Weekend Edition 45 - AI, MS, SBF

Weekend Edition 45 – bullets

WE 1 – Euro Commission Investigating Microsoft
· Slack complained about the way MS bundles Teams
· It took 3 years for the Commission to get around to it
· Reminds me of the Browser Wars and the anti-trust case of the late 90’s
· Likely end with fines and requirements for MS to stop bundling Teams with MS 365 and Office 365
https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-may-regret-bundling-teams-with-365-subscriptions

WE 2 – Senator Wyden Wants MS Sued by DOJ and FTC
· Senator Wyden (D), of Oregon mad about Solar Winds and recent Outlook hack attacks
· Calls Microsoft’s security stance “negligent”
· Solar Winds was instigated by Russia
· The latest Oulook email hack was sponsored by the CCP
· He is framing this as a nat’l security issue, which it is, since the US government runs on Microsoft
· Feels like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it? “Runs on Microsoft” and “Government runs”
· 3 options
· MS admits they have had the wrong stance and changes their EULA without being coerced
· Nothing happens
· Investigation ensues, MS gets fined, grudgingly does the minimum of changes
https://www.pcmag.com/news/us-senator-its-time-to-investigate-microsoft-for-negligent-cybersecurity

WE 3 - Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren Co-sponsor Bill to Create New Tech Regulator
· Wonder twin powers, activate
· Graham Cracker is RINO extraordinaire (may as well be a Democrat)
· Pocahontas is always about expanding the government
· This bill would create a Big Tech regulator which could do a number of things
· Sue for anti-trust violations, and act like the CMA in the UK
· Come down on Big Tech for privacy violations
· Limit online misinformation dissemination
· Lots of sarcasm
· Warm & fuzzy
· Anti-constitutional
· Gov’t censorship, oh joy
· I’m from the government, and I’m here to help (privacy)
· Competition regulation
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/tech/big-tech-regulation-new-federal-agency/index.html

WE 4 – AI News for the Week
4-1 – OpenAI Loses Head of Trust & Safety
· Resigns to spend more time with his family
· Job got more involved than he wanted to deal with
· Is that the real reason?
· OpenAI under scrutiny over ChatGPT
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/tech/open-ai-trust-safety-head-exit/index.html

4-2 – What is Google Genesis?
· Ever heard of it? I hadn’t either..
· “secret” project
· Generative AI to aggregate news stories into one story with a given style
· Is this a good thing?
· Remember The Drudge Report?
· Hallucinations?
· No sorting
· Could quickly create a vicious cycle
https://www.cnet.com/tech/googles-genesis-ai-tool-could-write-the-news-it-should-be-stopped/

WE 5 – What Is Overture?
· Linux Foundation project to provide a better FOSS alternative to Big Tech maps apps
· Microsoft, Meta, TomTom, and Amazon are at the core
· Pooling data along with OpenStreetMaps
· Licensing requires any data taken to result in more contributions to the project
· If one partner steals from the project, they will be responsible for maintaining their own map data for their product
https://gizmodo.com/google-maps-alternative-overture-maps-data-linux-1850675768

WE 6 – SBF Nonsense
6-1 – SBF Sounds More and More Like a Snake
· Leaked selections of Caroline Ellison’s diary to NYT
· DOJ bringing charges of tainting jury pool, discrediting a witness in a criminal proceeding
· She and the rest of the group at the center of FTX already had their trials and pleaded guilty and are working with the feds to testify against him
· This smells like him trying to get ahead of the curve, which is smart, but dirty
· How did he get a hold of these files?
· Did she give them to him?
· Did wunderkind hack them out of her Workspace account?
· Did he appropriate them as admin of the FTX Workspace?
· Shady AF
https://gizmodo.com/doj-accuses-sbj-of-leaking-caroline-ellison-diary-ftx-1850663571

6-2 – SBF Charges Dropping Like Flies
· Original 8 charges for which he was extradited from the Bahamas are untouched
· 5 new charges are being challenged as US overstepping the letter of the extradition
· 2 of those have now been dropped
· Bribery
· Campaign finance regulations
· I have my doubts that this well-connected and very greasy little snake will ever see the inside of a prison for long
· He greased the wheels through money laundering and improper campaign contributions
· DC swamp doesn’t like sunlight
· Will hide and protect him as best they can
· If the book is thrown at him, he could face up to 100 years in prison
· Two justice systems in this country...
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/investing/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-charges/index.html

WE 7 – RIP Kevin Mitnick?
· Famous early hacker
· Hit DEC system and copied OS illegally in 1979
· Jailed 1988
· Hacked into Pac Bell Voicemail system in 1992
· Ran for 2.5 years
· Caught and served 5.5 years
· Free Kevin
· Reformed, became White Hat
· Consulted many Fortune 500 companies, gov’t agencies on cyber security since 2003
· Passed this week, after 14 month pancreatic cancer bout
https://gizmodo.com/kevin-mitnick-famous-hacker-dies-at-59-1850659160

WE 8 – CSAM Everywhere... Look at Mastodon, Everyone!! They’re SOO Bad
· What is the Fediverse
· What is Mastodon
· Issues
· Security
· Lack of user friendliness
· CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Materials), aka Child Porn materials
· Remember George Carlin? That is a bloodless PC name, ain’t it?
· Security is a moot thing, based on their concerns
· User friendliness... Confusing layout with instances
· There is CSAM everywhere (mainstream; decentralized platforms; everywhere)
· Should not ever exist
· 0 tolerance for creators and distributors when caught, swift justice
https://gizmodo.com/mastodon-fediverse-child-abuse-material-stanford-resear-1850670857