gatorguy

About

Username
gatorguy
Joined
Visits
574
Last Active
Roles
member
Points
18,919
Badges
3
Posts
24,772
  • Courts say AI training on copyrighted material is legal

    A different court in a similar case involving Meta and book scanning for AI training has dismissed that case too, but with distinctions that may not entirely agree with Alsup's opinion.
    https://www.wired.com/story/meta-scores-victory-ai-copyright-case/


    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Car makers reject CarPlay Ultra as an Apple overreach

    IreneW said:
    Both Renault and Volvo are mentioned in the article, and both of them are flagship partners implementing Android Automotive.
    So it is not a question of total control, I guess, but in what way the product is offered.
    There's a good reason for that. Android Automotive does not require the manufacturer to commit to Google services. It can offer most if not all the same UX benefits of Car Play Ultra while letting the manufacturers determine the services. Android Automotive is also user-friendly for both iPhone and Android owners.  Want to use CarPlay under Android Automotive, no problem.

    I don't know whether Car Play Ultra offers the same freedom, but perhaps someone here knows the facts. My sense is it does not, thus more reticence on the part of automakers to rely on Car Play Ultra integration.
    randominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Courts say AI training on copyrighted material is legal

    sunman42 said:
    If everyone who writes a comment on this page will send a fee to Dr Seuss for learning from his books to read and speak, then I will pay attention to their views if they oppose AI learning from published sources. But if you aren't willing to pay everyone that you learn from, for every word that comes out of your mouth, then I don't see why AI should have to pay either. Next, are we going to charge aliens for learning English by reading the radio waves that are being sent into deep space?
    That’s the point, though: libraries, schools, or whatever grownup bought that book that helped you learn to read paid Dr. Seuss’s publisher, who paid him and his agent. And school teachers, under the fair use clause, could make copies of excerpts of those books to help in reading lessons. Where does any AI outfit other than Apple pay for anything the engines are scraping?

    But you’re on the right track on one thing: we should definitely start beaming Dr. Seuss books to the stars.
    Google pays for some training data, signing licensing deals, as does OpenAI.
    12Strangersdanoxdewmemuthuk_vanalingamspliff monkey
  • Judge sanctions Apple for blatantly violating 'Fortnite' App Store order

    davidw said:
    The solution for Apple seem quite simple. If a developer want to have an app in the Apple App Store where there are advertising and links in the app that allows for any IAP payments outside of Apple iTunes, then Apple will charge those developers $1 per app downloaded per month, with a deal for $10 per  app per year.  (or something to that nature). It will be up to the developers if they want to charge their customers for downloading the app. So a developer can weigh in on whether to have a free app where Apple will get a commission or paid for each downloaded app and hope the users makes enough IAP to bring the cost of having such an app, below what they would had paid in commission.

    This way the developers that are happy with the arrangement of having a free app and paying Apple a commission to handle IAP payments (along with refunds and updates) can still do so. And those that don't want to pay Apple a commission on IAP can do so by paying Apple upfront for having an app in the Apple App store from which they are profiting from using Apple IP.

    Isn't Apple already doing something like this in the EU, with downloads from third party app stores?
    Verbatim quote from the court:

    For the reasons set forth herein, the Court FINDS Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing. Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated...

    Apple’s response to the Injunction strains credulity. After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged. Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the Injunction’s goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.

    Remarkably, Apple believed that this Court would not see through its obvious cover-up (the 2024 evidentiary hearing). To unveil Apple’s actual decision-making process, not the one tailor-made for litigation, the Court ordered production of real-time documents and ultimately held a second set of hearings in 2025.

    To summarize: One, after trial, the Court found that Apple’s 30 percent commission “allowed it to reap supracompetitive operating margins” and was not tied to the value of its intellectual property, and thus, was anticompetitive. Apple’s response: charge a 27 percent commission (again tied to nothing) on off-app purchases, where it had previously charged nothing, and extend the commission for a period of seven days after the consumer linked-out of the app.

    Apple’s goal: maintain its anticompetitive revenue stream.

    Two, the Court had prohibited Apple from denying developers the ability to communicate with, and direct consumers to, other purchasing mechanisms. Apple’s response: impose new barriers and new requirements to increase friction and increase breakage rates with full page “scare” screens, static URLs, and generic statements.

    Apple’s goal: to dissuade customer usage of alternative purchase opportunities and maintain its anticompetitive revenue stream.

    In the end, Apple sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this Court’s Injunction.

    In stark contrast to Apple’s initial in-court testimony, contemporaneous business documents reveal that Apple knew exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option. To hide the truth, Vice-President of Finance, Alex Roman, outright lied under oath. Internally, Phillip Schiller had advocated that Apple comply with the Injunction, but Tim Cook ignored Schiller and instead allowed Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri and his finance team to convince him otherwise. Cook chose poorly.

    The real evidence, detailed herein, more than meets the clear and convincing standard to find a violation. The Court refers the matter to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California to investigate whether criminal contempt proceedings are appropriate.

    This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order. Time is of the essence. The Court will not tolerate further delays. As previously ordered, Apple will not impede competition. The Court enjoins Apple from implementing its new anticompetitive acts to avoid compliance with the Injunction. Effective immediately Apple will no longer impede developers’ ability to communicate with users nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off-app purchases.


    The TLDR version? 

    "This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order."

    avon b7nubuselijahgtiredskillsmuthuk_vanalingamAlex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Trade war escalates: Trump hikes China tariffs to 125%, pauses others for 90 days

    Japan, thank you for dumping Treasuries last night and tanking the bond market. It forces begrudging sanity in economic policy. 
    Xedmuthuk_vanalingamglnflondoranonymousehugo62tdknoxtiredskillsblastdoorAlex1N