Month: December 2017

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Top EU court: Uber is just another transportation service

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In this photo illustration the new smart phone taxi app ‘Uber’ shows how to select a pick up location on July 1, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. Taxi drivers in various cities have been on strike over unlicensed car-hailing services.

David Ramos/Getty Images

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Elon Musk Tweets Best Photos Yet of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket

Now that’s a lot of booster power: 27 Merlin engines staring you right in the face. (Image: SpaceX)

Earlier this morning, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted photos of the company’s much-hyped Falcon Heavy rocket. Based on these first good looks, we’d say this beast is right on schedule for next month’s inaugural launch, despite a series of delays.

Should all go well, the Falcon Heavy will take off from Cape Canaveral at some point in January 2018. The reuseable, two-stage rocket features 27 first-stage Merlin engines, and a single second-stage Merlin. Depending on the configuration, the 230-foot-tall rocket will be capable of lifting a 140,700 pound (63,800 kg) payload to low Earth orbit, or a 37,000 pound (16,800 kg) payload to Mars.

Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that he was going to use his own personal Tesla Roadster as the dummy payload (while playing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” no less), and that the rocket would launch on a trajectory towards Mars. But as he later revealed, the whole thing was made up.

Let’s hope that Musk’s intention to hit the Falcon Heavy’s January 2018 deadline is a bit more sincere. However, Musk has already tempered expectations for the inaugural launch: He said in July that there will be a “real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit.” Either way, we can’t wait to watch this liquid-oxygen-fueled behemoth fire up for the first time.

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Facebook Swears It Won’t Use Its New Powerful Face Recognition to Suggest ‘People You May Know’

This morning, Facebook announced that it’s going to start scanning all the photos uploaded to the social network looking for your face, unless you opt out—or unless you are a European or Canadian, where privacy law actually limits what Facebook can do with people’s faces. The purpose of the scanning, according to Facebook, is to alert you if someone has publicly uploaded a photo of you that you don’t know about, especially if they are trying to impersonate you.

Behind the message about protecting your identity, though is a larger truth about Facebook’s ability to reach into your personal business: The announcement means that Facebook’s face-recognition technology is now so powerful that it can recognize you in any photo, anywhere, even if it has no other reason to expect to find your face in that photo.

It’s easy to identify your face if Facebook is only looking for you among the photos your friends have uploaded. It’s harder if the possible pool is more than a billion people, a.k.a. Facebook’s entire user base. That Facebook thinks it can do the latter means Facebook believes its faceprints are really good now.

And that, in turn, means Facebook has a new powerful tool for mapping who knows who on the social network. By looking at photos from an event, for example, and identifying the faces, Facebook could know everybody who was there and know they might be connected. That would be a boon for Facebook’s People You May Know tool, allowing it to suggest as friends people whose faces appeared in the background of photos it identified you in, or vice versa.

That surveillance power would be more than a little creepy—connecting you, for example, to people wandering around behind you as you pose in front of the Eiffel Tower or to people caught in the background when you drunkenly take a selfie at a bar. Given that potential creepiness, and our longstanding interest in how People You May Know actually works, a Facebook spokesperson pre-emptively sent us a note about the facial recognition tool.

“Wanted to give you a heads up about an announcement we made this morning.

“I can also confirm that we do not use this technology in People You May Know.”

If that should change, I am sure Facebook will let us know.

This story was produced by Gizmodo Media Group’s Special Projects Desk.

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This post was produced by the Special Projects Desk of Gizmodo Media. Reach our team by phone, text, Signal, or WhatsApp at (917) 999-6143, email us at tips@gizmodomedia.com, or contact us securely using SecureDrop.

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Uber’s Big Claim That It’s Not Really a Cab Company Is Bogus, EU Court Rules

For years Uber has been trying to convince the world it is a tech company, not a transportation company. But the highest court in the European Union isn’t having it.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) dealt a blow to the ride-hailing company this week thanks to a 2014 case stemming from a Barcelona taxi drivers’ organization compliant that Uber creates unfair competition by not abiding by the same regulations as regular taxi services.

Uber, per usual, insisted it’s simply a company that makes an app that helps riders find drivers.

ECJ decided that argument didn’t get Uber off the hook, and in the court ruling issued on Wednesday stated that any company that intends “to connect, by means of a smartphone application and for remuneration, non-professional drivers using their own vehicle with persons who wish to make urban journeys” must still be considered “a service in the field of transport.” The decision is expected to hamper Uber’s ability to expand its business.

But Uber insists the ruling won’t affect how the company operates.“This ruling will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate under transportation law,” an Uber spokesperson said, in a statement shared with Gizmodo and other outlets. “However, millions of Europeans are still prevented from using apps like ours. As our new CEO has said, it is appropriate to regulate services such as Uber and so we will continue the dialogue with cities across Europe. This is the approach we’ll take to ensure everyone can get a reliable ride at the tap of a button.”

While Uber publicly shrugged off the blow, the decision will likely still affect its future operations and political maneuvering in the EU. The ruling could also affect other companies that are making similar claims of being only an intermediary service and not an active participant in the industry they’re trying to disrupt.

It’s also just the latest batch of bad news to cap off a very bad year for Uber in the EU and United States. In addition to its string of revelations of mishandling of a major user data breach, systemic mismanagement, and toxic corporate culture, Uber was banned in London last September for “lack of corporate responsibility.”

[BBC]

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Proposed net neutrality bill would ban blocking and throttling

Last week, the FCC repealed net neutrality protections put in place in 2015 and returned broadband to a Title I classification. There were many voices expressing concern over the proposal and frustration once the FCC voted to enact it and a few members of Congress on both sides of the aisle stated that legislation, which would be more permanent than an FCC ruling, would ultimately be the best way forward when it comes to net neutrality. Now, less than a week after the FCC’s vote, Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn has introduced a net neutrality bill.

Blackburn is saying this legislation will "settle the net neutrality debate" and that she’s hopeful about its prospects in Congress. "Let’s stop the ping-ponging from one FCC commission to another," Blackburn told Variety. "This is something where the Congress should act."

The bill, however, varies little from the FCC’s order. It would still classify broadband as a Title I service and it would still allow for internet service providers to practice paid prioritization. It would also keep in place the 2010 transparency rules reinstituted last week. Pretty much the only difference is that it would ban blocking and throttling. "A lot of our innovators are saying, ‘Let’s go with things we have agreement on, and other things can be addressed later,’" Blackburn told Variety.

Some have already spoken out against Blackburn’s bill. Craig Aaron, president of the Free Press Action Fund called it "fake net neutrality" and said in a statement, "This cynical attempt to offer something the tiniest bit better than what the FCC did and pretend it’s a compromise is an insult to the millions who are calling on Congress to restore real net neutrality." On the other hand, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, who voted in favor of repealing net neutrality protections last week, has voice support for it.

The Internet Association, which asked the FCC to delay its vote earlier this month, released a statement saying, "The internet industry supports a lasting solution that enshrines strong, enforceable net neutrality protections for consumers into law. While Chairman Blackburn’s bill in its current form isn’t that solution, she should be commended for moving this conversation forward." It also said that the proposed legislation did not meet the criteria for basic net neutrality protections.

Following last week’s vote, Democratic Representative Mike Doyle said he would be working on legislation himself. "I will introduce legislation under the Congressional Review Act to overturn today’s order and restore net neutrality," he said in a statement.

You can read Blackburn’s proposed legislation here.

Via: TechFreedom

Source: Open Internet Preservation Act

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Estonia’s e-residency head plans the country’s own cryptocurrency

Estonia might be the first country to offer cryptocurrency as a way to reward its e-residents. "Estcoin" could be used to reward e-residents (people who set up a business online in the country), verify someone’s identity online or be used for payment attached to the euro, according to Reuters. But it isn’t a government initiative. Instead, it’s a scheme dreamed up by the country’s "digital residency" mastermind Kaspar Korjus. While he might have some support from the private sector, he hasn’t gotten the necessary government backing fo it.

Korjus penned a lengthy Medium post extolling the virtues of estcoin, saying that e-residents have already brought €1.4. million ($1,653,876) into the country. The independent report compiled by accounting firm Deloitte predicts that by 2025, that reinvestment will rise to €1.8 billion ($2,127,060,000) in eight years.

"The purpose of estcoin is to accelerate this, while also providing additional funds and interest for the development of our digital nation," he writes. "By not embracing crypto, governments are failing to unlock a powerful driver of economic growth and risk losing relevance entirely."

One of the problems is that Estonia’s entire e-residency for businesses could be a way to eventually enable these companies to avoid paying taxes. Which, you know, is how governments pay for things like road repairs, infrastructure, police, etc..

The idea behind identity verification is to ensure you don’t lose access to your wallet. Your private cryptocurrency key would be tied to your government-issued digital ID.

Sounds good, right? Well, there’s a snag: Despite what Korjus says about not needing the European Central Bank’s involvement, the financial institution said it hadn’t been contacted about the program. The ECB still recognizes the euro as its lone form of currency.

"We would never provide an alternative currency to the euro, but it’s possible that we could combine some of the decentralized advantages of crypto with the stability and trust of fiat currency and then limit its use within the e-resident community," Korjus says.

That may run afoul of the ECB. Reuters says that if estcoin was widely adopted and started interfering with the euro zone economy, the bank could step in.

This could be seen as another way that Estonia is throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks. Cryptocurrency is the topic du-jour so, naturally, after the country’s technological dark age it’s going to be attracted to it. Earlier this year, the country set up a "digital embassy" of sorts to store its data in a server room in Luxembourg. Other countries have flirted with cryptocurrencies (like Venezuela and Sweden), but so far nothing has really hit, or replaced traditional legal tender.

Source: Reuters, Medium

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The Void’s large-scale VR gaming is coming to Las Vegas

The Void’s room-sized, immersive VR gaming is only available in a handful of locations right now, so even a modest expansion is important… it’s big deal, then, that the company just added two new venues. The entertainment startup has has unveiled plans to open Void Experience Centers in Las Vegas’ The Venetian/The Palazzo hotel (specifically, the Grand Canal Shoppes) and the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. Both new locations will showcase Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, an experience where you go undercover as a Stormtrooper.

The Vegas and Glendale locations open in early 2018, and tickets for both should go on sale soon.

The Void still isn’t going to be a common sighting, and VR arcades as a whole are still quite rare. The new locations could go some ways toward making this kind of grand-scale VR more accessible, though. You can give it a try on a Vegas vacation, and Glendale Galleria is one of the larger and more popular malls in southern California.

Source: Business Wire

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