Tag Archive for: creators

Throne fixes security bug that exposed creators’ private home addresses


A recently fixed security bug at a popular platform for supporting creators shows how even privacy-focused platforms can put creators’ private information at risk.

Throne, founded in 2021, bills itself as “a fully secure, concierge wishlist service that acts as an intermediary between your fans and you.” Throne claims to support more than 200,000 creators by shipping out thousands of their wish list items per day, all the while protecting the privacy of the creators’ home address.

The idea is that online creators, like streamers and gamers, can publish a wish list of gifts that supporters can buy, and Throne acts as the go-between. “Your fans pay for the gifts and we handle the rest,” its website reads. “We make sure that the payment gets processed, that the item gets sent, and most importantly, that your private information stays private.”

But a group of good-faith hackers found a vulnerability that undermined that claim and exposed the private home addresses of its creator users.

Enter Zerforschung, the German collective of security researchers behind its latest discovery. You may remember the collective from December when they found and disclosed major security bugs in social media alternative Hive, which sprung to popularity in the exodus from Twitter under Elon Musk’s new ownership. Hive briefly shut itself down to fix the vulnerabilities found by Zerforschung, which allowed anyone to modify anyone else’s posts and access other people’s private messages.

Zerforschung told TechCrunch that they discovered the vulnerability in how the company set up its database, hosted on Google’s Firebase, to store data. The researchers said that the database was inadvertently configured to allow anyone on the internet to access the data inside, including session cookies for its Amazon accounts from the database, which can be used to break into an account without needing the password.

Session cookies are small bits of code that sit on your computer or device to keep users logged into apps and websites without having to repeatedly re-enter a password or sign-in with two-factor authentication. Because session cookies keep the user logged in, they can be an…

Source…

Federal jury convicts malware creators of hijacking 400,000 computers – Digital Trends

Federal jury convicts malware creators of hijacking 400,000 computers  Digital Trends

A federal jury has convicted two Romanian men of 21 criminal charges related to a long-running scheme designed to infect computers with malware in an effort …

“HTTPS hijacking” – read more

Original Star Control creators deploy nuclear option against Stardock [Updated]

This is a Mu'Kay, and they really, <em>really</em> like fish. They do not, however, like protracted litigation.

Enlarge / This is a Mu’Kay, and they really, really like fish. They do not, however, like protracted litigation. (credit: Stardock)

The ongoing legal battle between original Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III and Star Control: Origins developer Stardock escalated significantly on the last day of 2018. Following a favorable court decision, Ford and Reiche filed DMCA takedown requests with Steam and GOG over allegations that Star Control: Origins infringes on Ford and Reiche’s copyrights. Steam and GOG both removed Star Control: Origins from their respective stores, cutting off significant revenue sources for Stardock.

The move is the latest in a nearly year-long legal battle (which itself had been brewing for at least several more years before evolving into actual litigation) between Ford and Reiche and Stardock. At issue is the convoluted mess of copyrights and trademarks that make up the Star Control universe; the outcome of the case appears to hinge on a decades-old agreement between Ford and Reiche and defunct developer Accolade—and how that agreement’s dissolution affected ownership of the Star Control IP.

The shortest recap I can give

Recapping the course of the lawsuit—lawsuits, properly, since there are multiple suits proceeding apace—would take a considerable amount of time, but the short version is that several years ago, Stardock purchased the “Star Control” name and trademark and a bunch of rights related to Star Control 3, with the intent of making a new Star Control game that would eventually come to be known as Star Control: Origins. Stardock reached out to series creators Ford and Reiche multiple times over the years asking for their involvement and blessing, but Ford and Reiche appeared to be apathetic about the game’s development.

Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Biz & IT – Ars Technica

New Organization Formed In South Africa To Promote The Rights Of Creators And Support Intelligent Copyright Reform

Over the years, Techdirt has written about some pretty bad stuff happening in South Africa on the copyright front. For example, there was the Business Software Alliance using made-up figures in an attempt to revise copyright law in its favor. The South African music rights organization tried to put public domain works under copyright. And — most insane of all — the South African recording industry association ran a stupid “anti-piracy” campaign called “Shoot the Pirate”, which resulted in actual violence. So it makes a pleasant change to report on some good news from the country. A new organization of creators has been formed to press for a more balanced copyright system in South Africa. They call themselves ReCreate, although apparently the group has no connection with the similar US organization Re:Create. Here are the South African ReCreate’s basic principles:

ReCreate exists to promote the interests of South African creatives with regards to copyright legislation.

As much as we are creators, we are users of existing cultural products. Currently our work can be blocked through censorship by those who claim to own our culture. Moreover we often do not not own the work we create. And many of us have been disadvantaged by an exploitative system which fails to pay us for our work.

Growing the digital economy requires innovation. South Africa is at a disadvantage to other countries with flexible copyright laws that support creativity.

We call on Government to include in the ongoing copyright reform three key issues to enable us to create the next generation of South African content for the world.

An update about the South African copyright reform currently underway can be found on the infojustice.org site. There’s also an opinion piece in South Africa’s Mail & Guardian written by some of ReCreate’s founders, in which they explain some of the problems they face under current copyright legislation, and the fair use rights they need to help them produce new works in the digital world:

Parody and satire

Incidental use of background content

Use of works in public places

Digital archival

Creation of educational works

Non expressives uses on the Internet, including indexing, data mining and search

Re-mixing, transforming and re-interpreting

Creation of accessible copies for people with disabilities

Adaptation to future technology

However, according to another post on infojustice.org, the South African Department of Arts and Culture has come out against introducing fair use, claiming:

Fair use by its nature is open-ended and it creates uncertainties in the management of rights. If adopted, this model will permit uncontrollable and unreasonable access to copyright materials resulting into reduction of real income for copyright owners.

Although it’s disappointing to see this kind of tired old FUD being spread, it’s great to see artists standing up for themselves like this in South Africa. For too long, the copyright companies have claimed to represents artists while doing precious little to help them create new works or earn a decent living. The founding of ReCreate is a hopeful sign that things may be about to change.

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