Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

It seems like the #EU #DigitalMarketsAct is already having an effect on #GooglePlay: now that they might actually have some real competition, they seem to be ramping up efforts to clean up their app store:

https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/09/google-play-tightens-up-rules-for-android-app-developers-to-require-testing-increased-app-review/

I've been getting a flood of #spam from #UK companies, but the kind where they are actual companies, not weird phishing things. They seem to provide proper unsubscribe links. Did the UK changes it laws recently to hold spamming companies less accountable? What happened?

One thing that most impressed me about the culture of Brooklyn was how after the September 11th attacks, mainstream culture rallied to protect its Arab and Muslim communities because we knew they would be unfairly targeted https://web.archive.org/web/20210712204925/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2001-09-14-0109140289-story.html

Sadly, what I see now in Europe is the mainstream adopting the bigoted views of people like Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Likud, Shas, etc. and coding it nice sounding language. The #EU should protect and respect all of its citizens and residents equally.

I wonder if #GooglePlay uses the deobfuscation data in the "mapping.txt" file in the app review process? It would bring the binary code a bit closer to being more readable like source code. Their documentation only mentions crash reports as a use case:

https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9848633

This is a really good sign for the #EU #DigitalMarketsAct: #Google is leveraging it to get #Apple to adopt #RCS in #iMessage:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23951935/google-european-telcos-apple-imessage-digital-markets-act-core-platform-service-gatekeeper-lobbying

Looks like #Google's keeping the #DRM "Web Integrity API" alive in the #Android WebView, despite widespread disapproval for the "Web Integrity API" as a web standard. https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/google-kills-web-integrity-drm-for-the-web-still-wants-an-android-version/

#Microsoft #Apple #Google etc have massive piles of "cash on hand". They are supposed to be innovative companies which hire as much talent as they can, so something is clearly wrong with this picture. Lots of skilled people also have morals, and want to build things they believe are beneficial and #ethical. So many developers would rather work on things they believe in and are willing to get paid a fraction of what they could earn: so they reject working for #BigTech

https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/sectors/sp500-companies-stockpile-1-trillion-cash-investors-want-it/

It makes me happy to read that #Amazon's #drone delivery program is barely functional. It would be such a nightmarish thing if it ever caught on. All that buzzing noise, drones falling out of the sky when they hit things like birds, ever more resources used for unnecessary delivery. Its like flying cars and space tourism; oligarchs like #Bezos keep investing in these ideas while ignoring the hard technical realities as well as the well being of most people on this planet

https://news.yahoo.com/look-sky-soup-155037137.html?guccounter=1

This #GDPR complaint against #YouTube for illegally gathering user data with explicit consent gives me a lot of optimism that it is possible to defeat the "free" #tracking business models and bring back real freedom in media distribution to the internet. Paying with your data and privacy gives the illusion of freedom when getting media on the internet. These regulations will pop that bubble if the #EU actually enforces them.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/26/privacy_advocate_challenges_youtube/

It looks like the future of mobile #malware is exploiting messenger apps. #NSOGroup #Pegasus has clearly demonstrated it is possible to silently exploit and own devices via messenger apps. Now #ransomware gangs have a proven pattern to follow with their millions for dev budgets. And it could spread from there. Could it be that this becomes a bigger threat than install by #sideload?