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Dr. Disrespect Finally Breaks His Silence On Twitch Ban, And It’s Not Good

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It’s been a weird week for the video game community. And I mean weirder than a normal week, which is usually already pretty strange.

Things kicked off with some startling accusations about Destiny 2 streamer SayNoToRage which quickly overflowed into a budding #MeToo movement that, within just a few days, has seen numerous streamers and video game developers fall from grace, including the director of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and other Ubisoft executives.

Then, out of the blue, mega-Twitch streamer Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm was banned, apparently permanently, for reasons that have yet to be made clear.

Twitch released a statement so generic it’s honestly not worth printing but I’ll do it anyways because we must do our journalistic duty even if giant corporations can’t be bothered with even the mildest scrap of transparency.

Here it is:

“As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”

Great, how noble. Though, truth be told, Twitch does not have a particularly sterling reputation in this regard.

Most of what we know so far comes from some few with inside sources like eSports journalist Rod Breslau who is, in my humble opinion, one of the best video game journalists on the planet and someone whose work you should absolutely follow. He’s tweeted that the reason for the ban is not DMCA related and that his sources have told him the reason but he’s not comfortable sharing it publicly due to the sensitivity of the subject:

Beyond this, mum’s the word.

But now Dr. Disrespect himself has spoken up, sending out a public tweet on the Twitch ban:

“Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision… Firm handshakes to all for the support during this difficult time,” writes Beahm.

I have some issues with this. First and foremost, it makes no sense. There are two big reasons why it makes no sense and probably several other smaller reasons.

Reason #1 — Why wait so long to tweet this very brief statement? If Twitch banned me, and I was a prominent streamer, and they didn’t tell me why . . . I would be on Twitter in a flash saying so. I wouldn’t let all this mystery and gossip go wild online without at the very least saying “Hey I have no idea what’s going on right now and Twitch won’t tell me.” Beahm waited a day before tweeting anything. Maybe there are extenuating circumstances for this—he was camping in some remote wilderness, perhaps—but as of right now, it makes no sense.

Reason #2 — This statement only reveals one data point—that Twitch hasn’t told Beahm why he was banned. It leaves out some other big factors, such as whether or not Dr. Disrespect is aware of the reason himself. It stands to reason that whatever happened, he knows. It seems incredibly unlikely, given Reason #1, that he is unaware and completely in the dark about the reasons for the ban whether or not Twitch communicated this to him directly. If sources are telling journalists like Breslau what’s going on, surely the doctor himself is aware.

Unless . . . something even worse has happened and Twitch and the handful of people who know what’s going on aren’t allowed to tell Beahm anything. That conjures up some very bad scenarios which I won’t delve into here—it’s not polite to speculate on something of this nature, after all. But it’s certainly strange, and Dr. Disrespect’s statement only furthers the confusion and dread we’re all feeling over this.

I would like more transparency from all involved, quite frankly. All this opacity and hush hush nonsense does is fuel speculation and rumor and nobody deserves that. The truth will out, as they say. It always does. May as well rip off the band-aid and get it over with. The fact that Twitch hasn’t even told Beahm the reasons (assuming that’s true) is absolutely absurd. It’s certainly no way to treat one of your biggest stars—even a star I’m not personally a fan of. It’s very, um, disrespectful.

Hopefully we get to the bottom of this soon.

Update 6/28/2020

It’s been interesting to see the reaction to this post online. Some people seem to agree that it’s all rather fishy. Others have accused me of—well, I’m not quite sure what.

Writing a terrible, lousy no-good article that is somehow attacking Dr. Disrespect or, alternatively, that I’m some crazy Doc fan (the “filled with dread” line was apparently taken by some to be very literal as opposed to tongue-in-cheek. Everything is lost in translation).

Others have accused me of masking an opinion piece as straight reporting—but my blog is almost entirely opinion pieces. I rarely report straight news. I’m a critic and a think-piece guy. I don’t believe I drifted into idle speculation and I certainly haven’t leveled any accusations or posited any theories. I’ve merely said that things don’t add up and this whole business is somewhat unsettling. It’s hard not to have your mind drift to very bad things when we just don’t know, well, anything and everyone who does know something won’t comment publicly about it because it’s so “sensitive.”

We have yet to hear anything substantial out of either Dr. Disrespect or Twitch, either, with no new statements coming out of either camp. This may be because Twitch simply doesn’t share information when issuing a permanent ban according to Breslau:

“food for thought,” Breslau tweeted Sunday. “Twitch does not issue specific reasons to streamers for permanent bans. MethodJosh was banned following a report of sexual assault and Twitch has never commented publicly or privately. Josh & Ice Poseidon were told ‘Other TOS violations’.”

Meanwhile, there’s a big conspiracy making the rounds about this new Brime streaming service that streamers Ninja, Shroud and Dr. Disrespect were apparently going to move to together. The theory goes that somehow Twitch caught wind of Doc trying to poach streamers to move over to Brime and that’s why he’s been banned.

I don’t think this theory holds much water for a whole host of reasons, and you should read Paul Tassi’s breakdown of why it really doesn’t make sense (and has no verifiable sources) right here.

What do you make of all this? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

Source:- Forbes

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

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The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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