WEBVTT - Tech News: Sony Announces a New PlayStation Subscription Service 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.560 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.640 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.680 And how the tag are you. It's time for the 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:25.759 tech news for Tuesday, March twenty ninth, two thousand, twenty two, 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:30.680 and let's start with a doozy. Yesterday, Wired published an 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:35.720 article by Will Night titled the Supply Chain Crisis is 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.640 about to get a lot worse. And it's a well 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.840 researched and well written article, and I recommend that y'all 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.040 all check it out because I'm just going to touch 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.760 on part of what the article focused on, Namely, we 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.960 continue to see massive disruptions in the supply chain due 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.200 to a bunch of different things all happening at the 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.480 same time. Now, one is obviously the ongoing COVID Night 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:04.600 Team Pen Dimmick and China's official policy regarding outbreaks. So, 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.679 in an attempt to mitigate the spread of COVID in China, 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.560 the government has a policy to essentially shut down regions 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.840 where outbreaks are detected. And because we've seen more virulent 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.280 strains of COVID emerge over time, this has meant that 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:23.320 various parts of China have had to lock down repeatedly. Now, 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:28.520 obviously that disrupts everything from manufacturing to shipping, and parts 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.640 of China have adjusted this policy a little bit. They've 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:36.920 they've more localized lockdowns, so that reduces the broader impacts. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.560 Instead of shutting down an entire region, they might shut 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:44.000 down a smaller area within that region. But obviously this 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.760 is still an issue. And another factor is the ongoing 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.240 war in Ukraine. Russia's actions have led to much of 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:55.000 the world imposing sanctions on the country, and that includes 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.280 shipping goods through Russia. So routes that would have gone 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:02.320 over land through Russia UH now have to take alternate pathways. 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.360 And meanwhile, the shipping centers around the world are dealing 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.960 with congestion. Supply chains are kind of like when you 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.480 drive on the highway and you know, you just sometimes 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.960 for no apparent reason, hit bumper to bumper traffic and 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.960 you're just crawling along and then eventually the traffic just 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.920 kinds of opens up and you can't even see what 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.360 caused the slowdown in the first place. Well, you know, 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:28.480 that's the same sort of thing that can happen in 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.960 supply chains, although it can happen at much worse degrees 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.280 because supply chains are so complicated and so dependent upon 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.440 all the different links in that chain, so when something 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:45.240 goes wrong, you get as you would suspect a chain reaction. Anyway, 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:47.960 the article and Wired warns that the war in Ukraine 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.800 is likely to contribute to really tough supply chain issues 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.600 that we might not even see for a few more weeks, 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.120 and that this will likely have further consequences, ranging from 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.680 shortages and certain types of goods to price hikes and 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.320 and this actually goes well beyond just the realm of 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:08.119 technology and into other industries like food supplies. UH For example, 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.240 the article mentions that we might see the price of 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:16.280 tomatoes escalate because a lot of tomato farmers might switch 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:21.040 over to grain because grain requires less fertilizer, and fertilizer 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.320 a lot of it comes from Russia. So you start 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.359 to see how these little links of the chain can 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.960 have massive consequences. Further down the line, speaking of complications 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.560 of supply chains, Testla's giga factory in Shanghai had to 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.960 shut down temporarily in response to one of those COVID 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.480 lockdowns that I just mentioned. So according to Reuters, the 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.880 facility will only be down for four days, so it 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:48.960 could be a lot worse. But obviously any downtime in 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.680 a manufacturing facility is going to impact business. Now how 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.480 much of an impact. Well, in one, that Shanghai factory 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:02.800 produced about half of all of Tesla's vehicles worldwide, So 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.320 when fifty of your output is coming from one facility 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.160 and that facility gets shut down, that's a potentially pretty 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.760 big impact. Uh. Anyway that it seems like Tesla's launch 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.920 of its Berlin Giga factory, which happened earlier this month, 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.919 was happening just in time. Now I should also add, 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:25.200 it's not like Berlin could immediately step in and take 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.600 over the slack from China. Uh, that's not how this 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.279 would work. I mean, obviously you're talking about totally different 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.320 part of the world, you're talking about totally different shipping, 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.039 you're talking about different markets. And also the Berlin facility 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.599 reportedly is not going to be scaling up to full 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.159 production for several months. It might not be till the 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.120 end of this year before we start seeing it approach 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.240 the full production capabilities. Now, if you've been listening to 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.760 my tech news episodes. You know that Apple has been 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.599 hit with repeated fines from Dutch regulators to the tune 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.600 of five million euros per week, and that was going 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.400 to be to a maximum of fifty million euros over 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:05.160 the course of ten weeks. Well, we just hit week 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:10.200 ten and Apple still has not complied with regulator demands, 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.800 at least not to their satisfaction. Now, at the heart 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.520 of this issue is how Apple requires app developers to 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.960 use Apple's in house payment system for in app purchases 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.279 on iOS apps. And we're specifically talking about dating apps 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.200 in this particular case. It's true across the board, but 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.520 the regulators are really concerned with dating applications. So Dutch 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:35.240 regulators determined that Apple's practice is anti competitive and they 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.320 demanded that the company allow app developers to use alternative 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.520 payment processing methods in their apps. Apple's failure to do 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.000 that is what resulted in fines. Now, Apple did propose 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.280 a solution, but it did not satisfy the regulators, and 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.560 for good reason. Apple's solution was to allow developers to 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.400 use a different payment system, but Apple would still get 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:00.800 a twenty seven percent cut of every transaction. Now, as 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:05.240 it stands, Apple takes out of in app transactions, at 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.200 least from developers of a certain size. Considering the fact 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.760 that any payment processing company will also take a cut, 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.200 that means that if you were to go outside of 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.839 Apple and use someone else to process your payments, you 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.240 would probably be surrendering more than thirty percent of each 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:26.480 transaction in total once you added up both the contributions 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.960 to Apple and to your preferred payment service. So it 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.039 would be more expensive to go outside of Apple because 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:37.159 Apple is demanding this cut on top of everything. Now, 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.360 the regulators called bull crap on apple solution, saying it 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.919 was transparently anti competitive. I think it's pretty hard to 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.880 argue against that. And now that the regulators have gone 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.480 through the full ten weeks and fifty million euros of fines, 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.400 they say they are reviewing Apple's most recent proposed changes 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.920 to see if those are in fact compliant with the 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.600 original order. If they are not, the reg lators say 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:05.880 they could impose quote possibly higher penalties end quote on Apple. Now, 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.840 I've seen several analysts suggest that Apple is actually just 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.880 seeking to push this matter into a court in an 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.120 effort to get a judgment that will release the company 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.400 from these requirements. In the first place, you know, kind 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.400 of hopeful that they might successfully argue in a court 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:24.080 of law that their practice is not anti competitive and 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.520 that then they wouldn't have to worry about complying or 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.040 paying fines at all. But obviously we've heard nothing from 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:35.240 Apple itself confirming this suspicion. One Apple related rumor that 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.200 the company is UH is having right now is that 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:43.280 it's cutting back on producing new iPhone SE units. UH. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:47.400 The new iPhone SE became available on March eighteen, So 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.000 you might wonder, well, why would the company cut production 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:51.760 on a product that has been out for less than 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.800 a fortnight. Well, it appears that there is a double 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.640 whammy at play here, that there is lower than expected 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.440 demand end for this particular phone, and on top of that, 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.400 there are those massive supply chain and certainties that we've 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.320 been talking about in this episode. So this could be 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:14.600 Apple cutting losses before they are too keenly felt. Now 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:16.520 I need to add that this all comes from a 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:21.600 media outlet called mackay Asia, and that outlet is citing 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.400 unidentified sources, so they're not naming their sources, which is 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.800 not unusual, but it also is something that we have 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.480 to keep in mind that when you have unnamed sources, 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:35.079 you have to consider the possibility that the information is 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.920 not reliable. In fact, a couple of air Pods suppliers, 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.720 so not Apple itself, but companies that work with Apple. 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.959 They reached out to mac rumors dot com, which is 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.560 where I encountered this story, and they refuted the claims 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.920 that were made in Ncay Asia. So it's possible that 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.080 this is not a real story. But according to those 0:08:56.280 --> 0:09:00.760 Nicay Asia reports, Apple has told manufacturer is to cut 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.000 way back on units, reducing them by as much as 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:09.080 three million fewer phones per month. Now, originally Apple projected 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.680 it would ship between twenty five to thirty million of 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:15.280 these phones worldwide this year, but according to the report, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.520 it now estimates it will be closer to fifteen to 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.079 twenty million units, so see a significant drop. Now. Obviously, 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:25.320 the story is uncertain and we'll have to follow up 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.280 later to see how it pans out, whether or not 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.520 in the ca Asia was accurate in its reporting or 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.640 if this was fabricated. But if it is real, it 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.400 could be another indicator of how the global supply chain 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:42.600 crisis is impacting the the industry of consumer technology and 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.959 obviously We're seeing that impact in lots of different things today, 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.319 like everything that involves the semiconductor is pretty much affected 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.360 by it and will potentially continue to be so for 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.439 maybe more than a year. I don't I mean, I 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:59.720 don't have any insight into that, but just the way 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.959 things start going right now, it is certainly complicated matters. 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.720 We have some more news stories to go over before 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:15.959 we get to that. Let's take a quick break. We're 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.360 back and Sony has overhauled its PlayStation Plus and PlayStation 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.920 Now subscription services for a launch in the near future 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.000 in June of this year, and that launch will combine 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:31.240 those services into a new set of PlayStation Plus offerings. So, 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:35.920 in case you were not familiar with these features, PlayStation 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.760 Now has been a subscription service that let's subscribers access 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.280 games for the PS four, PS three, and PS two 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:47.040 platforms over the cloud. Uh Here in the United States, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.920 the service was priced at nine dollars nine cents per 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.880 month or twenty four ninety nine for three months or 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:58.240 for a full year. PlayStation Plus was a different service 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:02.080 and is a different service, and it allows subscribers to 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:06.640 access premium options such as the ability to play multiplayer 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:11.440 games online. So without PlayStation Plus, you can't play any 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:15.000 multiplayer games online. You can only play local games on 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.079 your machine. That way, uh you also get a chance 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.079 to download free games. Each month, Sony chooses a couple 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:24.880 of titles and offers them up for free for PlayStation 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:29.200 Plus users, and starting in June, both of these suites 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.680 of services PlayStation now in PlayStation Plus will combine into 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:37.439 Vultron or PlayStation Plus that's the name they decided to 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.040 stick with. So at the base level, there are three 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:41.920 tiers to this and then the lowest tier is the 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:46.440 PlayStation Plus Essential which will be nine per month, and 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.280 it's pretty much the exact same thing that PlayStation Plus 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.240 is right now, so that means it will give users 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.240 access to online multiplayer games and they'll be able to 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.400 download the free games that are offered by Sony each month. 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.480 The next tier up is PlayStation Plus Extra that will 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.200 be fourteen per month and will include up to four 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:11.959 hundred PS five and PS four games that subscribers can download, 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.920 so they'll have access to a library of up to 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.480 four hundred games that they can then download as part 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:22.839 of their subscription. Then there's the PlayStation Plus Premium level 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.240 that will be seventeen dollars and nine nine cents per month. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.680 That will include additional access to three hundred forty more games, 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:34.200 including some PS three titles, PS two titles, and PS 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:38.000 one titles via cloud streaming. Plus you get all the 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.600 stuff from the previous tiers. Now, I don't play as 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.880 much on my consoles these days, but I do think 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.360 that this is, you know, a good strategy. It's one 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.679 that puts Sony on better footing against Microsoft and the 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.440 Xbox Games Pass, which is you know, Microsoft version of 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:57.080 this kind of strategy. However, Jim Ryan, the CEO of 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:01.400 Sony's PlayStation division, did dump a little ice water on 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:05.080 this announcement. Bryan said that Sony is not planning on 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:10.560 including first party titles in this Plus service, at least 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.200 not at the titles launch at any rate. So, unlike Microsoft, 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.280 which has been including big name exclusive titles on Game 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:21.480 Pass at launch, PlayStation Plus will not be following suit. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:25.760 Ryan says that interrupts the quote unquote virtuous cycle of 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.880 Sony's process and developing titles, and that doing so would 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.480 undermine that process and that the company wouldn't recapture the 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:38.920 costs that it's pouring into developing those titles. In other words, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:43.280 Sony saying we don't want to cannibalize our own internal systems, 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.000 so we're not going to do that. I'm sure we'll 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:47.920 be a disappointment to a lot of people who are 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.320 hoping that this would be akin to the Xbox Game 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.679 Pass and give Sony players access to those first party 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:58.160 titles day and date. But um, you know, it still 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:03.240 sounds like a pretty incredible offering to me. Again, I'm 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.360 not like, I'm not the big console gamer these days, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.760 but I think if I were really actively using my PlayStation, 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.200 I think I'd be aiming for that PlayStation plus premium. 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.000 I mean, it's eighteen bucks a month, but at the 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:16.760 same time, you just look at how much you have 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:21.280 to access and that's pretty incredible. Also, eighteen dollars a 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.360 month is a lot less than buying a game a month. 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.560 You're talking about sixty dollars plus in that regard. In 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:30.320 other gaming news, Bungee has filed a lawsuit against ten 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.880 John does As in ten unidentified defendants, and Bungee says 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:41.000 that these people weaponize YouTube's Digital Millennium Copyright Act or 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.680 d m C a process. Now there's a lot to 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.160 unpack here, So let's take a step by step. First 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.320 of all, you've got the d m c A. This 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.440 puts hefty requirements on platforms to take quick action when 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.880 those platforms are alerted to an instance of someone violating 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.280 copyright law. So in YouTube case, when it receives a 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.520 demand to remove content from its platform due to a 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.520 d m c A violation, that is, someone has said, hey, 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:13.040 this person has uploaded content they don't own. I own 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:17.520 that content, take it down. Typically YouTube responds to sweet 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.920 and takes down the content, or else it runs the 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:23.640 risk of being held liable for failure to act with 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.200 regard to the d m c A. As such, YouTube 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.840 tends to be pretty darn quick on the draw with 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.560 d m c A takedown notices, and potentially too quick 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.440 on the draw, at least according to Bungee. Now see 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.080 Bungee also issues d m c A takedown notices because 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:44.800 sometimes people might upload stuff like say the soundtrack to 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:50.560 a Bungee title to YouTube without Bungees authorization, or they 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:54.920 might upload lengthy cut scenes that and not include any 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.520 other content. So in other words, there's no like user 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:03.320 generated content. It's just Bungees cut scenes uploaded complete to YouTube. 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.000 Those are cases where Bungee will issue a takedown notice 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.000 through the d m c A, and Bungee follows protocol. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.080 It fills out a d m c A order. Uh, 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.200 there's like an online form you've got to fill out 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.600 that then submits that to YouTube, and then YouTube then 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.360 goes and takes down the offending content and it typically 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:26.240 issues a strike against the responsible channel. However, and here's 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.720 the problem. It turns out that apparently anyone can do 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:34.400 this on behalf of anyone else, Like anyone could go 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:38.120 and create a Gmail account because you have to have 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.520 one of those in order to do this, and go 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.360 to YouTube and fill out an online form claiming to 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.880 be the owner of intellectual property that's in a video 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.000 and demand that YouTube take the video down, and YouTube 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:55.240 will do it. In other words, YouTube is so responsive 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:58.480 to d m c A takedown notices that it will 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.880 act first without verifying that the party that's making this 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:07.399 demand actually owns the I P and question. So apparently 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:12.520 these ten unknown individuals created fake Gmail accounts, are real 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.080 Gmail accounts but under fake identities, and issued d m 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:21.040 c A notices against channels that had destiny to content 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.960 on them, and they were posing as Bungee, the owners 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.240 of the I P. And further, Bungee believes that these 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:32.040 ten unauthorized individuals did this in retaliation for having their 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:36.879 own content removed from actual Bungee listed d m c 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.000 A takedowns. So, in other words, the way it went 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.359 down was like, this Channel A puts up a video 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:49.560 that contains Bungee I P, and they don't actually provide 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.520 enough user content to warrant putting that stuff up. In 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.640 other words, they're violating Bungee's own policies. So they might 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.760 be posting cut scenes but not provide any sort of 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.800 commentary or gameplay outside of that, or maybe they're just 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.000 posting the music without any of their own content, so 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:13.560 it's not legitimate in Bungee's eyes. So then Bungee issues 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.320 the d m c A takedown YouTube acts. Then the 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:22.400 channel owner who had this stuff up, stung by Bungee's takedown, 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.040 starts lashing out at other channels that are actually playing 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.600 by the rules, meaning that these are channels that have 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:33.560 sufficient creator content in them so they're not violating Bungee's policies. 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:39.800 So these these channels then get take down notices. Against them, 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.280 and at first they might think Bungee's targeted me for 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.560 no reason, like I was playing by the rules and 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.480 Bungee took my stuff down, But in fact, Bungee never 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.600 did this. It wasn't Bungee. It was one of these 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:55.280 other you know, wounded members. And the company says that 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:59.160 these ten people have caused damage to Bungee's reputation and 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.280 committed for all essentially by posing as Bungee representatives. And 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.320 also they said, hey, we just want to take time 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:10.080 to mention that YouTube has terrible processes for d m 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.639 c A takedowns that allow this kind of thing to happen, 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:17.000 and that it could happen across the board, across any 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.680 i P, like anyone who has an AX to grind 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:25.520 against a content creator could but potentially create an account, 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:28.760 file a d m c A takedown and get a 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.640 video taken off of YouTube. And then you know, they 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:36.640 did it completely illegally, right, they did it without actually 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:39.560 owning the i P. But YouTube goes ahead and acts 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:43.520 anyway because YouTube doesn't want to get held accountable for 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.280 not acting, and obviously that would be a terrible way 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:51.959 to harass someone. Chances are it would get reversed. But 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.600 just getting the video taken down means that if someone's 0:19:55.640 --> 0:20:00.240 dependent upon videos to you know, make their living, a 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:04.919 video getting taken down as an enormous financial consequence on 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:10.280 that person. So yeah, it's it's a nasty situation. However, 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.720 Bungee has not named YouTube or the parent company Alphabet 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:16.959 as a defendant in this case, but they are seeking 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.359 to get the legal grounds that will allow them to 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.639 compel YouTube to share information about the ten John Does 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:27.120 who are behind the takedowns. YouTube has shut down those 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.720 accounts or has started to reverse those uh those d 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.840 m c A takedowns, but YouTube has not shared information 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.640 that might give a clue as to the identity of 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:42.359 those ten people. And so now Bungee is looking to 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:47.040 get the legal uh foundation to require YouTube to share 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.560 that because YouTube won't share that information unless there's essentially 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.919 a court order to do so. Now, I wanted to 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:56.639 cover the story to illustrate how intellectual property law can 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.679 get really really messy in the tech sector, although I 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.280 can also get messy and other sectors too, So this 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.520 is one of those things that a lot of advocates 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:12.960 have been warning against UM suggesting that intellectual property law 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:17.200 as it stands is kind of broken, and the way 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:23.080 that various platforms attempt to deal with IP law is 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.879 broken as well. All Right, we've got some more news 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.400 stories to get through. Before we get to those, let's 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:39.480 take another quick break. Tech Crunch is reporting that TikTok 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.440 is testing a feature that will allow users to look 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:45.680 back over their watch history, which will make it much 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.439 easier to locate a specific video they've seen. See in 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:52.320 this day and age where our attention spans and memory 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.119 or toast, we need a feature like watch history to 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.840 be able to hunt down that one short video where 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:00.600 someone is lip sinking over that same audio you've seen 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:03.840 used in countless other videos, but this video has a 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:06.560 rabbit in it or whatever. I don't know. I don't 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.560 use TikTok, but this has been a feature that a 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:11.800 lot of people have been asking for for a long time, 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:14.960 because otherwise watch history is kind of lost to the ether, 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:17.080 and you have to do a lot of searching and 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:19.760 TikTok to rediscover something if you want to share it 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:21.920 with others. I mean, there are exceptions if you if 0:22:21.920 --> 0:22:24.520 you favorite a video, but if you haven't favored it, 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:27.159 it's a pain in the took us to try and 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:31.320 track it down. Now, TikTok hasn't actually rolled this out yet, 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:33.399 and there's no telling what the feature is going to 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.200 look like or how it will perform if and when 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.000 the service enables it, but it could be coming in 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:42.560 the near future. Here in the United States, House Democrats 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:45.840 are pushing for the US to adopt a digital currency 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:49.040 that would behave the same way that cash does, except 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:52.880 you know, digitally, so in a bill called the Electronic 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:57.600 Currency and Secure Hardware or e Cash Act, the politicians 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.480 are calling for the U. S. Treasury Department to take 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:02.679 care of this project, and the goal would be to 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:07.000 create a secure means of supporting digital cash transactions that 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:10.360 do not depend upon a blockchain or a shared ledger 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:13.399 or any sort of tracking system. So, in other words, 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.720 you should be able to transfer digital cash the same 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:21.000 way as you could physical cash. So if I walked 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:23.400 up to you and I handed you a five dollar bill, 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:26.080 that's between you and me. You know, there's no other 0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:29.840 record of that transaction. And so the goal here would 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:32.280 be to make a digital solution that could follow a 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:36.040 similar pathway. That could be pretty tricky to do because 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:40.520 keeping transactions private while also providing security and protecting against 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:44.960 stuff like digital counterfeiting and theft is a challenge, but 0:23:45.000 --> 0:23:47.840 if successful, people in the US would have the option 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:51.679 to send money to each other while bypassing other services 0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:55.359 that typically take a transaction fee in the process. Plus 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:58.399 those services can keep track of transactions and use that 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:01.520 data for other purposes. The bill has a long way 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:03.520 to go before it can become a law, and chances 0:24:03.520 --> 0:24:07.560 are there will be some resistance, probably considerable resistance in 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:10.720 some fields to this measure. So there's no guarantee that 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:14.960 will actually see this enacted, but still very interesting. If 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.720 you've ever been fired or laid off, you know that 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:22.520 that experience usually bites. While China business seems to have 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:24.520 come up with a new way to deliver the news 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:27.159