Audio ripping website Convert2MP3 shuts down following lawsuit settlement

Embed from Getty Images

For years audio ripping site Convert2MP3 lets its users download audio files from YouTube links and other sources. Now the site has been shut down as part of a 2017 lawsuit settlement. According to the global recording industry organization IFPI’s 2018 Music Consumer Insight Report, 38 percent of people around the world consume music through copyright infringement. Those who infringe use sites like Convet2MP3. The 2017 case was filed by German record labels in coordination with IFPI in the company’s home country of Germany. The labels claimed the site supported large-scale and sustained copyright violations by allowing people to get the audio from things like music videos.

To avoid litigation in court, Convert2MP3 agreed to shut down the site and any of its associated sites. The company also has to surrender its domains to IFPI. There’s also financial compensation included in the settlement and the site’s operator agrees to “not infringe copyright or circumvent technological protection measures in relation to recorded music in future.”

Source: IFPI

Canadian group sues government over Google-backed smart neighbourhood in Toronto

Sidewalk Labs—a company owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet—has plans to build a smart neighbourhood in Toronto that would collect data from different sources in the area. And it seems a local association is not happy with this development. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is suing three levels of government over this proposed plan. The association claims the project is “invalid and needs to be reset.” They are concerned about the increase in surveillance it entails and how the government seems to be outsourcing its responsibilities to a private corporation. The Sidewalk Labs project is run alongside the publicly funded Waterfront Toronto.

Click to read more ...

Swatch files lawsuit against Samsung over cloned watchfaces

One of the watchfaces Swatch claims Samsung copied is this Jaque Droz Tropical Bird Repeater, a one-of-a-kind design on a timepiece that costs around US$650,000

After what Swatch considers an "inadequate response" from Samsung, the watchmaker is suing the tech company for $100 million over watch faces on its smartwatches it deemed were "identical or virtually identical" to trademarks that Swatch owned. The Swiss watchmaker accuses Samsung of unfair business practices, and that its copied designs could mislead consumers to believe they had an ongoing partnership (which they apparently don't).

Click to read more ...

Apple claims Qualcomm didn’t want to sell its chips for the current iPhones

According to Apple, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max couldn't get Qualcomm chips because the chip maker wouldn't sell it to them

Qualcomm is currently on trial against the US Federal Trade Commission in California with the former facing charges that accuse them of engaging in monopolistic practices. At the trial, it’s being brought to light what happened between the chip maker and Apple. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said in a testimony to the US Federal Trade Commission that Qualcomm refused to sell them chips after Apple sued them over its licensing practices. At first glance, it seems Apple switched exclusively to Intel modems for competitive reasons—or even out of spite—but according to Williams’ testimony, there were plans to use both Qualcomm and Intel chips, but the former refused to sell to them. And we heard about how much Apple had to pay Qualcomm for its modems. According to Williams, it was US$7.50 per device, which is five times more than the $1.50 it wanted to pay. But Williams said they paid because they needed the chips and they “didn’t have a lot of options.”

Click to read more ...