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In this lively and fiery episode, Rob Carson takes listeners on a personal and political rollercoaster that begins with a heartfelt story about reconnecting with his biological family over a home-cooked dinner. The personal anecdote gives way to hard-hitting commentary on current events—from Chinese knockoff products to election integrity.
What is the primary concern regarding the use of WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging apps recently? Recent reports indicate that spyware, specifically "Graphite," has been used to target journalists and civil society members through zero-click attacks on encrypted apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. This means that these apps are not as secure as previously thought, even though they employ end-to-end encryption. The spyware can infect devices without any user interaction and potentially compromise communication data. What are the security vulnerabilities identified in certain healthcare patient monitors? The FDA has highlighted cybersecurity issues in Contec's CMS8000 and Epsimed's MN-120 patient monitors. These devices, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to unauthorized remote control, software backdoors, and data breaches containing personal health information. One backdoor was linked to a Chinese IP address, raising additional concerns about foreign access to sensitive health data. Why has the Chinese AI chatbot, DeepSeek, been banned in Italy and Taiwan? Italy's data protection agency blocked DeepSeek because its developers did not adequately explain how user data is collected or confirm whether it's stored on Chinese servers. Taiwan's digital ministry also banned the use of DeepSeek by government departments, citing security concerns related to its Chinese origin. What led to DeepSeek's data being exposed online and what kind of information was affected? Cybersecurity firm Wiz discovered a significant amount of sensitive data from DeepSeek was left unsecured on the open internet due to an apparent misconfiguration. This data included over a million lines of data such as digital software keys and user chat logs. What is Senator Hawley's proposed bill regarding Chinese AI models, and what could be the consequences for individuals? Senator Josh Hawley has introduced the "Decoupling America's Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act," which aims to criminalize the import, export, and collaboration on AI technology with China. Under the proposed law, knowingly downloading a Chinese AI model, such as DeepSeek, could lead to severe penalties, including up to 20 years in prison, a million-dollar fine, or both. The bill reflects growing concerns about national security and the potential for China to leverage AI for hostile purposes. How is Amazon being accused of tracking consumers, and what type of data are they allegedly collecting? Amazon is facing a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of secretly tracking consumers' movements through their cellphones via its Amazon Ads SDK, embedded within third-party apps. It's alleged that the SDK collects sensitive geolocation data without users' explicit consent, such as IP addresses, location, ISP, device info, and network performance metrics. This data is used to build a detailed picture of consumers' habits and preferences, raising privacy concerns about corporate surveillance. What restrictions are being placed on open-source contributions, and who is being affected? The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions are imposing restrictions on open-source contributions from sanctioned individuals and countries. Developers from nations such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea are facing challenges when contributing to open-source projects due to these sanctions. How is Cloudflare addressing image authenticity concerns, and what are the potential benefits? Cloudflare has implemented Content Credentials, a system based on C2PA standards, that embeds metadata into images to track their origin and modifications. This system helps distinguish between genuine and manipulated content. The benefits are significant, as Cloudflare's network handles approximately 20% of global internet traffic, greatly increasing the potential reach of the system. This helps create trust in digital images, and preserves the work of digital creators.
This podcast starts with a discussion on the NEV take rate hitting 52% and Tu points out that it's a massive number that is also getting help from the steep dropoff of ICE sales. They also both take a few moments to discuss the softness in demand that Tesla is feeling and how its likely adding pressure for them to continue to cut prices in order to keep the factory running and keep factory utilization high.They then also scrutinize Li Auto's original aggressive 2024 sales forecast and how that's been dialed back as well. Tu again reiterates that within the next couple years, Chinese IP will be in European branded vehicles both sold in China and Europe. The conversation then shifts to the potential additional EU tariffs on Chinese imported EVs and which brands and products will likely be affected and retaliated on. Tu closes out the podcast with a summary of a Reuters interview of Carlos Tavares, Stellantis Global CEO. Climate ConfidentWith a new episode every Wed morning, the Climate Confident podcast is weekly podcast...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
We might need 80,000 new houses a year - or we might not. It all depends on so many imponderables.One of them being the level of immigration. We now see that everywhere as a problem to be solved. Is it solvable?Biden is trying to keep cheap Chinese electronic vehicles out of the US. Europe is thinking about doing the same. That's all to protect domestic car manufacturers who don't know how to produce cheap EVs. The Chinese do. We are repeating the mistakes of the 1970s when Japanese car manufacturers figured out how to make cars that consumers want. Western car companies, by and large, didn't know why production techniques that dated from the 1930s were no longer fit for purpose.Solution: copy Chinese IP! They've been doing it to us for years. Return the favour! Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In today's episode, we dive into the sophisticated DNS activities of the China-linked threat actor known as Muddling Meerkat, who manipulates internet traffic and abuse DNS open resolvers. This cyber espionage endeavor has global implications as explained by Infoblox in an article at The Hacker News (https://thehackernews.com/2024/04/china-linked-muddling-meerkat-hijacks.html). Also, we discuss the FBI's warning about fake verification schemes targeting dating app users, uncovering the scam processes and providing tips to safeguard against such fraudulent activities as detailed in the BleepingComputer article (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-warns-of-fake-verification-schemes-targeting-dating-app-users/#google_vignette). Lastly, we explore Google's efforts to enhance mobile security by preventing over 2 million malicious apps from entering the Play Store, highlighting their proactive measures and collaborations to safeguard user privacy. Read more about this at The Hacker News (https://thehackernews.com/2024/04/google-prevented-228-million-malicious.html). 00:00 Introduction 02:36 Dating App Scams 04:12 Google's Security Enhancements 06:47 Muddling Meerkat's DNS Manipulation Generate single use credit card numbers: https://app.privacy.com/join/GL3U7 Tags: Muddling Meerkat, DNS activities, reconnaissance, China, fake verification schemes, dating app users, FBI warning, fraudsters, Google, Play Store, security, review process Search Phrases: Muddling Meerkat DNS activities China Muddling Meerkat reconnaissance Fake verification schemes dating apps FBI warning fraudsters Protect from fake verification schemes Unauthorized credit card charges prevention Google Play Store security measures Prevent sensitive data access Google app review process Infiltration prevention in Play Store Apr30 The FBI is warning that dating app users are being targeted by fake verification scams that are leading to costly recurring subscription charges, as well as theft and misuse of personal information. How can users protect themselves while using dating apps? Google blocked over 2 million policy violating apps from the Play Store in 2023. In a proactive security measure that also saw over 790,000 apps guarded against sensitive data access. How has Google improved its security features and review process to prevent these malicious apps from infiltrating the Play Store? And finally, a China linked threat named Muddling Meerkat has been caught manipulating DNS activities globally to evade security measures. They've been conducting reconnaissance since 2019. What are these unique DNS activities that Muddling Meerkat are undertaking, and what is their end goal? You're listening to The Daily Decrypt. So the FBI is warning of a new scam that's targeting dating app users, which can lead to fraudulent recurring subscription charges and even identity theft. So basically, the scammers will develop a romantic connection with you on the dating app of your choice, whether that's Tinder or Bumble or Hinge or whatever you choose, then they're going to ask to move this conversation to a safer platform to verify that you are in fact a human. Well, we're all on dating apps to try to find someone, so of course I'm going to verify that I'm human. It's a valid request. Well, the only way to verify that you're human now is to provide a credit card number and some information. Can't do anything without that. And that's where they're going to get you. This is going to lead to maybe small, maybe large, but seemingly anonymous charges on your credit card bill. And if you're not paying close attention to that, you might miss them. So this attack, at its core, is not very complex, but it is remarkably effective, because remember, there are a few different situations that we put ourselves in where we're a little more desperate and a little less careful. than we normally are. For example, dating apps. You're really on there to look for connection. Also when you're applying for a job, you're pretty desperate for a job. And sometimes when you need groceries or when you're hungry and you need DoorDash, you might be a little more susceptible to this type of attack. It's no secret what everyone's looking for on a dating app. It's all pretty similar. And so it might not be that hard to convince. Someone that they're having a genuine romantic connection. So, the FBI has some advice. They advise you not to open any attachments from anybody. And to keep the conversations on the dating platform. As well as reporting any suspicious profiles. Now, an additional tip from the Daily Decrypt, I myself just signed up the other day for a service called privacy. com that is a free service at its core creates new credit card numbers for you to use with different services. So when you sign up for Netflix, this site will create a credit card number for you. You can set a spending limit on it and You can cancel it at any time. So if you're signing up Netflix and thats for 20 dollars a month, you limit that card to $20 a month. Now, if Netflix decides they want to upcharge you, it won't go through. You're good to go. And so in the case of this specific attack, if you were to give them one of these generated credit card numbers and you set the limit for 1, which is what it usually costs to verify your ID, even though you'll get it returned, And say, no recurring charges allowed. the attacker will have this dummy credit card number and won't be able to get anything out of you. I'd highly recommend using this for any subscription. It makes the process of canceling so much easier. And especially with the boom in subscription services, like, everything has a subscription, so Some of them might be less secure than others. And if for some reason that site is breached, they get the credit card numbers. They're only gonna have this dummy credit card. And you've already set limits on it, so Attackers who come into ownership of this credit card number can't make extra purchases besides the subscription charges you've allocated. Google has revealed that in 2023 they prevented 2. 28 million policy violating apps from being published on the Play Store by leveraging new security features, policy updates, and advanced machine learning processes. So that's a lot of apps. Apple Store is known for having pretty stringent requirements for apps, even though in recent news they've had some pretty big slip ups with LastPass. Imitation app that was harvesting all the credentials stored in your LastPass account, all the way down to fake crypto apps that will take your credentials for your crypto and drain your accounts. But this is a big deal because of how easy it is for fraudulent apps to take over your entire life. Like those examples I just mentioned, if you happen to download a fake banking app for Bank of America, it Then the attackers would have your credentials to log into your Bank of America account. And I haven't been on the Google Play Store in a while, but I'm sure you can buy ad space there, and you know how we feel about Google Ads on this podcast. Don't click them. But it is very easy to spend 30 bucks and get any website up to the top of your Google search results. So just stay away from Google ads and any ads you may see on the app store. And you'll seriously reduce the likelihood of clicking a bad link or downloading a bad app. But Google has blocked 333, 000 bad accounts in 2023 from attempting to distribute malware or violating policies on the Play Store. Google has partnered with SDK providers to restrict sensitive data access and sharing, as well as strengthen developer onboarding and review processes, mandating additional identity verification steps to prevent bad actors from exploiting the system to propagate malicious apps. Google's efforts to secure the Android ecosystem include real time scanning at the code level to combat new Android malware threats and the introduction of independent security review badge for VPN apps that have undergone a mobile application security assessment. So I know some of you out there are Apple haters, but I have no intention of ever switching away from Apple. Mostly because, up until this point, they seem to be the provider that cares about app security. Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but that's how it appears. But this step from Google is one in the right direction towards winning over Apple fanboys like myself. So keep up the good work Google, and hey, who knows, maybe I'll switch back. So, recently, a new cyber threat named Muddling Meerkat has been identified conducting sophisticated DNS activities globally since October 2019. And this specific threat is likely linked to China and is capable of manipulating, quote, the Great Firewall. So how does it work? Muddling Meerkat exploits OpenDNS resolvers to send queries from Chinese IP spaces demonstrating a high level of DNS expertise uncommon amongst most threat actors. The threat actor triggers DNS queries for various record types to domains not owned by them under popular top level domains like com and org, using fake DNS MX records to probe the target domain. Infoblox detected over 20 domains targeted by muddling meerkat. Receiving anomalous DNS MX record requests from customer devices, indicating a unique and unprecedented attack method. The purpose behind Muddling Meerkat's prolonged DNS operations remains unclear, but is suggesting potential motives such as internet mapping or undisclosed research efforts. And a quote from Dr. Rene Burton, Vice President of Threat Intelligence for Infoblox, Muddling Meerkat elicits a special kind of fake DNS MX record from the Great Firewall, which has never been seen before. For this to happen, Muddling Meerkat must have a relationship with the Great Firewall operators. And for those of you like me who aren't unfamiliar with the Great Firewall, Just pulling up their Wikipedia page and reading from it, it says it's the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the internet domestically. So it's a critical role in internet censorship in China. And be sure to check the show notes for this episode for the domains that you might see DNS MX records from, and other IOCs of this type of scanning. I'm anticipating there to be more news to come on this topic. This has been the Daily Decrypt. If you found your key to unlocking the digital domain, show your support with a rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It truly helps us stand at the frontier of cyber news. Don't forget to connect on Instagram or catch our episodes on YouTube. Until next time, keep your data safe and your curiosity alive.
Dmitri Alperovitch and his co-author Garrett Graff discuss their upcoming book “World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century” and include an exclusive audiobook excerpt from the book that lays out in great detail how China is likely to go about its invasion of Taiwan. In addition, Dmitri and Garrett discuss: - Why they wrote this book - What's a stake in the potential conflict with China over Taiwan - Dmitri's battles against Chinese IP theft over the course of his career - Why Taiwan matters to the United States - Why America will not achieve chips independence from Taiwan for the foreseeable future - Why Taiwan never fully belonged to China - Timeline for potential invasion and why invasion is unlikely to take place in 2027 - Why we are in a Cold War II with China that is remarkably similar to Cold War I with the Soviet Union - Strategy for victory in Cold War II - How to deter an invasion of Taiwan If you found this podcast interesting, please consider ordering the book from your favorite book stores or online at https://WorldOnTheBrink.com and writing a review!
This week on Sinica, a discussion of Netflix's adaptation of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem (or more accurately, Remembrance of Earth's Past). Joining me to chat about the big-budget show is Cindy Yu, host of The Spectator's “Chinese Whispers” podcast, one of the very best China-focused podcasts; and Christopher T. Fan, who teaches English, Asian American Studies, and East Asian Studies at U.C. Irvine and is a co-founder of Hyphen magazine. Cindy and Chris both wrote reviews of the show and a bunch of other folks answered the call and contributed their thoughts as well. 6:46 – 3 Body Problem as Chinese IP and audience reception 14:44 – The pros and cons of a more faithful adaptation, comparisons with Tencent's adaptation, [and the Netflix production (process) (? Or keep it separate, 20:17)]23:44 – How the show portrays its Chinese characters and China and audience responses38:14 – Allegorical interpretations and real-world (political?) connections 48:11 – What to look forward to in (possible?) future seasons 51:14 – Chenchen Zhang's humanity/autocracy binary and the 工业党 gōngyè dǎng 57:02 A win for Chinese soft power? Recommendations:Cindy: The Overstory by Richard Powers Chris: Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed ParkKaiser: Kaiser: Run and Hide by Pankaj Mishra; other novels by Pankaj Mishra, including Age of Anger: A History of the Present and From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia; and other novels by Richard Powers, including Galatea 2.2, Operation Wandering Soul, and The Gold Bug Variations See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
State-backed attackers exploit WinRAR zero-day Five Eyes warns of Chinese IP theft ServiceNow data exposure issue identified Huge thanks to our sponsor, Vanta Growing a business? That likely means more tools, third-party vendors, and data sharing — AKA, way more risk. Vanta's market-leading trust management platform brings GRC and security efforts together. Integrate information from multiple systems and reduce risks to your business and your brand — all without the need for additional staffing. And by automating up to 90% of the work for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more, you'll be able to focus on strategy and security, not maintaining compliance. Join 5,000 fast-growing companies that leverage Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Our listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/ciso to claim this discount.
APAC stocks fell despite better-than-expected Chinese activity data as the region took its cue from the losses in the US.Chinese IP and Retail Sales exceeded expectations. NBS said the economy continued a recovery trend in August.European equity futures are indicative of a weaker open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future -0.8% after the cash market closed down by 0.7% yesterday.DXY was choppy on a 109 handle, EUR/USD continued to move above and below parity, GBP/USD is firmly below 1.15. Looking ahead, highlights include UK Retail Sales, EU Final CPI, US University of Michigan Prelim., Quad Witching, Speeches from ECB's Lagarde & Villeroy.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk
STEPN has announced plans to cut access to users playing from mainland China.Starting Jul. 15, users playing from mainland Chinese IP addresses will have their GPS services cut, stopping them from playing. China continues to fight against cryptocurrency and to some extent failing to succeed. The Chinese digital Yuan also continues to be a major point of political contention.#Crypto #STEPN #China~China Bans STEPN | China vs. Crypto Won't End Well~⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺Become a Diamond Circle Member FREE! ➜ https://bit.ly/PBDiamondCircleSubscribe on YouTube ✅ https://bit.ly/PBNYoutubeSubscribeFacebook
internet as cesspool/internet early days bastard stepchildren of the interfaces / no triggering could destroy computers with key combos open source = communism / Linux evangelist the internet is only experienced through 5 sites Facebook = webOS / 4chan vs Reddit / groups vs the individual everything is a niche / cultural phenomenon "Who Shot JR" = the "Let's Go Brandon" of the 1970s manufacturing virality / soaps on prime time = genius cultural phenomenon = shattered Chinese IP thefts = reparations / all humans are creative creativity leads to experimentation prime numbers nearly break the matrix counting primes / internet reformation breaking paradigms with Thomas Khun
US trade representatives have been focusing their attention on getting the Chinese government to adopt criminal and administrative sanctions for IP theft. What does this focus mean for patent infringement? And what should US companies do about it? Related article: The Criminal Bias in U.S. Intellectual Property Diplomacy More on Mark Cohen. Speakers: Mark Cohen (AsiaIP/BCLT), Wayne Stacy Wayne Stacy 0:00 Welcome, everyone to the Berkeley Center for Law and technologies expert series podcast. I'm Wayne Stacy, the Executive Director for BCLT. And with me today is Mark Cohen, from the Berkeley School of Law. Mark is not only a lecturer, he is the director of the Asia IP Project, and a director at Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. So Mark is one of the leading experts in the world on Chinese IP law. And today, we're going to be talking about the role of criminal IP enforcement in China. Mark, thank you for joining us today. Mark Cohen 0:38 Thank you, Wayne. It's a pleasure to be here. Wayne Stacy 0:40 So Mark, you recently wrote an article and it talks about two types of IP enforcement it worldwide but in particular, in China. One is private enforcement, kind of what we would call civil enforcement, and the other is government enforcement, criminal and administrative rights. So my first question for you is why is a strong Chinese government enforcement enforcement option worrisome in the IP world? Mark Cohen 1:07 Well, it's worrisome for a bunch of reasons. One is that from the WTO context, the obligation is to really have private remedies for all IP rights. So there's no obligation to have a criminal patent remedy in the US, except for marking requirements really has no criminal or public enforcement of the patent law. Nor is there an obligation to have a criminal trade secret remedy, the US has it China has many other countries have it. Moreover, the scope of criminal activities covered by the criminal law are limited, it doesn't capture non willful infringement, criminal law captures largely willful infringement, and according to the WTO on a commercial scale, so if you know criminal law is very important in addressing the need for society to respect IP, provide some measure of social deterrence, address criminality, but it may not work so well, when it comes to technology related issues, certainly not with patents. And even some difficulties on trade secrets, plant varieties. So it has it has its limits in terms of how the system functions. More importantly, perhaps you go back to the preamble, the TRIPS agreement, and it says IP is a private property, right, a private right. Now, if it's a private, right, does that mean the government is the principal agency to enforce it? Or does that mean, it's the individual that has to enforce it. And I think the TRIPS agreement, consistent with other aspects of the WTO, the global trading system was really looking at private actors protecting private rights. And that means robust civil remedies, and everything that goes along with it, not public remedies. And in China, we have, by the way, not just criminal remedies, of which China has roughly 12,000 cases a year, a lot more than the United States. But we're also talking about a vast administrative system, including for patents where you're fined. kind of think of it as if the PTO had a police force, you get fined for infringement after determination by the administrative agency. And that applies to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, plant varieties, a whole bunch of a whole bunch of things, as well as product quality and related issues. So that
In this episode, Hugh sits down with He Jing, an experienced practitioner for over 20 years. He has specialized in complex litigation in China involving IP, antitrust and policy advocacy. He started his legal career as a US patent attorney and spent 9 years in a major international law firm before starting his private practice in China. Hugh and He Jing discuss a number of issues, including: - He Jing’s upbringing in China and his time spent in the U.S.; - The founding of his own law firm; - The development of the Chinese IP system; - The growing importance of multilateral agreements for China; and - What the future holds with respect to IP rights and antitrust in China.
Today I would like to share with you the statistics of Chinese IP firms and agencies.According to CNIPA, by the end of 2019, there were 66,000 agencies providing intellectual property services in China.
The business landscape was complicated by the US China trade war that began in 2018, posing new challenges for IP Counsel. The emergence of Covid 19 late last year has further complicated the landscape. Mark Cohen and Thomas Chia discuss the impact of Covid 19 on US China relations and globalization, what we can expect on the global IP licensing side, and how IP Counsel can stay updated on Chinese IP law developments in light of the dearth of publicly available information.
Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the week's news. Today's topics include Trump's spat with Turkey; Cambodian Elections; the upcoming U.S. midterm elections; trade wars and Chinese IP theft; SCOTUS and the travel ban; Italy's bridge collapse, Greece, and the costs of austerity; 1 year anniversary of Charlottesville and the recent KKK rally; the World Cup, race and identity
In today’s podcast, we hear that the US has indicted two hackers working for China’s Ministry of State Security. US and allies are said to be planning a joint response to China’s industrial espionage. Twitter sees suspicious customer support traffic. Microsoft issues an emergency patch for Internet Explorer. Facebook continues to struggle with transparency. New Knowledge CEO acknowledges a questionable experiment in social media manipulation. And, flash: Russian embassy hack was “brutal.” Rick Howard from Palo Alto Networks with some holiday reading suggestions. Guest is Sarah Tennant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation describing new cyber security initiatives at Michigan universities. For links to all of today's stories check our our CyberWire daily news brief: https://thecyberwire.com/issues/issues2018/November/CyberWire_2018_12_20.html Support our show
VR Creator Carol Liu feels China hasn't yet tapped its unmined heritage stories. But can the East and West collaborate to make Chinese IP appeal to a worldwide audience? Carol talks about how she created a VR series around a misrepresented historical figure and gave... The post 019: China's Untapped Heritage Stories – Can Hollywood Get in on the Act? appeared first on The China-Hollywood Greenlight.
Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the week's news. Today's topics include Trump's spat with Turkey; Cambodian Elections; the upcoming U.S. midterm elections; trade wars and Chinese IP theft; SCOTUS and the travel ban; Italy's bridge collapse, Greece, and the costs of austerity; 1 year anniversary of Charlottesville and the recent KKK rally; the World Cup, race and identity
While Australians can be skeptical about intellectual property protection in China, IP Australia’s David Bennett puts forward a different picture China's IP environment, where by being actively engaged, Australian businesses can ensure their IP is protected by understanding that Chinese IP works differently. David discusses registering your IP, Ip enforcement and also points out how invested the Chinese authorities are in establishing a fair IP playing field that protects both local and foreign firms.
Sponsor: Get the website of your dreams made for super affordable with Squarespace.Ever meet someone who wasn't who they said they were online? Ever pretend to be someone else online? Ever talk into a muted mic as your copresenters waited patiently for you to say something? We have all that and more this episode!Headlines:A zero-day exploit could take years to fixIt keeps getting worse for JavaMalware that's been spying on government officials for years was just now discovered.Apple is cutting back on iPhone 5's?Free Photoshop for everyone! And it's legal (even if it's not intentional).Zohner was rightFacebook's new search is not only horribly named, but it's also a shot across Google's bow.Court rules that people who had nothing to do with Superman, don't get Superman.What to expect when you're expecting . . . Office 2013Dell in talks for a corporate buy out?Fastlane:Google caught some ire after their Streetview camera reportedly ran down a donkey in Botswana and left it for dead, all while the cameras were recording. After much investigating, Google announced that people had been viewing the pictures in reverse order and that the donkey had been lying in the road, to begin with, got up, and then moved to the side as the car passed. As far as they know, the donkey is still alive and well. Couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.Proving that you can’t make a marketing presentation “too dumb”, Qualcomm gave a CES presentation that could only be described as mind-bending painful. With actors pretending to be hackers, Big Bird, Steve Ballmer trolling and ignoring the Qualcomm CEO, a Rolls Royce driving onto the stage for no apparent reason, and a Maroon 5 performance being overdubbed by a Dido cover, one tech journalist tweeted “It’s like reality has somehow jumped the shark.”The White House’s “We The People” petition system has seen a slight change after so many people signed the proposal for a Death Star to be built. Originally, the system required 5000 signatures to get a White House response but then was changed to 25,000 in an effort to discourage pranksters. After the Death Star petition was able to draw far more than the required 25,000 officials decided to up the number to 100,000. It’s like they’re just challenging us now!A research project that began 34 years ago has finally come to a close and it’s findings have been announced. The project that was developed to help prove the existence of dark matter in the universe announced with great confidence that they hadn’t found any proof of dark matter in the slightest. The project’s name, “BUST”, suddenly also became its findings.While many people complain of US companies sending jobs overseas, one American worker decided to send his job over himself. The administration found that an office worker’s VPN login was being used through a Chinese IP address, even though they were looking at him sitting at his desk. Further investigation showed that he had outsourced parts of his jobs to different overseas vendors, while he sat back and played on his company’s internet. He was terminated, ironically, shortly after having received recognition for producing such reliable and exemplary work.Need a girlfriend to make your ex jealous? This Brazilian website will create a profile of a fake girl and post it on any social media for you to show off. Don’t worry ladies, the company will soon start providing fake boyfriend profiles as well.How will this all end? Probably in tears. A judge has ordered Apple and Amazon to play nice and decide how to use the term App Store between the two of them.Talking Point:Catfishing OnlineZuke’s Favorite: Killary ClintonZohner’s Favorite: Darth SchwarzeneggerStark’s Favorite: It’s a rap battle for the preciousSchmidty’s Favorite: The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading, Sparkfun Starter Kit for Arduino See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This week, Mike and Jay start by looking at the $1.3 trillion dollar, 2,0000+ page budget passed by Congress and very reluctantly signed into law by President Trump. Mike sees it as not half bad, given Republican control of the legislative and executive branches, while Jay tends to agree with House Freedom Caucus concerns about out-of-control spending. Next is a discussion of the $60 billion in tariffs President Trump announced against China in response to China's widespread intellectual property theft. Mike is actually somewhat sympathetic to the Trump administration's approach, feeling that previous attempts to minimize Chinese IP theft have been largely unsuccessful. Jay argues that tariffs are likely to be too blunt of an instrument to effect significant change. After that, the Guys get into privacy in social media in the wake of the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal. Both Mike and Jay agree that a loss of privacy is the price we pay for 'free' use of social networks and wonder if this price is too high. Following that is a look at the special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, where Democrat Connor Lamb won in an extremely conservative district. Mike sees it as a sign of Democratic voter enthusiasm and expects a wave election in November that will give the Democrats control of the House of Representatives. Jay isn't so sure, and questions whether the Democrats will be able to replicate their success in PA 18 in other races. To close, Mike and Jay discuss the latest shake-up in the White House, with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster being replaced by John Bolton. Mike thinks that Bolton is too hawkish, too impulsive, and reinforces President Trump's worst instincts. Jay is more of a fan of Bolton, but agrees that President Trump would benefit from more voices of moderation. **What Jay's Reading**[The Gathering Stormy](http://bit.ly/2GigTTJ). Jonah Goldberg [Truth Isn't the Problem - We Are](https://on.wsj.com/2I3tWpx). Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (WSJ - paywall) **What Mike's Reading**[12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos](https://amzn.to/2I3gOAr). Jordan Peterson **Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible.** If you're interested in supporting the show, go to [politicsguys.com/support](http://www.politicsguys.com/support). Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy