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FAA will restrict drones from flying around the Statue of Liberty
On October 5th, hobbyists will no longer be able to fly their drones around ten US landmarks. The Department of the Interior and the FAA have restricted UAV flights within 400 feet of the monuments, which include the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and the Hoover Dam.
Blizzard is fixing 'Overwatch' bug that bans innocent players
If you find yourself slapped with a season ban on Overwatch even though you did nothing wrong, don't worry -- it's a bug and Blizzard is on it. A rare Overwatch bug has affected around 200 accounts, eating up the skill ratings they earned and banning them from Competitive Play for the entire season despite having no history of leaving matches early or being kicked due to inactivity. According to a post on Reddit, the bug could be triggered by someone leaving right as a competitive match is loading. The screen gets stuck on the "waiting for players" state and any attempt to load a match after that fails.
Saudi Arabia lifts ban on messaging apps like Skype and Snapchat
Saudi Arabia will lift a ban on internet calls at 8PM ET today that had stood since 2013. Services that follow rules set by the country's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will be allowed to operate, according to a spokesman's statement and tweet (below).
Options for neo-Nazis on the internet are starting to shrink
If you're an American who's ever wondered what it would be like to have had the internet and today's technology during the time of Nazi ascension in Germany, take a look around. You're soaking in it. While a whole lot of us have been aware of this since at least last year's election, it's only now starting to sink in for companies who control the internet. Bitterly, only after the literal killing of people in the streets by white supremacists. Who, until this week, enjoyed using online services for their organizing, sharing, harassing, business needs and getting hateful shit done.
US lifts laptop ban from final Middle Eastern airline (updated)
If you're a business traveller who wants to use your laptop on a flight originating in the Middle East, things are looking up. The US started to lift restrictions for passengers carrying large electronics like laptops on flights originating in the Middle East earlier this month, including lifting the ban at Abu Dhabi airport, and exempting Emirates and Turkish Airlines from the ban. Now, according to a report by Reuters, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has finally lifted the laptop ban on inbound passengers on Saudi Arabian Airlines, the final airline to be under restriction.
Valve bans 40,000 cheating accounts after the Steam Summer Sale
More than 40,000 disingenuous gamers lost access to their games, items -- and in some cases, their entire accounts -- last weekend after the Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system flagged them for violations. No, that's not a typo, 40,411 players have been nicked by the company's robotic rule enforcer. That's nearly triple the previous banning record from 2016, which stood at a meager 15,227 players.
China cracks down on celebrity gossip social media accounts
The fans of 60 gossip bloggers on China's social media platforms, including ones owned by Tencent and Baidu, will have to get their daily fix elsewhere. Chinese websites and tech titans have shuttered 60 accounts focusing on celebrity gossip after authorities told them in a meeting that they must take steps to keep those kinds of pages in check. According to Reuters, a post on the Beijing Cyberspace Administration's social media account revealed the meeting and said that it expects websites in the country to "adopt effective measures to keep in check the problems of the embellishment of private sex scandals of celebrities, the hyping of ostentatious celebrity spending and entertainment and catering to the poor taste of the public."
US won't ban laptops on European flights, at least for now
After weeks of discussions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it won't enforce a ban on laptops and other personal electronics on flights to the US from Europe. While officials remain keen to "implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft" flying into the US, airlines and European officials appear to have sufficiently stalled negotiations on the blanket ban mooted earlier this month by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.
Uber is free to operate in Italy on a long-term basis
If you're in Italy, you can use Uber. A court in Rome today annulled a temporary ban placed on Uber in early April that prevented the company from advertising and operating throughout the country. This didn't completely stop Uber from infiltrating Italy, though: The ban was suspended about a week after its implementation as the company appealed, and Uber has been allowed to operate since then. Today's ruling deletes the ban from the books entirely.
US considers banning laptops on all flights from Europe
The Department of Homeland Security is considering banning all carry-on laptops on flights from Europe to the United States. This rule change would represent an expansion of previous regulations banning carry-on laptops and tablets on flights from some Middle Eastern and African countries.
Qualcomm might try to block iPhone shipments over royalty dispute
The Qualcomm vs. Apple licensing squabble had already gotten messy with lawsuits flying in both directions, but a report by Bloomberg says things could go to the next level soon. That's because according to sources, Qualcomm plans to ask the ITC to block Apple from importing its phones from where they're built in Asia to the US, ahead of new devices that we're anticipating in the fall. We don't know if it could be successful, although Qualcomm holds a number of patents in the space and Apple stopped making payments while the dispute is ongoing.
Uber must leave Italy in 10 days after nationwide ban
Trouble seems to follow Uber wherever it goes. A court in Rome has just banned the ride-hailing service in Italy for contributing to what it says is "unfair competition" faced by the local taxi industry. Uber must now stop promoting its services and cease all operations in the country within 10 days, unless it's willing to pay a $10,600 fine for each day it remains active after that grace period. While Uber's $70 billion valuation makes that amount sound like chump change, it hasn't exactly been profitable and actually bled billions in 2016.
Emirates will hand out Surface tablets on flights from Dubai
In mid-March, the US hastily instituted an indefinite ban on electronic devices larger than a cellphone from being carried on to the flights of nine Middle Eastern airlines. Reportedly, it was to prevent terrorists from sneaking an explosive-laden fake iPad into the cabin, though few details on the specific threat have emerged in recent weeks. To compensate travellers for the hassle of spending hours on a flight without their trusty laptops, Emirates has begun offering complimentary Microsoft Surfaces for the durations of affected flights.
iPad bomb threat led to recent device ban on flights
When the US and UK banned people from carrying large devices aboard flights originating in the Middle East and northern Africa, they only made vague claims about this being in response to threat reports. But just what were those threats, exactly? We might have an idea. A Guardian security source understands that the bans were prompted in part by a plot to tuck explosives into a fake iPad. This wasn't the only motivation -- there was a "combination of factors," according to the newspaper -- but it played an important role. It's not clear where and when this faux tablet bomb would have been used.
58 tech companies file amicus brief against revised travel ban
Nearly 60 tech companies have submitted an amicus curiae brief to a Hawaii district court on Wednesday, denouncing the Trump administration's revised travel ban, which is scheduled to go into effect on tomorrow.
China bans new South Korean games over a political crisis
China is rather irate that South Korea is starting to install the US' THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system to protect against North Korean threats. To that end, it's punishing the South with retaliatory policies... including one that targets video games. Chinese officials have frozen new licenses for games made in South Korea, preventing any more titles from launching in the country.
CNN broadcasts on YouTube after TV ban in Venezuela
Earlier today, the Venezuelan government cut CNN en Español's signal, shutting off its television broadcasting in the country shortly after it aired a report on fake passports. Not to be deterred, the news network has taken its programming to YouTube and posted links to news reports on its Spanish-language site. Apparently, the Venezuelan government doesn't know that you can't stop the livestreaming signal.
Elon Musk accidentally tweets that Trump's ban is 'not right'
If you've been tweeting for a while, then your drafts folder is probably full of too-hot takes that you eventually thought better of and dialed back for public consumption. Of course, you're probably not a billionaire tech CEO with a position on a presidential advisory council like Elon Musk. That's why it's news when his drafts folder apparently let loose several tweets with more pointed criticism of Donald Trump's "Muslim immigration ban" (as Musk referred to it in the now-deleted tweets) than Musk's other public statements.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk won't quit Trump's advisory council
While a boycott movement that registered over 200,000 account deletions and messages from employees convinced Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to end his tenure on the president's economic advisory council, Elon Musk will not be moved. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted that at tomorrow's meeting of the advisory council he and others will "express our objections to the recent executive order on immigration and offer suggestions for changes to the policy."
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick leaves Trump's advisory council (updated)
After a week including widespread #DeleteUber protests against his company, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told employees today that he is no longer participating on President Donald Trump's economic advisory council. In a message obtained by the New York Times, Kalanick said: "Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that."
