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Rep. Joe Morelle Introduces Right to Repair Legislation in House of Representatives

Charlotte Henry ·

National right to repair legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday. It could compel firms to provide repair details and resources to both users and third-party technicians, AppleInsider reported.

Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) on Thursday introduced the Fair Repair Act, which requires device manufacturers to provide diagnostic and repair information, parts, and tools to third-party repair shops “in a timely manner and on fair and reasonable terms.” Additionally, the bill would allow the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to carry out enforcement by penalizing violators. The goal, according to Rep. Morelle’s office, is to empower small businesses and consumers to be self-reliant in the ability to fix their own devices without needing to go through official manufacturer or authorized repair channels.

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Netflix Takes Almost the Same Percentage of TV Usage as Apple TV+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock and Discovery+ Combined

Charlotte Henry ·

Latest Nielsen figures show that streaming overtook broadcast in TV usage in May. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the figures also revealed that Netflix occupied just two percent yes of that usage than a number of rivals, including Apple TV+, combined.

Netflix also has reason to tout the Nielsen findings, as they show that the company accounted for 6 percent of all TV usage in May. That’s tied with YouTube (including the YouTube TV bundle) for first among streamers; each makes up more than a fifth of all streaming time on TV. Hulu (including its live TV service) took up 3 percent of TV time, Amazon’s Prime Video 2 percent and Disney+ 1 percent. All other streaming combined — including Apple TV+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock and Discovery+ — made up 8 percent of of total usage.

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This Man Warned Apple About China Years Ago

Andrew Orr ·

Apple hired Doug Guthrie in 2014 to help the company navigate China. But he warned executives of the growing power of Xi Jingping.

Apple, more than any other company, has been vulnerable to the government’s harder line. As a result, over the past several years, Apple has made compromises in China that undercut the values its executives have put at the center of its brand. To placate the authorities and keep its global business running, Apple has put its Chinese customers’ data at risk and aided the Chinese government’s vast censorship operation.

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New Malware Infects Software Pirates and Blocks The Pirate Bay

Andrew Orr ·

Andrew Brandt reports on a new malware campaign that isn’t like your typical malware. This one blocks people from accessing many popular pirating websites.

We weren’t able to discern a provenance for this malware, but its motivation seemed pretty clear: It prevents people from visiting software piracy websites (if only temporarily), and sends the name of the pirated software the user was hoping to use to a website, which also delivers a secondary payload.

Looks like this is aimed more towards Windows users. The malware takes the form of .EXE executables, and may display a message saying the victim is missing an important .DLL file.