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      Trains were designed to break down after third-party repairs, hackers find

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 13 December - 22:14 · 1 minute

    Dragon Sector uploaded a video to social media after discovering an "undocumented ‘unlock code’ which you could enter from the train driver’s panel" fixed "mysterious issues" impacting trains in Poland.

    Enlarge / Dragon Sector uploaded a video to social media after discovering an "undocumented ‘unlock code’ which you could enter from the train driver’s panel" fixed "mysterious issues" impacting trains in Poland. (credit: Adam Haertle on YouTube )

    An unusual right-to-repair drama is disrupting railroad travel in Poland despite efforts by hackers who helped repair trains that allegedly were designed to stop functioning when serviced by anyone but Newag, the train manufacturer.

    Members of an ethical hacking group called Dragon Sector, including Sergiusz Bazański and Michał Kowalczyk, were called upon by a train repair shop, Serwis Pojazdów Szynowych (SPS), to analyze train software in June 2022. SPS was desperate to figure out what was causing "mysterious failures" that shut down several vehicles owned by Polish train operator the Lower Silesian Railway, Polish infrastructure trade publication Rynek Kolejowy reported . At that point, the shortage of trains had already become "a serious problem" for carriers and passengers, as fewer available cars meant shorter trains and reduced rider capacity, Rynek Kolejowy reported.

    Dragon Sector spent two months analyzing the software, finding that "the manufacturer's interference" led to "forced failures and to the fact that the trains did not start," and concluding that bricking the trains "was a deliberate action on Newag's part."

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      Netflix sur Google Chrome supporte parfois le 1080p et la 4K, mais personne ne sait pourquoi

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 4 August, 2023 - 11:45

    Limitée au 720p pour des raisons de DRM, la lecture de films/séries Netflix dans Google Chrome fonctionne désormais en 1080p, voire en 4K HDR. Google et Netflix n'ont pas encore communiqué sur ce changement. [Lire la suite]

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      Sky Targets Sky Go & Now TV Decryption Key Software as Piracy Wars Continue

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Thursday, 27 July, 2023 - 18:05 · 4 minutes

    encrypted-lock-s Sky has fought piracy mechanisms of all kinds over the years. From set-top box modifications to viewing card tampering, blocking, even full PC-based emulation, the pay TV company has seen it all.

    Exploits that are relatively easy to pull off and work at scale are considered serious threats. Last month we reported on the sale of Sky encryption keys on platforms including Telegram. That type of thing has been going on for some time, but over the space of a few days, direct URLs to watch Sky content in the UK, Italy, and Germany, were posted online and inevitably began to spread.

    Free Decryption Key Extractors

    This week a related problem was observed by intelligence and investigations company, Kopjra S.r.l . Working as a Sky anti-piracy partner in Italy, Kopjra sprang into action after spotting software uploaded to GitHub by a user who only signed up this month.

    The user account ‘TAJLNsScripts’ was created in early July and currently focuses on video platform-related tools. The first script causing concern at Sky was written in Python and claims to allow users to log in to Now TV via a terminal window, browse the platform’s content, and then obtain decryption keys for both VOD content and live TV.

    A second repository named ‘SkyGo-Drm-Solution’ offered a Python script with features broadly in line with the VOD capability of its Now TV-focused namesake. In order to function, the tool requires users to take an extra step using a specific cookie culled from Sky’s platform.

    While still a concern for Sky, the extra steps and the question of what to do with the keys once obtained, are likely to put off most people from venturing further. For people with a rudimentary understanding of how these things work, nothing here is particularly difficult either.

    The broad underlying concern is that these scripts and others like them exploit a fundamental weakness that a) can’t be easily fixed and b) goes way beyond Sky. It’s a fairly sensitive topic, to put it mildly.

    Kopjra’s Aggressively-Worded DMCA Takedown

    After identifying itself as representing Sky UK, Kopjra informed GitHub via a DMCA notice that the tools allow for the decryption of Sky content otherwise protected by Widevine DRM.

    “This activity is manifestly illicit, and it represents a violation of our Client’s exclusive intellectual property rights (COPYRIGHT) on the Asset, given that our Client has never authorized – neither intends to authorize – any of the Page/s displaying contents concerning the Asset,” the notice reads.

    “In consideration of the above, we formally invite you to immediately remove – within 24 hours of receipt of this letter – the above-mentioned Page/s, to disable access to users and cease any further publishing of any content concerning the Asset on the Page/s.”

    As the image above shows, the scripts in question were uploaded to GitHub roughly three weeks ago. The first and second repo were both created on July 8, approximately six minutes apart. Both had obvious topic tags and were very easy to find from the beginning.

    After being publicly exposed for a considerable time, removing the software was presented as an emergency matter, with Kopjra informing GitHub that anything short of immediate compliance would render the coding platform liable for losses.

    “We bring to your attention that, in case of failure to comply with the above requests, you will be deemed directly responsible for the persisting infringement of our Client’s intellectual property rights as well as for the consequent damages (both economic and non-economic) suffered and that can be suffered in the future,” the notice warned.

    GitHub Removes Software

    The DMCA takedown notice published by GitHub shows that the developer of the software was given an opportunity to make changes to their code, provided with advice on how to submit a counternotice , and directed towards GitHub-supplied legal resources .

    These steps are part of GitHub’s commitment to supporting developers following the attempted takedown of youtube-dl in 2021. The commitment doesn’t imply that GitHub endorses a developer’s work, but the company does believe that coders should have the freedom to tinker .

    What response was received by GitHub, if any, isn’t detailed in the notice , but the end result was both repositories being disabled along with several forks. The developer’s account was not suspended due to the takedown notice, but it now contains just three repos rather than the original five.

    tajlnsscripts-account

    For Sky and its anti-piracy partners, this represents just one of many takedowns filed already this month, mostly hoping to make sites and services much harder to find.

    Continuous DMCA Notices

    Sky has several anti-piracy partners and they are always kept busy tackling various threats. Takedown notices targeting pirate IPTV services, their sales portals in particular, are sent to Google on a regular basis. The strategy includes making numerous claims in respect of different types of infringement.

    For example, notices like these ( 1 , 2 ) claim that infringing links to copyrighted content are provided by the sites in question, but very rarely are any links included in takedown notices. To avoid the notices being rejected, they carry additional claims that the sites display Sky’s logos without permission. Since that’s usually the case and is easily proven, these takedowns can be effective.

    Sky isn’t simply a broadcaster, though, it owns content too. That leads to takedown notices like this which target sites that directly host movies and TV shows, or allow them to be streamed via their platforms.

    Like many similar companies, Sky has to deal with a persistent threat from piracy apps, usually in the form of Android APK files offered on various sites. They are tackled with notices like this , while platforms offering DRM keys are dealt with in broadly the same way .

    Image credit: Pixabay / TheDigitalArtist

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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      Ubisoft : connectez-vous vite à votre compte au risque de perdre vos jeux !

      news.movim.eu / JournalDuGeek · Monday, 24 July, 2023 - 13:30

    template-jdg-19-158x105.jpg Logo d'Ubisoft

    Ubisoft Connect commence à faire le ménage parmi les comptes inactifs : voici ce qu'il faut savoir pour éviter la catastrophe.

    Ubisoft : connectez-vous vite à votre compte au risque de perdre vos jeux !

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      Denuvo wants to convince you its DRM isn’t “evil”

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 7 July, 2023 - 19:54

    You have nothing to lose but your chains.

    Enlarge / You have nothing to lose but your chains. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

    Simply mentioning the name "Denuvo" among some gamers is pretty much guaranteed to get you an instant, strong reaction. Just look at the comment threads underneath any Ars article covering Denuvo and you'll see plenty of complaints about the DRM-enhancing anti-piracy technology.

    Irdeto, the company that acquired Denuvo in a 2018 purchase , doesn't generally make a habit of commenting at length on this reputation (or its secretive DRM schemes) in the public press. So when Irdeto Chief Operating Officer of Video Games Steeve Huin agreed to defend his company publicly in an exclusive interview with Ars Technica, I jumped at the chance to talk to him.

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      Hogwarts Legacy a été piraté en seulement deux semaines

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 24 February, 2023 - 17:42

    Le jeu vidéo Hogwarts Legacy : L’Héritage de Poudlard a fini par céder. Un crack a été annoncé le 23 février. [Lire la suite]

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      Netflix’s ad-supported plan doesn’t work on Apple TV, “older” Chromecasts, PS3

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 4 November, 2022 - 16:22 · 1 minute

    A person's hand holding a TV remote control with a Netflix button.

    Enlarge / Most smart TVs should work with Netflix's new ad-supported plan. Somehow, it's far more powerful, newer devices that may have issues. And the PS3. (credit: Getty Images | Christopher Ames )

    Netflix's newest offering, a $7-per-month "Basic with Ads" plan, comes with inherent compromises : five minutes of ads per hour, one device at a time, no downloads, 720p resolution, and some unavailable content. But there are also a number of device compatibility issues, including on brand-new devices.

    On Netflix's help center page for people encountering the error "Basic with Ads is not supported," Netflix notes that "Basic with Ads isn't supported on Apple TV ." "You'll need to upgrade your Netflix plan to the Basic, Standard, or Premium plan," Netflix advises, or else "use a different device." That last bit links to Netflix's list of officially supported devices , which unhelpfully shows an Apple TV logo with no footnotes or other details about its limitations. Netflix told 9to5 Mac in a statement that Apple TV support is "coming soon."

    The same is true for any Chromecast except the newest model, Chromecast with Google TV . "Basic with Ads is supported only on Chromecast with Google TV," Netflix states, meaning that any model bought before September 2022—like the 4K version Google sold until then— is out of luck.

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      Xbox Series X update allows more discs to be played fully offline

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 20 September, 2022 - 17:03

    Xbox Series X update allows more discs to be played fully offline

    Enlarge

    Microsoft has quietly updated its Xbox Series X system software to remove the need for a one-time online check in before playing Xbox One discs and certain "Smart Delivery" cross-generation discs.

    When we first wrote about this issue last May , we noted how the Series X hid the download of certain required config files behind a "Getting your game ready..." message during the first load of an affected disc-based game. If the system wasn't connected to the Internet, though, Series X users would be presented with a "This game isn't ready yet" error, completely preventing them from playing their disc-based game.

    Fast forward to last week, when YouTuber Hikkomori Media noticed that the online check-in had apparently been removed. Discs that previously presented an error when run offline can now be installed and played directly from the disc, even if the system has no Internet connection.

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      Denuvo Promises to Kill Nintendo Switch Emulator Piracy With New Protection

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Wednesday, 24 August, 2022 - 15:51 · 2 minutes

    Denuvo Most video gamers will be familiar with the concept of an end-of-level or end-of-game ‘boss’. They take many forms but tend to present as an escalated challenge designed to prevent gamers from progressing any further.

    Anti-piracy company Denuvo embraces the ‘boss’ concept and drops it on its head. Anyone wanting to play a Denuvo-protected videogame without paying for it will have to defeat Denuvo’s protection right at the very beginning, before the game even starts.

    Worst still, only a handful of people in the whole world are up to the Denuvo boss challenge, so until they emerge victorious, nobody gets to play the game, unless they’re prepared to pay for it. This makes Denuvo very unpopular in video game piracy circles but very popular with its clients, some of whom have a new product to consider.

    Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection

    Providing there’s no obvious reuse of copyrighted code or trademark abuse, emulation software is mostly immune to legal attack. Emulators that mimic gaming hardware are mostly legal to develop, legal to distribute, legal to own, and even legal to use.

    In reality, most emulator gamers like to gloss over that last bit. In the time it takes the minority to shout “HOMEBREW”, the rest will have downloaded several hundred MAME ROMs, a few Nintendo Switch games, and will be playing them on a PC.

    Nintendo is concerned about all piracy, but emulator piracy is special in that gamers don’t need to buy games, and they don’t need to buy a console either. Denuvo announced today that it has a new product to bring this to an end.

    It’s called Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection and Denuvo wants game developers to start using it right away.

    Emulation Good / Piracy Bad

    Reinhard Blaukovitsch is the founder and Managing Director of Denuvo, a business owned by cybersecurity giant Irdeto. In an announcement on Irdeto’s blog today, Blaukovitsch acknowledges that PC emulators can bring old games back to life with a wave of nostalgia but warns of the piracy risks.

    The claim that hundreds of free emulators can play Switch games sounds a bit enthusiastic, but that’s not really important. Yuzu and Ryujinx are the most popular and between them cover Windows, Linux and macOS users. All three can be used with entirely legal software but Denuvo would like them to be less useful to pirates moving forward.

    Games Need Protection From Emulation

    “Your Nintendo Switch games need a protective solution. Emulating games may be harmless in some cases, but at the end of the day, it is still a major means of piracy,” Denuvo’s message to Nintendo developers reads.

    “Our brand new Denuvo Nintendo Switch Protection helps prevent emulation from the get-go and stops pirates from getting hold of your game via the PC.”

    Denuvo says its solution integrates “seamlessly and automatically” and works by detecting differences in the way a game behaves compared to what it was designed for.

    “In this way, our software can tell that your game has been tampered with – and will make it unplayable.”

    Denuvo says its solution will stop Switch games from being pirated and help to secure income for developers. As for gamers, they will “simply have to pay” if they want in on the action.

    The Switch hacking/piracy scene is likely to perceive that as a challenge.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.