1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: and how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 1: the tech news for Thursday, April twenty twenty two. Also, 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: if this episode sounds a little different, it's because I'm 7 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: actually in the office today and using a slightly different 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: microphone set up. So that's why. Now let's get to 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: the news. If you listen to Tuesday's news episode of 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, you heard me talk about how Elon Musk 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,480 Speaker 1: declined an offer to join Twitter's board of directors, and 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: that one of the potential reasons for that might have 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: been that if he had joined the board of directors, 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: he would have to agree to a limit of no 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: more than fourteen point nine percent of Twitter's shares. He 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: would not be allowed to purchase more than that, So 17 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: the implication there being that Ellen potentially wanted to control 18 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: Twitter that would require him to own at least fifty 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: of Twitter's stakes. Well, now it sounds like phase two 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: of his plan has launched, because Bloomberg reports Musk has 21 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: made an offer to buy Twitter for fifty four dollars 22 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: and twenty cents per share. That would bring the total 23 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: valuation of Twitter's purchase to around forty three billion dollars. Now, 24 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: this would be an outright hostile takeover, or potentially a 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: hostile takeover, with Musk attempting to convince current shareholders to 26 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: sell off their shares at a premium markup. And in 27 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: pre market trading, Twitter shares were around forty eight dollars 28 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: per share, so Musk is giving a bit of a 29 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: markup on that cost, and he's hoping the offer remakes 30 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: is one that big shareholders just can't refuse. Now, Twitter's 31 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: board was fairly diplomatic in its response, saying it would 32 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: review the offer and respond in whatever way was in 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: the best interest of Twitter stockholders. This is by no 34 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: means a surefire deal. Last year, Twitter shares climbed to 35 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: seventy dollars per share, so it shows the company has 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: hit much higher highs than where it's at right now, 37 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:22,799 Speaker 1: and even higher highs than Musk's offer. So that has 38 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: been enough to suggest, at least to some analysts, that 39 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: Musk's offer, while significant, is still far too low for 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: Twitter shareholders to take it seriously. And Musk himself has 41 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: said it's the best and last offer that he'll he'll make. 42 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: He also seems to have implicitly threatened that he's going to, 43 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: you know, offload all his stock if this deal doesn't 44 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: go through, which could have a negative effect on Twitter's 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: share price. So it's almost like, like some people are saying, 46 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: it's almost like he's he's committing almost a kind of 47 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: extortion when you look at it that way. It's not 48 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: what I'm saying because I don't want to get sued, 49 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: but that is what some folks are, particularly over on Reddit, 50 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 1: which you know, the most level headed people in the 51 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: world are on Reddit, but a lot of them are 52 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: kind of making that that argument. Whether or not that's 53 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: the case, I can't say. But as for how I 54 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: feel about this, Twitter is the one social platform that 55 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: I still hang out on regularly now, but y'all have 56 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: probably picked up on the fact that I am not 57 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: the world's biggest elon Musk fans. So if his deal 58 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: were to go through, I feel like I would just 59 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: kind of fade away from Twitter too, and that would 60 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: leave me no option but to scream my daily word 61 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: all scores out the window to anyone who can hear me. 62 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: But we're not there yet. In related musk news, a 63 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: former Tesla employee sued the company last year, alleging that 64 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: he was the target of racial abuse at the factory 65 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: where he worked. He was an elevator operator there. And 66 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: at the end of at that court case, a jury 67 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: found in the employees favor and awarded him nearly a 68 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: hundred thirty seven million dollars. So why am I talking 69 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: about now, Well, we finally got to a federal judge 70 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: upholding the verdict. But in the process, the judge slashed 71 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: the jury awarded amount and reduced it down to fifteen 72 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: million dollars. That's still obviously a huge chunk of change. 73 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: That's far from the massive rebuke that the jury had 74 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: intended against Tesla. In metaverse news, the tech world is 75 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: a buzz after discovering that Meta the apparent company of Facebook, 76 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: intends to slap a forties seven point five percent fee 77 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: on all transactions that take place regarding digital experiences and 78 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: items within Horizon Worlds, which is the company's virtual environment platform. 79 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,799 Speaker 1: So people are essentially saying this is showing us Facebook's 80 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: plan for the metaverse, right that Facebook wants to dominate 81 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: the metaverse, and then four anyone who wants to interoperate 82 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: within that world to pay nearly fifty of every transaction 83 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: to Facebook itself. And it really does sound like Meta 84 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: is taking a big page out of Apple's book and 85 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: then cranking the dial up to eleven. Uh again, like, 86 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: if you want to do business within meta space, then 87 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: you have to funnel that business through Meta's processing system, 88 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: and by doing that you incur two different fees. One 89 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: of those fees is a hardware platform fee that applies 90 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: to all sales that go through the Meta quest Store, 91 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: which is kind of akin to the app store on smartphones. 92 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: It's where users would purchase you know, games and experiences 93 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: and that kind of thing. And then there's a seventeen 94 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: point five percent fee charged against the Horizon VR platform itself. 95 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: And as you can imagine, being told to play in 96 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: the space is gonna cost you nearly half of every 97 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: sale you make. Hasn't floated over so well in the 98 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: developer community, and I feel this is really where we're 99 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: seeing Meta pour so much money into the metaverse. You know, 100 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: this is why it's happening, because it's a mad dash 101 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: to become the biggest and preferably the only metaverse game 102 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: in town. If you dominate it, then you get to 103 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: dictate what the what the the terms are, right, You're 104 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: the one who sets all the rules. So it would 105 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,119 Speaker 1: give Meta all the leverage in the world to charge 106 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: whatever they wanted and restrict access however they liked, and 107 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: exploit the technology and whichever ways are going to make 108 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: the most money. From a business perspective, that's kind of 109 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: what capitalism is all about, right, Like it's that's that's 110 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: what the machine is geared for. But from a quality 111 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: of life and fairness perspective, it really kind of bites. Meanwhile, 112 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: Apple took the opportunity to fire a shot across the 113 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,799 Speaker 1: bow of Meta. Market Watch got a quote from Fred 114 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,799 Speaker 1: Sayings of Apple that blasted Meta for repeatedly criticizing Apple 115 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: in the past for its thirty percent cut for in 116 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: app transactions. But then, of course Meta turns around in 117 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: heaps and even bigger cut for its own community of 118 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: merchants and developers in the Horizon world space. So Apple 119 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: isn't so much defending its own practice instead of saying, 120 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: Facebook really wants to use Apple for free, and they 121 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: say we're greedy. But then look at the Shenanigans their pulling. Now. 122 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: Now I'm paraphrasing, but I feel like that's an accurate 123 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: depiction of what is going on here. Meanwhile, Apple still 124 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: faces opposition all around the world when it comes to 125 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: how it conducts itself within app purchases and Apple's own 126 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: payment processing system. My guess is that Meta's plan will 127 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: similarly become the focus of scrutiny by regulators everywhere at 128 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: some point. But right now the company could be in 129 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: the clear simply because we're so far away from a 130 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: metaverse actually being a thing anyway that regulators might not 131 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: see that there's very much to regulate as of yet. 132 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: But yeah, things are starting to get a little spicy. 133 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: Vice has a couple of Arcticle goals about Amazon and 134 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:07,119 Speaker 1: its ongoing struggles against unionization attempts. On April thirte Lauren 135 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: Kory Gurley's article Amazon cracks down on organizing after historic 136 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: union win, and then today Gurley has another article titled 137 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: Amazon Labor union is inspiring Amazon workers around the country 138 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: to unionize. So we've got kind of two sides of 139 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: a coin going on here. So the first bit concerns 140 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: the employees at the Staten Island, New York Warehouse. Uh, 141 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: these Amazon employees recently passed a vote to form a 142 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: union and now they're going to have union elections coming 143 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: up later this month. Meanwhile, according to employee complaints, Amazon 144 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,199 Speaker 1: reps have been busy removing pro union literature and signage 145 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: and holding mandatory anti union meetings on an even you know, 146 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: more frequent basis, and the company has hired high powered 147 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: union busting consultants to work on this. The complaints include 148 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: allegations of illegal activity because it is against the law 149 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: for a company to remove or toss pro union literature 150 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: that's in designated break areas. And if that is in 151 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: fact what has been happening, because again I'm basing this 152 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: purely unemployee reports and the reporting of vice that um 153 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: that you know, the company could really get into trouble 154 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: for doing this, for for conducting illegal union busting tactics. However, 155 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: that is something that could take months just to get 156 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: into the court system and months more to resolve, and 157 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: that's assuming anyone actually presses formal charges on this matter. 158 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: So Amazon could just be employing a strategy to cause 159 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: as much trouble as possible in order to head things off, 160 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: mitigate the impact of unionization, break the union spirit as 161 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: as quickly as possible, and then just deal with any 162 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: consequences that happened later on. However, all that might actually 163 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,199 Speaker 1: end up biting Amazon on the butt, because the second 164 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: of those two articles indicates that a lot of other 165 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: Amazon on facilities around the United States are showing signs 166 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: of organizing in the wake of the Staten Island warehouse vote. 167 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: And it's even possible that Amazon's actions could anger more 168 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: people into taking action. And I've been saying for a 169 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: while now that I'm getting the sense there's this growing 170 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,319 Speaker 1: labor movement here in the United States. I feel it's 171 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: still in that growing phase, and it does have the 172 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: potential to snowball into a full on labor revolution. But 173 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: I want to stress I'm talking about potential here. Nothing 174 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: is ever a guarantee. It's also possible that down the 175 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: road we're gonna look back on this time in history 176 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: just see it as kind of a brief flash in 177 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: the pan that quickly fizzled out. That could happen too. 178 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: It really just depends upon the will of the workers. 179 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: But I don't know. I think I can hear the 180 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: people sing By the way, both of those articles on 181 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: Vice are well worth a read. You should definitely check 182 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: those out. We've got some more news stories to cover 183 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: in today's episode. Before we get to that, let's take 184 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: a quick break. We're back. There's an ongoing blacklist in 185 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: the United States against certain companies in China. That blacklist 186 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: means ain't no one here in the US supposed to 187 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: sell components to those companies without the express permission of 188 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: the U S government in the form of a special license. Now, 189 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: a US company called Synopsis is under investigation for doing 190 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: just that. The company makes software for electronic design automation. 191 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: So this is a kind of software that helps chip designers, 192 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,319 Speaker 1: like semiconductor chip designers, lay out their architecture, and it's 193 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: one of many important pieces in the microchip and semiconductor industries. 194 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: The U S. Department of Commerce is investigating to see 195 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: if Synopsis supplied either directly or through affiliates, this kind 196 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: of software. Two companies connected to the telecommunity aaitions company Huawei. Now, 197 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,439 Speaker 1: if you've been following tech news for a while, you 198 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: might remember that Huahwei is a company that fell into 199 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: the U. S. Government's cross hairs. A couple of years ago. 200 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: Huawei makes lots of stuff, including components for telecommunications infrastructure, 201 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: and many US based telecommunications companies relied on Huawei technology. 202 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,680 Speaker 1: But after critics raised concerns that Huahwei could use embedded 203 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: tech to potentially spy on Americans and share that information 204 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,199 Speaker 1: with the Chinese government, there was a seismic shift. Telecommunications 205 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: providers were given deadlines to extract Huawei tech from their systems, 206 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,319 Speaker 1: and Huawei in general was put on this blacklist. Now, 207 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: in order to sell legally to Huahwei, as I mentioned earlier, 208 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: a company first has to obtain a special license from 209 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: the U. S government. According to these allegations, that's something 210 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: that Synopsis may not have done. Now. For its part, 211 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: Synopsis denies it has done anything wrong. It claims that 212 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: it has abided by all laws and regulations. So we'll 213 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: have to wait for the outcome of the investigation to 214 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: see if the authorities agree. And it could possibly be 215 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: the case. It could very well be that this is 216 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: just a very complicated thing. Synopsis did nothing wrong, and 217 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: we go from there. We have to wait and find out. 218 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: But speaking of China, the conglomerate ten Cent will be 219 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: cracking down on a service that previously would allow Chinese 220 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: gamers to access certain foreign games that weren't on the 221 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: approved list by the Chinese government for Chinese consumption. Now, 222 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: one story we've seen play out over the last couple 223 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: of years is China's authorities pushing back against the tech sector. 224 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: In particular, the government has issued tighter regulations and restrictions 225 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: and closed a lot of loopholes that existed earlier. One 226 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: of those was this platform that would let people in 227 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: China use apps that would give them a speed boost, 228 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: and that would allow them to access certain games, including 229 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,719 Speaker 1: games from overseas. Now ten Cent is going to restrict 230 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: those apps so that they only interface with games that 231 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: operating within China itself. So those apps are essentially, like 232 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: I said, it's a speed boost. It's a way for 233 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: users to make use of higher bandwidth internet connections, because 234 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: the typical internet connection in China is far too slow 235 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: to allow for things like gaming. You you just it's 236 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: not practical for that. Uh, so you could use these apps. 237 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: You can become a customer and use these apps and 238 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: by that way access gaming, and some people are doing 239 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: it to access games from other countries. Uh, this is 240 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: gonna be tough not just on gamers, but also for 241 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: all those game companies that saw the apps as a 242 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: kind of hush hush way to tap into the truly 243 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: massive market of Chinese gamers. US cryptocurrency enthusiast Virgil Griffith 244 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: has been sentenced for more than five years in jail 245 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: after bleading guilty on charges of helping North Korea find 246 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: ways to sidestep sanctions. Griffith advised North Korean government officials 247 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: and how they could leverage cryptocurrencies like a theory them 248 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: to ignore sanctions against them from other countries, as well 249 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: as to do stuff like launder money. You know, the 250 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: stuff that regulators have said for a long time is 251 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: something they are concerned about when it comes to cryptocurrency, 252 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: but it's something that a lot of crypto bros often 253 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: wave off or ignore. They're like, oh, you're just scared 254 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: of losing your power. But then we get actual instances 255 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: of this happening. It's really, I think a big step 256 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: back for the crypto community when one of their recognized 257 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: experts in the field is practicing the very thing that 258 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: regulators have been scared about the whole time. And to 259 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: be clear, I'm not saying that cryptocurrency is inherently bad, 260 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: or that it's even mainly used for illegal activities. What 261 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: I'm saying is that cryptocurrency is very well suited for 262 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: those types of illegal activities, and so it shouldn't surprise 263 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: us when some people put it to that very specific use. Anyway, 264 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: North Korea is by no means a in lee country 265 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: to the United States, so it comes as a little 266 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: surprised that Griffith received a fairly stiff penalty here. And 267 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: my guess is it would have been even more severe 268 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: had he pled not guilty and it had gone to trial, 269 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: assuming of course, that he had ultimately been found guilty 270 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: of the crime. So it could have been worse, I guess, 271 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: is what I'm saying. Yesterday, several US agencies issued warnings 272 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: that cybersecurity researchers had discovered malware tools created by quote 273 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: unquote unnamed advanced threat actors. This comes from an article 274 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: from The Guardian which is titled US Federal alert warns 275 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: of the discovery of malicious cyber tools. So the threat 276 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: actors in question designed malware tools specifically meant to interface 277 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: with industrial control systems. Now, these are not like your 278 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: standard personal computers. These are purpose built systems that are 279 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: in charge of handling really important and really specific tasks. 280 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: Like it might be a system that connects to a 281 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: power grid or the system that connects to a natural 282 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: gas facility, and it controls not just computer systems but 283 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: also actual like you know, valves and things like that. Um. Anyway, 284 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: we're talking about these similar, large industrial complex systems that 285 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: typically are very tightly integrated into our infrastructure. Now, this 286 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,639 Speaker 1: is not a new thing for us to see threats 287 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: to these types of institutions. Several years ago, a link 288 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: the investigation found evidence that cyber spies had compromised computer 289 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: and electro mechanical systems in the power grid and the 290 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: United States, as well as other infrastructure, and that those 291 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: spies were likely either from China or working on behalf 292 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: of the Chinese As for this latest realm, the current 293 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: suspicion is that the attackers are connected to Russia, but 294 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: there's no firm evidence on the matter that has been 295 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: shared so far. Details on the matter are scarce, but 296 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: according to one US official, AGE were able to discover 297 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,400 Speaker 1: the malware before they could actually be used in an attack, 298 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: so that's a good thing. Finally, Disney has shut down 299 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: an unauthorized copy of the game Club Penguin. It was 300 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: called Club Penguin rewritten and thus evicted thousands of online players. 301 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: All Right, you might not know what this is. Club 302 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: Penguin was this online RPG that was marketed to younger audiences, 303 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: and in the game, players would be little cartoon penguins, 304 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: and they could do all sorts of cute c stuff, 305 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: playing various little games and things. Well, Disney bought that 306 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: property in two thousand seven, spinning at an incredible seven 307 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: hundred million dollars to do so. I'm not sure what 308 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: seven hundred million dollars for Club Penguin comes out to 309 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 1: in terms of per pound of penguin, but it's got 310 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: to be a lot. However, over the course of the 311 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: following decade, Club Penguin's relevance began to fade, and Disney 312 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: ultimately decided to shut down the main game. They launched 313 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: a couple of related products that didn't last very long either, 314 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: and fan would occasionally decide that they would get a 315 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 1: copy of the code for the game and host it 316 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: on a private server or a shared server, and they 317 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,679 Speaker 1: would invite other folks to come and play. Now, sometimes 318 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: this led to pretty shady situations and dangerous situations where 319 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: you know you had some some schevy stuff happening, and Disney, 320 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: perhaps the most enthusiastic defender of copyright and IP that 321 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: ever existed, would go after these servers after discovering them, 322 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 1: and that is what happened with Club Penguin Rewritten. The 323 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 1: server hosting the copy was in England, and Disney got 324 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,120 Speaker 1: hold of the City of London Police and pretty soon 325 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: the server administrators willingly surrendered the server to the authorities 326 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: and it got shut down. This is one of those 327 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: situations where I can kind of see both sides of 328 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: the issue. For fans, it is really frustrating when a 329 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: big company purchases an I P and then doesn't do 330 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,439 Speaker 1: anything with it. They just hold onto it and that 331 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: means no one can do anything with it. Meanwhile, you 332 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: might really want to see another game or another product 333 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: in that line, and there's nothing you can do about it. 334 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: On the other hand, this is also a property that 335 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: Disney owns, so it has the right to do nothing 336 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: with it if it wants to. It stinks, but it 337 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: can um and if someone is ripping off the game 338 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,479 Speaker 1: and shady stuff is going on, that can reflect badly 339 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: on Disney. I mean they do own the property, it 340 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: can still tarnish Disney's reputation. So they have a vested 341 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: interest in going after those kinds of things and shutting 342 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: it down. But we end this episode saluting our fallen 343 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 1: penguin friends. May you sled merrily through the cyber afterlife. 344 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 1: That's it for this episode. If you have suggestions for 345 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: topics I should cover on tech Stuff, you better get 346 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: in those requests quick on Twitter because once Elon Musk 347 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: owns the place, I am out. But the handle we 348 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: use is text stuff hs W and I'll talk to 349 00:20:54,440 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: you again. Really. So, tech Stuff is an I Heart 350 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 351 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 352 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.