French TV Venture CANAL+ Hacked, Suppresses News with DMCA

TorrentFreak reports major French television Canal+ hits Github with DMCA complaint after experiencing a severe AWS breach. The hacker, who ran the “hooperp” Github repository, was able to steal “all the data and codes” regarding its new CRM project “Kiss deploy”, before using the server’s key to mine Bitcoin. Legal counsel for Canal+ revealed: Continue reading

France Issues Humor Related Travel Warning For Visitors to the United States

The French government has updated its list of advisories for its citizens headed to the United States to include a warning that comments attitudes or jokes of a sexual nature which would be harmless in civilized Latin countries can lead to criminal court in the United States, with even children susceptible to prosecution for a broad range of related charges. The addition to the advisory reads: Continue reading

Liberland "President" Arrested

Croatian forces have reportedly arrested the founder and "President" of Liberland Vít Jedlička. Jedlička founded Liberland in a disputed stretch of territory along the Danube river between Serbia and Croatia and declared Bitcoin the official currency. The micronation of Liberland has only a month of history and given present opposition it seems unlikely to enjoy the longevity of the Principality of Hutt River or Sealand. Given Liberland's geographic situation prospects for establishing lasting security seem unlikely.

Private Lawsuit Dismissed Because of State Secrets Privilege

The New Zealand Herald brings us the story of a lawsuit between a Greek shipper and an advocacy group which was dismissed by a Federal court in New York after the Department of Justice invoked the state secrets privilege. Neither party to the lawsuit is a part of the government or a contractor known to be conducting national security work on behalf of the United States Government. For a lawsuit between private parties to end upon the invocation of the State Secrets privilege is unprecedented. Continue reading

Basketball Team Relegated to Lower Division by MS Windows Misbehavior

The Paderhorn Baskets of the German Basketball Budesliga face potential relegation to the lower ProB division after Windows Update forced a delay of game so severe the league had to penalize Paderhorn by reducing their points in the league's standings. While the disastrous security consequences of Microsoft Windows are often the focus of criticism, in this case the disaster was triggered by Window's automatic update functionality which is generally regarded as annoying though somewhat beneficial. In this case however, the rogue behavior of the Windows Updater went from merely annoying to economically and professionally damaging.

UK Regulates Self Out of Bitcoin

Regulators in the United Kingdom have announced they will begin applying anti-money laundering rules on digital currency exchanges. The British treasury offers that the move will magically promote innovation and lessen criminal activity. This move however in reality means something other than what Reuters' press release on behalf of the Treasury supposes. Continue reading

National Bank of Romania Clarifies Its Position On Bitcoin

In a press release dated the 11th of March 2015, the National Bank of Romania clarified its position on Bitcoin stating that it is neither a national nor foreign currency, that no-one is obligated to accept bitcoin as a means of payment and that is not a form of electronic money as defined by the law.

Referencing the risks associated with Bitcoin as claimed by the European Central Bank and European Banking Authority, BNR advises consumers to be mindful of such risks and finished by saying that the BNR will attempt to keep track of Bitcoin's progress.