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YouTube pulls hundreds of videos over essay cheating ads
YouTube doesn't have it easy managing the ads it automatically inserts itself, but it's another challenge entirely to manage the ads baked into the videos themselves. The online video giant has pulled over 1,400 videos after a BBC investigation found more than 250 channels had mid-video ads for EduBirdie, a Ukraine-based essay cheating service. YouTube had given some of these channels until May 4th to edit the ads out of their videos, but not all of them made it before the cutoff point.
Blizzard and Epic take 'Overwatch' and 'Fortnite' cheating very seriously
Game-makers have had a field day making examples out of cheaters the past few weeks. Most recently, a pair of Overwatch hackers were charged in South Korea as a result of a year-long investigation by the region's police. Working with Blizzard (translated), the Seoul National Police Agency Cyber Security Department arrested a baker's dozen hackers total, according to Kotaku,
Alleged ‘Fortnite’ hacker's mom fights anti-cheating lawsuit
The fight against people cheating in online games is getting ugly. Specifically, Epic Games is suing 14 year-old Caleb Rogers for allegedly modding the game and causing the developer to lose profits from his activity in the free-to-play "Battle Royale" mode for Fortnite. Rogers' mother filed a letter with North Carolina's US District Court saying that Epic "has no capability of proving any form of modification" because her son merely installed cheats he downloaded from Addicted Cheats, versus altering the game's source code himself.
Windows 10 now includes anti-cheat protection for games
Windows 10's Fall Creators Update is full of changes, but one of the understated additions could make a big difference if you're a gamer. Microsoft has switched on its previously teased TruePlay feature, which promises to protect against "common" cheats in Universal Windows Platform games. Titles that take advantage of the safeguard will both run in a protected mode and trigger a background service that watches for typical cheating behavior. If they find anything amiss, they'll send data to the developer. You can switch off TruePlay if you're nervous about Windows transmitting your data, but companies can limit what you're allowed to do (playing online, for example) if you don't have it enabled.
‘Fortnite’ studio Epic Games sues two alleged cheaters
Earlier this week, Fortnite publisher Epic Games filed a civil suit against two people who were allegedly cheating while playing the game online. They were associated with subscription-based website Addicted Cheats and used its services to hunt down and kill Twitch streamers while they played live, according to Kotaku.
Red Sox reportedly cheated with a Fitbit, not an Apple Watch
Reports that the Boston Red Sox cheated in games with an Apple Watch may have been slightly off the mark. A source speaking to Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo claims that the team used a Fitbit device, not Apple's smartwatch. It's not certain which model would have been used, but the Blaze seems like a prime candidate given its smartwatch-like design. You don't need a high-priced smartwatch to get text messages, after all.
‘PUBG’ has banned over 150,000 cheaters since March
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has become incredibly popular in the few months it has been available on Steam Early Access. In August, it overtook Dota 2 as the game with the most simultaneous players and by the start of this month it had sold over 10 million units. But along with those large -- and growing -- player numbers come a lot of cheaters.
Red Sox reportedly used Apple Watch to steal Yankees' signals
The Cardinals aren't the only Major League Baseball team accused of using technological cheats. According to the New York Times, the league has determined that the Boston Red Sox cheated in numerous games against the New York Yankees (who filed a complaint) and other teams by using the Apple Watch to relay the hand signals that catchers and pitchers use to communicate intended pitches. Investigators learned that Red Sox trainers received signals from video replay staff and used the smartwatch to quietly relay that info to the team.
VW engineer sentenced to 40 months in prison for emissions cheating
Former Volkswagen engineer James Liang is taking the fall for his employers sins. Liang has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison, and has been ordered to pay a $200,000 fine for his part in the German automaker's deception about diesel emissions. That fine is 10 times the amount prosecutors were seeking, according to Reuters. While his defense argued for house arrest considering he'd only "blindly executed" his marching orders out of "misguided loyalty."
Blizzard is increasing ‘Overwatch’ penalties for bad behavior
Blizzard is doubling down on its punishments for nefarious Overwatch players. Aside from the permabans in place for cheaters, the developer will also penalize anyone who abuses, harasses, spams, or griefs others. Players in violation of the rules will be silenced, suspended, or even banned from the game. A word of warning to those fond of bending the rules: the changes are effective immediately, so you better be on your best behavior.
'Pokémon Go' will flag creatures caught using cheats
Niantic has decided that forcing Pokémon Go cheaters to a life of catching Pidgeys isn't quite enough of a punishment. Now, any Pokémon caught using "third-party services that circumvent normal gameplay" will be marked with a slash in people's inventories and "may not behave as expected." The developer has announced its new anti-cheating measure on The Silph Road subreddit, explaining that they're meant to ensure its new features remain fun and fair for all Trainers. Niantic is probably talking about its recently announced raid battles, wherein up to 20 players can participate, that's expected to launch in the coming weeks.
'Pokémon Go' update gives cheaters lousy monsters
With a new update, Pokémon Go cheaters won't be banned, but instead thrown into a depressing purgatory. As spotted by Reddit's hardcore Pokémon Go site, Silph Road, Niantic is now "shadowbanning" cheaters by only letting them find humdrum monsters like Pidgey. In a statement, Niantic support said "people who violate the Pokémon Go Terms of Service may have their gameplay affected and may not be able to see all the Pokémon around them."
US sues Fiat Chrysler over diesel emissions cheating
Volkswagen definitely won't be the only major automaker hauled into court for cheating on diesel emissions tests in recent years. In the wake of EPA accusations from January, the US Department of Justice has sued Fiat Chrysler for allegedly using a combination of defeat devices and software to trick regulators into thinking its 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engines are... well, eco-friendly. Reportedly, 2014-2016 model year Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles (104,000 in total) violated the Clean Air Act by meeting emissions rules in EPA testing, but spewing "much higher" nitrogen oxide levels in certain everyday driving situations.
Valve is trying to end account smurfing in 'Dota 2'
Valve is changing the way Dota 2 is played, at least on a meta level. Beginning May 4th, players will be required to register a unique phone number to their accounts in order to queue up for ranked matches. That's one account per phone number, ostensibly placing a hard limit on the number of ranked accounts that any one player can have. Before you get any fresh ideas, Valve says online services that provide virtual phone numbers won't work in this new system. Nice try.
'League of Legends' creator wins $10 million in cheating lawsuit
If you've noticed fewer cheaters in your League of Legends matches in recent weeks, you now have a good idea as to why. Riot Games has won a settlement in its lawsuit against LeagueSharp, the subscription cheating service that offered automated play (that is, bots) to win in League games. The agreement has LeagueSharp paying $10 million, bans its software and gives Riot control over its websites. LeagueSharp technically shut down in January, but the terms of the settlement weren't circulating until now.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 27: American Tune
Managing editor Dana Wollman and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O'Brien to discuss the biggest tech news of the week. First they'll debate OnePlus' benchmark scandal, then try to sort out why the ACLU is partnering with startup incubator Y Combinator and take the "artists" behind the Tinder for baby adoption Kickstarter to task. Finally it's another week of Trump talk as the panel addresses the impact of the recent immigration ban on the tech industry and how the political climate is impacting our social media habits.
OnePlus 3T caught cheating on benchmarks
No, the days of smartphone makers cheating on benchmarks aren't over yet. XDA has discovered that the OnePlus 3T artificially boosts processor clock speeds when running certain benchmark apps, keeping its CPU cores running at higher rates even when there was virtually no processor workload. This has apparently been a staple of HydrogenOS (OnePlus' interface for the Chinese market) for awhile, but only showed up in OxygenOS (the software for other parts of the world) in community builds ahead of the Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade.
Pokémon Company caught almost 6,000 'Sun' and 'Moon' cheaters
Cheating in online games is awful because it creates an uneven playing field against those who do play by the rules and those who do not. The Pokémon Company (TPC) noticed some irregularities in Pokémon Sun and Moon online matches and has laid the law down for 5,954 folks using modified save files, according to a translated post from the Company.
France isn't ready to ban cyclists from cheating with motors
The pro cycling world may be cracking down on the use of hidden motors to cheat in races, but it doesn't look like governments are ready to make it a criminal offense. The French government has shot down a proposed law that would have made this "technological doping" illegal, adding legal penalties to the punishments from racing leagues themselves. It's not that the politicians endorse cheating, of course. Rather, it's that they feel the proposal was premature and potentially too harsh given existing measures.
Rockstar liquidates cheaters' 'GTA Online' bank accounts
Not long after it launched in October 2013, Grand Theft Auto Online cheaters began artificially creating gobs of in-game money. The plague of illicitly-gained cash proliferated while Rockstar continued releasing its expansions -- until today. Players who had cheated, modded, hacked or even gotten money through glitches woke up to a message from Rockstar this morning telling them yes, they'd been found out, and the studio had eliminated their ill-gotten dough. For some players, this wiped out their in-game cash reserves to an ignominious $0.
