Google Allies With Netflix To Combat Pirated Websites
Google has joined forces with Netflix to counter pirated websites.
Netflix Inc. conducted a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPN) initially, but now they have started to target the pirate sites. This move is in compliance with the company’s vulnerable strategy to discourage consumers belonging to other markets to gain access to its clients through illegal means.
Back in January, the company started this pursuit where those users were blocked who made use of privacy protection service such as virtual private networks. These people made use of software that enabled them to circumvent the geographical barriers so that they could stream content that was solely for the United States. The company made this decision to satisfy the content partners who have given the company streaming rights. Moreover, it also wishes to secure its own content from any ill activity.
By making use of the VPNs the users who belong to global markets have the ability to alter the servers and the IP address to stream all the popular shows like House of Cards which is available to the US audience but not to the users in New Zealand and Australia. The content which the company is regulating belongs to various regions in compliance to the license agreement for TV shows and movies with media houses limited to a few geographies. Moreover, the subtitle language is also different from one country to another.
In the infancy stage, it seemed like Netflix wishes to implement stricter laws to prevent the users from streaming illegal content via VPNs. However, the action was confirmed by Reddit in February where the subscribers of the social media platform got an error every time they tried to access the US version of Netflix via any software.
The company has finally started to issue petition to take down a bunch of websites which are dealing with the hosting of its private content on their medium. It is running after all those sites that are offering original content via torrents. This allows the users to get access pirated version of their favorite movies or shows. Moreover, they can also stream and download them free of cost.
Hence the company has started to go against oline piracy where the streaming giant has asled Alphabet Inc. Google to assist them.
On Netflix’s behalf, Vobile – an anti-piracy company operating globally would be directly reporting to the search engine giant with defaulted pirated links. These will be then removed by Google from it searches. So this will allow the company to camouflage those pirated websites that allow users to get access to shows and movies illegally. Hence content that is not authorized will not be readily available over the Internet.
Hence in a nutshell, Netflix has tactically taken its first step to counter pirated websites. It is a great idea to have GOOG on board since majority of searches are governed via the company’s search engine only. This might not be a permanent solution to the problem but it certainly is a good way to combat the regulation of licensed content in an illegal manner.
Russia Might Suspend Airworthiness Certificate For Boeing 737
Boeing 737 might just lose its airworthiness certificate in Russia by the federal agency of air transport.
Boeing Corporation is about to lose the airworthiness certificate for its bestselling jet, 737 in Russia by the Federal Agency of Air Transport. The airplane maker famous jet is causing safety concerns that are coming from airlines in Russia that fly the product. A request has been received to take away 737’s flying certificate by Artyom Kiryonov, who is a Russian Civic Chamber chairman.
It seems that the aerospace company bestselling product is not all glitters and gold for Russia’s aviation and airlines industry. The safety concerns have reached the peak due to the plane crash incident that took place while flying the company’s 737-800 by FlyDubai. It crashed at Rostov-on-Dov airport in Russia on March 19.
Regulatory officials are going to be working together with the International Air Transport Association and Boeing Co., so that the safety policies and standards are reviewed. It does not end here; the aerospace giant has also been requested to provide technical insight regarding the aircraft, specifically the data regarding its rudders.
This is not the first time Boeing is under a situation of this kind. The IAC also made a request in the past to stop the 737s from being used in November, which led to an investigation to check the jets rudders. This happened right after plane crash took place in 2013, while flying the 737 by Tarastan Airlines.
The recent crash took place when FlyDubai was supposed to land at an airport in Russia, it waited for two hours to make the landing due to unfavorable weather conditions, after making two attempts to land, with the second one leading to a crash. 55 Russian and 7 crewmembers lost their lives from the crash, however this was the first crash of the airlines, luckily for both the parties for now, and the cause of the crash is still a mystery. FlyDubai on the other hand has taken the decision to avoid Boeing products from now on.
If the airworthiness certificate is lost , Boeing might face a huge loss, as it already has received many orders for its 737s, which are scheduled to be delivered next years. If the company receives the unfortunate news of cancellation of these orders, things might get very bad for its business.
Russian companies are going to return the airplane maker’s 737s older version. The timing is horrible for this to happen as the company is making attempts to get rid of the older version of this supposedly faulty product, according to Russia.
Has FBI VS Apple Inc. Met Its End
The biggest legal battle between the world most powerful government and the world most valuable company has been temporarily halted.
Last week, the requisition of the FBI to postpone the hearing astonished almost everybody. However, the recent approach of the law enforcement agency cannot settle the future of searches under the Fourth Amendment.
Last month, the FBI requested the court to motion Apple Inc. to help it to get access into the phone of a shooter involved in the San Bernardino attacks as all of its resources have been exhausted. However, the Cupertino Calif. firm declined to comply with court orders and claimed that the company’s compliance will create a “backdoor” access to all the iPhones across the world putting the privacy and security of hundreds of thousands of users in jeopardy.
But, last week, the FBI requested to postpone the hearing on the grounds that it had contacted an outsider third party which will more likely provide the extent of the access initially required from the tech titan. The identity of the third party is still undisclosed however, John McAfee –who openly offered the FBI to provide the hacking services –has indicated that he isn’t the outside third party.
Nevertheless, the strong matter of striking the balance between government fight against the terrorism and the privacy and the security of the citizens remain unresolved. According to the most recent news, the tech titan is actively involved in bolstering up its encryption which might make the devices and services completely inaccessible to the law enforcement. The latest Brussels terrorists’ attacks however have ignited the citizens who want the “bad guys” to do the time of their crime. Therefore, Apple has to be more honest in relation to its corporate strategy.
When the Justice Department blamed the world’s most valuable of intentionally changing the iPhone security to create a deterrent for the law enforcement to which the company’s general counsel Bruce Sewell marked the DOJ claim as “deeply offensive.” Quite contrary, when the changes in operating systems were first announced in 2014, the iPhone maker had boasted to its customers that unlike its rivals the tech giant now doesn’t have the ability to bypass the phone’s passcode and get access to the users’ data. The company quoted, “So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants.”
During an interview with Time magazine, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, regarded the concerns of the FBI as “a crock.” He also said that the law enforcement agencies shouldn’t be obsessed on “what’s not available” however it should find out alternative ways for preventing the terrorism.
The DOJ had earlier remarked that it will disclose its result in early April. Apple Inc. had earlier reported that if the authorities get successful in unlocking the iPhone then the tech titan will like to review the methods used in order to comprehend the susceptibility of the smartphones. The legal battle between the FBI and the tech giant has temporarily paused but it hasn’t ended yet.
Moreover, multiple hackers have actively started creating a key which can easily access into the phone in order to offer their invention to the government. By the next month, more aspects of the legal battle will be uncovered.
Facebook CEO Striving To Enter China
Mark Zuckerberg is using his charm to debut in China.
Facebook Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg had an eventful weekend in China recently. Since the news surfaced, the executive got a lot of attention via the local newspaper. However, it is not really known why the executive is so popular in the region and the reason behind his visits is quite easier to guess.
Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged about his visit via a Facebook post that got viral. He made his way to the Tiananmen Square where he was a part of a lot of discussions with the E-commerce giant and founder of Alibaba, Mr. Jack Ma. However, the thing that was much sought after during his visit was his meeting with Liu Yunshan, the propaganda chief in China.
It is quite unusual for a business tycoon belonging to United States to meet the statesmen of China and that even publicly. Mr. Liu is an active member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, which has a lot of power. The meeting was merely discussing the stance of the Chinese executive on the social media laws in the region. It was also highlighting the fact that the United States tech companies and social media giants are willing to adhere to the barriers set by the local government as well as Internet governance.
Since the past couple of years, Mr. Liu is responsible for the extremely censored and state managed social media. Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. are the social media giants which are banned in China. So if Zuckerberg wishes to enter China ever again, it will be only possible by winning over Mr. Liu. The highlight of the meeting was the fact that he wishes to make a comeback in China since the company wishes to capitalize on the market of 668 million users.
The tech giant has been striving to expand its services in regions beyond United States for quite some time now. The conventional market of Facebook is embracing saturation. The company recently debuted Internet.org that was initially coined as Free Basics app. The service was aimed to offer free Internet access to emerging nations. The company established collaborations with native wireless network carriers to penetrate the service. However, the service was only encompassing Facebook and a bunch of other websites thus issues regarding net neutrality surfaced.
Facebook wished to capitalize on a market it had wished to capitalize on since a long time via Free Basics. However Telecom Regulatory Authority in India issued orders to put a halt to the service. So now FB is targeting China as the next potential market.
China is said to have the largest numbers of Internet users thus either the officials will have to device ways to get the ban lifted or force the authorities to offer them some special treatment.
Hence in a nutshell, Facebook is eyeing a great opportunity since the masses in China desire for the redemption of the services. However, it will not be that easy to persuade them.
Alibaba Seeks To Reach 6 Trillion GMV By 2020
Alibaba has just achieved a milestone of having 3 trillion in GMV in one year.
Alibaba Group Holding has achieved another milestone in the online retail industry. The Chinese tech company has just crossed $463 billion (3 trillion RMB) in Gross Merchandize Volume (GMV) transaction, which took place in its online marketplaces under one year. In recent year, Alibaba has significantly grown, but its international market position is negligible, which creates trouble for it to dominate the overall e-commerce industry.
In China, Alibaba accounts for almost 80% of the market share. The executive vice chairman of the firm, Joseph Tsai, wrote in an official corporate blog that the company managed to pass the 3 trillion RMB milestone in just under a year which is a massive achievement. Alibaba is expected to complete its fiscal year at the end of March. On its multiple online marketplaces, it is known for selling almost everything i.e. from soap to furniture and electronics, etc. It is the most dominant e-commerce firm in the region with almost 400 million active buyers annually.
CEO of Alibaba Group, Daniel Zhang, said in a press conference in Hangzhou, “What is behind this 3 trillion RMB milestone is an entire business ecosystem and fully-integrated Internet ecosystem that harmoniously works together to achieve tremendous capabilities”. Alibaba has plans to reach 6 trillion RMB in Gross Merchandize Volume (GMV) yearly by the end of 2020 and Daniel Zhang affirmed that it is right on track to pursue its goal.
Reaching 6 trillion RMB in GMV is not a difficult task for such a huge company but considering the situation of China – i.e. slowest economy growth since 2009 – might hurt its progress. In order to double its GMV, the company is working to bring in the population that is currently not shopping online on its marketplaces or in fact, any online marketplace. Despite of being very much advanced in the online digital world, there is a good chunk of Chinese people that have not embraced the online world as of yet.
Previously, Alibaba wanted to expand in the rural areas regardless of the hardships it will face in delivering the packages. This will be its key effort this year to expand its products and services in these parts of China. Not only this move would double Alibaba’s GMV gradually but it will also make the imported goods and items available to the Chinese consumers specifically in rural areas. Tsai adds, “The rural China initiative is already bearing fruit, so far reaching 12,000 of China’s 600,000 villages.”
Boeing 737 Crash Landing In Russia Killed 62 Passengers
Boeing jet 737 crashes while landing in Russia killing 62 passengers, most of them were Russians.
Boeing Corporation jet 737 crashed in Russia, Rostov-on-Don, killing 62, out of which 55 were passenger and 7 of them were crewmembers. The airplane maker jet was being flown by FlyDubai, which led to the tragedy at 8:20 AM.
The aerospace company even offered it condolences to those who died from this crash in the 737-800 airlines, flown by FlyDubai. The jet was flying from Dubai to Russia, while it crashed during the runway approach. Flight FZ981 crash was confirmed by local emergency services and Air-traffic control. The Chicago Airlines mostly has the aerospace giant’s 737-800 jets in its fleet, which is the same one that crashed during landing.
Boeing Co. has made it clear that it is more willing to provide any technical assistance necessary, if the government agencies request while the investigation is on. However, it is not in favor of answering to any questions related to the flight with the international protocol governing aviation accident investigations. The airplane maker does not have much to worry about, as many Russian investigators believe this crash took place due to a pilot error, but some of them also conclude that it can be technical issue too.
According to Russian emergency services, the accident took place at 3:40 local time on Saturday morning at the airport in Rostov-on-Don when the flight was just about land, coming all the way from Dubai. A CCTV footage shows how the flight went down, FZ981 made it inside the airport, but it was 250 meters short of runway.
The weather conditions on this day were not in favor of the jet, with heavy winds and less visibility, because of which the flight crashed down into pieces killing many, including 33 women, 4 children and 18 men, out of which 44 of these people were Russian while two were Indian, one Uzbekistani, and 8 Ukrainians. The loss of life is suffered in different places of the world from this unfortunate tragedy, while investigations are being conducted to come up with solution and give it to families who are suffering the loss.
Search and rescue operations are conducted at the emergency site, with experts and specialists working. The recorders of the flight have still not been found, while the officials are looking for it. The governor is emphasizing that this crash occurred because of bad weather. FlyDubai made a statement informing that it is doing everything possible for the one that has been affected because of this crash.
If the conclusion comes to technical error in the jet, Boeing might be facing a lawsuit by the families who have lost their loved ones, but luckily, no sign of that has been seen so far.
Grilled Hot Dogs Brings New Taste To Burger King
The sales of Burger King's hotdogs has been successful so far even though it was not the traditional food item offered by the company; sometimes risks can pay off well.
Burger King recently added hotdogs to its menu, which is not one of the usual and traditional products that the company offers. Lucky for the fast food chain, this risk paid off very well, and the sales of the food items were impressive to say the least. The grilled hotdog has been making headlines while others review how it actually tastes.
The hamburger restaurant recently made a decision to stick to its roots and return to the traditional menu that it has offered for many years; however this menu did not exclude the recent addition, grilled hotdogs. It is not a fancy unusual hotdog but a simple and plain one, the advertising of the product before it was launched was not on a massive scale either. It has onions, mustard, ketchup and a topping of pickle relish with smoky and dense texture. It is slit down its side, but that is not a design, only so that the product is cooked rapidly.
The fast food restaurant chain gives users a good selection of topping to choose from, but it is not excessive so that the chance to taste the meat can be enjoyed too. This food item contains 330 calories and 19 grams of fat to it. According to a review from AVCLUB, the hotdog was good and the critic managed to eat the entire meat tube, which indicates that it is definitely worth a taste. The chili flavor of this dog was not given as much praise as expected on the other hand. It was said to have too much salt.
Customers can ask for two different categories of the hot dog; one being the classic grilled dog and the other is chili cheese grilled one. The food service provider has received success from this product from the public and the media, both; it has given the company 2.5 billion of impression so far. No other competitor so far including McDonalds has offered hot dogs on the menu, thus Burger King has won the race in the category.
Burger King has managed to give its menu a balance and a variety at the same time; customers have praised the new product so far. Those hotdog lovers who still have not tried this product of Burger King should definitely visit any outlets of the company and try the dog out. According to reviews, it is worth a bite, or maybe even the whole meal. The good thing is that this hotdog has lesser calories than the extra-long cheeseburger and even the Dr. Pepper Shake we love so much.
