the Thought Police, that's because it is.

Read More @ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/bl...violation/

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this new (Pain in my ass) format. This concludes todays news.

[Blink]

Hmm... Thanks for the little collection.

"US Tried To Bribe Telegram" -Fuck them

[zenith]

There's a news for sinister?

[Ecks]

There's a news for sinister?

News is what I do and Sinisterly is where I post, so yup news for sinister, enjoy?

I feel as though I should add some information here. Normally I would post each story in its own post so that what I felt was an distracted discussion could take place per story, but some users felt this was spam, most didn't. So I am testing out various methods to find the best way to present the news so everyone can enjoy and be satisfied that some new guy is getting more NSP than they are. (Because I guess it's my fault who is active and who isn't LOL)
As I am not a very skilled in programming (For now) and I don't have much else to add that can even be remotely enjoyable (for the time being), I decided to make my home here in the news and I post only a very very slight amount of what I read and I deem worthy to share here.

[mothered]

TL;DR.

The format (per article) Is great, but In my views, I think you should segregate each one- just like your previous contributions.

[Ecks]

TL;DR.

The format (per article) Is great, but In my views, I think you should segregate each one- just like your previous contributions.

Yeah I am thinking of going back to that and just weeding out articles better and capping myself at maybe 5 articles (on a busy news day) making sure to pick what I think the community would most like to read.

[mothered]

Yeah I am thinking of going back to that and just weeding out articles better and capping myself at maybe 5 articles (on a busy news day) making sure to pick what I think the community would most like to read.

In my opinion, I believe each article dedicated to It's own thread Is a lot better than cramming everything In one.

That's just how I see It. Others may think otherwise.

[Ecks]

Yeah I am thinking of going back to that and just weeding out articles better and capping myself at maybe 5 articles (on a busy news day) making sure to pick what I think the community would most like to read.

In my opinion, I believe each article dedicated to It's own thread Is a lot better than cramming everything In one.

That's just how I see It. Others may think otherwise.

I honesty think it was mostly jealousy from a few users, dunno if it was due to NSP or because I posted something they wanted to post or maybe even people prefer for the forum to be mostly dead, with newbs gravedigging, who knows in the end.

[mothered]

I honesty think it was mostly jealousy from a few users, dunno if it was due to NSP or because I posted something they wanted to post or maybe even people prefer for the forum to be mostly dead, with newbs gravedigging, who knows in the end.

As I've mentioned a number of times, If your contributions are In compliance with forum rules and not deemed as spam, then you're well within your rights to post as per usual.

Personally, I see no wrongdoing.

[Ecks]

I honesty think it was mostly jealousy from a few users, dunno if it was due to NSP or because I posted something they wanted to post or maybe even people prefer for the forum to be mostly dead, with newbs gravedigging, who knows in the end.

As I've mentioned a number of times, If your contributions are In compliance with forum rules and not deemed as spam, then you're well within your rights to post as per usual.

Personally, I see no wrongdoing.

Yeah I know, I am just trying to be a people person and keep everyone happy, it's not easy for me to do but it is worth trying at least.