DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ ChatGPT frenzy sweeps China as firms scramble for homegrown options
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft -backed OpenAI has kept its hit ChatGPT app off-limits to users in China, but the app is attracting huge interest in the country, with firms rushing to integrate the technology into their products and launch rival solutions. OpenAI or ChatGPT itself is not blocked by Chinese authorities but OpenAI does not allow users in mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia and parts of Africa to sign up. Dozens of bots rigged to ChatGPT technology have emerged on WeChat, with hobbyists using it to make programmes or automated accounts that can interact with users. ChatGPT supports Chinese language interaction and is highly capable of conversing in Chinese, which has helped drive its unofficial adoption in the country. SleekFlow, a Tiger Global-backed startup in Hong Kong, said it was integrating the AI into its customer relations messaging tools.

☆ ChatGPT frenzy sweeps China as firms scramble for home-grown options
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A response in Chinese by ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, is seen on its website in this illustration picture taken February 9, 2023. OpenAI or ChatGPT itself is not blocked by Chinese authorities but OpenAI does not allow users in mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia and parts of Africa to sign up. Dozens of bots rigged to ChatGPT technology have emerged on WeChat, with hobbyists using it to make programmes or automated accounts that can interact with users. ChatGPT supports Chinese language interaction and is highly capable of conversing in Chinese, which has helped drive its unofficial adoption in the country. CENSORSHIPReuters' tests of ChatGPT indicate that the chatbot is not averse to questions that would be sensitive in mainland China.

☆ When to Use a VPN—and When It Won’t Protect Your Data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dalvin Brown | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Virtual private networks, better known as VPNs, are shrouded in mystery. These software tools are meant to hide the data coming in and out of your phone or PC, to make web browsing and other activity more private. For one thing, when you’re online, your internet service provider can see a lot of the data that passes through your devices. It knows where you are, what apps you download, which websites you browse and how long you spend on a site. ISPs can use that information to improve their products, but they also can sell it to marketers.

☆ Texas college students say 'censorship of TikTok over guns' says a lot about how officials prioritize safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

UT Austin and Texas A&M announced a ban on TikTok from school WiFi and devices this week. Since the ban, students are sharing their frustration with Texas officials. Students told Insider there are more pressing safety matters that university officials should be looking into. In the December press release, Abbott cited data harvesting and potential surveillance of its users as the reason, but students told Insider they aren't convinced there's a big threat. "A&M is a big school, and it's easy to get overwhelmed," the student told Insider.

☆ Their colleges banned TikTok over security fears. These students vow it won't stop them from scrolling.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Daysia Tolentino | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

But a handful of students at the affected universities who spoke with NBC News say the newly enacted policies won’t stop them from scrolling their For You pages. Kay Ivey banned TikTok on state-owned devices and networks on Dec. 12, citing cybersecurity issues and fears over Chinese spying. Lawmakers in the U.S. House and the Senate also proposed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok federally on Dec. 13. A University of Oklahoma spokesperson said the school is complying with Stitt’s executive order. Texada said he felt that TikTok, beyond helping with marketing, has also been a resource for the university community, particularly international students.

Other researchers have also tracked the spam campaign. Videos of the protests quickly spread on Chinese social media, with online censors struggling to keep up. Many of them also made their way onto Twitter and other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, all of which are blocked in China but some Chinese users access via virtual private networks. There are no firm numbers on the scope of the spam campaign, but Wright said she has observed thousands of Twitter posts an hour in some cases. “So essentially, it can be very effective as a method for driving out the truth, the real videos, and the real content about the protests.”

☆ China Clamps Down on Internet as It Seeks to Stamp Out Covid Protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Liza Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE—China’s internet watchdog instructed tech companies to expand censorship of protests and moved to curb access to virtual private networks this week, as a government clampdown succeeds in keeping most protesters off the streets after nationwide demonstrations erupted over the weekend against the country’s strict Covid policies. The Cyberspace Administration of China issued guidance to companies on Tuesday, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of short video apps TikTok and Douyin, asking them to add more staff to internet censorship teams, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies were also asked to pay more attention to content related to the protests, particularly any information being shared about demonstrations at Chinese universities and a fire in the western Xinjiang region that triggered the nationwide backlash over Covid policies.

☆ Chinese police are now conducting random stop-and-search checks for banned foreign apps such as Instagram and Twitter: reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Britney Toh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chinese police conducted random stop-and-search checks on phones, per WSJ and CNBC. The authorities checked for banned foreign apps such as Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram. Some of the dissidents have been turning to foreign apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram to share information on the protests with the outside world and to communicate and organise protests. These foreign social media apps are banned in China, but they can be accessed through virtual private networks, or VPNs. Another video circulating on Twitter appears to show an alleged plain-clothes officer hitting a person who refused to hand over his phone.

☆ China police out in numbers to prevent more COVID protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Epidemic-prevention workers in protective suits stand guard at a residential compound as outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue in Beijing, China November 28, 2022. Simmering discontent with COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into broader protests in cities thousands of miles apart throughout the weekend. COVID in China keeps spreading despite significant sacrifices made by most of the country's 1.4 billion people to prevent its transmission, adhering to a zero-COVID policy of eradicating all outbreaks that has isolated China from the rest of the world. The lockdowns have exacerbated one of the steepest growth slowdowns China has faced in decades, disrupting global supply chains and roiling financial markets. In Hangzhou, the capital of the eastern Zhejiang province, videos on social media which Reuters could not independently verify showed hundreds of police occupying a large public square on Monday night, preventing people from congregating.

Two protesters told Reuters that callers identifying themselves as Beijing police officers asked them to report to a police station on Tuesday with written accounts of their activities on Sunday night. "We are all desperately deleting our chat history," said another person who witnessed the Beijing protest and declined to be identified. Simmering discontent with stringent COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into protests in cities thousands of miles apart over the weekend. Officials say the COVID policy has kept the death toll in the thousands, avoiding the millions of deaths elsewhere. In an editorial that did not mention the protests, People's Daily, the Party's official newspaper, urged citizens to "unswervingly implement" COVID policies.

CNN —China’s vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother mass protests that swept the country, with police patrolling streets, checking cell phones and even calling some demonstrators to warn them against a repeat. While protests over local grievances do occur in China, the current wave of demonstrations is the most widespread since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement of 1989. Some of the boldest protests took place in Shanghai, where crowds called for Xi’s removal two nights in a row. Police cars patrol Shanghai's Urumqi Road, which has been completely blocked off by tall barricades after a weekend of protests. Another Shanghai protester told CNN they were among “around 80 to 110” people detained by police on Saturday night, adding they were released 24 hours later.

☆ South Korea debates scrapping Cold War-era ban on North's propaganda
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SEOUL, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Debate is brewing in South Korea over efforts to scrap a decades-old ban on North Korean media, as changing attitudes fuel renewed calls to review a national security law dating from the Cold War. South Korea's National Security Act blocks access to the North's government websites and media, barring efforts at "praising, inciting or propagating" its activities. In a statement to the court before the hearing, the national rights watchdog had called the clauses vague, disproportionate and damaging to fundamental rights. North Korean films, songs and other content are already widely available on YouTube and elsewhere, they added. "The North will likely produce television shows and publications specifically designed to sow more division in the South," said defector Kim Tae-san, a former North Korean ambassador to the Czech Republic.

☆ Lawmakers urge tech CEOs to do more to help Iranian protesters circumvent internet censorship
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A bipartisan group of 13 lawmakers urged several U.S. tech CEOs to do more to help Iranian people stay connected to the internet as their government seeks to censor communications amid ongoing protests. The lawmakers said these types of tools would help Iranian citizens stay connected to the internet in secure ways amid government-imposed shutdowns and reduce their reliance on domestic infrastructure. The availability of multiple secure communications tools would make it harder for the Iranian regime to shut down all of them at once, they wrote. A Google spokesperson said in a statement the company is working on ways to "ensure continued access to generally available communications tools like Google Meet and our other Internet services." The Facebook-owner had made Instagram and WhatsApp available in Iran, but the services have been restricted by the government.

☆ SpaceX rolls out Starlink aviation product for satellite internet to private jets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX rolled out aviation-specific Starlink satellite internet service on Tuesday, with Elon Musk's company looking to expand further into the inflight WiFi market. Deliveries to aviation customers are scheduled to "start in mid-2023," the company said, and reservations require a $5,000 initial payment. SpaceX said it is seeking Federal Aviation Administration certificates for a variety of aircraft, most of which are typically owned and operated as private jets. As for the quality of the service, SpaceX says Starlink aviation customers can expect speeds up to 350 Megabits per second, "enabling all passengers to access streaming-capable internet at the same time." But the company's aviation service does not require a long-term contract, with SpaceX saying "all plans include unlimited data" and the "hardware is under warranty for as long as you subscribe to the service."

☆ When Chinese protesters came up against Xi's security machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Handout via REUTERSBEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jack Yao, a Chinese Communist Party member, never wanted to be an activist. It offers a glimpse of the lengths some frustrated citizens will go to in taking on the world's most powerful security state. China's Ministry of Public Security, the Henan and Anhui local governments, and police departments in those provinces and Beijing didn't respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinese authorities say social stability is the foundation for a prosperous future and dismiss human rights complaints as Western propaganda and interference in internal affairs. Protesters chanted: "Henan banks, give us back our deposits."

Officials said the move would help Iranians access tools that can be used to circumvent state surveillance and censorship, but would not entirely prevent Tehran from using communications tools to stifle dissent, as it did by cutting off internet access for most citizens on Wednesday. Asked how the expanded license would help Iranians if their government again shuts down internet access, a State Department official also briefing reporters said Iran's government would still have "repressive tools for communication." The new license makes it "easier for the Iranian people to confront some of those oppressive tools," the official said. read moreMusk said on Monday his company would provide Starlink to Iranians, and would ask for a sanctions exception to do so. read moreThe Treasury official briefing reporters said Starlink's commercial-grade system, which would involve sending hardware into Iran, would not be covered by the general license.

Starting in 2012, the year Mr. Putin retook the presidency, Roskomnadzor built a blacklist of websites that the companies were required to block. In 2021, authorities throttled access to the social media service to a crawl. It gathered information about government critics and identified shifting political opinions on social media. watch opponents and identify new threats to Mr. Putin, Mr. Voronin said. In the records, censors flagged ProUfu.ru for the critical Ukraine editorial written about Mr. Putin in February.

☆ The most common crime in UK hotels isn't theft
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Violence against another person" is by far the most common criminal offense reported in U.K. hotels, new data shows. 'Magnets for crime'Brian Moore, operations director at hotel security consultancy Global Secure Accreditation, told CNBC that hotels are "magnets for crime." When asked about the U.K. figures, Moore said, "I think most people would be surprised at the volume of crime since the U.K. is relatively safe. Hotel guests should store valuables in room safes, and exercise caution when using a hotel's Wi-Fi. Hotel guests should also ensure they are connecting to the hotel network and not a similarly named, fake one.

☆ There's an underground market where secondhand Amazon merchant accounts are bought and sold for thousands of dollars
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Rob Price | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There's a gray market for secondhand Amazon seller accounts, an Insider investigation found. Rogue merchants buy these accounts to evade Amazon security and sell dodgy products. An Insider investigation revealed a thriving gray market for secondhand Amazon seller accounts. Such sales typically break Amazon's rules, and allow rogue sellers to evade Amazon's security and verification checks. Read Insider's full investigation into the market for second-hand Amazon seller accounts, and Amazon's failures to police its users »Got a tip?

☆ A 'dystopian horror story.' Inside the thriving underground market for used Amazon seller accounts that's causing chaos, identity theft, and distrust in the company's massive online marketplace
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Rob Price | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

On Telegram and forums like Swapd and PlayerUp, a gray market for secondhand Amazon seller accounts thrives. On public Telegram groups, Amazon account sellers openly advertise their goods and how they've passed Amazon's verification checks. She'd never had an Amazon seller account and sold jewelry directly through her website. Amazon is asleep at the wheel"Amazon is asleep at the wheel," Jason Boyce, a consultant for Amazon sellers, said. AI engineer François Chollet has been plagued by counterfeiters selling fake copies of his books via Amazon accounts with stolen identities.

☆ Rushdie's stabbing highlights divisions in Iranian society
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But hardline state media outlets have celebrated it with headlines like "Satan has been blinded". "Through the fatwa, the Iranian regime is responsible for the attack on Salman Rushdie. Washington has charged an Iranian with plotting to murder Bolton, a national security adviser to Trump. Those comments echoed praise for the attacker in other hardline Iranian media on Saturday. read more"I hope you die," tweeted Iranian Mohammad, using the trending hashtag #SalmanRushdie in Farsi.

☆ Influencers and small businesses in Russia lost lucrative Western brand deals after the Ukraine war began. Here's how three are coping.
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-07 | by ( Ryan Hogg | Charissa Cheong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Big Western brands like Adidas and Reebok pulled out of Russia after the Ukraine war began. The boycott is hurting influencers and small businesses in Russia that rely on Western brand deals. "We're losing money every month that goes by," Che told Insider. Incomes slumpTwo small Russian business owners told Insider their income had collapsed since the Ukraine war began. Diana Akhmadishina, a sports coach who was a brand ambassador for Adidas Russia, told Insider that her photoshoots and other projects with the brand had been put on hold.

Search resuls for: "Private Networks"

22 mentions found